Insurance investors delivered a clear verdict today: They’re a bit worried about how a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) epidemic might affect health insurers, but they hate how interest rate cuts might affect life insurers. The stock market as a whole had a terrible today, with the S&P 500 benchmark index falling 7.6%, based in…
Can a term policy be sold in a life settlement? Yes! Yes! Yes! Like a life settlement on a universal life policy, the insured should generally be age 65 or older and have had some decline in health since the policy was issued. Term policies make great life settlement candidates because of their very nature.…
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The coronavirus outbreak has yet to spread meaningfully to U.S. shores, but fears of it alone have already eviscerated some $2 trillion of American stock market value, setting off a market rout that could stymie consumer spending – even before other economic effects of the disease are felt. FILE PHOTO: An…
As part of its efforts to ensure the supply of medical products from China during the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has identified 20 drugs that are made in or produced solely from active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) sourced from China. In a statement to Focus, FDA spokesperson Stephanie Caccomo said…
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday updated its list of fictitious regulators and firms falsely claiming to be registered, licensed and/or located in the U.S., along with entities that impersonate actual U.S. registered securities companies. Included in the fresh list are 25 new soliciting entities and four phony regulators: Board of Financial Affairs, Finance Regulation Board, New…
WASHINGTON — “They say millennials are lazy,” billboards plastered across 15 major cities declared last summer. “Retire early and prove them right.” That sentiment, reflected in ads for the investment manager Prudential, is the stuff of a 30-year-old’s fantasy — and the Federal Reserve’s nightmare. A young generation of aggressive savers could leave central bankers…
t’s a story that happens all too often. Angie Kennard’s father had met someone on a dating website, and the woman quickly began pouring her heart out to the 79-year-old despite never meeting him in person. During the exchanges, the woman started requesting money to support her and her daughter, and that “support” blossomed into…
The Securities and Exchange Commission is urging investors to be on the lookout for investment frauds related to the coronavirus, as the agency has spotted what looks to be such scams via internet and social media promotions. The agency’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy released an Investor Alert on Wednesday warning about investment frauds…
(Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has confessed that it’s “very hard” to understand China’s economy. The outbreak of the coronavirus has made that exponentially more difficult.Yet it’s something that he can hardly afford to ignore when he adddresses lawmakers this week. The sheer size of China’s economy means that any hit to its…
The rate hike is part of a broader package of proposed “refinements” for Medicare Advantage and the Part D Quality Star Rating system. KEY TAKEAWAYS CMS says the proposals will provide greater flexibility for payers and Part D plan sponsors to design plans and improve transparency in drug pricing. The package will provide guidelines on…