Model Guidance: No Changes for the Week
My short-term Bull & Bear Portfolio consists of 9 equally-weighted long positions and 3 equally-weighted short positions. Both the long and short stocks are selected from the Dow Jones Industrial Average. If the Dow advances over the period in which my 12-Dow stock portfolio is open, the model will make money with the stocks that advance and will lose money with the stocks that decline. And the opposite will prevail for the short stocks. Each week, I will review the model portfolio for potential changes. If no changes are required, I’ll simply post no changes for the week. You can read more about my Bull & Bear Portfolio here.
Featured Company: UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH)
In 1974 a group of doctors and health professionals founded Charter Med to provide health coverage. In 1977 United Healthcare Corporation was born to reorganize Charter Med. Its founder, Richard Burke started the business with the goal of helping people live healthier lives. Burke was assisted by Dr. Paul Ellwood, a “health policy guru” who coined the term “health maintenance organization.” UnitedHealthcare would go on to introduce the first network-based health plans for seniors, and to create EverCare, a care coordination program for people in nursing homes. Later the company would develop modern pharmacy benefits management and develop many other innovations in the industry.
Each year in over 125 countries, UnitedHealth processes over 750 billion digital transactions. In the United States alone UnitedHealth provides its customers access to over 1 million healthcare professionals, at about 6,000 hospitals and healthcare facilities. That includes 4 out of every 5 hospitals in America. UnitedHealth’s millions of customers have access to more than 67,000 pharmacies.
According to the U.N., “The global share of older people (aged 60 years or over) increased from 9.2 per cent in 1990 to 11.7 per cent in 2013 and will continue to grow as a proportion of the world population, reaching 21.1 per cent by 2050. Globally, the number of older persons is expected to more than double from 841 million people in 2013 to more than 2 billion in 2050.”
As the world ages, it demands more medical care and UnitedHealth Group provides access to that care. The company has paid dividends since 1990 and shares yield 1.42% today.