1.All-Time Highs? Mostly Large Cap Growth Equities.
SPDR FUNDS
2.Individual Investors Continue to Flee Stock Market…Investors Pulled $135Billion From U.S. Stocks in 2019.
WSJ–Michael Wursthorn
The S&P 500 is having its best run in six years, but individual investors are fleeing stock funds at the fastest pace in decades.
That is potentially a good sign for the long-running bull market.
Investors have pulled $135.5 billion from U.S. stock-focused mutual funds and exchange-traded funds so far this year, the biggest withdrawals on record, according to data provider Refinitiv Lipper, which tracked the data going back to 1992.
Investors Bail on Stock Market Rally, Fleeing Funds at Record Pace
In what may be the best year for stocks since 2013, investors have exited in droves
3.Retail Selling Stocks….And Wall Street Strategists Least Bullish in 15 Years. Not the Traditional Combo at Market Tops.
Wall Street strategists are giving the least optimistic annual outlook in 15 years, with an average call among 17 estimates being for the S&P 500 to end next year at 3,280. As of Friday’s close, that represents a 4.3% expected increase, the smallest for any year since 2004.
Central Bank Liquidity Firehose Turns Wall Street Most Pessimistic In 15 Yearsby Tyler Durden
4.U.S. Citizens Have $6Trillion in “Tappable” Mortgage Equity
From The Daily Shot
5.First Pure Play E-Sports Team IPO
Barrons
Monday will bring an initial public offering that might actually excite the kids. That’s when Denmark-based Astralis Group will become the first pure-play e-sports team to go public, with a ticker of ASTRGRP. If that means nothing to you, consult your nearest 20-something.
The World’s First IPO for a Competitive Videogame Team Is Monday. It’ll Be a Crucial Test for E-Sports. By Connor Smith
6.Non-Supervisory Wage Growth Hits 3.7% Previous history has topped out at 4%
5 year history of wage growth
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1180098344091295744.html
7.Falling American SAT Scores.
State by State Scores…Not the Big Spreads You Would Expect
8.Pet Industry $72 Billion …But Only 3% of Pets Have Insurance.
Cute puppies. Kittens. Instagram dogs. Pet supplements, a smart cat litter box and specialty veterinary practices. Americans are spending more and more on their pets. U.S. pet spending hit $72 billion in 2018, an increase of more than $3 billion from the prior year. And with pet ownership on the rise, the industry could grow into an even bigger business. Here’s how America’s love for pets turned into big business.
8.Pet Industry $72 Billion …But Only 3% of Pets Have Insurance.
Cute puppies. Kittens. Instagram dogs. Pet supplements, a smart cat litter box and specialty veterinary practices. Americans are spending more and more on their pets. U.S. pet spending hit $72 billion in 2018, an increase of more than $3 billion from the prior year. And with pet ownership on the rise, the industry could grow into an even bigger business. Here’s how America’s love for pets turned into big business.
The Biggest Mistake 99 Percent of All Pet Owners Make
9.FDA Approves a Record Amount of Drugs 2018
The past year proved to be a big one for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the approval of novel drugs.
Over the course of 2018, the FDA approved 59 different novel drugs that range for the treatment of various cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), traveler’s diarrhea, migraine headaches and more. Over the past 190 years, the FDA has averaged an approval of 33 novel drugs each year, with 2018 having the highest number. In 2017, the FDA approved 46 novel drugs, but only 22 in 2016.
The majority of the novel drugs approved in 2018, 34, were for rare or orphan diseases.
FDA Approves Record-Breaking 59 Novel Drugs in 2018–By Alex Keown
https://www.biospace.com/article/fda-approves-59-novel-drugs-in-2018/
U.S. Healthcare Spending 2018-$3.6 Trillion.
US health care spending increased 4.6 percent to reach $3.6 trillion in 2018, a faster growth rate than the rate of 4.2 percent in 2017 but the same rate as in 2016. The share of the economy devoted to health care spending declined to 17.7 percent in 2018, compared to 17.9 percent in 2017. The 0.4-percentage-point acceleration in overall growth in 2018 was driven by faster growth in both private health insurance and Medicare, which were influenced by the reinstatement of the health insurance tax. For personal health care spending (which accounted for 84 percent of national health care spending), growth in 2018 remained unchanged from 2017 at 4.1 percent. The total number of uninsured people increased by 1.0 million for the second year in a row, to reach 30.7 million in 2018.
National Health Care Spending In 2018: Growth Driven By Accelerations In Medicare And Private Insurance Spending Micah Hartman Anne B. Martin Joseph BensonAaron Catlin
https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1377/hlthaff.2019.01451?journalCode=hlthaff
10. A sense of purpose could prolong your life
By Ephrat Livni
The meaning of life is a question that has plagued philosophers for millennia, and there is no single correct answer. But increasingly, scientists are finding that having a sense of purpose, whatever yours may be, is key to well-being.
Now, a study published on May 24 in JAMA Current Open adds to the growing body of knowledge on the link between health and a driving force, finding that purposefulness is tied to longer lives. Researchers from the University of Michigan School of Public Health analyzed data from nearly 7,000 individuals over 50 years old and concluded that “stronger purpose in life was associated with decreased mortality.” They believe that “purposeful living may have health benefits.”
The new research relied on data from individuals who enrolled in the American Health and Retirement Study (HRS)—longterm research that looks at a cross-section of subjects over time. The original research measured participants’ psychological well-being in 2006, their physical health and, subsequently, causes of death by 2010. The new analysis found that those whose psychological questionnaires reflected a lack of purpose were more likely to die than those who had “a self-organizing life aim that stimulates goals.”
In fact, people without a purpose were more than twice as likely to die than those with an aim and goals. Purpose proved to be more indicative of longevity than gender, race, or education levels, and more important for decreasing risk of death than drinking, smoking, or exercising regularly.
Notably, the research indicates that any purpose is better than none, as the reason people felt purposeful didn’t figure into the analysis. So it doesn’t seem to matter what it is that drives an individual, whether it’s a passion for growing peonies, say, or wanting to see their children develop, or loving the work they do. The important thing is simply having something that makes them excited about life and drives them.
But those who feel no sense of purpose now shouldn’t despair because that drive can be cultivated, as the study notes. “There are a number of interventions that have been developed with the goal of improving life purpose,” the researchers write. They point to previous analyses that have found volunteering, well-being therapy, meditation, and mindfulness training have all been shown to cultivate a greater sense of purpose, improve quality of life, and influence physical health.
Future work should examine when such interventions are appropriate in people diagnosed with diseases and, the researchers argue, purposefulness training could be integrated into treatment approaches. They note that their conclusions are consistent with work done in Japan measuring the concept of ikigai, which is defined as “something to live for, the joy and goal of living” and has been associated with survival.
Although there has been work done on purpose and longevity before, the latest findings surprised even the researchers who devised this latest study. Celeste Leigh Pearce, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan and a co-author of the paper, tells NPR, “I approached this with a very skeptical eye. I just find it so convincing that I’m developing a whole research program around it.”
https://qz.com/1628452/a-sense-of-purpose-could-prolong-your-life/