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Tuesday, 01/30/2018 2:08:02 PM

Tuesday, January 30, 2018 2:08:02 PM

Post# of 252691
Jeff Bezos and his two friends just spooked healthcare stocks
http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/30/investing/health-care-stocks-jpmorgan-chase-amazon-berkshire-hathaway/index.html

Health care stocks came down with a bad case of competition-itis.

Shares of leading insurers and drug stores tanked after Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway announced they would enter the insurance business.

They didn't offer many details, but investors swiftly punished traditional health care companies anyway because of fears that the new venture could disrupt the industry.

Top insurer UnitedHealth (UNH) fell 3%, helping drive a more than 300-point drop in the Dow. Two other big insurers, Cigna (CI) and Anthem (ANTM), dropped more than 5%. Aetna (AET) and Humana (HUM) were each down about 3%.

Drug store giants CVS (CVS) and Walgreens (WBA) both declined more than 4%. Pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts (ESRX) plummeted nearly 7%.

The clear worry: The alliance of Buffett, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon is only the beginning of big changes for the insurance business.

"This is the start of a restructuring of the health care industry. This could be the catalyst for something bigger," said Chuck Self, chief investment officer with iSectors. "It's part of the Amazon-ization of the nation, but it's now clearly more than just Amazon."

Related: Bezos, Buffett and Dimon want to fix health care [Please go to web page]

In some respects, the entry of big new corporate players into health care could be more disruptive than Obamacare ever was -- or President Trump's efforts to neuter it.

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