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Friday, February 10, 2012

CVS Caremark 4Q profit rises, 2012 outlook climbs

In this Feb 7, 2012 photo, pedestrians walk pass a CVS store in Chicago. CVS Caremark Corp.'s fourth-quarter earnings climbed nearly 4 percent, as the drugstore operator's pharmacy services revenue swelled because of a long-term contract and new business. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

A CVS pharmacy sign is displayed outside a store in Foxborough, Mass., Feb. 7, 2012. CVS Caremark said Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012, its fourth-quarter earnings climbed nearly 4 percent, as the drugstore operator?s pharmacy services revenue swelled due to a long-term contract and new business. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

Drugstore chain Walgreen's loss of a big client is turning into rival CVS Caremark's gain so far this year.

A contract squabble between Walgreen Co. and pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts Inc. has driven more customers to CVS pharmacies, prompting that company to raise its 2012 earnings forecast by 3 cents per share.

CVS Caremark Corp. said in December it would gain business because of the dispute, but CEO Larry Merlo told analysts Wednesday the company is seeing more prescription transfers than it expected. He said CVS Caremark's chances of retaining those customers improve the longer the impasse continues, especially once people refill their prescriptions a few times and get to know the pharmacist and store staff.

"As I have said in the past, we know that that pharmacy customer is the hardest person to lose, but once you lose them, it's the hardest person to get back," he said.

Walgreen stopped filling prescriptions for Express Scripts at the end of 2011, when a contract between the two companies ran out and they were unable to negotiate a new one. Pharmacy benefits managers, or PBMs, run prescription drug plans and use large purchasing power to negotiate lower drug prices. They make their money by reducing costs for health plan sponsors and members.

Walgreen said Friday that January revenue from stores open at least a year fell 4.6 percent, as the Express Scripts split and a weak flu season hurt business.

CVS Caremark, based in Woonsocket, R.I., runs the second-largest chain of drugstores in the U.S., after Walgreen, and its Caremark unit is one of the largest PBMs.

Overall, CVS Caremark's earnings from the fourth quarter of 2011 climbed nearly 4 percent. The company earned $1.06 billion, or 81 cents per share, in the three months that ended Dec. 31. That compares with $1.03 billion, or 75 cents per share, in the final quarter of 2010.

Adjusted earnings were 89 cents per share, in line with the average analyst forecast, according to FactSet.

Revenue rose 15 percent to $28.32 billion, above the $28.09 billion analysts expected.

Revenue from the company's PBM side jumped 32 percent to $15.9 billion in the quarter because of the addition of a long-term contract with health insurer Aetna Inc. and new sales that came from the acquisition of insurer Universal American Corp.'s Medicare prescription drug business.

Drugstore revenue increased 4 percent, as pharmacy revenue at stores open at least a year climbed 3.6 percent. Revenue at stores open at least a year is a key indicator of a retailer's health, because it excludes the impact of recently opened or closed stores.

Non-pharmacy, or front-of-the-store, sales rose only slightly. CVS said Christmas sales came in lower than it had planned, and a weak flu season also affected those results.

For the full year, the company earned $3.46 billion, or $2.59 per share, on $107.1 billion in revenue.

It now forecasts 2012 adjusted earnings of $3.18 to $3.28 per share. The company said this new forecast doesn't reflect a benefit from the Walgreen-Express Scripts dispute beyond the first quarter.

Analysts expect, on average, earnings of $3.26 per share.

BMO Capital Markets analyst Dave Shove noted that CVS Caremark's retail pharmacies gained market share in the fourth quarter. He said in a research note he suspects the Walgreen-Express Scripts dispute will help carry that momentum into the first half of 2012.

CVS Caremark opened 24 drugstores in the fourth quarter and closed one. It operated 7,327 as of Dec. 31.

Company shares climbed 61 cents to $43.69 in afternoon trading Wednesday, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell slightly.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-02-08-Earns-CVS%20Caremark/id-acb8ce6f541140beb421e5b5addbde2e

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Thursday, February 9, 2012

Refinance Mortgage: Reasons For Refinancing | Rai Chertkoff Real ...

There are many reasons for refinancing a mortgage. If you want to save more money in the long run, you want to pay off your mortgage loan more quickly, or you need some extra money, or you just simply want your monthly payments to be lower, refinancing may be right for you. If, however, you are almost done paying off your loan, or your home value has gone way down, refinancing may not be right for you.

If you are able to get a lower interest rate than what you are currently paying (one that is at least 2% lower to make refinancing worth it), then chances are you will be able to save a lot of money in the long run without having to increase your monthly payments. If you shorten the length of your term, you will also be able to save a ton of money in the long run, but chances are, your monthly payments will be much higher (enabling you to pay off your loan more quickly).

If you need lower monthly payments to free up some extra money, getting a lower interest rate will most likely enable you to do that.

You can most likely get a lower interest rate by waiting until the current interest rate in the housing market is low, or taking the time to improve your credit enough that you will be able to qualify for a much lower interest rate. If you cannot get a lower interest rate, and you need lower monthly payments, you can also refinance to extend the term (take longer to pay off the loan). By extending the term, however, you will be paying more in the long run since you will be paying more in interest since it will take you longer to pay off your loan.

You can also lower your monthly payments lots of times if you are able to consolidate two mortgage loans into one mortgage loan since second mortgage loans generally have much higher interest rates.

You can do this if you have enough equity in your home, or you have paid off enough of your loan. If you need a lot of cash fast, you can also refinance to take out the equity you have built up in your home to convert that equity to cash. You may also save a lot of money by changing from an adjustable interest rate to a fixed interest rate, or vice-versa.

Start on a refinance mortgage today!

Russia reaches lake under Antarctica (AP)

MOSCOW ? After more than two decades of drilling, Russian scientists have reached the surface of a gigantic freshwater lake in Antarctica that had been hidden under miles of ice for 20 million years, potentially holding life from the distant past and a clue to the search for life on other planets.

Reaching Lake Vostok is a major discovery avidly anticipated by scientists around the world hoping that it may allow a glimpse into microbial life forms that existed before the Ice Age. It may also provide precious material that would help look for life on ice-crust moons of Jupiter and Saturn or under Mars' polar ice caps where conditions could be similar.

Valery Lukin, the head of Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) in charge of the mission, said in Wednesday's statement that his team reached the lake's surface Sunday.

"There is no other place on Earth that has been in isolation for more than 20 million years," Lev Savatyugin, a researcher with the AARI who was involved in preparing the mission, told The Associated Press. "It's a meeting with the unknown."

Savatyugin said that scientists hope to find primeval bacteria that could expand the human knowledge of the origins of life. "We need to see what we have here before we send missions to ice-crust moons, like Jupiter's moon Europa," he said.

The project, however, has drawn strong fears that 60 metric tons (66 tons) of lubricants and antifreeze used in the drilling may contaminate the pristine lake. The Russian researchers have insisted that the bore would only slightly touch the lake's surface and a surge in pressure will send the water rushing up the shaft where it will freeze, immediately sealing out the toxic chemicals.

Lukin said in a statement that about 1.5 cubic meters of kerosene and freon poured into tanks on the surface from the boreshaft, proof that the lake water streamed from beneath, froze, and blocked the hole.

The scientists will later remove the frozen sample for analysis in December when the next Antarctic summer comes.

Lake Vostok, about 3.8 kilometers (2.4 miles) beneath the surface, is the largest in a web of nearly 400 known subglacial lakes in Antarctica, and scientists in other nations hope to follow up with similar projects. The lake is 250 kilometers (160 miles) long and 50 kilometers (30 miles) across at its widest point, similar in area to Lake Ontario.

"In the simplest sense, it can transform the way we think about life," NASA's chief scientist Waleed Abdalati told The Associated Press by email.

Scientists believe that microbial life may exist in the dark depths of the lake despite high pressure and constant cold ? conditions similar to those expected to be found under ice crust on Mars, Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's move Enceladus.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120208/ap_on_sc/eu_russia_antarctic_lake

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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Fashion Week's first trend: Heart-health awareness (AP)

NEW YORK ? Red is Christie Brinkley's color.

The veteran supermodel is set to return to the runway Wednesday night for the Red Dress Collection fashion show, an annual New York Fashion Week kickoff event that aims to draw attention to women's heart health by putting celebrity catwalkers in a parade of gowns by some of the country's most famous designers.

Brinkley is a supporter of the Heart Truth campaign, headed by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and has participated in this event before. This year, though, she hesitated before deciding to don a dress again. Her own mother is suffering from serious heart disease, having experienced five strokes and a heart attack, and right now Brinkley says she feels like she should be spending quality time with her parents.

But they're the ones who actually nudged her to do it, she said in a teary telephone interview Tuesday. "My parents understand more than anyone about the importance of getting the right care. They're proud of me that I've reached a place where I can give back."

Something else she's learned from them is to maintain a healthy lifestyle with daily exercise and a careful diet. That wasn't always easy when she was a young model, jet-setting from place to place and trying every fad diet that came along, Brinkley, now 58, said, but she's learned the best way to have the good life is to live it. "I make time for this. I used to always put myself on the back burner, but I want to be strong and able for my kids, myself and my parents."

She said she also finds strength and camaraderie within the modeling world, and she hopes the first-time "models" at the Red Dress show will feel that way, too. "I've always felt the catfight thing is a cliche, but especially when we're all together and subject is the heart, we're all united."

It's also a parade of great dresses, and red looks good on so many people, said Marchesa co-founder Georgina Chapman. Marchesa is once again lending a dress for the event, to be worn by model and actress Rebecca Romijn.

"I love the color red. It's such a passionate color and it's a fabulous color when you want to make a splash," Chapman said. If she were on the catwalk, she said she'd probably wear it probably with black heels or neutral makeup. "There's no matchy-matchy with red," she advised. "I especially love to wear black with a hint of red."

Jenna Elfman, making her Red Dress debut, planned to wear a strapless Alberta Ferretti on the catwalk. "I love fashion, I love performance, I love charity," she said.

She said she has wondered what models think about while they're strutting in front of hundreds of people, but she planned to repeat her mantra of "take big steps."

"Thank God I'm tall," Elfman said. "I will get to the end much faster."

Brinkley's advice to the newbies was simple: "You can't take a bad step when you're on that runway. You're there supporting this worthwhile, meaningful cause. And if you slip and fall, you'll make the news and spread the word even more."

___

Samantha Critchell tweets fashion at http://twitter.com/ap_fashion

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/fashion/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120208/ap_on_en_ot/us_fea_ny_fashion_week_red_dress

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Realty Times - Real Estate Outlook: New Home Sales and Prices ...

Pending existing-home sales may be up across the nation, but new home sales fell for the first the first time in three months in December. These latest figures come from the U.S. Commerce Department. ?

"December's small decline in new-home sales follows three consecutive months of gains and means the fourth quarter was still stronger than the third," noted Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev. "The bottom line is that, while 2011 was the worst year for new-home sales on record, signs of gradual improvement began to emerge near the end of the year across a growing number of markets. This nascent recovery should continue to gain strength in the year ahead as more buyers take advantage of the very good deals that out there for newly built homes."

The NAHB remains extremely optimistic about the forecast for new homes in the coming year. They predict a rise of 18 percent in the number of new-home sales for 2012. This comes after a 7.3 percent dip seen in 2011 and the 2.2 percent dip seen December. ?

The December dip is being blamed largely on the large 10.1 percent decline seen in the South. Both the West and Northeast saw substantial new home sale gains for the month. ?

Mortgage applications were also down 2.9 percent from last week as well. The refinance share of activity declined slightly to 80.0 percent of the market, while adjustable rate mortgages rose to 5.6 percent of total applications. ?

"The Federal Reserve surprised the market last week by indicating that short-term rates were likely to stay at their current low-levels until the end of 2014. Longer-term treasury rates dropped in response, and mortgage rates for the week were down slightly as a result," said Michael Fratantoni, MBA's Vice President of Research and Economics. ?

While new homes sales and mortgage applications might be down, some of those would-be buyers are instead putting money back into their own homes. Remodeling activity, according to the NAHB, has risen again, now for the fifth straight month. ?

Remodeling sentiment is now at the highest level in five years, sitting at a 46.6 on the RMI scale.

NAHB Remodelers Chairman Bob Peterson reported, "As more consumers remain in their homes rather than move in this economy, remodelers benefited from a gradual increase in home improvement activity, taking us to a five-year high. 2011 ended on a strong note for the remodeling industry."

The RMI reported higher market activity in two important categories: major additions 52.3 (from 45.2) and minor additions 50.1 (from 45.7). These remodeling homeowners may be waiting out a better time to sell when prices rebound.

The latest release from the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index indicates that home values are still on the decline. Prices fell 1.3 percent for both the 10- and 20-City Composites in November from the previous month. ?

"Despite continued low interest rates and better real GDP growth in the fourth quarter, home prices continue to fall. Weakness was seen as 19 of 20 cities saw average home prices decline in November over October," says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices. "The only positive for the month was Phoenix, one of the hardest hit in recent years. Nationally, home prices are lower than a year ago." ?

As of November 2011, average home prices across the United States are back to the levels where they were in mid-2003.

Published: February 6, 2012

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Source: http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20120206_realestateoutlook.htm

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Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Verizon, Redbox plan Netflix challenge (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Verizon Communications Inc and Coinstar's Redbox unit have formed a joint venture to sell video services aimed at competing against video rental giant Netflix Inc.

The venture will combine the Redbox DVD rental kiosk business with an Internet video offering from Verizon, including mobile offerings, in the second half of the year.

However, investors in Verizon and Coinstar were unimpressed as the pair offered little detail about the service. Netflix shares ended up 2.2 percent, reversing a decline that came directly after the news.

The new service's price will start from around $6 a month for movie streaming and one DVD rental at a time from the Redbox kiosks, according to a person familiar with the plan.

Netflix's pricing currently starts at $7.99 for either streaming only or a single DVD by mail. To get both the streaming and DVD rental package prices start at $15.98.

Verizon and Redbox declined to comment on the pricing.

The alliance will mark Verizon's first foray into video streaming outside its network operating region as the telephone company so far only offers Web video services to subscribers using its FiOS TV service which competes with cable providers like Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable.

However, Verizon/Redbox's success in competing with Netflix and other online rivals like Amazon.com and Hulu Plus, will depend hugely on the price of the service and the depth of content it has available, according to analysts.

"We're in negotiations right now (and) finalizing," Bob Mudge, Verizon's head of FiOS, told Reuters. "I feel very confident we'll have a wide set of digital distribution content."

The executive promised a subscription service and "other options" with the "right pricing" to compete but declined to give details of the service or to comment on how much it would cost Verizon, which has already spend about $23 billion upgrading its copper network for its FiOS TV and Web service.

Verizon and Coinstar will need to invest heavily to convince Hollywood studios to participate to create a service comparable to Netflix, said Hudson Square Research analyst Daniel Ernst.

"The question is, how much are they investing to get a large library of programming? Netflix is spending up to $1 billion a year on content," said Ernst. "For me, it's doubtful that these two companies will invest to that level."

According to regulatory filings Redbox will make an initial capital contribution of $14 million in cash, implying that Verizon would contribute around $26 million.

As Netflix has shifted its emphasis to instant-view streaming from its mailed DVD rental service, it has had to write ever-heftier checks to content.

For its part, Coinstar moved to cement its hold on its business of renting DVDs from automated kiosks, announcing on Monday it will buy rival NCR Corp's machines and video inventory for up to $100 million. That, and better-than-expected quarterly results, pushed the stock 13 percent higher after hours.

The deal is "a testament that we believe in the physical space," Coinstar's Paul Davis told analysts on a conference call. The purchase of NCR assets, which is subject to regulatory approval, will help the company fill in areas where it currently does not operate, he said.

Coinstar earnings got a lift from the negotiation of better credit-card rates. A strong movie slate also helped it post fourth-quarter revenue of $520.5 million, surpassing the $498 million Wall Street had expected.

THE CONTENT GAME

Verizon did not disclose how many of its FiOS TV programming partners, if any, had agreed to make video content available for the streaming service. The partnership follows a December 6 Reuters report that Verizon was planning a streaming video service.

To help market the online service inside and outside the FiOS region, Mudge said he is hoping to tap into the loyalty of Coinstar's 30 million customers who rent an average of about 1.9 million movies a day at Coinstar's 35,000 kiosks in places like supermarkets and gas stations.

Netflix had 24.4 million U.S. subscribers at the end of December, while Verizon ended the year with 4.2 million FiOS TV customers. Coinstar rents out DVDs at $1.20 a day and Blu-Ray discs for $1.50 a day.

Coinstar sees an online offering as an important expansion beyond the roughly 200 recent-release movies the company offers at any given time, CEO Paul Davis said.

"What our consumers would like is access to a much broader array of options," Davis told Reuters, adding that most CoinStar customers have Internet connections. "We're focused on new releases. ... Once it's in the box a few months we pull it out."

The venture -- to be 65 percent owned by Verizon and 35 percent by Redbox -- will offer its first products in the second half of 2012, the companies said. It will be managed by a board consisting of three Verizon appointed managers and two appointed by Redbox.

Pacific Crest analyst Steve Clement said it was too soon to judge whether the venture will be a success.

"We don't know what kind of content they'll have available, what they'll pay for that content and what they'll charge for it," said Clement. "There's way more questions than answers at this point."

He noted that a big part of Netflix's success was due to its easy user interface and recommendation of TV shows and movies based on its subscribers viewing history.

Shares of Netflix closed up 2.2 percent at $129.25 on Nasdaq. Verizon edged up 0.8 percent to $38.14 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew and Yinka Adegoke in New York; additional reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Mark Porter, Gunna Dickson and Bernard Orr)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120207/media_nm/us_verizon_redbox

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A Multiple Sclerosis Caregivers View - Understanding Multiple ...

When a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis is given, many people go through the medical investigative process of MRI and/or spinal tap. Fortunately, my husband had enough symptoms over the years to pretty much confirm the diagnosis. After two MRIs, one of his brain and one of his spinal cord, it was evident that he had this dreaded disease and did not require the dreaded spinal tap.

So just what is Multiple Sclerosis??

Thanks to the care we receive from our MS nurse and all the info provided to us by the manufacturers of his chosen drug Rebif; EMD Serono and Pfizer, we are never left out in the dark wondering what is going on. So with our personal nurse's help, we learned more than we could ever imagine about this disease. Multiple sclerosis means "many scars" and after seeing the MRI, and the doctor pointing to different places on his brain, we now know what these are. MS is a disease that affects the central nervous system (CNS). The CNS consists of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves and the process of the development of these lesions or "scars" is called sclerosis.

Who gets Multiple Sclerosis?

Over 2.5 million people around the world have MS.
In the United States alone, there are over 400,000.?
Women have MS twice as much as men.
Diagnosis is mostly people between 15 and 60 years of age.
MS is more common in Caucasians and those of Northern European descent. But people of any background can get MS.

What causes MS?

Unfortunately, the cause of MS is unknown. It is thought to be an autoimmune disease. A normal immune system helps fight foreign invaders such as viruses and bacteria. During the occurrence of an autoimmune disease, something triggers the immune system to attack the body itself. Some health care providers believe that MS may be triggered by an infection; most likely a virus, but MS is not contagious.?

One thing our doctor told us when we asked about our future and the future of our children was to take large doses of Vitamin D. His theory was that sunlight seemed to play a major factor in MS. He feels that taking a multi-vitamin is fine, but extra Vitamin D is an important factor. When looking at the map of the world, countries with warmer climates have much less of the disease than places with cold winters and warm summers.?

What happens in MS?

The CNS is made up of nerve cells that send signals to each other. Each nerve cell, or neuron is covered with a protective coating called myelin. Myelin consists of cholesterol, which is required to cover the nerves and provide conduction. ?In multiple sclerosis, the myelin sheath is broken down and attacked. Imagine a string of pearls and each pearl has a coating of myelin and the string in between, called the axon is holding the pearls together. As the multiple sclerosis attacks the myelin sheath, the nerves break down resulting in a break of communication known as demyelinization, which can lead to permanent symptoms and disability.?

Source: Take on MS, developed by MS nurses, sponsored by EMD Serono, Inc. and Pfizer Inc.

Source: http://health-conditions.factoidz.com/a-multiple-sclerosis-caregivers-view-understanding-multiple-sclerosis/

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