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THE HEADLINES
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PILL-AGERS
Amazon announced it plans to purchase online pharmacy PillPack. Terms of the deal were not disclosed but Bloomberg reported the deal is north of the $1B range.
The pill popper provides 40k customers with pre-sorted, individualized pill packages for prescription and over-the-counter medications. They work with doctors and insurance providers to manage refills and cost coverage on the customer’s behalf.
The announcement sent shock waves through the healthcare market yesterday. Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid lost a collective $11B in value on the news. Call it, the Amazon effect.
Water Cooler Talking Point: “Pre-packing and sorting medication is a brilliant idea … as long as there is verification to make sure the person ordering is Aunt Millie and not sketchy Uncle Rick.”
WHAT’S THE BIG DEALIO?
Ray Dalio, the founder, and commander in chief of Bridgewater Associates is in the midst of a ten-year succession, which apparently includes a greater economic stake for select current employees.
Within the next four years, Dalio plans to relinquish his chairman title, giving a hand-selected leadership team the chance to take the reigns. Dalio, who once owned all of Bridgewater, will be giving up oversight of the company.
Dalio is not leaving the new leadership high and dry, however. He’s leaving the new team with his 200+ “Principles.”
Water Cooler Talking Point: “Ten years seems like plenty of time to get a successor in place. Personally, I would make the new leadership prove themselves via ridiculous tasks a la Making the Band, but that’s just me.”
TOO STRESSED
Deutsche Bank’s US business apparently “ain’t got time for that.” DB US DGAF about studying. The German IB failed the Federal Reserve’s stress test. We’ve all been there.
The reasons for failure were weaknesses in DB’s risk management functions and data capabilities, as well as difficulties in forecasting how well the bank would handle stress.
Out of the twelve domestic and six foreign banks that faced the qualitative section of the exam, DB was the only one to fail. A failure of these tests can prevent a banks local business from shifting capital back to its parent company, but given that DB has multiple resources for profit and does not have any issues with liquidity, this will probably just be a slap on the wrist.
Water Cooler Talking Point: “Apparently these Deutsche-bags forgot their 3 x 5 notecard. Glad I chose to copy off of Barclays instead.”
IN OTHER NEWS
- Chipotle’s new CEO announced the company will be closing up to 65 stores and revamping its menu. Guac is still extra …
- Nike beat revenue estimates, returning to growth in the North American market. The company cited new launches and its partnership with who else but Amazon?
- Starbucks Chief Financial Officer Scott Maw announced his retirement from the coffee-maker. He will step down in November … to become Howard Schultz’s VP candidate.
- Kroger is partnering with the autonomous car company, Nuro, to deliver same day groceries.
- Another Equifax executive, Sudhakar Reddy Bonthu, will be charged with insider trading related to the massive data breach last year.
- US indices were up yesterday:
- DOW: +0.41%
- S&P 500: +0.62%
- NASDAQ: +0.79%