As Health Reform continues to unfold, the pace of change is picking up speed, as new models of reimbursement, care delivery and access are taking shape.These shifts on the provider side should represent good news for millions of Americans that need better support from the healthcare system, especially since many of those with chronic disease aren’t currently getting recommended care. Coupled with the fact that most patients do not adhere to their medication and treatment regimens or recommended lifestyle and health behavior changes, and it’s easy to spot some of the challenges ahead.Here’s where the payer side, particularly health plans, can really help.Health plans have ready access to claims data and other relevant clinical information plus a direct line to their members for targeted messaging and clinical interventions. While not a traditional strategic imperative, health plans do have a significant opportunity to help drive behavior change, reduce risk, and produce positive health outcomes for their members.Most plans already provide member portals and other helpful resources, and many have begun to focus on enhancing these activities and initiatives to enhance their value and impact. But, to compete effectively, in this rapidly shifting market, they will need to re-orient their mindset and approach to be far more consumer-centric.Consumer PowerAfter a decade of slow growth, Healthcare Consumerism has begun to take hold. Participation in high deductible health plans (HDHPs) is at a record level with 23% of all those with employer-sponsored insurance now enrolled in an HDHP. Other emerging factors such as price comparison tools, quality ratings, and retail health alternatives will continue to put more power into the hands of consumers.Health plans need to respond to this trend and design strategic solutions or partner with best-in-class service providers for their member populations. This puts a greater burden on member engagement outreach and interactions that are positive, relevant and trust-building.This will not be easy. Recent surveys reveal a deep trust gap between insurance companies and their members. The KMB Group survey of 34,000 consumers, find that only 22% of members identify their health plans as a “trusted source.” This compares to 80% for physicians.And this year’s American Customer Satisfaction Index (ASCI) report indicates that customer satisfaction with health plans declined between 2013 and 2014, stating, “There is no area where health insurance companies offer an outstanding experience.”Member EngagementMember engagement is new territory for most health plans, and with Medicaid expansion, the influx of age-in Medicare members and the newly insured, it is increasingly important to provide consumer-oriented communications interactions, and interventions.As Star Ratings and other quality metrics rise in prominence, and consumer brand preference and loyalty begin to become important factors, health plans will find themselves striving for excellence in consumer experience, though outstanding member engagement.We see a number of areas that need to be addressed in developing an effective member engagement strategy:1. Understand how consumers think and operate in their own health and healthcare world.Health plans need to conduct a thorough and honest review of the outreach that goes to members, along with any and all on-going interactions, the customer service function, and related areas. This is the essential starting point for meaningful change and can help uncover insights about the consumer decision process. Additionally, areas such as behavioral economics provides many important learnings and can be a good guide for creating a messaging strategy to members.2. Adopt a member-centric marketing system designed around their concerns and interests.Using a consumer marketing mindset in establishing the communications strategy and identifying measurable actions, health plans need to become be a valued partner. Strategic messaging needs to be incorporated into all member touch points and aspects of outreach. Too many health plans still rely on dated letters from their Chief Medical Officer as the introduction to any number of health enhancement initiatives. Scrap them and find ways to make the content meaningful, relevant, and credible to the recipient.3. Strategically align and integrate all health improvement service offerings.Most health plans can check all the boxes relative to their service offerings in wellness, care management, disease management, pharmacy coordination, and an array of other services – but bringing them all together in a seamless solution is what members truly want and need. And by providing an overlay of measurement and feedback, plans can help ensure members receive what is most meaningful to them.These are ways health plans can think about advancing their capabilities toward being member-focused and engagement-oriented. There’s a lot they can do to actually change member behavior, lower risk and contribute to better overall health outcomes – which should produce stronger margins and returns.Health plans can learn and adopt many consumer marketing strategies from other industries, all of which can more create positive experiences in healthcare. In a consumer health plan market, the winners that emerge will likely be those that excel in member engagement.

What is digital marketing?
Promoting or marketing your product or services on the digital platforms, including the internet, mobile phones and display advertisements is collectively known as digital marketing. With the internet becoming an integral part of everyone’s life, the way of marketing products and services too has evolved and every brand and business is using technology to reach out to the maximum number of people. It is being used to entice potential buyers and inform the existing customer base of new arrivals.Why choose digital marketing over traditional marketing?
Following are the reasons that show digital marketing is a wise investment and effective channel that can help in the growth of business:
Cost-effective in comparison to Traditional marketing: New and small businesses having a tight budget and should opt for digital marketing for quick and effective results. They can analyze the fruitfulness of different strategies being applied and accordingly choose which to go further with.

More power to small companies: Small companies can interact with multiple numbers of customers even without having call centers across the world where they don’t even have physical branches.

Higher conversion rate: Success of business enterprises is measured in terms of percentage of conversion of incoming traffic into leads, sales or subscribers. Digital marketing programs help you to opt out from a number of options that can help you get a higher conversion rate. Some of these tools are Search Engine Optimization, email marketing and social media marketing.

Get better revenues: With higher conversion rate comes higher number of sales and ultimately better revenue that can be invested in expanding business and workforce.

Helps in building brand Reputation: It helps in interacting with people who might be interested in your product and services. If you provide your customer what you promised, they will also help you by word of mouth.

Make use of the next generation technology: The world is welcoming “internet of Things” which is a global ecosystem comprising of interconnected smart gadgets like tablets, computers, smartphones and smart-watches etc. It is going to play a crucial role in the future and a course in digital marketing in advance is going to give you an edge over others.
A course in marketing from a reputed institute not just helps you understand different facets of marketing and makes you techno-friendly, but it also helps you in understanding the minutes of business strategies.What a marketing course has to offer you?
During the course, you would come across the benefits of online marketing over traditional marketing. Valuable sessions about web hosting server, domain registration, TLD and SLD servers, Windows and Linux servers are an integral part of digital marketing course. A well-planned curriculum comprises of syllabus segregated in different modules dealing with topics like social media optimization and marketing, SEO basics, Google ads, email marketing and lots more. By the time you complete the course, you will have a clear vision and mission to implement digital marketing and make the best out of it to impart new heights to your business.

In a statement made by Texas State Representative John Smittee, “You look at the cost of health care in general and it’s increasing faster than the cost of living.” According to a Commonwealth Fund report, we have seen individual Texas health insurance premiums increase by almost 50 percent in the past eight years. The rise in family and group Texas health insurance plan premiums was even greater. A 2011 survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the cost of giving health benefits to employees increased by 118 percent for large firms and 103 percent for small firms in the past 10 years.Health Savings Accounts Made Available To TexansUnder the “IRC Section 223″ or state “Qualifying High Deductible Health Plan,” certain high-deductible Texas insurance plans are allowed to pair with a Health Savings Account or HSA. Health Savings Accounts started back in 2004. Since then, there had been an influx in people enrolling in HSA plans. Health Savings Accounts are available to Texans who buy their own TX health insurance plan, who are self-employed or who have employer-provided HSA plans.In a study by United Benefit Advisors it showed that HSA-qualified plans have fewer and lower rate hikes as well as lower premiums compared to traditional health care plans. The rate of HSA premium increases is one third to one half that of what traditional plans has been. Results showed that the cost of HSA plans had only risen by an average of 3.4 percent while premiums for all plans combined increased an average of 9.6 percent in 2005 alone.Between 2004 and 2005, Health Savings Account plan premiums increased by an average of 2.8 percent while the combined cost of Texas health plans rose by 7.3 percent as affirmed by a survey released by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions.Employers And Employees Can Both Benefit From A Health Savings AccountSince Health Savings Accounts started, many employers have realized that switching from group coverage to Health Savings Account plans offered in the individual market increases their savings that permit them to fund an HSA for every employee. Thanks to the new health care reform law, HSA plans now cover preventive health care from in-network providers with no out-of-pocket costs. This is even before the policyholder meets their deductible. If the medical expenses are not covered by their health insurance plan, employees can withdraw HSA money tax-free to pay for qualified medical expenses.How Can Health Reimbursement Arrangements Help?Health Savings Accounts and Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA) can be used together. However, their use must not overlap each other. For example, you are not allowed to reimburse medical expenses that are meant to go toward the deductible of the HSA-qualified Texas health insurance. The main purpose of HRA plans is to reimburse workers for health care costs not covered by health plans as well as health insurance premiums. HRAs offer flexibility to employers because they can control the healthcare benefits of their workers without compromising the healthcare they receive.

So you’ve narrowed down your wedding entertainment ideas and you’ve spent weeks researching your ideal wedding entertainment. Multiple quotes have landed in your inbox. You’ve had countless conversations with function band leaders and wedding entertainers. Your next step will be to make sure you get a solid contract signed. There’s a tendency to just leave it at that and let the band arrive and get on with performing. Well, you’d be right but there are a few things you can do to really get the most from your wedding musicians or entertainers. Here’s the top 5:1. Make sure you serve them a good quality hot meal. Professional wedding entertainers whether it be variety acts or function bands spend large amounts of time travelling. They get to a venue are normally hurried into setting up their gear ready to perform. 9 times out of 10 they just don’t have time to leave the venue and get a good quality meal inside them. Serving sandwiches just doesn’t cut it.2. Provide a civilised area to dine in. It’s obvious that your wedding entertainers will need a place to eat their meal. All bands and entertainers will give you a great performance if you look after them. In the case of function band, all sitting around a table before a performance is a really important opportunity for all the band members to catch up, relax and gel before they perform for you.3. Provide good changing facilities. It’s often perceived that bands and entertainers are being demanding when they ask for a dressing room. Entertainers will generally turn up to an event in jeans and a t-shirt so they need to change somewhere. They have bags to carry their stage clothing in that need to be left somewhere. Many will have instrument cases which need to be left somewhere. Any spare room in the venue that isn’t being used will suffice as a changing room. Failing that if your event is in a hotel, consider booking a room for the band for a few hours, hotels often offer hourly rates for room occupancy. Don’t offer the toilets as an option. It’s not practical and it’s not a great environment to prepare to perform in. Moreover your guests won’t enjoy the musicians in your band changing in front of them!4. Have a plentiful supply of water and/or soft drinks. It’s a really obvious one but often overlooked. Many bands will bring water with them but leaving a couple of litres of mineral water out for them won’t break the bank and makes all the difference.5. Be clear on lines of communication on the night. Again an obvious one but very often overlooked in the run up to a wedding as there are so many critical tasks to get ticked off. Make sure someone from the wedding party, eg best man, usher etc is given the responsibility of making sure the band know what time they are expected to be on stage and performing. Any performer will tell you that the timings laid out in a wedding schedule will change on the night. Unless the band are communicated to they will have no idea how late the schedule is actually running.We’ve kept the above to a minimum of 5 critical action points but bear in mind that looking after your performers will make sure you get the best value for your money. While they may be professionals they are still human beings and respond to a bit of TLC.

Unlikely? Well no, not as far-fetched as you might have thought. There are quite a few installations where the usage of the system capability is so minimal it might as well not be there!There are two really important points of entry for the HR application into the organisation: Reporting and Triggered Actions (this latter can evolve into Workflow).Reporting is the life blood of an enterprise – although it’s easy to overdose on it! – and a useful suite of reports coming from HR would include:– Headcount– Staff Turnover– Staff Stability– Equal Opportunities– Departmental Salaries– Costed Absence by Department– Objectives Met and Outstanding – Individually, and within Department– Training Needs Met and Outstanding – Individually, and within DepartmentRemember, the Reports are only as good as the quality of the information within them. All too often, reporting from the HR department is found to be strewn with errors or outdated entries, and once the integrity is questioned, it is very difficult to get confidence restored in the output.HR departments will claim that they are under pressure, and this is understood, but Reports are a primary product of HR and data cannot be dealt with in a haphazard or sloppy fashion. Quality of data must be a paramount consideration.Triggered Actions are not only an invaluable “admin-killer” for HR, but they are very useful in helping busy managers to ensure that nothing falls down between the cracks.Typical support for managers will come with the following reminders:– Probation periods– AppraisalsUnfulfilled– Training Needs– Service Entitlements– Holiday conflicts– Sickness Absence trends– Company Property – Laptops, Mobile Telephones, Security Cards – issue on joining, return on leaving.Did we say “admin-killer” for HR? Not only can you set up email alerts within your organisation, but you can generate messages to reach outside, for instance Starters and Leavers to the following providers– Life Assurance scheme– Permanent Health Insurance scheme– Medical Insurance– Pension– Company Vehicles– Sports ClubsAs you can see, from scratch you will quickly be in a position to extract benefit from your HR software!

How to build a successful online business may take time and effort. Most that come here fail, but why? Usually it is due to a lack of real information on how to build, brand and manage their business or, they simply did not try.Time and time again have I seen individuals, small business owners and everyone else, try to truly build a successful business or even presence here on the Internet. With the multitude of cheap affiliate programs and so-called guru’s pushing their products around I was amazed at the failure rate. The so-called professionals continually tell us for years that 98% fail here, but my question is why? Why, if their product is so good are so many failing here?What Does It Take To SucceedDetermination and follow through would be the mindset for any successful business to be built, online or offline. Within the Internet marketing community itself failure should not be an option as success can most likely happen at some point. What I mean is that if you stick around long enough, know how to market and brand yourself and products here, it will happen, time is what kills the entrepreneur here.There are many “flash in the pan” opportunities we see all day online, but these are completely full of hype and usually without any solid platform from which to learn and grow your business. The affiliate marketing industry is full of these types of programs that promise the world for success online, only to have 98% or more fail. STOP THE FAILURE.Know What To Do OnlineBuilding brand awareness, starting off on your future with an online business is simple. Learn what it takes to not only survive here, but learn how to market properly and effectively. The one piece advice anyone, including myself who has found a good deal of success know that it came from learning and applying the fundamentals.There area host of some very simple platforms and strategies you can learn, and it can be mastered in a very short amount of time. But, this is where the “flash in the pan” idea of getting rich quick online hyperbole has taken hold of your mind, letting you believe that if in days you see no real income, you will never see success.NOT TRUE. While some of us have seen our businesses grow rapidly online, it was still a few months or so before the real success began. It took days to learn and weeks to apply to where we began to see the traffic we knew was already there waiting for us. Your customers, clients and prospects are here, they are on the Internet and they are waiting for you, but they have to find you.Proper Marketing StrategiesThere are many basic platforms you must use when building a business online. Regardless of what the so-called Guru’s may say, the basics are the basics and even they built lists this way and continue to do so.· Building a website and blog are extremely important, and how to build them correctly.· Understanding Search Engine Marketing is a must for the online entrepreneur.· Learning how to create valuable information and content that get found online.· Video marketing and it’s important role of truly branding you and your business.· Article marketing.· Sales copy and how to convert your traffic through the sales funnel.· E-mail marketing.· Social media marketing and how today it is the rising star for any successful entrepreneur online.These are just a few of the most familiar and basic foundation you should not only know, but use in your daily method of operations online. Even local business owners looking to build there presence online and drive more traffic through their doors are beginning to see the importance to their survival with Internet marketing today.Online Marketing MentorsAs an online marketing mentor, and those who have worked with me for years have seen, failure was due to only two factors: no real knowledge base of online marketing and building a business here or, they were simply lazy and looking for the “flash in the pan” way out. The former however, this was the biggest reason for failure with any would-be entrepreneur online, no real solid understanding of search engine marketing and how to convert the traffic that is here.There are a few simple keys to success with any business online, understand online marketing, know your business here and follow through with effort and patience. For those who have seen people get rich here overnight with their businesses, remember, they were here for months or years before that day just like you, trying to figure it all out.

We get a lot of emails from people who are really up to their eyeballs in debt. One question we get asked time and time again is, “Should we get a personal loan to pay off our credit cards?” Each situation is different.The reason why people ask us this question is very simple. On a credit card you are paying 20% plus a year on interest, where on a bank loan you are paying 10% a year interest. The difference while only 10% is huge in dollar terms over a year and it can mean the difference in paying down an amount of debt in a much quicker time. The answer seems pretty easy right; well there are many shades of grey in the answer.However there are a couple of questions you should ask yourself. Only when you can answer YES to each question should you think about getting a personal loan to pay off your credit card.1. Once the credit cards are paid off will I cancel them?
There is no use in paying off your credit cards in full only to start at a zero dollar balance and start racking up debt on them again. Just because you pay down your credit card to zero, the card company doesn’t cancel them. You need to request this. We have known people in the past who have done this and continued to use the card like it was someone else’s money. Fast forward a year. They now have a portion of the original debt on a personal loan, plus their credit cards are in same debt position they were when they took the loan out. You need to be able to cancel the credit card 100% when the balance has been paid down.2. Are you comfortable with your home budget?
Are you just scraping by month to month? Or do you need to resort to credit cards to make up the difference. Many people believe if they take out a personal loan to pay off their credit card this will be the answer to their budgeting problems. They take out a personal loan, pay off their credit card, they take our advice and close their credit card. However then tragedy strikes, their fridge breaks down. Due to the fact they are living pay cheque to pay cheque they have no money saved. As quickly as you can say, “I’m doing something that is not very smart” they are back onto any credit card company for a quick approval to get a new plastic card to cover the fridge. Or they are down at the shops taking up an interest free offer on a fridge. Before you take out a personal loan, test yourself. Run through a few scenarios in your mind. What would happen if you needed $1000, $2000 or $3000 quickly? Could you cover it without resorting back to opening a new credit card?3. Have you got a debit card?
There are some payments in this world where you need a credit card number. Let’s face it, over the phone and internet shops, sometimes credit cards are the only way to pay. A debit card allows you to have all the advantages of a credit card but you use your own money. So there is no chance of being charged interest. When closing down your credit card, make sure you have already set up a debit card. Make a list of all the monthly automatic direct debits. You can easily call these companies and get them to change your monthly automatic direct debits to your debit card. You don’t want to start getting late fees due to your credit card being closed when companies try to make withdrawals.4. Can you make additional payments on your personal loan without being penalised?
While credit cards are a financial life-sucking product, they have one good advantage. You can pay more than the minimum payment without getting penalised financially. For example, if you had $20,000 owing and paid off $18,000, there is no penalty for this. Personal loans are not always this cut and dry. There are two different types of personal loans to consider; fixed interest and variable interest.The big difference is with variable interest you can make additional payments without being penalised (or just a minor fee is charged on the transaction depending on the bank). However with fixed interest, you are agreeing to a set amount of interest over the course of the loan. In fact you could pay out a 5 year fixed interest loan in 6 months and you will still be charged the full five years of interest.We strongly suggest you take out a variable interest loan. You would have the major advantage of paying additional money to cut the time of the loan, and the total interest you must pay. If you are reading this we would like to think you are extremely keen to get out of debt. And you would be looking to put any additional money to this cause. As your budget becomes healthier over time you should have more and more money to pay off the personal loan. You don’t want to be in a situation where you have the money to pay out the loan in full (or a considerable amount; however there is absolutely no financial benefit by doing it.5. Is the credit card balance too high to pay out in the next six months?
If you owe $20,000 on your credit card, have $500 in the bank and you are living pay cheque to pay cheque, then obviously you will need more than six months to pay back your total debt. However if you only owe an amount, which when carefully looking at your budget you truly believe you could pay out in 6 months, our advice is to forget about the personal loan and concentrate on crushing, killing and destroying your card. With most personal loans you will need to pay an upfront cost, a monthly cost and in some cases, make several trips or phone calls to the bank. All these costs can far outweigh any advantage of getting interest off an amount you are so close to paying back. In this case, just buckle down and get rid of the card.6. Have you looked at a credit card balance transfer? ***(Very Risky option, only look at this option if you are 100% disciplined)***
If you can look back at point 1 and 2 and you can answer a FIRM YES on both these points, why not call around and look at what a balance transfer could do for you? Some credit card companies will offer you a zero interest balance for up to a year. You can make as many payments as you like with a zero interest balance.Just some things to ponder here about a balance transfer vs. a personal loan:
1. One great thing about a personal loan is it’s not like cash. Once you have used it to pay back your credit card debt, there is nothing else to spend. However with a balance transfer you can get yourself into trouble. For example if you have a $20,000 credit card balance transferred to your new card, the new card might have a $25,000 limit. Credit card companies are smart and they want you to keep on spending and racking up debt. You could easily fall back into old habits. Especially due to the fact, there is a 0% interest rate. Can you not spend one additional cent on the new card while you pay down this transferred balance?2. Credit card companies like you to pay as little back to them each month as possible. Unlike a bank loan where you dictate how long it will take you to make the loan over (e.g. 1 year to 7 years). Credit cards can stay with you until your funeral if you never pay it off in full. In fact credit card companies in some cases will take as low as 2% of the total outstanding balance as a monthly payment.To put this into perspective let’s compare $20,000 with a credit card @20% interest vs. personal loan over 4 years @ 4% interest.
On a balance of $20,000 on a credit card over one year you would be FORCED to pay $4713
On a balance of $20,000 on a personal loan over one year you would be FORCED to pay
$6087On a balance of $20,000 on a credit card over four years you would be FORCED to pay $17,770 (This amount would pay down the balance to $17,037)
On a balance of $20,000 on a personal loan over four years you would be FORCED to pay
$24,348 (This amount would pay the balance down to zero)As you can see, having a personal loan forces you put your money towards your debt. However a credit card almost encourages you to put as little as possible towards it. Most people don’t have the discipline to put above and beyond the minimum payments of any debt. You need the discipline of tough nails to take this option.3. Do you know what happens when the 12 month zero interest free period runs out?
At this point what interest rate will you get? Do they back charge the interest on the remaining debt from the start date? What is the annual fee? Are there any fees for redoing a balance transfer to a different card/company? These are the questions you need to ask before moving your money over on a balance transfer. There’s no use doing a balance transfer if you are going to get a ridiculous rate of interest once the honeymoon period is over. You need to know all these things before you do it. The optimal idea is once the honeymoon period comes to a close you do a second balance transfer to a new card with 0% interest.If you haven’t got it by now, please be aware that balance transfers are an extremely risky path to take. We only suggest you do them if you are 100% ready, willing and able to pay back this option in the same time as your personal loan. There are pitfalls all along this path. If for any reason you have some self doubt DO NOT TAKE THIS OPTION. Go back to the personal loan option.7. Do you know if you can get back your annual fee?
While this question should not influence your ultimate decision to get a personal loan, it is one you should ask. If you pay $100 for an annual fee in January with your credit card and you decide to pay out and close the card in June, some card companies will give you back the remaining annual fee. While the amount in this case might only be $50, it all adds up. However you need to ask for this fee. Some credit card companies in my experience have a nasty habit of forgetting to automatically send you a cheque. You might as well ask the question.Final Conclusion: As you can see there are many shades of grey when asking this question. You need to sit down and do the sums and come up with the best option for you. If you can answer yes to these seven questions, at least you will have all the information at hand to proceed with the best decision. Please, please, please do not do a balance transfer unless you have all your ducks in place. My advice is for every one person this suits, there are 20 it would not.

Laying out a large sum of money to purchase a car outright can place a huge burden on your checking or savings account. An online auto loan will offer you the benefit of acquiring a vehicle with monthly car payments you can probably manage. Auto loans also assist in building your credit rating, provided that you make the payments on time, and offer you the opportunity to purchase a better vehicle that may have been too expensive for you if you were to pay cash. The online auto loan process is quite simple and takes just a few clicks of the mouse to complete. Here is a breakdown of some of the advantages to an online auto loan.Advantages Compared to Leasing
With an online auto loan, each monthly payment you make goes toward eventually owning the vehicle yourself. When the loan is paid off, you own a piece of property. In a lease agreement, you rent a car for a specific time. Auto loans do not limit the length of miles you may drive the car before incurring costly over-mileage charges, as is the circumstance with a lease. Another consideration is auto insurance. If you finance through a loan, the length an insurance business will pay for damage depends on the market value of the vehicle.Refinancing Benefits
The majority of lenders will be happy to loan you enough funds to pay off your old loan at any time, leaving you with smaller monthly payments. Refinancing can save you hundreds of dollars of interest if the finance terms are dropped. It is not only lower interest that lowers those payments but an extended term will also help. If you could handle your original loan payment, refinancing at a smaller interest rate gives you the opportunity to complete an application the extra money toward paying off the auto loan quicker. Unlike home refinancing, which requires a determination of property value, auto refinancing is dependent only on the period of cash needed to pay off the previous loan.Early Payoff Advantages
Auto loans that do not charge penalties for early payoff provide you the flexibility of ending the credit score agreement ahead of schedule, thus saving you funds on finance charges. An early payoff will guide repair your credit score score, making it easier to secure loans in the future. Completing auto loan financing payments ahead of time will free up funds to pay for other priorities in your budget. Another advantage is to pay off an vehicle loan with funds from another type of loan that has tax-deductible interest charges, such as a home equity line of credit score. An auto finance company requires you to carry a certain length of insurance coverage for the length of the agreement. You may reduce the insurance coverage by paying off the loan early and adjusting the policy to more affordable rates.Find more useful information about on-line auto loans and the many advantages of them on the internet at OpenRoad Lending. You could conclude useful information about negotiating with the dealer and useful calculators.

Key Insights
The strong pullback in the U.S. dollar provided significant support to stocks.
Treasury yields have pulled back after touching new highs, which served as an additional positive catalyst for S&P 500.
A move above 3730 will push S&P 500 towards the resistance level at 3760.
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Pfizer Rallies After Announcing A Huge Price Hike For Its COVID-19 Vaccines
S&P 500 is currently trying to settle above 3730 as traders’ appetite for risk is growing. The U.S. dollar has recently gained strong downside momentum as the BoJ intervened to stop the rally in USD/JPY. Weaker U.S. dollar is bullish for stocks as it increases profits of multinational companies and makes U.S. equities cheaper for foreign investors.

The leading oil services company Schlumberger is up by 9% after beating analyst estimates on both earnings and revenue. Schlumberger’s peers Baker Hughes and Halliburton have also enjoyed strong support today.

Vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna gained strong upside momentum after Pfizer announced that it will raise the price of its coronavirus vaccine to $110 – $130 per shot.

Biggest losers today include Verizon and Twitter. Verizon is down by 5% despite beating analyst estimates on both earnings and revenue. Subscriber numbers missed estimates, and traders pushed the stock to multi-year lows.

Twitter stock moved towards the $50 level as the U.S. may conduct a security review of Musk’s purchase of the company.

From a big picture point of view, today’s rebound is broad, and most market segments are moving higher. Treasury yields have started to move lower after testing new highs, providing additional support to S&P 500. It looks that some traders are ready to bet that Fed will be less hawkish than previously expected.

S&P 500 Tests Resistance At 3730

S&P 500 has recently managed to get above the 20 EMA and is trying to settle above the resistance at 3730. RSI is in the moderate territory, and there is plenty of room to gain additional upside momentum in case the right catalysts emerge.

If S&P 500 manages to settle above 3730, it will head towards the next resistance level at 3760. A successful test of this level will push S&P 500 towards the next resistance at October highs at 3805. The 50 EMA is located in the nearby, so S&P 500 will likely face strong resistance above the 3800 level.

On the support side, the previous resistance at 3700 will likely serve as the first support level for S&P 500. In case S&P 500 declines below this level, it will move towards the next support level at 3675. A move below 3675 will push S&P 500 towards the support at 3640.

Summary
SPDN is not the largest or oldest way to short the S&P 500, but it’s a solid choice.
This ETF uses a variety of financial instruments to target a return opposite that of the S&P 500 Index.
SPDN’s 0.49% Expense Ratio is nearly half that of the larger, longer-tenured -1x Inverse S&P 500 ETF.
Details aside, the potential continuation of the equity bear market makes single-inverse ETFs an investment segment investor should be familiar with.
We rate SPDN a Strong Buy because we believe the risks of a continued bear market greatly outweigh the possibility of a quick return to a bull market.
Put a gear stick into R position, (Reverse).
Birdlkportfolio

By Rob Isbitts

Summary
The S&P 500 is in a bear market, and we don’t see a quick-fix. Many investors assume the only way to navigate a potentially long-term bear market is to hide in cash, day-trade or “just hang in there” while the bear takes their retirement nest egg.

The Direxion Daily S&P 500® Bear 1X ETF (NYSEARCA:SPDN) is one of a class of single-inverse ETFs that allow investors to profit from down moves in the stock market.

SPDN is an unleveraged, liquid, low-cost way to either try to hedge an equity portfolio, profit from a decline in the S&P 500, or both. We rate it a Strong Buy, given our concern about the intermediate-term outlook for the global equity market.

Strategy
SPDN keeps it simple. If the S&P 500 goes up by X%, it should go down by X%. The opposite is also expected.

Proprietary ETF Grades
Offense/Defense: Defense

Segment: Inverse Equity

Sub-Segment: Inverse S&P 500

Correlation (vs. S&P 500): Very High (inverse)

Expected Volatility (vs. S&P 500): Similar (but opposite)

Holding Analysis
SPDN does not rely on shorting individual stocks in the S&P 500. Instead, the managers typically use a combination of futures, swaps and other derivative instruments to create a portfolio that consistently aims to deliver the opposite of what the S&P 500 does.

Strengths
SPDN is a fairly “no-frills” way to do what many investors probably wished they could do during the first 9 months of 2022 and in past bear markets: find something that goes up when the “market” goes down. After all, bonds are not the answer they used to be, commodities like gold have, shall we say, lost their luster. And moving to cash creates the issue of making two correct timing decisions, when to get in and when to get out. SPDN and its single-inverse ETF brethren offer a liquid tool to use in a variety of ways, depending on what a particular investor wants to achieve.

Weaknesses
The weakness of any inverse ETF is that it does the opposite of what the market does, when the market goes up. So, even in bear markets when the broader market trend is down, sharp bear market rallies (or any rallies for that matter) in the S&P 500 will cause SPDN to drop as much as the market goes up.

Opportunities
While inverse ETFs have a reputation in some circles as nothing more than day-trading vehicles, our own experience with them is, pardon the pun, exactly the opposite! We encourage investors to try to better-understand single inverse ETFs like SPDN. While traders tend to gravitate to leveraged inverse ETFs (which actually are day-trading tools), we believe that in an extended bear market, SPDN and its ilk could be a game-saver for many portfolios.

Threats
SPDN and most other single inverse ETFs are vulnerable to a sustained rise in the price of the index it aims to deliver the inverse of. But that threat of loss in a rising market means that when an investor considers SPDN, they should also have a game plan for how and when they will deploy this unique portfolio weapon.

Proprietary Technical Ratings
Short-Term Rating (next 3 months): Strong Buy

Long-Term Rating (next 12 months): Buy

Conclusions
ETF Quality Opinion
SPDN does what it aims to do, and has done so for over 6 years now. For a while, it was largely-ignored, given the existence of a similar ETF that has been around much longer. But the more tenured SPDN has become, the more attractive it looks as an alternative.

ETF Investment Opinion

SPDN is rated Strong Buy because the S&P 500 continues to look as vulnerable to further decline. And, while the market bottomed in mid-June, rallied, then waffled since that time, our proprietary macro market indicators all point to much greater risk of a major decline from this level than a fast return to bull market glory. Thus, SPDN is at best a way to exploit and attack the bear, and at worst a hedge on an otherwise equity-laden portfolio.