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Market Turmoil 2008
Last week's $75 million private placement in Arthrocare (ARTC.PK) was not a one off event. It was more like a sign of the times. Private placements are investments in a company where the investor is a small group of chosen... more
Over the weekend, Slate.com posted a report on some of the reasons why the healthcare industry may be more vulnerable to a recession now than in the past. However, the article also helped to highlight the ways in which orthopedics... more
Market dislocation can create unlikely situations that well positioned opportunistic companies can profit from. Recently, Greatbatch Inc., an OEM in the ortho and cardio spaces, posted a material gain on a debt repurchase transaction using an existing credit facility. This... more
Last night, Stryker announced that the company is reducing its revenue and earnings outlook for 2008 on account of the "unprecedented weakening" of the U.S. economy. Constant-currency revenue growth, previously forecast to be 11-12% over 2007, is now expected to... more
With stock values down so much, particularly over the past few months, we took a look at the mergers & acquisition environment. We pulled information on M&A premiums on the NASDAQ and NYSE in the recent past, given the recent... more
The United States' Federal Reserve announced this morning that it is going to buy $600 billion in mortgage backed assets. This comes right on top of an announced $200 billion to support consumer and small-business loans. These extraordinary moves are... more
Earlier this week we interviewed Wachovia's industrious medical technology and device analyst Mike Matson to revisit his thoughts on how the credit market dislocations are affecting hospital capital spending decisions. McCormick: Mike, thank you for joining us especially with all... more
This evening, BioMimetic Therapeutics (BMTI) issued a press release stating it has reached a settlement with Deutsche Bank regarding BMTI's holdings of auction-rate securities (ARS). BMTI told investors on its 2Q08 conference call that it had approximately $60 million of... more
Last week global equities were up on points of light in the interbank lending markets and this week equities have been pricing in a recession. Another important market is also pricing in a recession: high yield bonds. Before we get... more
Global equity markets have breathed a collective sigh of relief last week thanks to the U.S. Treasury announcing it is recapitalizing banks and the prospect of a thaw in credit markets. Our latest observations are below. U.S. Treasury Update The... more
This article first appeared in the October 7, 2008 edition of Orthopedics This Week. Robin: John, first of all, thank you so much for agreeing to discuss this unprecedented crisis in the capital markets. From my perspective, this is an... more
Musculoskeletal stocks have performed relatively well year to date only down 14% compared to the S&P 500, which is down 25%. Despite financial uncertainty roiling the market on what seems like a daily basis, musculoskeletal stocks have displayed resiliency to... more
What do the severe dislocations seen in the credit markets mean for the orthopedic device startup looking for venture capital? Duly noting we are not a venture capital firm (we perform buyouts), our observation from afar is that the venture... more
Even in these troubled markets, there is a price for everything. On Monday, in the midst of one of the greatest credit dislocations in history, Orthofix announced that it has amended its existing credit facility. In an even more remarkable... more
Healthcare is well known to be a steadily growing segment of the US economy. According to CMS, over the past decade the industry has grown at an average of 6.5% annually, despite an economy that has faced its share of... more
On the topic of bailouts, "Manias, Panics and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises" by the immortal economic historian Charles Kindleberger is recommended reading. Readers too busy to read books while burrowing for safe investments will hopefully find this quick... more
There has been so much written on the current financial crisis that it may be hard to get a simple explanation of what started this. The goal of this blog is to answer simply what could be an infinitely complicated... more
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