How Trump Patron Robert Mercer Brilliantly Shifts Assets From The Main Street Economy, Beer Sales, Into What Bloomberg Calls “The Blackest Box in Finance.” Is Mercer indeed, like Trump, under severe financial stress?

Disclosure:  This post is both broad and detailed so that interested analysts and journalists can gather key facts and form their own opinion.   Reviewing incredible schemes such as this orchestrated by Robert Mercer and Jim Simons often attract teams of analysts and reporters.  This post is original fact checked independent research available free on … Continue reading How Trump Patron Robert Mercer Brilliantly Shifts Assets From The Main Street Economy, Beer Sales, Into What Bloomberg Calls “The Blackest Box in Finance.” Is Mercer indeed, like Trump, under severe financial stress?

The Guardian – Offshore cash helped fund Steve Bannon’s attacks on Hillary Clinton

By Jon Swaine - November 7, 2017 Leaked documents and newly obtained public filings show how the billionaire Mercer family built a $60m war chest for conservative causes inside their family foundations by using an offshore investment vehicle to avoid US tax. The offshore vehicle was part of a network of companies in the Atlantic … Continue reading The Guardian – Offshore cash helped fund Steve Bannon’s attacks on Hillary Clinton

PERS IAP Accounts – Too Much Politics? Disclosure Lessons from Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson

See prior September 18. 2017 blog post  for important background regarding PERS adoption of age weighted IAP accounts. Once again, it appears that younger workers are being short changed by PERS in the adoption of age weighted IAP accounts.  Remarkably, there was no opportunity for public discussion on vendor selection or strategy regarding how the … Continue reading PERS IAP Accounts – Too Much Politics? Disclosure Lessons from Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson

Oregon PERS Set to Award $8 billion Contract, Largest Contract in State’s History With no Media Coverage

In 2004 the State of Oregon decided to isolate the "employee contribution" part of PERS and put these amounts into what are called IAP (Individual Account Program) accounts. These 200,000 IAP accounts are essentially a defined contribution program, not unlike a 401K, for which members earn returns based upon market results with no guaranteed rate of … Continue reading Oregon PERS Set to Award $8 billion Contract, Largest Contract in State’s History With no Media Coverage

Regeneron’s Eylea: Pulling Open the Curtain on Drug Costs

Doris is 85 and suffers from moisture build up in her eye, what some call wet eye.   She is on Medicare and gets treated with Eylea, a Regeneron product, every 4-5 weeks.  Each treatment costing $6,200.   That is more than $70,000 per year even though Doris never made more than $40,000 while working. … Continue reading Regeneron’s Eylea: Pulling Open the Curtain on Drug Costs

Is Patient Health Being Mortgaged via Derivatives as Homes Were During the Financial Crisis?

    Senator McConnell's Dilemma:   To Serve Patients or Investors? When evaluating health care investments it is important to analyze the structure of leading drug and medical equipment companies.  A close look indeed reveals a derivative driven system in which private equity and hedge funds increase demand for drug payments by purchasing the rights … Continue reading Is Patient Health Being Mortgaged via Derivatives as Homes Were During the Financial Crisis?