Oh, and then there’s the state of Oregon which tried universal health care and failed when it turned out – surprise! That’s why our health care system is called a “fee for service” system. That’s a massive cost to the system that has nothing to do with health care and everything to do with legal protection. And in the end, it will be innovation in the health care space that will drive down costs much more than any government policy. People like Munger, Gates, and Warren Buffett didn’t get where

Oil producers suggested on Monday that they’re making progress toward extending output cuts that have propped up the market, but the bullish signals had a limited impact on crude prices. Russia, the biggest contributor to cuts by 11 non-OPEC members, also said it was holding talks about extending the accord. With inventories still elevated, the group is under pressure to prolong — and possibly deepen — the output cuts when it meets on May 25. “We’re five months into this deal, almost six, and we

After months of speculation, it’s now official: Coach is buying Kate Spade. But don’t expect to find Kate Spade wallets in Coach stores. In fact, Coach intends for its brands to remain so independent, it doesn’t want its shoppers to know Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman are under its umbrella too. He intends to pull back Kate Spade inventory on flash sale sites and certain wholesale channels, but that doesn’t mean prices will increase for Kate Spade. In Japan, it’s 11 percent for Kate Spade versus

Health act repeal could threaten U.S. job engineIn truth, Mr. Buffett said, a specter much more sinister than corporate taxes is looming over American businesses: health care costs. “If you go back to 1960 or thereabouts, corporate taxes were about 4 percent of G.D.P.,” Mr. Buffett said. By contrast, he said, while tax rates have fallen as a share of gross domestic product, health care costs have ballooned. That’s not to say corporate tax reform won’t help, but it is tiny relative to fixing heal

Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates defended her decision to not defend President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration. I understand that, but all I can say is that I did my job the best way I knew how,” Yates said. Yates was promptly fired after she refused to defend Trump’s first immigration order, which would have restricted travel from seven Muslim-majority nations. Cruz argued that Yates made her decision after the office of legal counsel approved the order’s legality. The f

Brad Gerstner, founder and CEO of Altimeter Capital, recommends United Continental due to industry consolidation. The idea from the former PAR Capital portfolio manager was presented Monday at the Sohn Investment Conference in New York. The investor estimates United’s earnings per share could double by the year 2020 assuming profit margins increase and the airline gains some market share. As a result, Gerstner predicts the stock will more than double in the coming years. “No industry has been mo

With Le Pen’s loss, many traders expected the euro would continue to rally; but Macron’s election appears to have been a “sell the news” event for traders. The key theme Gordon observed on Monday was as that euro rally ran out of steam, the U.S. dollar gained and thus commodities have been depressed. Examining a chart of the FXE, the exchange-traded fund that tracks the euro, Gordon pointed to a pattern he called “three drives to a top.” “This guy’s clearly broken uptrend support right around th

Twenty-four House Republicans who voted last week for the controversial Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill are being targeted by a television and digital ad campaign heavily criticizing their support of the legislation. The bill was later amended to allow states to ask for a waiver that could let insurers charge people with pre-existing health conditions more than healthier people. If it took the House passing a bill to get them moving on a bill, I thank them for that.” Before the vote, many Repu

The planned community development company originated in 2010 and has been at work putting up communities in various locations, Hawaii in particular. The company also has developments at the South Street Seaport in New York and in Houston, Las Vegas and Maryland. Ackman touted the company’s management as well as the “location, location, location” benefits of its various properties. “We kept the company kind of as a secret,” he said, adding that there will be an investor day “very soon.” More from

Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates warned the White House that former national security advisor Michael Flynn “essentially could be blackmailed” by Russia more than two weeks before he was fired, she said Monday. President Donald Trump removed Flynn in February after it was revealed that he had lied about the nature of his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States. Russian elements had the ability to blackmail Flynn because they knew — and likely had

This is a breaking news story. Jeff Gundlach said Monday he has a pair trade betting on further gains for emerging markets and against U.S. stocks. Gundlach said he is long the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF and short the SPDR S&P 500 ETF specifically. The CEO and chief investment officer at DoubleLine Capital was speaking from the Sohn investment conference in New York. In an eclectic presentation that meandered from philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche to early 20th century art to the misnomer o

The French CAC 40 index, meanwhile, dropped 1 percent. U.S. equities traded slightly lower for most of the session, but the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded near 10 and briefly dipped below 10. Market expectations for a rate hike next month were 83.1 percent on Monday, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool. In total, there were more than $13 billion in announced U.S. mergers and acquisition deals Monday, said Richard Peterson, senio

Activist hedge fund Elliott Management has purchased a 15.3 percent stake in Gigamon, which makes software to manage traffic online, according to a 13-D filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Shares of Gigamon rose more than 16 percent Monday after the move was disclosed. Elliott is run by billionaire investor Paul Singer, who just last week raised more than $5 billion in 24 hours. The firm said in the SEC filing that shares of Gigamon are “significantly undervalued and repre

“My view is, either you are being incredibly naive, or worse, trying to deceive me,” she said. “Or, at best, it means that your market is so small there [are] no competitors. “So, go and talk to me about what other things are out there,” said Gouw, “because there is always competition.” Seeking investment too earlyThe second common mistake Gouw sees is entrepreneurs approaching venture capital investors too early in the growth of their companies. Even if a business does not have a customer base

“I found regular pop culture wasn’t reflective of bold women and the queer community,” said Kreisinger. “I wanted to take the language of popular culture and remix it, mash it up, and make it more reflective of the women in my society.” Thus Kreisinger — also known as the “Pop Culture Pirate” — became a digital artist. Kreisinger currently uses her penchant for remixing pop culture moments at Refinery29, where she works as an executive producer. It’s also spun-off its own Facebook video series o

Wall Street seems to agree — analysts have upped the stock’s 12-month price target nearly 30 times so far this May, according to FactSet. Drexel Hamilton analyst Brian White released Apple’s highest price target on the Street on Monday, which at $202 a share would put Apple over the $1 trillion mark this year. Despite the company’s record-high market capitalization, the iPhone 8, repatriation of foreign cash and new innovations on the horizon could fuel more upside for Apple shares, White said.

IBM isn’t at the forefront of artificial intelligence, Social Capital CEO and founder Chamath Palihapitiya told CNBC on Monday, and he certainly isn’t a fan of IBM’s Watson. “Watson is a joke, just to be completely honest,” he said in an interview with “Closing Bell” on the sidelines of the Sohn Investment Conference in New York. In fact, Musk “is probably the closest thing to Thomas Edison we have in our generation,” Palihapitiya added. He recommended Tesla’s convertible bonds at the 22nd annua

David Copley shared his concerns about China and why he’s short certain assets in an exclusive CNBC PRO interview with Leslie Picker. Regarding China, “since 2009 they’ve just started to use more and more credit instead of productivity to grow, and that concerns us,” the New Zealand-based investor said on the sidelines of the Sohn Investment Conference, presented by CNBC. Copley also discussed:Consequences of high credit buildup in ChinaTwo short bets on Australian and New Zealand assetsA global

The Sohn Investment Conference in New York kicked off Monday with hedge fund managers’ picks moving markets in the technology, energy and media industries. Sohn is the most widely anticipated hedge fund event of the year, where managers volunteer their time and best investment ideas to raise money in the fight against childhood cancer. This year the conference began with Next Wave Sohn, featuring the “next generation of talent” among hedge fund managers. The picks from these rising stars are bel

Microsoft and Harman Kardon took the wraps off a new speaker with the Cortana voice assistant installed, helping Microsoft take on Amazon Echo and Google Home. Users can ask Cortana to play music, set calendar appointments, check the traffic, listen to the latest news, control smart home thermostats and more, Microsoft said in a blog post Monday. Cortana, Microsoft’s voice assistant, has so far existed only on mobile devices and in the company’s Windows operating system. Like Amazon’s Alexa, App