4/17/2019
By Charles Payne, CEO & Principal Analyst

Healthcare is the worst performing sector this year, initially derailed when President Trump suggested the GOP go after Obamacare without a clear replacement. More recently, it’s been hammered by Bernie Sanders’ push for Medicare for all.

Stocks like UnitedHealth Group (UNH) are getting crushed, suffering its biggest 2-day loss in ten years.   The selling is mind-boggling, but it is intriguing in the sense it means Wall Street thinks Bernie has a chance of winning in 2020. There is huge value in the space, but it’s all predicated on the notion the industry will be asked to write any major health care legislation as it wrote most of Obamacare.

UNH reported earnings on April 18, and what was one of the biggest positive news stories became the biggest losing story and a sober reminder of what’s at stake in the next presidential election.

Bernie Sanders could become President of the United States.  I’ve already written that Bernie is the only candidate Wall Street is taking seriously.  When Bernie Sanders unveiled "Medicare for All" plan on April 10, shares of UnitedHealth Group (UNH) were $248.78. 

UNH's share price bounced on its earnings beat, sending the stock to $238 a share, +$8.00, before fading on comments from CEO David Wichmann who warned “Medicare for All” would “destabilize the nation’s health system.”

His comments also sent shares of others in the Healthcare Insurance industry down significantly:

• HCA -7.0%
• HUM -6.9%
• ANTM -6.1%
• CI -5.1%
• UNH -3.0%

Charles Payne
Wall Street Strategies

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