Friday, February 6, 2026
UMich Sentiment Rebound Continued In February As Inflation Angst Plummets
After January's big bounce from record lows (as Democrats began to see that the world is not the worst its ever been... and inflation is not going to explode), UMich sentiment was expected to re-dip again in February led by a drop in Current Conditions.
But February's preliminary data showed a continued rebound in sentiment (which is quite shocking given that it comes after the Davos/Greenland debacle) with a surge in Current Conditions dominating a small dip in Expectations to bring the headline sentiment to its highest since August 2025...
Source: Bloomberg
"Sentiment surged for consumers with the largest stock portfolios," said Director of Surveys, Joanne Hsu's, "while it stagnated and remained at dismal levels for consumers without stock holdings."
On net, modest increases in current personal finances and buying conditions for durables were offset by a small decline in long-run business conditions.
Inflation expectations for the next 12 months plummeted to 13-month lows (which medium term expectations rose modestly)...
Source: Bloomberg
...as Democrats and Independents come to their senses...
Source: Bloomberg
It appears mainstream media propaganda about Trump's tariffs worked on some... (is this where the term 'useful idiots' comes from?)
But, according to Democrats' prior panic, inflation is about to go vertical right about now...
...we wait with bated breadth.
Of course, UMich's reliability has been in question for a while now...
Finally, if you had any doubt that this survey was utterly biased, here is Hsu's concluding comment:
"While sentiment is currently the highest since August 2025, recent monthly increases have been small—well under the margin of error—and the overall level of sentiment remains very low from a historical perspective."
Translated: don't believe this drop in inflation fears (to 13 month lows) and rise in sentiment (to 6 month highs)... Trump's still OrangeManBad, remember!!
Centene reports $1.1B loss in Q4 as elevated medical costs continue to strain finances
Centene Corporation posted a $1.1 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2025 as it works to find ways to adapt to the elevated cost environment.
The company said in its earnings report released Friday morning that its medical loss ratio for the quarter was 94.3%, compared to 89.6% in the fourth quarter of 2024. The spike reflects higher morbidity in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchange market as well as changes to Medicare Part D that were rolled out as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.
For the full year, MLR was 91.9%, up from 88.3% in 2024. Centene said this was driven by reduced payouts from ACA risk adjustment as well as growing medical costs in both the marketplace and Medicaid spaces, with the latter seeing costs rise in particular for behavioral health and pharmaceuticals.
While it did post a loss in the fourth quarter, the profit results still surpassed Wall Street analysts' predictions, per Zacks Investment Research. By comparison, Centene reported $283 million in profit for the fourth quarter of 2024.
Centene posted $6.7 billion in losses across 2025 as market pressures squeeze the company, according to the report. It brought in $3.3 billion in profit for 2024.
"We are pleased to end a challenging year carrying positive momentum from the extensive and decisive actions taken in the back half of 2025 with the goal of restoring Marketplace profitability and stabilizing the trajectory of our Medicaid business," CEO Sarah London said in the press release. "As we look to 2026, we are positioned to deliver meaningful margin improvement and renewed adjusted diluted EPS growth."
In the earnings report, Centene noted that one of the steps it's taken to right the ship is to sell off the remaining Magellan Health business, and that in December it signed an agreement to divest that unit. The company had previously sold Magellan's pharmacy unit, Magellan Rx, and its Magellan Specialty Health division.
Centene said the sale generated noncash impairment charges of $513 million.
While the company posted significant losses in 2025, revenues have grown year over year. In the fourth quarter, Centene reported $49.7 billion in revenue, up from $40.8 billion in the prior-year quarter and also surpassing Wall Street's predictions. Revenue for all of 2025 was $194.8 billion, increasing from 2024's haul of $163.1 billion.
Centene boasted 27.6 million members as of Dec. 31, including 12.5 million in Medicaid and just shy of 6 million in its marketplace plans, per the report.
For 2026, Centene said it expects to bring in at least $3 in earnings per share as well as revenue between $186.5 billion and $190.5 billion.
DOL Proposed Pharmacy Benefit Manager Fee Disclosure Rule
The U.S. Department of Labor released a proposal under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to improve transparency in fees and compensation received by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and their affiliates, including affiliated providers of brokerage and consulting services. The proposed rule would require providers of pharmacy benefit management services to make detailed disclosures to fiduciaries of employer-sponsored self-insured group health plans to satisfy ERISA's statutory prohibited transaction exemption for service arrangements.
The proposal carries out President Trump's directive to the Department in Executive Order 14273. It is one component of the administration's broader initiative focused on healthcare price transparency and drug pricing reform.
Background
President Trump's Executive Order 14273, Lowering Drug Prices by Once Again Putting Americans First, instructed the Department to propose regulations to improve transparency into the direct and indirect compensation received by PBMs. Prescription drug spending is a significant component of employer-sponsored healthcare costs, and EO 14273 aims to create a fairer and more competitive prescription drug market, lower costs, and ensure accountability across the healthcare system.
PBMs play a central role in managing prescription drug benefits by developing drug formularies, negotiating rebates and fees with drug manufacturers, establishing pharmacy networks, and processing prescription drug claims. While PBMs provide valuable services, their compensation arrangements are often complex, opaque, and difficult for plan fiduciaries to evaluate because compensation might not only come from the group health plan. Compensation might also come from arrangements with drug manufacturers, pharmacies, rebate aggregators, and others in ways that are not fully disclosed. This proposed rule would give plan fiduciaries an invaluable tool to address rising drug costs for American workers and businesses.
To implement EO 14273, the Department has proposed a regulation under ERISA section 408(b)(2) that would require providers of pharmacy benefit management services to provide specific initial and semiannual disclosures to plan fiduciaries of employer-sponsored self-insured group health plans. The proposal would also require PBMs to allow plan fiduciaries to audit the disclosures to verify their accuracy. Finally, relief is proposed for plan fiduciaries in the event their PBM fails to meet its obligations under the regulation.
ERISA Section 408(b)(2)
ERISA generally prohibits transactions between employer-sponsored self-insured group health plans and "parties in interest," which includes service providers. ERISA section 408(b)(2) provides an important exemption that allows plans to enter into service contracts only if the services are necessary, the contract or arrangement is reasonable, and no more than reasonable compensation is paid.
In 2012, the Department finalized regulations under ERISA section 408(b)(2) requiring certain service providers to pension plans to make advance disclosures about services to be provided, fiduciary status of the covered service provider or its affiliates (if applicable), and reasonably expected direct and indirect compensation. The rule established specific disclosure obligations to ensure that responsible plan fiduciaries have the information they need to make better decisions when selecting and monitoring their plans' service providers.
In 2021, Congress amended ERISA section 408(b)(2) to add paragraph (B), which details the disclosures that certain brokerage and consulting service providers must make to group health plans. Paragraph (B) closely tracks the Department's regulation for pension plan arrangements.
The Department's proposed PBM fee disclosure rule follows a similar structure to the pension rule and the statutory provision in ERISA section 408(b)(2)(B). However, the proposal appropriately tailors the PBM disclosure requirements to give fiduciaries of self-insured group health plans the information that is necessary to evaluate PBM compensation arrangements, which pose unique complexities due to the structure of the pharmaceutical supply chain. The goal of this proposed rule is to ensure plan fiduciaries have access to clear information that helps them understand PBM compensation flows, identify conflicts of interest, and determine whether PBM contracts or arrangements are reasonable under ERISA section 408(b)(2).
Overview of the Proposed Regulation
The proposed regulation would require providers of pharmacy benefit management services as well as certain PBM-affiliated brokers and consultants ("covered service providers") to make specific disclosures to self-insured group health plans. Covered service providers are the entities that enter into contracts or arrangements with the self-insured group health plans to provide pharmacy benefit management services, regardless of whether the services will be performed directly or through affiliates, agents, or subcontractors.
Covered service providers would be required to provide initial disclosures to the plan fiduciary reasonably in advance of entering into, renewing, or extending a contract or arrangement. The initial disclosures would include a description of the pharmacy benefit management services as well as information on the direct compensation from the self-insured group health plan and compensation reasonably expected to be received from other arrangements, including:
- payments from drug manufacturers,
- spread compensation (i.e., when the price that the plan paid for a prescription drug exceeds the amount that is reimbursed to the pharmacy),
- payments recouped from pharmacies in connection with prescription drugs dispensed to the plan ("claw-backs"),
- price protection arrangements, and
- others.
The proposed rule would also require covered service providers to provide semiannual disclosures of the same compensation categories based on amounts actually received. This ongoing disclosure requirement is intended to support continued monitoring of service provider arrangements throughout the life of the contract or arrangement.
Finally, the proposed rule would require the covered service provider to permit the plan fiduciary to audit the disclosed information's accuracy.
Proposed Administrative Exemption for Plan Fiduciaries
The Department recognizes that there might be circumstances when a covered service provider fails to comply with its obligations under the regulation. In that case, the statutory exemption provided by ERISA section 408(b)(2) would not be available for the plan fiduciary.
For that reason, the proposal includes an additional proposed administrative exemption for plan fiduciaries who take certain steps when a covered service provider fails to comply, including notifying the Department if the covered service provider does not correct the failure.
Public Comment Period
The comment period runs for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. The proposal includes instructions on submitting comments through www.regulations.gov
Commenters are free to express views not only on the proposal's provisions, but also on any issues relevant to the proposal's subject matter.
Contact Information
For questions about the proposed rulemaking, contact EBSA's Office of Regulations and Interpretations at (202) 693-8500.
For questions about the proposed administrative exemption, contact EBSA's Office of Exemption Determinations at (202) 693-8540.
Ukraine Claims Putin Is Transferring Occupied Farmland Into State Hands
Russia has begun transferring privately owned farmland in the occupied Luhansk region to Russian state hands, the Ukrainian National Resistance Center claims, according to an article by UNN, cited by Portfolio.
According to Ukrainians, the Russian authorities are now, within the framework of a complicated legal process, first officially classifying the Luhansk farmland as “abandoned” and then transferring it to the Russian state.
Russian occupiers are simply stealing the property of Ukrainian people who have fled the war, according to Ukraine.
“They are working to permanently dispossess people fleeing war, and the forced displacement is essentially a form of land grabbing disguised as legal," the report said.
Ukraine has long been one of Europe’s strongest agricultural economies, but much of the fighting is taking place on land where the country’s agricultural activities took place.
Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast make up Donbas, a territory largely occupied now by Russia and which U.S. President Trump has asked Ukraine to give up.
Luhansk Oblast is considered particularly good farmland, but the region underwent significant industrialization during Soviet times, and since 2014, a lot of bombs, mines, ammunition and contamination have been deposited in the soil.
Pfizer-backed Priovant scores again with fast-rising brepocitinib in midstage study
As Priovant works toward approval of potential blockbuster brepocitinib as a treatment for dermatomyositis, the North Carolina biotech has presented promising results for the TYK2/JAK1 inhibitor in another rare skin condition.
A phase 2 study evaluating brepocitinib in patients with cutaneous sarcoidosis (CS) has become the first industry-sponsored, placebo-controlled trial to generate a positive readout in the indication, according to Priovant. And, based on the results, Priovant plans to initiate a phase 3 study this year, after consultation with the FDA, the four-year-old company said.
Analysts at Leerink Partners deemed the results “exceptional” and said the findings “substantially” exceeded expectations, according to a Feb. 6 note.
The Beacon trial enrolled 31 patients, randomizing them at a rate of 3:2:2 to receive a daily 45-mg oral dose of brepocitinib, a 15-mg daily dose or placebo for 16 weeks. The 45-mg arm achieved a 100% response rate in multiple endpoints.
While patients in the placebo group achieved close to no benefit, those in the 15-mg arm “improved considerably, with numerically similar improvement to the 45 mg arm on lower-bar endpoints,” Priovant said. There also was evidence of dose-dependent benefit seen on higher-bar endpoints, the biotech added.
On the Cutaneous Sarcoidosis Activity and Morphology Instrument Activity (CSAMI-A) score, brepocitinib 45 mg achieved a 22.3-point mean improvement at Week 16 compared to a 0.7-point improvement in the placebo arm, with statistically significant separation of treatment effect observed as early as Week 4. All brepocitinib 45-mg patients achieved a clinically meaningful 10-point improvement.
The CSAMI-A scores range from 0 to 165, evaluating the severity of skin lesions in sarcoidosis.
Another measurement tool used in the trial was the Investigator’s Global Assessment, which measures overall disease severity in dermatological studies, with scores ranging from 0 (clear) to 5 (very severe). In Beacon, 69% of the patients in the 45-mg arm achieved a two-point improvement to a score of 0 or 1 (almost clear).
Misha Rosenbach, M.D., the director of the CS program at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, called the study a “watershed moment for the sarcoidosis field.”
“This is an incredible milestone for a historically neglected disease,” Rosenbach added. “The study drug showed a clear difference in patients who received the medication compared to placebo, both from the patient and the physician perspective, and appeared to be well tolerated. This is the sort of data you dream of seeing when you look at trial results.”
CS is an inflammatory skin disease affecting approximately 40,000 adults in the U.S. CS lesions are often profoundly disfiguring, Priovant said, leading to substantial psychosocial distress. With no treatments approved for CS, many patients rely on off-label corticosteroids, immunosuppressants and biologics, which provide limited efficacy and can become toxic.
This is another significant step in the progression of brepocitinib, which scored last year in a phase 3 trial of patients with dermatomyositis. The study showed brepocitinib to be a best-in-class treatment, according to TD Cowan, and Priovant has submitted a new drug approval request to the FDA. The company also is running a phase 3 trial of brepocitinib for patients with the inflammatory eye condition noninfectious uveitis.
Priovant was created in 2022 through a partnership between Pfizer and Roivant Sciences to advance brepocitinib and the TYK2 inhibitor ropsacitinib. The New York City pharma giant holds a 25% stake in the new company. Evaluate has forecast sales of brepocitinib to reach $2.3 billion by 2032.
'Dow jumps 600 pts amid renewed US-Iran talks'
Major Wall Street stock indexes opened higher on Friday after a three-day sell-off, as cryptocurrencies began to recover some of their losses and investors turned their attention to the renewed nuclear talks between the United States and Iran, which took place in Oman today.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.67% at the opening bell shortly before jumping by 1.23% or 601 points at 3:34 am ET. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq 100 climbed by 0.42% at open, and the S&P 500 advanced by 0.51% at the same time.
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Dow-jumps-600-pts-amid-renewed-US-Iran-talks/65623867