Health Net’s (HNT) third-quarter earnings per share came in at 67 cents, well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 61 cents and the year-ago earnings of 35 cents. The company reported revenues of $4 billion, an increase of 3.9% compared to the corresponding quarter of last year. The company receives revenues in the form of health plan service premiums, government contracts, net investment income and administrative services, fees and other income.

Health plan services premium, accounting for approximately 80% of total revenues during the quarter increased 3% year over year to $3.17 million. While revenues from government contracts increased 4.7% to $758 million, sequentially, it came down by 8.8%. We believe revenues from government contracts will decline further with the loss of contract in July with the Department of Defense awarding Aetna (AET) the $2.8 billion managed care contract to provide services for the northern region of the department's

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Aetna Inc. (AET) reported third quarter earnings per share of 69 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 66 cents. However, earnings declined 38% compared to $1.12 reported in the prior-year period due to a lower commercial underwriting margin, an increase in pension expenses partially offset by the lower number of shares outstanding year-over-year. Revenues during the quarter increased 9% to $8.72 billion compared to $8 billion in the third quarter of 2008, driven by a 9% increase in premium revenues and a 5% increase in fees and other revenue. Total medical membership rose 7.3% to 19 million at the end of the reported quarter compared to the year-ago period, but declined 25,000 sequentially. The same trend was witnessed in case of pharmacy and dental membership as well, both of which declined sequentially by 79,000 to 11.155 million and 386, 000 to 14.183 million, respectively....

As we all know, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) guarantees depositors that they’ll get their money back if a bank fails, at least up to a certain amount. To fund its operations, the FDIC collects small fees from the banks that are held in reserve for the purpose of taking over troubled banks and paying off depositors.

Since the Great Depression, a period marked by widespread runs on banks, the FDIC has done a good job of fulfilling its mandate. So how are they doing in this crisis?

In a nutshell, they are in trouble.

The FDIC insures 8,246 institutions, with $13.5 trillion in assets. Not all of them are going bankrupt, of course. Yet as of late July, a disturbing 64 banks had gone belly up this year – the most since 1992 – costing the FDIC $12.5 billion. At the end of Q1, the agency was already asking for emergency

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[Editor's Note: Peter D. Schiff, Euro Pacific Capital Inc.’s president and chief global strategist, is a well-known author and commentator, and is a periodic contributor to Money Morning. Schiff is the author of two New York Times best sellers: “Crash Proof: How to Profit from the Coming Economic Collapse,” as well as “The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets.” For a more-detailed look at the United States’ ongoing financial problems – and for some strategies that will help you protect your wealth and preserve your purchasing power before it’s too late – download EuroPac’s brand-new free special report, “Peter Schiff’s Five Favorite Investment Choices for the Next Five Years.” After one of the most-torrid rebounds on record this spring, U.S. stocks have stalled – once forcing investors to make important decisions against a backdrop of intense uncertainty. However, a …

The medical equipment and supplies sub-sector of health care has come under significant pressure in the last 9 months or so. Big names such as Stryker Corp. [SYK: 39.00, 0.00 (0.00%)], Zimmer Holdings Inc. [ZMH: 40.91, 0.00 (0.00%)], and Medtronic Inc. [MDT: 32.93, 0.00 (0.00%)] are trading at levels we have not seen in years. The whole aura of health care being “recession resistant” or “recession proof” is now thrown away and is an old folktale. Although these economic times are pretty much unprecedented, one thing is for certain: there has really been no safe place to hide in health care, except maybe to the likes of generic drug manufacturers such as Teva Pharmaceutical Industries [TEVA: 47.77, 0.00 (0.00%)] or Mylan Inc. [MYL: 13.00, 0.00 (0.00%)].

The depressed Medical Equipment and Supplies industry has faced many headwinds

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div style="text-align: justify;"Citigroup is downgrading span style="font-weight: bold;"ConAgra (NYSE:CAG) /spanto Hold from Buy and removing it from their Top Picks Live list.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"What's Happened? —/span On Tuesday (6/9) ConAgra’s Slim Jim manufacturing plant in Garner, NC exploded killing three people. On Saturday (6/13), the local news paper indicated that the ATF has ruled the explosion an accident caused by a natural gas leak. ConAgra has not commented on the situation.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"- Extensive Damage Done — /spanThe plant was extensively damaged and will likely be off-line for quite a long time and is the only plant that makes Slim Jim. Citigroup est. revenues of Slim Jim at $200 mm/yr and EPS contribution at $0.06/sh.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"- Insurance Coverage is Unknown — /spanConAgra has not yet made any comments regarding its insurance coverage on the plant; nor its coverage with regards to business interruption ...

We highlight Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Citigroup, Inc. (C) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC).FDIC's new insurance coverage extended through 2013On May 20, 2009, President Obama signed a bill that increases the FDIC's borrowing authority for its bank deposit insurance to $500 billion until the end of 2010. The legislation also increases the agency's permanent borrowing authority from the Treasury to $100 billion from $30 billion and extended the agency's new deposit-insurance limit of $250,000 through 2013.Earlier in October 2008, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act had temporarily raised the limit on federal deposit insurance coverage from $100,000 to $250,000 per depositor, which was effective through December 31, 2009.In all, 34 banks have failed this year, significantly higher from 25 in 2008 and just three in 2007. As the economy continues to worsen (though at a decelerating pace now) ...

Highlighted stocks include: Alcoa Inc. (...

Loews Corporation (L) experienced a 3Q08 net loss from continuing operations came of $0.33 per share, the result of higher-than-expected catastrophe losses and investment losses at CNA Financial Corporation (CNA), which more than offset the improved results at the energy and drilling subsidiaries -- HighMount Exploration, Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. (DO) and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP (BWP).

The spin-off of Lorillard in 2Q08 eliminated the company's overhang from tobacco litigation, permitting an increased focuses on broadening hydrocarbon interests. While the company has announced large capital investments (which would benefit results in the future), we reiterate our Hold recommendation as of now.

CNA Financial is the 14th largest property-casualty insurer in the U.S., providing standard commercial lines, specialty lines (specialty property-casualty, professional and financial), surety, marine, and other property and casualty coverage as well as life, and group insurance coverage. CNA is 90.0% owned by Loews. This insurance

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It’s a classic good news/bad news scenario. From 2000 to 2006, the frequency of claims for the three major areas of auto insurance coverage – property damage, bodily injury, and personal injury – declined by as much as 19%. Unfortunately, the severity of claims in these three areas climbed by as much as 22% during the same period.

Have you reviewed your liability insurance coverage lately? A look at your homeowners and automobile insurance policies may determine whether you have enough coverage to help protect your hard-earned assets. If you don’t, your home, your retirement, and even your future earnings could be vulnerable to claims or judgments that exceed your insurance coverage.

Coverage Above and Beyond

If your net worth exceeds the amount of liability coverage provided by your homeowners and auto insurance policies (each usually tops out somewhere between $300,000 and $500,000), you might want to consider an umbrella liability insurance policy.

Umbrella

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