Womack Investment Advisers

 It’s no secret that pharmaceuticals and healthcare are big business in the global economy.   Last year alone, drugs and medicine made up over $318 billion of world exports—but where do all those pills, serums, and creams come from?   It might surprise most Americans that the good ol’ US of A is a distant fifth in pharmaceutical exports, behind Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and France.   At least it is comforting that the two countries most respected for quality and precision manufacturing – Switzerland and Germany – are atop the leader board in this industry where those characteristics are literally of life and death importance! (Chart source: www.howmuch.net)

WOMACK WEEKLY COMMENTARY Renew. Regenerate. Refocus. January 29, 2018 THE MARKETS The numbers are coming in. Publicly-traded companies report their earnings and sales numbers for the previous quarter in the current quarter. For example, fourth quarter’s sales and earnings are reported during the first quarter of the year, and first quarter’s sales and earnings will be reported during the second quarter, and so on. Through last week, about one-fourth of the companies in the Standard & Poor (S&P)’s 500 Index had reported actual sales and earnings for the fourth quarter of 2017. As far as sales go, a record number – 81 percent – of companies sold more than expected during the fourth quarter. That was quite an improvement. FactSet reported: “During the past year (four quarters), 64 percent of the companies in the S&P 500 have re