Growth and the Fed

It was the medical equivalent of winning the lottery. Patty Ris, an 87 year old resident of a Cincinnati nursing home, began to choke on her hamburger. A man seated next to the woman, seeing her distress, smoothly performed the Heimlich as if he had invented it. The piece of meat popped right out.

Turns out he did invent it. Dr. Henry Heimlich, 96, also a resident, later informed reporters it was the first time he had actually performed his namesake maneuver. Ms. Ris told the retired thoracic surgeon, “God put me in this seat next to you.”

Healthcare has also been a big part of the capital markets story this year. Morgan Stanley reports the sector demonstrated the most increase in net corporate debt, at just under 30%, of any industry. This was followed by information technology (20%), consumer discretionary (17%), and energy (11%).

Leverage has also increased for healthcare names. This has been due, in large measure, to increased M&A deal flow. As the sector continues to consolidate, corporate healthcare issuers had the second highest debt to ebitda levels after energy.