Stock trades taking place moments before the Supreme Court ruled that President Barack Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was constitutional may indicate a leak to Wall Street traders,
The Daily Caller reports.
Shares in a hospital company jumped just prior to the announcement that mandating individuals to buy health insurance wasn't unconstitutional since it basically levies a tax on those who don't.
"In a brief 10-minute period starting at 9:32 a.m., the stock value of the nation’s largest hospital chain, HCA Holdings Inc., jumped from $26.81 per share to $27.53 as bidders bought several hundred thousand shares before the court made its announcement just after 10 a.m.," The Daily Caller reports.
Editor's Note: You Owe It to Yourself to Know What Obama and Bernanke Are Hiding From Americans
"The bidders who snatched up shares before the announcement made a gain of roughly $2 a share once the price rose again after the court officially announced its backing for the law. The bidding and the price jump came more than 30 minutes before Chief Justice John Roberts read his unexpected decision from the bench."
Had the Supreme Court ruling gone the other way, hospital shares would have likely fallen since the healthcare law boosts hospital revenues.
HCA Holdings shares particularly jumped.
"The law uses government power to funnel patients — including people with new government-provided insurance policies — toward existing hospitals, including HCA’s hospitals. In contrast to HCA, there was little trading — and little movement in the stock price — of other hospital chains before the public announcement," The Daily Caller adds.
"The absence of movement in their other companies’ stocks suggest that a few bidders targeted HCA’s stock."
While hospital stocks rose, pharmaceutical stocks fell as did equities in insurance companies after the ruling went public.
"This gives us clarity, which is what markets needed," says Todd Schoenberger, managing principal at the Blackbay Group in New York, according to CNBC.
"This resolved the uncertainty about healthcare."
Still, concerns persists that the fiscal nature of the ruling could weigh on the broader economy.
"There seems to be some confusion on the ruling. I'm getting word that the mandate is looking like a tax, and if that is the case, that could hurt the economy and that won't help at all. Who knows how this impacts the election?" Schoenberger adds.
Editor's Note: You Owe It to Yourself to Know What Obama and Bernanke Are Hiding From Americans
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