All Health Breaks Loose

MARKETS

• U.S. markets: All eyes were locked in on the tariff announcement (more on that to come). Markets held relatively flat all day before pushing higher in late trading.
• 国际市场：欧洲中央银行建议，如果事情再次向南转向，购买更多债券以刺激经济增长将不会干预。这是对欧洲经济的认可印章。

HEALTH CARE

Doctor's Orders: Cigna Buys Express Scripts

健康保险公司Cigna（-11.44％）正在其家庭计划中添加明确的脚本（+8.58％），以540亿美元（包括债务在内的670亿美元）以540亿美元的价格收购了药房福利经理（PBM）。

It's the latest in a string of proposed M&As that would pull the health care industry closer together. Some point to Amazon as the driving force, citing its push into pharma and a brewing partnership with JPMorgan and Berkshire Hathaway.

Others say it's all about who can build the industry's largest ecosystem: CVS' $67.5 billion pending acquisition of Aetna definitely raised the stakes. Now, others are lining up to control everything from pharmacies to insurance providers to PBMs to care providers.

As for us? We say it's both.

Making sense of the deal

Express Scripts is the country's biggest PBM-an industry middleman that negotiates drug prices. But one of its biggest customers, health insurer Anthem, just said it would cut ties after its 10-year contract expires.

Even worse for Express Scripts is the scrutiny over high drug prices. It's no Martin Shkreli, but that hasn't stopped it from being labeled a price gouger by consumers and lobbyists.

By teaming up with Cigna, Express Scripts aims to fill the void left by Anthem and improve its public image.

For Cigna the deal was a no-brainer

1.这是五个大保险公司中的第二次（按顺序：联合健康，国歌，Aetna，Cigna和Humana）。
2. Express Scripts specializes in services for self-insured employers-that'll keep Cigna competitive when (or if) the triple-threat of Bezos, Buffett, and Dimon releases its new employee health care model.
3. By controlling more of the health care supply chain, Cigna can better control costs.

底线：批评家认为，医疗保健成本不断上升，来自一个行业，激励措施不对。PBM提高了较大削减的药物价格，护理提供者提供较高薪水的治疗方法，保险公司承担费用，因为它将转化为较高的保费，等等。

Which means this嘛frenzy-aka vertical integration-will likely continue and could mean lower costs for you.

ECONOMY

您的星期五贸易综述

We've been watching the previews drag on for weeks, but yesterday, it became official: with the stroke of President Trump's pen, the U.S. will be placing tariffs on steel (25%) and aluminum (10%) imports. They'll go into effect on March 23.

理由：当美国依靠从其他国家进口这些基本工业产品时，国家安全就受到威胁。

Major exceptions: Two friends and major trading partners, Canada and Mexico, will be exempt for now while NAFTA gets re-negotiated. The U.S. will also be "flexible" with other allies.

What this means: It's a major shift in U.S. policy, which has worked to reduce trade barriers for decades.

Key quote: From Mario Draghi, the President of the European Central Bank: "If you put tariffs on your allies, one wonders who your enemies are."

While trade walls are getting built in the U.S., they're coming down in the Pacific

Eleven countries, from Canada to Australia to Vietnam, signed a breakthrough trade deal lowering tariffs, opening markets, and strengthening IP protections.

当您向下滚动参与国家的列表时，您会注意到一个名字缺少：美国

请记住：美国帮助起草了原始的贸易协定，称为TPP。但是特朗普总统一年前退出，说这是一笔不好的交易。

So should we have FOMO?

Depends on who you ask. The administration made the argument that TPP would hurt American manufacturing jobs. If you lower barriers (aka the cost of transporting goods across borders), it encourages producers to make things in countries where labor is cheaper (not the U.S.).

But others say this is a mistake. TPP was an opportunity for the U.S. to grow its economy through trade and, importantly, lead a counter-attack on China's growing economic influence over the Pacific region.

With the U.S. sitting this one out, there's a major regional vacuum President Xi Jinping is only too happy to fill.

trANSPORTATION

优步在严肃的会谈中离开东南亚

In the complex world of ride-hailers, Uber is making things a little bit simpler. Within the next week, it'll likely be pulling out of Southeast Asia in return for a 30% stake in its Southeast Asia-based rival, Grab.

Why give up? After listing the pros and cons with its newest investor, SoftBank, Uber realized it couldn't keep up with Grab's grasp of local habits. And staying in the race meant burning cash and (potentially) delaying a 2019IPO. After all, Uber lost $4.46 billion in 2017.

What's arguably more interesting is SoftBank's hand in it all

请记住：软银投资于Grab，Ola（在印度运营）和DIDI（中国）。通过说服Uber离开，Mashipulator Masayoshi儿子正在为东南亚市场确保Grab，同时推动Uber更接近盈利能力。

底线是:这是软银巨大,watching some of its ride-hailing gambles start to pay off. But it's pretty questionable for Uber. It would leave behind most of Asia-the industry's fastest-growing market-while still battling it out with rivals in Japan and Australia.

WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING

• Netflix（-1.30％）预计今年的收入为150亿美元。
• Weight Watchers (+2.85%) is launching its own meal kits.
• Here are a couple Samsung Galaxy S9 reviews.
• Internet companies are pushing back against what they consider to be an excessively harsh sex trafficking bill.
• Toys 'R' Us is getting ready to liquidate its U.S. operations.

库存

What's better than a top-10 list on a Friday?

Our list today comes from Brand Finance, a consulting firm that tries to answer the nearly-impossible question, "What is a brand worth?" One way is to measure a firm's intangible assets-those things you can't hold, see, or touch but still have long-term value. Intangible assets include symbols, logos, customer loyalty, goodwill, IP, name recognition, etc.

In Morning Brew's case, one of our intangible assets is the loyalty of our readers (we'd be nowhere without you). Another is your fantasy about drinking coffee from one of our mugs.

Take a look at the most valuable brands in some major countries, and then quiz your friends or co-workers after.

1.美国 - 阿马森（1508亿美元）
2. South Korea-Samsung ($92.3 billion)
3.中国中国和商业银行（592亿美元）
4. Germany-Mercedes-Benz ($43.9 billion)
5.日本 - 托托塔（437亿美元）
6.荷兰壳（394亿美元）
7.瑞典 - 伊基（244亿美元）
8. Switzerland-Nestle ($19.4 billion)
9.西班牙 - 扎拉（175亿美元）
10. India-Tata Group ($14.2 billion)

精神伸展

Brain Teaser
A woman has nine children born at regular intervals. The sum of the square of their ages is equal to the square of her own age. What are the ages of her children?

Answers

Brain Teaser
2,5,8,11,14,17,20,23 and 26. The woman's age is 48.