OppenheimerFunds announced that it's diving into the world of smart beta with its new Factor Weighted ETFs. Securities are weighted on the basis of top line revenue, which OppenheimerFunds said more closely reflects growth in the broader economy and helps reduce overexposure to potentially overpriced sectors and stocks while still providing diversification across every security in the index. John McDonough, the head of distribution at OppenheimerFunds, said the introduction of the revenue weighted ETFs is in response to client feedback and that “re-weighting indices on the basis of fundamental factors like revenue may enable our investors to earn both higher returns and better returns on a risk-adjusted basis than market cap indices over the long term.”
Bankruptcy Increases Risk of Death in Cancer Patients, Study Shows
A new study conducted by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has found a dangerous link between cancer patients filing for bankruptcy and increased risk of death. According to the report, about 3 percent of cancer patients go bankrupt, and individuals in that group are nearly 80 percent more likely to die. “That blows away the benefits of many, if not most, treatments,” said Dr. Scott Ramsey, an internist and health economist. “To me, it’s one thing if you go bankrupt. Financially, you’re really in bad shape but you come out of it with your cancer treated. But if it actually is a double hit, where your very survival is affected? That is profound.” In a similar study published in 2013, the research center found that individuals who have cancer are 2.5 times more likely to file for bankruptcy than those without. The research was unable to determine a cause to the increased mortality rates, although Ramsey theorizes that increased stress could be one of the bigger factors.
Forever Love
A New York woman is suing her husband of 20 years (or so she thought) because he secretly divorced her almost immediately after their wedding in order to protect his assets according to the New York Post. Gabriel Villa, 90, secretly arranged for the divorce in the Dominican Republic, going so far as to clandestinely hire lawyers to represent “both” sides. His “wife” Cristina, 59, claims she never knew about or consented to any divorce in the Dominican Republic. The divorce was also never registered in the state of New York. The issue came to a head when Cristina noticed that the couple's tax bill didn’t have her name on it and hired a private investigator to get to the bottom of the issue.