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To say I'm sick would be a gross understatement.
You've probably been stricken, too – you just don't know it.
I'm talking about the pain being inflicted on us all by some egregiously greedy generic drug makers.
Yeah, those generic drug manufacturers, the ones we've been thanking our lucky stars for because we don't have to pay insanely inflated prices for designer, name-branded wonder drugs.
If you haven't heard, 16 generic drug makers have been colluding (allegedly, of course) to jack up prices of what are supposed to be cheap versions of the brand-name drugs we pay through the nose for.
Now it turns out we're paying excessively for the generics we thought we were so lucky to have.
Here are some of the sickening facts. And later, I'll show you something that might help take the edge off…
How Bad Is It, Really?
Just over two years ago, a couple of Attorney General's offices began looking into the pricing of two generic drugs. They'd been getting complaints that price increases seemed random, and that there weren't other so-called generic drugs to offer pharmacy clients or at hospitals.
The investigation was, for the most part, led by the Assistant Attorney General of Connecticut – the very dogged and very effective Joseph Nielsen. The trail of what was going on with two generics led to other states getting involved – 47, at last count – and fingers being pointed at 16 generic drug makers, who are being investigated essentially for collusion to fix prices and divide up selling territories.
Things are about to go from bad to worse for these 16 companies, their executives, and probably additional to-be-named colluders. That's because just last week, a federal judge gave the go-ahead for over 1 million emails and text messages from alleged colluders to be shared by all plaintiffs.
Apparently, these emails tell the story of how executives used "shorthand" messaging, incorporating words like "sandbox," "fair share," and "trashing" to identify where market territories were, what prices to charge, and who wasn't playing the game (referring to competitors).
The World's Greatest Stock Picker: 253%… 361%… 337%… 226%… 103.4%… He's delivered the chance at over 217 double- and triple-digit peak-gain winners. See how he does it…
Those emails and texts are going to light a fire under a lot more investigations.
About the Author
Shah Gilani boasts a financial pedigree unlike any other. He ran his first hedge fund in 1982 from his seat on the floor of the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. When options on the Standard & Poor's 100 began trading on March 11, 1983, Shah worked in "the pit" as a market maker.
The work he did laid the foundation for what would later become the VIX - to this day one of the most widely used indicators worldwide. After leaving Chicago to run the futures and options division of the British banking giant Lloyd's TSB, Shah moved up to Roosevelt & Cross Inc., an old-line New York boutique firm. There he originated and ran a packaged fixed-income trading desk, and established that company's "listed" and OTC trading desks.
Shah founded a second hedge fund in 1999, which he ran until 2003.
Shah's vast network of contacts includes the biggest players on Wall Street and in international finance. These contacts give him the real story - when others only get what the investment banks want them to see.
Today, as editor of Hyperdrive Portfolio, Shah presents his legion of subscribers with massive profit opportunities that result from paradigm shifts in the way we work, play, and live.
Shah is a frequent guest on CNBC, Forbes, and MarketWatch, and you can catch him every week on Fox Business's Varney & Co.