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Heavy rains and sea level rise contribute to major flooding events that are one effect of climate change. Surging water rushing into buildings often causes immediate harms, such as drowning deaths, injuries sustained while seeking shelter or fleeing, and hypothermia after exposure to cold waters with no shelter or heat.
But long after news trucks leave and public attention moves on, flooding continues to affect communities in visible and less visible ways. Among the less visible threats is a higher risk of respiratory health problems like asthma and allergic reactions. Fortunately, you can take steps to minimize or avoid flooding, or to reduce respiratory health risks after flooding occurs.
How does flooding trigger respiratory health issues?
Flooding may bring water contaminated with toxic chemicals, heavy metals, pesticides, biotoxins, sewage, and water-borne pathogens into buildings. Afterward, some toxic contaminants remain in dried sediments left behind. When disturbed through everyday actions like walking and cleaning, this turns into microscopic airborne dust. Anything in that dried flood sediment — the toxic chemicals, the metals, the biotoxins — is now in the air you breathe into your lungs, potentially affecting your respiratory health.
Buildings needn't be submerged during flooding to spur respiratory problems. Many homes we studied after Hurricane Ida suffered water intrusion through roofs, windows, and ventilation ducts — and some were more than 100 miles away from coastal regions that bore the brunt of the storm.
The growth of mold can also affect health
Another common hazard is mold, a fungal growth that forms and spreads on damp or decaying organic matter. Indoor mold generally grows due to extensive dampness, and signals a problem with water or moisture. Damp materials inside buildings following a flood create perfect conditions for rapid mold growth.
Mold can be found indoors and outdoors in all climates. It spreads by making tiny spores that float through the air to land in other locations. No indoor space is entirely free from mold spores, but exposure to high concentrations is linked with respiratory complications such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, and sinusitis. Thus, flooding affects respiratory health by increasing the risk of exposure to higher concentrations of mold spores outdoors and indoors.
For example, after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005, the average outdoor concentration of mold spores in flooded areas was roughly double that of non-flooded areas, and the highest concentrations of mold spores were measured indoors. A study on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the flooding in the UK in 2007 showed that water damage accelerated mold growth and respiratory allergies.
Children are especially vulnerable to health problems triggered by mold. All respiratory symptoms — including asthma, bronchitis, eye irritation, and cough — occurred more often in homes reporting mold or dampness, according to a study on the respiratory health of young children in 30 Canadian communities. Other research demonstrates that mold contributes to development of asthma in children.
What can you do to protect against the health harms of flooding?
Our research in New Orleans, LA after Hurricane Ida in 2021 identified common factors — both in housing and flooding events — with great impact on respiratory health. Preliminary results suggest two deciding factors in whether substantial indoor mold appeared were the age of a building's roof and how many precautionary measures people took after flooding from the hurricane. The impact on respiratory health also varied with flood water height, days per week spent at home, and how many precautionary measures were taken after Ida swept through.
Informed by this and other research, we offer the following tips — some to tackle before flooding or heavy rains, and some to take afterward. While you may not be able to entirely prevent flooding from hurricanes or major storms, taking these and other steps can help.
Before seasonal storms, flooding, or heavy rains start: Protect against water intrusion
After flooding or major rainstorms: Move quickly to reduce dampness and mold growth
The Environmental Protection Agency recommends limiting contact with flood water, which may have electrical hazards and hazardous substances, including raw sewage. Additionally:
What to do if you spot mold growth
Taking steps like these — before and after a major storm — goes a long way toward protecting your respiratory health.
Read Flooding Brings Deep Trouble in Harvard Medicine magazine to learn more about the health hazards related to floods.
Source: Harvard Health Publishing
Now Might Be The Time To Shine For The 'S&P 493,' BofA Says
After July's Stumble By The Magnifi...
Investopedia
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After July's stumble by the Magnificent Seven mega-capitalization tech stocks that accounted for most of the market's first-half gains, investors may be itching to branch out from the group. For that, they may want to consider the “S&P 493," according to Bank of America Securities.
That in effect means the equal-weighted S&P 500, in which the Magnificent Seven have much less influence over the index. Measured that way, the index trades near its steepest discount relative to the capitalization-weighted index since the height of the tech bubble in the early 2000s.
The equal-weighted index’s forward price-to-earnings ratio is about 80% that of the cap-weighted standard, according to a Wednesday BofA research note. The discount would be even larger if tech mega-caps hadn’t led the market pullback throughout July and early August.
The gap is in part due to rebounding corporate earnings. Excluding the Mag Seven, the S&P 500 was, as of Wednesday, on track to grow second-quarter earnings by 8%, its first quarter of growth since 2022.
Earnings growth accounted for about 10 percentage points of the S&P 500’s 12% year-to-date return, according to BofA analysts in the Wednesday note. Multiple expansion, by their estimate, has added just 2 percentage points.
Meanwhile, the small-cap S&P 600 hasn’t grown earnings since the end of 2022 and isn’t expected to do so this quarter. Plus, the analysts added, “rising recession concerns hit small-caps harder if history is a guide.”
The Russell 2000 earlier this month surged 10% in a week after a soft inflation report boosted confidence the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates in the fall, sparking a rotation out of mega-cap tech stocks into rate-sensitive small caps. Those gains were erased in early August when soft labor-market data raised concerns about the health of the U.S. economy.
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Americans are still shopping, and Walmart’s strong quarterly results suggest they’re increasingly frequenting value-oriented retailers, boosting the industry’s stocks on Thursday.
Walmart on Thursday raised its full-year revenue and earnings forecast, citing “a generally stable consumer,” after reporting a 5% increase in second-quarter sales.
The discount retailer has grown its customer base in recent years, attracting higher-income shoppers who’ve become increasingly cost-conscious after years of elevated inflation and economic uncertainty. Its strong earnings report and financial outlook suggested that the trend is far from ending.
Walmart’s report sent its shares up more than 6% to a record high, while boosting optimism among discounter investors on Thursday. Shares of competitor Target (TGT) climbed more 4% in morning trading, as did shares of Dollar Tree (DLTR), while Ross Stores (ROST) rose more than 3%.
Though Walmart’s numbers weren’t the only piece of good news retailers got on Thursday. U.S. retail sales jumped 1% in July, according to data released by the Commerce Department. That figure was far ahead of the 0.3% increase economists were expecting.
The data gave a boost to discount and non-discount retailers alike, with stocks like lululemon athletica (LULU), Etsy (ETSY), and Best Buy (BBY) trading sharply higher on Thursday.
The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) jumped more than 4% and likely would have risen even more if it was a capitalization-weighted fund.
With a market cap of nearly $600 billion, Walmart is worth $200 billion more than America’s next-most valuable retailer, Costco (COST), yet they each account for about 1.4% of the index. Costco gained 1% on Thursday, while Amazon.com (AMZN), the largest company in XRT, rose about 4%.
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Billionaire investor Bill Ackman built new stakes in Nike (NKE) during the second quarter, according to a regulatory filing, sending shares in the sportswear maker up around 4% in premarket trading.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing showed Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management had built a stake of more than 3 million shares at the end of June worth about $230 million.
Nike has been struggling with falling sales amid a slowing Chinese economy and rising competition from upstarts like Hoka.
Its shares are down around 28% so far this year but jumped on Wednesday as a Bernstein Research analyst affirmed a bullish call on the company. Bernstein's Aneesha Sherman reiterated a "buy" rating and $112 price target on Nike's stock.
In an interview with last month, Sherman said that Nike has "been hiring and investing in R&D and putting more marketing dollars behind some of their launches and rebuilding partnerships with retailers and we are in the trough where we haven’t seen any of that impacting sales yet."
Ackman, meanwhile, recently halted plans for an planned initial public offering (IPO) of a closed-end fund, after dramatically reducing the deal's size.
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Walmart (WMT) shares are jumping in premarket trading after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter results and raising its full-year guidance; July retail sales due this morning are expected to show consumers continue to spend but less than in the heady post-pandemic days; Cisco Systems (CSCO) shares are surging after the networking-equipment firm announced cuts to 7% of its workforce as well as quarterly results that beat forecasts; Ulta Beauty (ULTA) shares are getting a much-needed boost after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) unveiled a stake in the cosmetics retailer; and Nike (NKE) shares are rising after billionaire investor Bill Ackman disclosed a stake. U.S. stock futures are gaining after ending higher Wednesday as inflation fell below 3% for the first time in three years, increasing investors' bets of a September rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Here's what investors need to know today.
Walmart (WMT) shares are rising 6% in premarket trading after the retail giant posted better-than-expected quarterly results and boosted its full-year outlook. Walmart said it expects full-year sales to rise by 3.75% to 4.75% year-over-year and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) at $2.35 to $2.43, both up from previous guidance. Walmart said its raised guidance "assumes a generally stable consumer." Walmart's sales for its fiscal second quarter rose 4.8% to $169.3 billion, beating analysts' estimates, as did adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.67.
Economists expect retail July sales data due at 8:30 a.m. ET to show an increase from June, but also that the post-pandemic spending spree could be ending. Retail sales likely increased 0.3% in July versus the month before, according to economists surveyed by and . Weakness in the job market and the reliance of customers on credit has some economists asking if shoppers can sustain their spending habits. Wednesday's mild inflation reading has increased investor bets that the Fed will cut interest rates next month, but with the labor market weak, the robustness of the consumer will be a key data input for the central bank as it determines the extent of easing.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) shares are rising 6% in premarket trading after the networking-equipment firm said it is cutting about 7% of its workforce as it pivots to higher-growth areas like cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI). Cisco announced the layoffs and also reported lower-than-expected declines in revenue and earnings for the fiscal fourth quarter. The computer networking giant unveiled an initial round of job cuts in February, when it said it would slash 5% of its global workforce, affecting around 4,250 employees.
Ulta Beauty (ULTA) shares are surging 13% in premarket trading after a regulatory filing revealed that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) had taken a stake in the cosmetics retailer during the second quarter. According to a 13-F filing, the Omaha-based conglomerate, which has been selling its stake in Apple (AAPL), purchased 690,106 shares of Ulta, with the size of the holding valued around $266.3 million as of June 30. Shares of the specialty chain have fallen 42% since hitting a record high in March. Berkshire Hathaway also disclosed a stake in Heico Corp. (HEI) and the aerospace and electronics firm's stock is rising about 7%.
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman built new stakes in Nike (NKE) during the second quarter, according to a regulatory filing, sending shares in the sportswear maker up around 4% in premarket trading. The SEC filing showed Pershing Square Capital Management had built a stake of more than 3 million shares. Nike has been struggling with falling sales amid a slowing Chinese economy and rising competition from upstarts like Hoka. Its shares are down around 28% so far this year but jumped on Wednesday as a Bernstein Research analyst affirmed a bullish call on the company.
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Shares in Cisco Systems (CSCO) jumped in premarket trading Thursday after the technology and networking company released earnings that topped Wall Street’s estimates and announced that it’s cutting 7% of its global workforce.
The tech giant, which has seen its shares slump by around 10% since the start of the year through Wednesday's close, also said it plans to invest in key growth opportunities as it looks to diversify its revenue. In recent quarters, net sales in the company’s core networking business have remained under pressure as enterprise customers continue to move their computing operations to the cloud.
Cisco shares were up 6% at $48.17 about two hours before the opening bell.
Below, we take a close look at Cisco’s chart and use technical analysis to identify key post-earnings price levels.
Cisco shares carved out a head and shoulders formation between April 2023 and January this year, a chart pattern that signals a potential market top. Moreover, the 50-day moving average (MA) crossed below the 200-day MA in December to form a bearish death cross, another chart alert that warns of lower prices.
Although the stock broke below the pattern’s neckline earlier this month, trading volumes have remained lackluster, suggesting a lack of conviction behind the move lower. Indeed, Thursday’s projected open above the neckline after the company’s better-than-expected earnings has the potential to shift market sentiment back in favor of the bulls.
Following Cisco’s post-earnings jump, investors should monitor four key price levels where the shares could encounter overhead selling pressure amid a reversal attempt.
Initially, the price could run into resistance around $48.50 just below the downward sloping 200-day MA, a location on the chart where sellers may look for exit points near a multi-month downtrend line extending back to the September 2023 swing high, which also marks the “head” of the head and shoulders pattern.
A move higher from here could see the shares climb to $50, where they would likely encounter selling pressure near an important horizontal line joining a range of similar trading levels between November 2022 and May this year.
Further buying may continue a move up to $52.50, a region where investors could be happy to sell shares near the chart formation’s two closely aligned shoulders that formed in April last year and January 2024.
Finally, a major upside reversal could test the top of the head and shoulders pattern near $58. It’s also worth pointing out that a close above this key level would invalidate the formation. Interestingly, a bars patterns, which extracts the stock’s move higher from October to November 2022 and applies it to this month’s recent lows, projects a price target around this same area.
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