Hospital stocks take a hit

Shares of hospital chains fell across the board yesterday as Wall Street took note of earnings guidance issued by LifePoint and Triad on Monday. LifePoint shares were by far the hardest hit, dropping 20 percent. HCA, Health Management Associates and Tenet all joined in on the slump but show signs of recovery today. UBS analyst Kenneth Weakley notes that the sector faces "challenges in the year to come" in light of soft admission trends, pricing pressure and ongoing bad debt. The downturn in the for-profit sector comes after a time when hospitals have enjoyed historically high profit margins.

- read this article [1] from the AP