We speak with Dr Monica Saini who recently joined Volpara as a consultant Diagnostic Radiologist

As part of the Morgans Executive Series, Chris Titley interviews John Sharpe, owner and founder of P&O Edge, Riverlife, Tangatours, Story Bridge Climb, Northshore Harbour and noexpiry.com. John shares his journey of entrepreneurship, his desire to enhance the lives of others and discusses building new businesses by seeking out market gaps and opportunities. John also shares his tips for aspiring entrepreneurs and business leaders.

Fresh record all-time highs for both the S&P500 and Nasdaq indices as the end of the partial US government shutdown lifted some uncertainty - Dow slipped -4-points or -0.01%. The broader S&P500 rose +0.22% (to 2,839.13). Less than a month into the new year, Bank of America Merrill Lynch has raised its 2018 S&P 500 target to 3,000 from 2,800 in early December, citing stronger earnings on the back of the tax reform. The technology-centric NASDAQ rose +0.71%, with Netflix rallying a further 9.98% following the company's better-than-expected fourth quarter numbers after the markets' close of the previous session that sent the company's market capitalisation above US$100B. There are now 61US members of the US$100B market capitalisation club - at the lows of 2009 there were just 9 members. Apple tops the list with a market cap of US$900B.

US equity markets surged to fresh record all-time highs after Democratic and Republican senators brokered a deal to keep the government funded until 8 February - Dow rallied +143-points or +0.55% and the broader S&P500 +0.81%. The technology-centric NASDAQ jumped +0.98%. Once the actual funding bill clears the Senate, it will move to the House, where if it gets approval, it will go to President Trump's desk.

Morgans Senior Analyst Scott Power provides a healthcare update on ResMed (ASX:RMD), Sirtex Medical (ASX:SRX), Volpara Health Technologies (ASX:VHT)and Impedimed (ASX:IPD).

Optimism around corporate earnings overshadowed any investor concerns around a US government shutdown and left both the S&P500 and Nasdaq at fresh record highs - Dow up +54-points or +0.21% after spending much of Friday's session in the red, with International Business Machines Corp (IBM) down -3.99% and American Express Co -1.83% both dragging on the index after both companies reported fourth quarter losses late last Thursday. IBM alone lopped -45-points off the Dow. The broader S&P500 rose +0.44%, and has now 395 sessions without a loss of 5% or more - the longest such stretch since the period between 1994 and 1996 and now an all-time record. NASDAQ +0.55%. The federal government partially shut down for the first time since 2013 early Saturday, after a House-passed bill failed to garner enough votes to clear the Senate amid a bruising battle over immigration and spending. The Senate will vote again late this afternoon (~7pm AEDT) on whether to extend stopgap funding until 8 February. For the week, the Dow gained +1.04%, the S&P500 +0.86% and Nasdaq +1.04%.

The benchmark US indices all finished in the red overnight, with the Dow falling 97 points or -0.37% to 26,017, the S&P 500 fell 4.5 points or -0.16% to 2798 while the NASDAQ lost just 2 points or -0.03% to close at 7296.

Morgans adviser Chris Titley recently chatted to Matt Heine - Joint Managing Director of Netwealth Group (ASX Code: NWL) Matt tells the story of Netwealth from startup to ASX Listing and how they've managed to scale. Matt also talks about the use of technology, the changing landscape of super and some inspiring words for entrepreneurs and business leaders.

The benchmark US indices all finished strongly in the black overnight, with the Dow spiking +322 points, or +1.3% to close above 26,000 points for the first time, and the broader S&P 500 rose +26 points, or +0.9%, and also closed above 2800 points for the first time. Tech stocks got a boost after Apple made a slew of announcements about its investment in and contribution to the U.S. economy, in part because of the new tax law. The headline from Apple is that it will make a $350 billion "contribution" to the U.S. economy over the next five years. The company also promised to create 20,000 new jobs and open a new campus. That saw tech stocks rise and the NASDAQ closed +1% higher. Also in stock specific news, Bank of America reported adjusted quarterly earnings that surpassed analyst estimates, and U.S. Bancorp also posted better-than-expected results.Earnings season is off to a strong start thus far. Of the S&P 500 companies that had reported as of Wednesday, approximately 78% were said to have beaten earnings-per-share estimates.

The benchmark US indices finished slightly lower overnight, however, started the day higher and spent most of the day in decline. The Dow briefly broke above 26,000 points for the first time in the morning and was up 283-points at session highs, but then reversed its high in the morning and finished the day down -10 points, or -0.04%. That’s the biggest one-day reversal since February 2016. The broader S&P500 fell -0.4% to 2776 points, after trading above 2800 points for the first time early in the session. The technology-centric NASDAQ also erased gains, finishing -0.5% lower.