Last year, the Biotech industry as a whole achieved a much better performance than the market. Both the NASDAQ Biotech Index and AMEX Biotech Index outperformed all three major market indices (Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ Composite and S&P 500) in a large margin. The major indices declined as much as 40% while the NASDAQ Biotech Index declined only 12.6% and the AMEX Biotech Index was down 17.7%. However, when the recession enters into its third year, the Biotech industry is not doing better than the market, which has been evident by the indices' performances. As of April 9, 2009, AMEX Biotech Index declined 3%, and the broader NASDAQ Biotech Index was down 6.8% (AMEX Biotech has 20 biotech companies while NASDAQ Biotech Index includes over 130 component companies). Although the Dow and S&P 500 also declined a similar percentage, technology-laden NASDAQ actually has a gain of 4.8%, which is more comparable to the biotech indices. See[More...]

The recent volatility from the Healthcare sector has left many investors weary about where to place their money. General market swings aside, M&A activity and legislative developments have intensified the uncertainty in the sector, but have also lead to many investment opportunities. M&A has been very exciting and has ramped up heavily in the last few months.  Pfizer(PFE: 14.04, 0.00 <font[More...]

Biotech Stocks: The One Sector Outperforming The S&P 500 by Marc Lichtenfeld, Senior Analyst, Smart Profits Report Editor’s Note: With so many biotech stocks making big moves and pharmaceutical merger activity moving faster than anything else right now, we turned to one of the smartest analysts in the lucrative biotech field to give us his take on what we should be doing… When I was in my early 20s, I had one friend who was always on the prowl for Mrs. Right (or at least Mrs. Right Now) whenever we went out. The[More...]

US stocks finished with strong weekly gains as investors snapped up shares of banks after chief executives of Citigroup, JP Morgan and Bank of America said that their banks were profitable in January and February.[More...]

By Don Miller Associate Editor Money Morning Big Pharma’s rapidly accelerating consolidation pattern snowballed yesterday (Thursday) as Roche Holding AG (ADR: RHHBY) struck a deal to... Money Morning is here to help investors profit handsomely on this seismic shift in the global economy. Money moves markets. But Money Morning lets you move first. <a[More...]