Entries in the ‘healthcare’ Category:

Trading in Dendreon Stock Shows Why Short Term Trading Is Such A Gamble

You may have heard about Dendreon (DNDN), a small money losing biotechnology company that is in the process of getting its cancer vaccine, Provenge, approved by the FDA. Full results from a crucial phase three study were released yesterday afternoon in Chicago, but about half an hour prior to their release, shares of Dendreon fell [...]

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After a Brief Break, Here’s A Merger Arb Trade For You

Regrettably I was out of town for several days and as a result it has been awhile since I’ve posted anything. So, I decided to give you all a conservative trade idea now that the market has had a huge run over the last four weeks. We are definitely getting overbought here, so tread carefully.
Anyway, [...]

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Intuitive Surgical Buyout Talk Likely Overblown, But Stock Could Approach Attractive Levels When Rumors Subside

If you follow the market closely you may know the name Intuitive Surgical (ISRG). The maker of the expensive da Vinci robotic surgical system had been one of the hottest stocks in recent years before the market took a tumble. At its high of more than $350 per share, the stock commanded a startling [...]

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Pfizer Might Finally Move to Help Cushion Lipitor Blow

The relatively new CEO at drug giant Pfizer (PFE) has been focusing on cost cutting, not major acquisitions, since he arrived but investors have wanted more. The company’s blockbuster cholesterol treatment, Lipitor, represents 25% of Pfizer’s $48 billion in annual sales, but the drug faces patent expiration in 2011. Fears over how the company would [...]

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Election Worries Have Put HMO Stocks Like United On Sale

Owning healthcare stocks in an election year, especially one in which universal healthcare has taken center stage on the Democratic agenda, is not surprisingly a wild ride. With less than six months to go until our country chooses its next president, near-term headline risk for healthcare stocks should stay elevated for a while. That said, [...]

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Merck’s First Quarter Report Substantiates View of Vytorin Overreaction

Back in February I wrote that Vytorin worries looked overdone and concluded that Merck (MRK) shares especially looked attractive. Since then the stock has dropped further (MRK is down 32% year-to-date as shown by the chart below), but yesterday’s earnings report from the company leaves my prior view unchanged.

Merck reported first quarter earnings of $0.89 [...]

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Vytorin Worries Look Overdone in Shares of Merck, Schering

The drug sector has been a tough place to invest in recent years as the FDA has become more and more strict, not only in approving new drugs but also with respect to labeling requirements for existing ones.
Last year, new warning labels essentially crippled the anemia drug franchise at Amgen (AMGN), and a recently released [...]

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With Growth Stocks Seeing Multiples Compress, Investors Should Make a Shopping List

Even though the market has done well this year, It has been interesting to see so many former high flying growth stocks come back down to earth. Over the last few years there was always a group of great companies that were growing like weeds and their share prices reflected those prospects. If I think [...]

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Amgen Announces Another Acquisition

If you wondered what Amgen (AMGN) would do with the extra $1 billion it raised through a recent bond offering, now we know what they had in mind when they finalized the numbers. The company issued $4 billion of debt and simultaneously announced a $3 billion share buyback. It appears the extra $1 billion will [...]

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In the Face of Adversity, Amgen Buys Ilypsa to Bulk Up Product Pipeline

It has been a tough year for Amgen (AMGN) but the world’s largest biotechnology company is not standing still while its anemia drug franchise is under attack. After cutting operating expenses by hundreds of millions of dollars and issuing $4 billion in debt to boost its share buyback program, the company announced yesterday that it [...]

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