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IXJ

Through almost six months, 2010 has not been kind to many of the world’s largest companies, as a choppy market has given investors plenty of reasons to stay on the sidelines; debt issues threaten to drag down bank profits and a massive oil spill in the Gulf has sliced BP’s shares nearly in half since the spill began almost six weeks ago (weighing on the entire sector in the process). Meanwhile, an often overlooked situation is brewing at pharma giant Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), as the firm was recently forced to recall several children’s pain and cold medicines over manufacturing issues which may have put metal particles into the products. Since hitting its 2010 high of just over $66/share, JNJ has plummeted more than 11.2% to its current share price of roughly $58.6/share, and some believe that the worst could still be ahead for the pharmaceutical giant. [click to continue…]

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Will Obamacare Put Healthcare ETFs On Life Support?

by Michael Johnston on August 14, 2009

Healthcare reform has been in the news a lot lately, with constant finger-pointing, debate, and competing versions of comprehensive bills. Although the passage of comprehensive reform appears to be less certain that it was only weeks ago, it remains likely that major changes are coming before the end of the year. While many specifics are still up in the air, it is becoming clear that the outcome of this issue could make a major impact from Main Street to Wall Street. So what does all the speculation and proposed reform mean for healthcare ETFs? That all depends on which of the three main types of funds you’re talking about; biotech ETFs, pharmaceutical ETFs, and healthcare provider ETFs each figure to be impacted in a unique manner as this saga plays out. Each comes complete with its own risks and rewards for investing at a tumultuous time in this rapidly-changing industry. [click to continue…]

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Pharma ETFs Rise on Swine Flu Pandemic News

by Michael Johnston on June 11, 2009

The World Health Organization on Thursday informed its 11 member nations that it is declaring an H1N1 (aka “Swine Flu”) pandemic. The declaration of a flu pandemic, the first since 1968, means that the WHO believes a global outbreak of H1N1 has begun. As a result of the declaration, all countries, including those with no reported [...]

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