The health care industry has been on a steady growth path for nearly two decades. That’s been good news for investors who have enjoyed almost non-stop gains from the sector. But now, cost pressures are now putting heat on the sector and gains have been much harder to come by. In contrast, the party’s just beginning for China… Chinese health care is far earlier on the growth curve and appears to have a long growth path ahead of itself. Chinese per-capita spending on health care is the lowest of any of the 20 largest global economies. Off… Read More

The health care industry has been on a steady growth path for nearly two decades. That’s been good news for investors who have enjoyed almost non-stop gains from the sector. But now, cost pressures are now putting heat on the sector and gains have been much harder to come by. In contrast, the party’s just beginning for China… Chinese health care is far earlier on the growth curve and appears to have a long growth path ahead of itself. Chinese per-capita spending on health care is the lowest of any of the 20 largest global economies. Off that low base, key companies look set to grow at a double-digit clip for a number of years to come and offer investors the same consistent gains once offered by American healthcare stocks. Here are three companies I’ve found that appear nicely positioned to capitalize on that trend. 1. American Oriental Bioengineering (AMEX: AOB) Growing through acquisitions can be winning strategy if it helps a company develop a broad and compelling set of products. That was the plan for this purveyor of plant-based drugs and neutraceuticals. Chinese consumers greatly prefer traditional organic remedies,… Read More

After posting a very rapid and strong upward move, stocks tend to do one of two things: either surge even higher, or fall victim to profit-taking. They rarely stay put. That’s why it’s profitable to continually pore over recent strong gainers and assess which stocks have further… Read More

The drug industry is staring at a $30 billion hole. That’s the annual sales volume of major drugs that are set to lose patent protection in the next 18 months. Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) cholesterol reducer Lipitor, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s (NYSE: BMY) blood-clot preventer Plavix, Merck’s (NYSE: MRK) asthma medication Singulair, and Abbott’s… Read More

Exactly one quarter ago, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting 11,000, I asked a simple question: will the next move be to 12,000 or back to 10,000? Well, the bulls ruled the day, and the market has tacked on another 9% gain since then. This rally seems to never end.   The sharp rise off the March 2009 bottom made clear sense. So many good companies were selling at such low valuations that you needed to ignore the noise and simply pick the best apples from the barrel. Yet the most recent move in the… Read More

Exactly one quarter ago, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting 11,000, I asked a simple question: will the next move be to 12,000 or back to 10,000? Well, the bulls ruled the day, and the market has tacked on another 9% gain since then. This rally seems to never end.   The sharp rise off the March 2009 bottom made clear sense. So many good companies were selling at such low valuations that you needed to ignore the noise and simply pick the best apples from the barrel. Yet the most recent move in the market is a bit more puzzling. The markets were approaching fair value last spring, then pulled back and have since gone on to post another impressive rally. The Dow has rallied roughly 20% in the past five months, which works out to be a nearly 50% annualized gain. At a time where you should expect 10% to 15% annual market gains — at best — we should be truly grateful. We should also take a more cautious posture. Here’s why. Factors behind the move As I noted, the market would potentially rally… Read More

In a bid to stay relevant (and stay afloat), major free news publications are starting to tighten the noose, putting their content behind a paid firewall. It worked for News Corp’s (NYSE: NWS) Wall Street Journal, because that publication can be considered as a necessary asset for the business community, and thus can easily be expensed by many readers. The rest of the pack may not be so lucky, as we’ll soon find out with The New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT). Rumors circulate that the “Old Gray Lady” will soon announce a $20 per month… Read More

In a bid to stay relevant (and stay afloat), major free news publications are starting to tighten the noose, putting their content behind a paid firewall. It worked for News Corp’s (NYSE: NWS) Wall Street Journal, because that publication can be considered as a necessary asset for the business community, and thus can easily be expensed by many readers. The rest of the pack may not be so lucky, as we’ll soon find out with The New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT). Rumors circulate that the “Old Gray Lady” will soon announce a $20 per month subscription plan for regular visitors to nytimes.com that also want to be able to read the paper on the Kindle and the iPad. (All signs point to a March launch). Standalone web-only access through a browser is rumored to be priced at $10. That’s $120 a year. The price may be appealing to die-hard readers like myself, but surely unappealing to many that appreciate the Times’ impressive website, but would likely balk at such a cost. This leads to my major concern about The New York Times — and its stock. Shares have rallied in recent… Read More

Financial planners suggest a few rules when it comes to investment strategies. If you may need to cash-in your investments soon, then you should be holding liquid safe investments such as Certificates of Deposit (CDs). And if you have a long time horizon, then you should move… Read More

Investors often make one key mistake: They look to bag profits after an investment has made an impressive move. That makes sense — if the reasons to buy that stock have changed, or if the stock is now too pricey in relation to future earnings. But there are… Read More

In order to make money in stocks, you’ve got to invest. Not just money — you’ve got to invest time to watch and watch and watch a gathered list of stocks and be ready to pounce when opportunities present themselves. Here are three stocks that have been on my watch list and now look like promising buys. 1. Couer D’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE: CDE) At the start of each year, investors fret that this may be the year that China finally cools. But that’s been a bad bet recently and I’m betting that this year’s China… Read More

In order to make money in stocks, you’ve got to invest. Not just money — you’ve got to invest time to watch and watch and watch a gathered list of stocks and be ready to pounce when opportunities present themselves. Here are three stocks that have been on my watch list and now look like promising buys. 1. Couer D’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE: CDE) At the start of each year, investors fret that this may be the year that China finally cools. But that’s been a bad bet recently and I’m betting that this year’s China scare will also prove to be unwarranted, despite possible troubles in that country’s housing sector. The rest of the economy simply has too much momentum, which is why I agree with commodity bulls that China’s insatiable demand for all kinds of metals and minerals will keep this asset class on the rise in 2011. My favorite current commodities play is Couer D’Alene, an 80-year-old company that is ramping up production of gold, silver, zinc and iron ore. It’s been a “show-me” stock lately as it starts to boost output at some new mines. Read More

On Tuesday I told you about one of the easiest ways I know of to make a fortune in stocks. In short, the idea is to take a tiny chunk of your discretionary cash and “swing for the fences.” I’m talking about investing in a few small stocks with the potential to return many times your money. Just one big winner — one home run — could more than make up for losses on your other bets. Here’s what I mean… In just four days, one of the… Read More

On Tuesday I told you about one of the easiest ways I know of to make a fortune in stocks. In short, the idea is to take a tiny chunk of your discretionary cash and “swing for the fences.” I’m talking about investing in a few small stocks with the potential to return many times your money. Just one big winner — one home run — could more than make up for losses on your other bets. Here’s what I mean… In just four days, one of the stocks I featured in my article: “3 Small Stocks That Could Make Investors Rich” is down 3%. Another is down 5%. But the third, BioLase Technology (Nasdaq: BLTI), has already jumped 96%.   Let’s say you had put $1,000 into each of these stocks. With your $3,000 investment you’d be sitting on $3,880 today — an $880 profit in less than a week. And that came from getting only one out of three stock picks right. Not bad. I don’t know of any other way to… Read More

For the courageous souls willing to jump into stocks in March 2009, it’s been a bonanza: The S&P 500 has risen about 90% since then, equating to annual gains of more than 40%. But this widely-held index has been a loser if you go farther back. In the past… Read More