Displaying items by tag: healthcare

(Boston)

The multinational biopharmaceutical company Amgen has agreed to terms to acquire Five Prime Therapeutics Inc. Amgen aims to improve its portfolio of…view the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(New York)

Because of how the polls are trending, very few seem to be thinking about the fact that a Republican sweep of all three chambers of the government could happen. When you step away from the polls and think about the fact that Republicans currently control two of the three chambers, it becomes more realistic; and even more so when you consider that polls are likely skewed towards Democrats because of “silent” Republican supporters. If the Republicans sweep, or even just if Trump wins, then the sectors that will surge are energy, banks, healthcare, and defense. In particular, think names like Marathon Petroleum, Bank of America, Pfizer, and Northrop Grumman.

FINSUM: This may be unlikely, but it is not as wildly unrealistic as some make it sound. Perhaps smart to have a portion of the portfolio in these sectors headed into the election?

(New York)

In what seems one of the most predictable outcomes of the Coronavirus pandemic, asset managers have decided to pounce and launch virus-specific ETFs. Pacer ETFs has just launched the Pacer BioThreat ETF (ticker: VIRS, of course), which tracks a custom index which follows “U.S.-listed stocks of companies that help protect against or recover from biological threats to human health based on a proprietary, multi-step research process”. Other providers, such as EQM, are doing the same.

FINSUM: This is not as gimmicky as it sounds. Companies that have businesses that benefit from coronavirus are going to be a sustained investment focus for some time.

(New York)

How about some stocks with good income that should stand up well to the coronavirus scare? Sounds good. Well, take a look at the most obvious sector for such: healthcare. Healthcare stocks have great dividend yields right now and should be impervious to coronavirus by definition. Plus, they have a tailwind that only really arrived yesterday—a resurgent Joe Biden, who does not want to tear up the status quo of US healthcare. A couple good funds for this are the SPDR XLV or HGHAX.

FINSUM: This seems like a very good call—good income and a natural defensiveness to the virus scare. Plus, Biden’s resurgence should be positive.

(New York)

There are a handful of safe haven stock sectors that investors tend to rely on during market downturns. Healthcare, utilities, and REITs come to mind. Lately, some have been saying bank shares may also prove a good defense. However, investors should be very wary of two of those just mentioned: healthcare and banks. While on the surface healthcare stocks look very good for a recession—it is not as if people stop getting sick—the reality is that there has never been more regulatory pressure on the sector (from both sides of the aisle), which means it is far from safe. Additionally, the idea that banks have become safe, utility-like dividend machines is flawed, as bank earnings are very exposed to the economic cycle, and thus will likely see big moves in both price and yield.

FINSUM: We agree with this assessment entirely. Healthcare is more vulnerable than it has been in memory and banks are a long way from being dependable utilities (excellent PR job by Wall Street though!).