Strong base will fuel rebound

Beckman Coulter has suffered lately, mostly because of problems with a test kit that determines whether a patient has suffered a heart attack. Beckman recalled the test kit, which accounted for about 2% of its 2009 sales, earlier this year. The company is now working… Read More

Obamacare survivor

BECKMAN COULTER INC. $64 (New York symbol BEC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 69.9 million; Market cap: $4.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 1.1%; WSSF Rating: Average) makes lab equipment that doctors and medical researchers use to detect substances in… Read More

BECKMAN COULTER INC. $66 – New York symbol BEC

BECKMAN COULTER INC. $66 (New York symbol BEC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 68.6 million; Market cap: $4.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; WSSF Rating: Average) makes lab equipment that doctors and researchers use to detect substances in bodily fluids. Beckman gets… Read More

Medical-device makers: 3 buys & 1 hold

Medical-device sales have suffered lately, partly because of the recession. As well, proposed reforms to the U.S. health-care system could limit or cut the amount that hospitals and clinics can recoup from insurance companies. This could leave them with less to spend on medical devices.

However,… Read More

Hello Pat: I look forward to your advice for investors and find it a very valuable source for do it yourself investors. I would like your advice on how to get exposure to the health-care industry. I do own Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, but would like to be more exposed. Should I add more pharmaceuticals? Thank you in advance.

We still feel that the major drug companies are more speculative than most investors realize. They need a steady flow of successful new products to maintain their earnings. As well, as their drugs come off patent, they face increasing litigation and aggressive competition from generics… Read More