The health-care sector is hot—but it’s not due just to the wild ride in booming biotech.The health-care sector as a whole has been a standout in the S&P 500, up 9 percent year-to-date through the end of May and the top sector gainer last month, with a 4 percent return. That’s compared to the S&P 500’s meager 2.3 percent for […]
BloombergThe iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF over 12 months
Stocks sold off on Thursday after a post-Fed rally on Wednesday.
But the Nasdaq still gained ground thanks to the biotech sector which gained about 2% on Thursday. In fact, biotech stocks have been on fire all year. They’re up about 15% year-to-date.Last month, Max Nisen at Quartz wrote that while everyone is focusing on […]
MRK -0.30%ABT +0.13%AMGN +0.40%Health care stocks were mostly higher, with the NYSE Health Care Sector Index climbing 0.3% and shares of health care companies in the S&P 500 advancing 0.6% as a group.In company news, Athersys (ATHX) advanced Monday after the biotech company lined up Japanese drugmaker Chugai to help it develop its stem-cell therapy for stoke.Under terms of the […]
Thinking about buying into biotech ahead of the JPMorgan Health Care Conference? History says the best play is to buy the day before the meeting starts and hold until the end.The JPMorgan conference, from Monday to Thursday, is the health industry’s biggest annual event, setting the agenda for the year. Sentiment out of the conference can dominate the first half […]
2014 is quickly coming to an end, so below is a look at the 50 best performing Russell 3,000 stocks year-to-date. As shown, the top seven stocks in the index are from the Health Care sector. RadNet (RDNT) ranks first with a YTD gain of 388.62%. Receptos (RCPT) ranks second at +345.74%, followed by Avanir Pharma (AVNR) in third at […]
istockphotoThree-year annualized return: 28.1%Annual expense ratio: 0.35%Minimum initial investment: $3,000Biggest holdings: Actavis, Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, UnitedHealth Group, AstraZenecaVanguard Health Care (VGHCX) is the Grand Pooh-Bah of health care sector funds. Not only is it the biggest, it also charges the least of any health care mutual fund (exchange-traded funds tend to cost less). What’s more, even as Vanguard Health outpaced […]
If you want to book consistent gains trading stocks, you have to know where the money is flowing.Right now, if your cash is tied up in consumer staples and industrial names, you’re doing it all wrong. These aren’t the stocks that are outperforming the S&P 500. You’d be better off buying an index fund and spending the rest of your […]
