Market Currents

• Monday, December 21, 2009

• 18:03 PM Morningstar looks back over some of their most frequently discussed stock picks to plumb them for price-to-value ideas for 2010: heavy on healthcare, including Genzyme (GENZ), Stryker (SYK) and Abbott Labs (ABT). 1 Comment

• Monday, December 14, 2009

• 16:49 PM Abbott Labs (ABT) shores up its position in the diagnostics market by agreeing to acquiring STARLIMS Technologies (LIMS) for $123M in cash; [[ABT]] -0.2% AH. (PR) Comment!

• Monday, November 16, 2009

• 07:51 AM A new trial found a reduction in the thickness of artery walls in patients given Abbott Laboratories' (ABT) Niaspan, while those on Merck's (MRK) Zetia had no change. The results, reported yesterday at a American Heart Association meeting, could pump up sales for Abbott’s drug, though some doctors have questioned the validity of the study. Comment!

• Sunday, October 18, 2009

• 02:55 AM Pfizer's (PFE) experimental oral rheumatoid arthritis drug was effective both as a standalone and in combination with standard treatments, a final analysis of data from mid-stage studies shows. "People should be extremely excited about it," lead researcher Dr. Roy Fleischmann says, noting it should be cheaper than current biotech solutions like Abbott's (ABT) Humira and Amgen's (AMGN) Enbrel. Comment!

• Wednesday, October 14, 2009

• 07:59 AM Abbott Laboratories (ABT): Q3 EPS of $0.92 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $7.76B (+3.5%) in-line. Shares +3% premarket. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable pre-market earnings: ABT, ASML, HST, JPM, LPL Comment!

• Tuesday, September 29, 2009

• 17:55 PM With markets up almost 50% since March, fund managers are generally treading carefully. Here are some stocks the group says may still have some juice: Commodities (RIG, STLD), healthcare (ABT, GILD), business spending (AMD, ASML), and top fliers that were left behind (BMY, VZ, WMT). 1 Comment

• Sunday, September 27, 2009

• 09:48 AM Abbott (ABT) is close to announcing a deal to buy Belgian conglomerate Solvay's (SVYSY.PK) drug unit for about $7.6B in cash. A deal could be announced as early as Monday. Abbott and Solvay already sell two drugs for cholesterol and triglycerides together; a deal would give Abbott access to Solvay's drugs for hypertension and Parkinson's disease. (WSJ) Comment!

• Wednesday, September 2, 2009

• 16:29 PM Abbott Laboratories (ABT) agrees to buy Visiogen - maker of eye-implanted lenses for cataract patients - for $400M in cash. Comment!

• Thursday, August 27, 2009

• 10:52 AM Abbott Laboratories (ABT +0.1%) and Pfizer (PFE -0.3%) say they'll join forces to develop a test to screen lung cancer patients to determine which are good candidates for a novel cancer therapy being developed by Pfizer. The test will look for cells that have incurred gene rearrangement, or translocation. Comment!
• 09:57 AM Abbott Laboratories (ABT +0.1%) and Pfizer (PFE -0.7%) say they'll join forces to develop a test to screen lung cancer patients to determine which are good candidates for a novel cancer therapy being developed by Pfizer. The test will look for cells that have incurred gene rearrangement, or translocation. Comment!

• Monday, July 27, 2009

• 08:50 AM Medtronic (MDT) settles all outstanding intellectual-property litigation with Abbott Laboratories (ABT), agreeing to pay $400M and $42M to evYsio Medical Devices. MDT +1% premarket; ABT +0.4%. Comment!

• Wednesday, July 15, 2009

• 07:57 AM Abbott Laboratories (ABT): Q2 EPS of $0.89 in-line. Revenue of $7.5B (+2.5%) in-line. Shares -0.4% premarket. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable earnings before Wednesday's open: ABT, ASML, GCI, GWW Comment!

• Tuesday, June 30, 2009

• 12:15 PM FDA panel votes to lower the maximum dose of Tylenol (JNJ -0.8%) and its generic imitations over concerns of liver damage. J&J opened higher after winning a $1.67B verdict against Abbott (ABT -2.8%), but dropped in a hurry. Comment!
• 07:24 AM Abbott Laboratories (ABT) is ordered to pay $1.67B in a patent suit brought by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ). J&J had alleged Abbott's Humira arthritis therapy infringed on a patent for J&J's rival treatment Remicade. Abbott plans to appeal the ruling. Comment!