Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK)

All Comments on MRK

  • commenter
    Jake2
    Feb 16 01:40 AM
    My Website
    5 Pillars of Investing During Economic Downturns [view article]
    Sorry but this article looked like a product placement or a sales pitch rather than something truely informative or helpful. Pepsi? Johnson and Johnson? Come on, tell me something I don't know. Reply
  • commenter
    hmmmmm
    Feb 14 07:06 PM
    Cholesterol Drug Trial Results Mean Bad News for Schering-Plough, Merck [view article]
    Your article is somewhat imbalanced. This trial is not an outcomes trial as you said early in the piece. The definition of "outcomes" is being used in two different contexts and is confused when the word "outcomes" is mentioned again - "But the downstream clinical data (the artery measurements and outcomes) overrule that." No they don't, at least not yet. The time period was not long enough, there were not enough patients and how can you interpret numbers from this population of cholesterol producers who make cottage cheese for blood to the entire population? You can't.

    All of the information is not available as the trial has not been peer reviewed, presented or published. This process is fairly well laid out and will be completed. Scientific discourse should be allowed in this case as well before weighing in and scuttling the whole thing.
    We don't even know what the significance of IMT measurements are so to conclude anything from this trial is inappropriate. Does IMT = plaque? (We don't know.) Have there been legitimate outcomes studies with IMT? (Find them.) Are there more than one failed IMT studies out there? (Absolutely)
    How can you say there is no benefit to the drug when the LDL's were dropped by 58% and you point out yourself the p value of .01? There is significant data showing the relationship of LDL and cardiac events. I don't think you can settle that this is completely bad info until the rest of the data gets released & reviewed.

    It certainly is bad politically for Schering. One might ask more about what is going on behind the scenes? How did this trial get released one day and show up with Katie and the good doctor the next morning? Hmmmmm? Overall, I think there is some strong mischaracterizations here by experts and by writers who do a lot of damage when damage is not warranted.

    Reply
  • commenter
    jack kreg
    Feb 14 01:48 PM
    5 Pillars of Investing During Economic Downturns [view article]
    I agree with your concept of value investing, even more simply, buy the best when they are the most beaten. This type of investing takes a very long time horizon. For example, buying JC Penney's about 10 years ago, as the stock collapsed from over 60 to about 10, Then holding for about 5 years while the stock bounced between 10 and 20 from 2000 to 2005, then the pay off, as the stock soared from 20 to a high of 85, finally earning value investors a 4x return on their money, that is about a 15% annual return over 10 years, this is real good money. True the stock has dropped back to mid 40's on recession fears, although, I believe that more value investors are buying the stock now, namely, Carl Ichan, sp? Reply
  • commenter
    Bryan
    Feb 13 03:44 PM
    Aegerion Pharmaceuticals: Capitalize on Cholesterol [view article]
    Here's something I just noticed: if apoB levels are the new biomarker to follow for CHD risk assesment as the Farmington Study is leaning towards, then Isis' mipomersen and ezetimibe combo AEGR-733 both shoot it down 40 and 27 percent respectively. Now which would you rather take, an injection once a week as is necessary with Isis or a pill a day as in Aegerion's formulation. Reply
  • commenter
    Bryan
    Feb 13 02:20 PM
    Aegerion Pharmaceuticals: Capitalize on Cholesterol [view article]
    Aegerion is trying to enter a very crowded market, true, but the combination market has some room, and this is where AEG-733 could really shine. Reply
  • commenter
    DB, MD
    Feb 13 01:17 PM
    Aegerion Pharmaceuticals: Capitalize on Cholesterol [view article]
    The problem if course is multiple-fold:
    1. Just because it lowers cholesterol, does it mean it will lower mortality? The bar for all anti-cholesterol meds will likely be set higher after the ENHANCE trial
    2. Just because it' lowers it better than the rest, does it mean it will do well? Crestor languishes in the face of a much older Lipitor?
    3. Is it safe? Tough question to answer at this early stage in the game.
    4. Will FDA approve it? Will it be fast enough? Will it require more studies?
    5. It is a crowded field and it is unclear to me at least, as a physician, that another me-too drug even if slightly more effective will result in a monumental prescription writing shift away from the more established meds.

    Thoughts?     Reply
  • commenter
    Thinking
    ahead
    Feb 11 05:03 PM
    Corporate Earnings and Taxes - What's the Connection? [view article]
    echotoall has a point. And tax rates bounce around in other countries like they do here. But your point is good too, if you can point to specifics. I follow a couple of these names and don't remember write-ups mentioned on the Q4 calls. Reply
  • commenter
    Tom B
    Feb 08 09:17 AM
    Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [view article]
    "# Microsoft's Office push scrutinized by EU"

    I think we can all agree that open document formats are better than closed ones. The interesting thing here, though, is that the EU is quite willing to probe MSFT over this one small thing. And, at the same time, many "neutral" pundits seem to believe MSFT can get away with destroying Yahoo without legal consequences. Most curious.     Reply
  • commenter
    echotoall
    Feb 07 03:13 PM
    My Website
    Corporate Earnings and Taxes - What's the Connection? [view article]
    each one of those companies are exposed to the global economy (except for CVS, and not sure about ZMH). Money made aboard i don't think subject to US tax rates, and if this quarter more money was made abroad then less of that rev would be subject to US tax rates. Could this be a more realistic explanation? Just a thought. Reply
  • commenter
    Tom B
    Feb 06 01:29 PM
    Under The Radar News - Wednesday [view article]
    "Microsoft shareholders come to Yahoo's aid. Microsoft shareholders have sold off the stock,"

    The stock price of potential acquirers in M&A's usually goes down. The fact that MSFT has slipped only a bit in a bear market, if anything, implies that MSFT stockholders are delusional and fail to comprehend how negatively a Yahoo deal will erode shareholder value, especially over the long term.     Reply
  • commenter
    jcpassch
    Feb 06 10:33 AM
    Analysts Rate Dow Stocks and Where They're Headed [view article]
    I agreee with the anyl. However I think that fin. will increase as well. Reply
  • commenter
    Judith Levy
    Feb 01 12:18 AM
    Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [view article]
    I appreciate it, VT! Glad to hear you're enjoying the Breakfast. For more news, check out Seeking Alpha's Under the Radar daily feature, which complements the Breakfast each day. Reply
  • commenter
    digivision
    Jan 31 09:32 PM
    My Website
    Under The Radar News - Thursday [view article]
    after looking at the asus specs I'd rather get a 5 yo ibook for less(around $200) but more everything..... hd, ram,larger screen, more memory , faster, wireless etc... yup
    Half of the web sites for kids require a fast processor and a celeron 800 mhz is not going to cut it.. if you only want ti to type stuff then there are better choices     Reply
  • commenter
    SA Editor
    Eli Hoffmann
    Jan 31 06:20 PM
    Under The Radar News - Thursday [view article]
    Indeed! Uncanny. Reply
  • commenter
    David
    Jackson
    Jan 31 05:54 PM
    My Website
    Under The Radar News - Thursday [view article]
    The FT article on laptop vendors is uncannily similar to this:
    Asus Eee: Threat to Apple, Microsoft, HP, Dell and the Hard Drive Vendors?
    seekingalpha.com/artic...

    which Seeking Alpha readers got 20 days earlier.
    :-)     Reply

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