International ETFs have exploded in popularity, largely due to the fact that they make it relatively easy for an individual investor to trade a singe focused country or region. Remember, however, that ETFs differ from each other, sometimes in huge ways, so be sure to investigate the holdings and structure of an ETF/ETN before you invest or trade in it.

Let's take a look at the top-performing International ETFs on a Year-To-Date basis for 2009 (data source here):

2009 YTD Top Performing International ETFs

Cephalon (CEPH) specializes in bio-pharmaceuticals that target central nervous system (CNS) disorders, pain treatments, and oncology (cancer). The star product over the past few years has been Provigil, a treatment for sleep disorders, that has accounted for about half of sales. Other significant drugs in the portfolio are Fentora and Actiq (the former a replacement for the latter), which account for nearly 25% of sales. Fentora and Actiq are designed to treat cancer-related pain. The final meaningful drug is Treanda, a treatment for leukemia and lymphoma, although Cephalon also has numerous other smaller formulations that target conditions such as seizures and spasms.

Cephalon's growth will largely be tied to its newest product: Nuvigil, a replacement for Provigil which is facing imminent generic competition and loses patent protection in the next few years. Nuvigil has several advantages over the older drug, including fewer side effects and better effectiveness. Best of all for Cephalon, the drug was just launched this summer and offers over 10 years of patent protection. Nuvigil is set to be the engine of growth, particularly through expanded indications for jet lag, bipolar depression, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, and others. If all goes to plan, Cephalon will be able to migrate Provigil patients into Nuvigil, protecting them from competitors, and gain new patients through the expanded label.

Q3 2009 Earnings Call

November 4, 2009 8:30 AM ET

• GM U-turn on Opel sparks German road rage. German officials were outraged by GM's surprise decision to keep Opel, its European arm, abandoning a long-expected sale to a Magna- (MGA) led group that the German government had agreed to back with €4.5B of state aid. GM said improving business conditions and the strategic importance of Opel had prompted the move, which came after the EU forced GM's board to revisit the deal over concerns Germany had influenced its decision. GM expects restructuring Opel to cost about €3B; it's unclear whether the German government will help it restructure.
• Buffett joins Goldman in bid for tax credits. Sources say Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) has joined Goldman Sachs (GS) in a bid to buy $3B in tax credits from Fannie Mae (FNM), adding a twist to a politically sensitive deal. The credits are virtually worthless to Fannie Mae, and require it to take losses each quarter as their value declines, while profitable companies could use them to offset taxes. The government, which controls Fannie, is thought to be reluctant to approve a deal that would allow Goldman to save on taxes, given the firm's already tenuous standing with lawmakers and on Main Street; taking widely-respected Buffett as a partner could reduce the tension.
• Berkshire bets big. Warren Buffett says his $100/share bid for Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI) was his first and only offer, stressing that the deal is "not a bet on next month or next year. We're going to own it forever." Berkshire (BRK.A) will pay about 60% cash and 40% stock for the railroad, taking on $8B in debt and depleting its cash store to about $20B, leaving it almost fully-invested according to its standards, which analysts say could result in strategic divestments in the future. Berkshire will split its so-called Baby Berkshire shares (BRK.B) by 50 to enable small Burlington stakeholders to participate in the share swap, which will help bring its famously pricey stock within the means of retail investors.
• Obese healthcare premiums. A Senate probe found U.S. health insurers (AET, CI, CVH, HUM, UNH, WLP) are spending considerably less of their premiums on medical care than official industry estimates - an average of $0.70/dollar instead of the $0.87 cited by industry group AHIP. The report also singled out Cigna for mis-categorizing $5B worth of clients. "The American people and I are asking a serious question and one that deserves a straight answer – why are health insurance costs going up each year?" Sen. Jay Rockefeller said. "While health-care costs are spiraling upwards, consumers are paying more and getting less, and the health insurance industry doesn't want anyone to know what they are up to."
• Regulators fret Asia bubble. The World Bank warned Tuesday that the sudden reappearance of billions of dollars in investment capital in East Asia is "raising concerns about asset price bubbles," while the IMF cited "a risk" that surging Hong Kong asset prices are being driven by a flood of capital "divorced from fundamental forces of supply and demand." About $53B has gone into emerging-market stock funds this year.
• China backs Shanghai Disney. Beijing gave Disney (DIS) the go-ahead to build a $4B theme park in Shanghai, allowing the media giant to establish a presence in a massive market that has presented substantial hurdles to foreign entertainment companies. The park has been discussed for close to a decade. Disney already operates a theme park in Hong Kong.
• Oracle awaits EU veto. Oracle (ORCL) is expecting a formal objection to its planned $7.4B acquisition of Sun Microsystems (JAVA) from the EU Commission within days, sources say. Despite concerns over the deal's impact on the database market, Oracle has refused to make any concessions to European regulators.
• Bain in exclusive talks to buy Citi's Bellsystem. Private-equity group Bain Capital is reportedly in exclusive negotiations with Citigroup (C) to buy its Japanese telemarketer Bellsystem24 in a deal that could be worth more than $1B. A team of CVC Capital and Blackstone (BX) also made an offer in the final round of bidding, which closed last Friday. Citigroup put Bellsystem24 up for sale as part of its efforts to raise cash; it has already sold its retail broker Nikko Cordial Securities and asset management firm Nikko Asset Management in Japan.
• Car sales show spark. U.S. vehicle sales declined less than 1% in October, the first signs of a recovery without the aid of government incentives. The drop made October the year's strongest month aside from August, which received a lift from the cash-for-clunkers program. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate was 11.2M. "Thinking of where we've come from, it's certainly a positive signal," J.D. Power's Jeff Schuster said. GM's sales rose 5% - the first gain since Jan. 2008. Ford's (F) grew 3%.
• Second IPO nixed. Aviv REIT Inc. (AVI) became the second U.S. company in less than a week to pull its IPO after pricing and demand failed to meet investors' expectations, dealers said. September and October's 18 IPOs have collectively beaten the S&P 500 by just 0.3% during their first month of trading - the worst showing on record.
• Mortgage apps rise. Mortgage applications increased 8.2% from a week ago, MBA said, led by a 14.5% jump in refinancing. The average rate for 30-year fixed mortgages declined to 4.97% from 5.04%.
• Oct. Challenger Job-Cut Report: Announced layoffs fell to 55,679 vs. 66,404 in September, the lowest total since March 2008. As recently as October 2008, the number stood at 113K.

Earnings: Wed. Before Open

• Agrium (AGU): Q3 EPS of $0.16 in-line. Revenue of $1.84B (-40.8%) vs. $2.07B. (PR)
• Ambac (ABK): Q3 EPS of $7.58 vs. consensus of -$4.43. Revenue of $23.6M (-24.6%) vs. $23.4M. Says results "reflect significant unrealized mark-to-market gains in the credit derivatives portfolio and gains resulting from reinsurance cancellations during the quarter." Shares +30% premarket. (PR)
• Automatic Data Processing (ADP): FQ1 EPS of $0.56 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $2.1B (-3.6%) in-line. (PR)
• Aqua America (WTR): Q3 EPS of $0.25 in-line. Revenue of $181M (+2.1%) vs. $189M. Increases quarterly dividend by $0.01 (7.4%) to $0.145. Says results were negatively impacted by eighth wettest summer in 137 years. (PR)
• Baker Hughes (BHI): Q3 EPS of $0.26 misses by $0.10. Revenue of $2.23B (-26%) in-line. Says international results were negatively impacted by price discounting. Expects to complete acquisition of BJ Services (BJS) in Q1 2010. (PR)
• Becton Dickinson (BDX): FQ4 EPS of $1.25 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $1.9B (+5%) in-line. (PR)
• Comcast (CMCSA): Q3 EPS of $0.33 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $8.8B (+3%) in-line. Declares quarterly dividend of $0.0675. (PR I, II)
• Devon Energy (DVN): Q3 EPS of $1.10 beats by $0.20. Revenue of $2.1B (-64.9%) in-line. O&G production is up 8% YTD. Shares +4.3% premarket. (PR)
• Diedrich Coffee (DDRX): FQ1 EPS of $0.07 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $15.8M (+52%) vs. $13.2M. Diedrich is being acquired by Peet's Coffee & Tea (PEET). (PR)
• Foster Wheeler (FWLT): Q3 EPS of $0.71 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $1.22B (-29.2%) vs. $1.29B. (PR)
• Garmin (GRMN): Q3 EPS of $1.02 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $781M (-10.2%) vs. $704M. Gross margin 52%. Operating margin 30% from 25% last year. (PR)
• Huntsman (HUN): Q3 EPS of -$0.24 misses by $0.16. Revenue of $2.11B (+13%) vs. $1.95B. Says expansion of Asian ops "has allowed us to take advantage of markets less affected by the ongoing global recession." Anticipates economic recovery will continue. (PR)
• IAMGOLD (IAG): Q3 EPS of $0.18 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $235M (+3.7%) vs. $224M. Shares +3.5% premarket. (PR)
• Liz Claiborne (LIZ): Q3 EPS of $0.43 misses by $0.23. Revenue of $770B (-24.1%) vs. $790B. Says it's seeing "significantly improved comparable store sales results" Q4 to date. (PR)
• Marsh & McLennan (MMC): Q3 EPS of $0.48 beats by $0.22. Revenue of $2.52B (-10.5%) vs. $2.6B. (PR)
• Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO): Q3 EPS of -$0.22 misses by $0.13. Revenue of $49.8M (-25.1%) vs. $51.3M. Shares -8.1% premarket. (PR)
• MFA Finanacial (MFA): Q3 EPS of $0.25 misses by $0.01. Shares +0.3% premarket. (PR)
• Molson Coors (TAP): Q3 EPS of $1.14 beats by $0.16. Revenue of $854M (-7.3%) vs. $834M. (PR)
• Pulte Homes (PHM): Q3 EPS of -$1.15 misses by $0.46. Revenue of $1.09B (-30%) vs. $1.23B. Says results "reflect a homebuilding industry that continues its transition toward more stable market conditions as lower prices and historically low mortgage rates are helping to support homebuyer demand. Challenges remain, however, as economic weakness, foreclosures, rising unemployment and recent uncertainty over the expiration of the federal tax credit continue to influence buyer behavior." (PR)
• Quanta Services (PWR): Q3 EPS of $0.32 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $781M (-25.6%) vs. $858M. (PR)
• R.R. Donnelley & Sons (RRD): Q3 EPS of $0.54 beats by $0.09. Revenue of $2.5B vs. $2.4B. (PR)
• Time Warner (TWX): Q3 EPS of $0.61 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $7.13B (-5.9%) in-line.(PR I, II)
• Transocean (RIG): Q3 EPS of $2.65 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $2.82B (-11.6%) in-line. (PR)
• TRW Automotive (TRW): Q3 EPS of $0.68 beats by $0.52. Revenue of $3.11B (-13.5%) vs. $2.87B. Sees Q4 revenue of $3.2B vs. $3B. "The cautious optimism that has emerged for the industry is supported by the increasing vehicle production forecasts. Although it appears the bottom of the financial crisis has been reached, full recovery will be a long and gradual process." (PR)
• Tyco Electronics (TEL): Q3 EPS of $0.30 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $2.7B (-24.6%) vs. $2.6B. (PR)
• Watson Pharmaceuticals (WPI): Q3 EPS of $0.66 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $662M (+3.3%) vs. $688M. (PR)
• XTO Energy (XTO): Q3 EPS of $0.86 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $2.29B (+7.7%) in-line. (PR)

Earnings: Tue. After Close

• Anworth Mortgage Asset (ANH): Q3 EPS of $0.27 misses by $0.04. Interest income of $63M (-14%). Shares +2% AH. (PR)
• CBL & Associates Properties (CBL): Q3 FFO of $0.50 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $263M (-8%) vs. $255M. Shares -0.8% AH. (PR)
• Con-Way (CNW): Q3 EPS of $0.39 misses by $0.20. Revenue of $1.1B (-18%) in-line. Shares +0.1% AH. (PR)
• Crown Castle International (CCI): Q3 EPS of -$0.13 misses by $0.09. Revenue of $429M (+12%) vs. $419M. Sees full-year EPS of -$0.58 to -$0.49 vs. -$0.45, on revenue of $1.54B vs. $1.66B. Shares -6.3% AH. (PR)
• Digital River (DRIV): Q3 EPS of $0.42 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $99.4M (+3%) vs. $98.3M. Sees Q4 EPS of $0.30-0.34 vs. $0.42. Shares -1.3% AH. (PR)
• Discovery (DISCA): Q3 EPS of $0.22 misses by $0.05. Revenue of $854M (+1%) vs. $850M. Shares -0.1% AH. (PR)
• Excel Maritime (EXM): Q3 EPS of $0.81 beats by $0.68. Revenue of $174M (-25%) vs. $101M. Shares +6% AH. (PR)
• Exco Resources (XCO): Q3 EPS of $0.20 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $131M (-70%) vs. $229M. Shares -0.5% AH. (PR)
• Hartford Financial (HIG): Q3 core EPS of $1.56 beats by $0.45. Results exclude highly variable realized gains/losses. Raises full-year EPS guidance to $0.85-1.05 from $0.00-0.20, vs. $0.50. Shares +4.8% AH. (PR)
• Kraft (KFT): Q3 EPS of $0.55 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $9.8B (-6%) vs. $10.3B. "Our volume/mix, profit margin and cash flow trends are strengthening as we successfully execute our growth plan." Shares -2.9% AH. (PR)
• Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX): Q3 EPS of $0.35 beats by $0.13. Revenue of $69M (+36%) vs. $65M. Shares -0.7% AH. (PR)
• Pioneer Natural Resources Company (PXD): Q3 EPS of -$0.06 misses by $0.13. Revenue of $410M (-32%) vs. $400M. Shares -0.2% AH. (PR)
• STEC (STEC): Q3 EPS of $0.50 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $98M (+54%) vs. $97M. Shares -31.9% AH. (PR)
• Unum Group (UNM): Q3 EPS of $0.64 in-line. Revenue of $2.52B (+3%) vs. $2.56B. (PR)
• Vivus (VVUS): Q3 EPS of -$0.30 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $4.3M (-2%) vs. $5.3M. Shares -3.7% AH. (PR
• Yamana Gold (AUY): Q3 EPS of $0.12 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $333M (+50%) vs. $358M. Shares -2% AH. (PR)

Today's Markets

Overseas markets posted solid gains Wednesday after U.S. markets rebounded from early weakness to finish off Tuesday flat. Futures are higher in moderate overnight trading.

As noted earlier, Friday marks the two-year anniversary of the S&P 500's closing peak. As of Thursday's close (10/8), only 57 of the 500 stocks currently in the index are up since then. Needless to say, it has been a lousy two years. Below we highlight the 25 best performing stocks in the index over the last two years. As shown, sectors which are the most heavily represented include Technology (7), Energy (6), Consumer Discretionary (5), and Health Care (5). Check back Friday morning for a list of the top performing Mid and Small Cap stocks since 10/9/07.

click to enlarge

On 9/18/09, Arena Pharma (ARNA) ($5.32, +9%) (heavy, above-average volume) announced lorcaserin met all primary endpoints and FDA benchmark with 63% of patients who complied with the protocol losing at least 5% of their weight. ARNA plans to file a NDA with the FDA in December. However, patients who took lorcaserin 10 mg twice daily achieved an average weight loss of 5.9% of their body weight, compared to 2.8% for placebo, causing shares of ARNA to initially decline on the news (with a recent turnaround and uptick) based on concerns for the commercial prospects of lorcaserin compared to Qnexa from Vivus (VVUS) ($11.51, +9%) (heavy, above-average volume), which is trading up on the lorcaserin results despite announcing a secondary offering of 9 million shares at a price of $10.50.

We have nearly finished examining the second-quarter 2009 financial results for the 19 companies we're currently tracking. We posted as many as four articles per company in the following sequence:

• Look Ahead - before earnings release
• Income Statement Analysis - soon after release
• Financial Gauge Analysis - 1 to 2 weeks after release
• Financial Gauge Update - 1 to 2 weeks after 10-Q/10-K

There are some exceptions to the pattern. We didn't post Look Aheads for a few companies, and Financial Gauge updates are not needed if the 10-Q/10-K is filed within a few days of the earnings release.

I really like the generic market right now. With patents expiring you can literally gauge how much a generic will make based on the patents expiring in the next few months. These generics are the hyenas in a pack of lions that have a good way of scavenging for their food in the Serengeti. The hyena has a distinct relationship with the Lions. The lions kill much of the food the hyena scavenges. But then there are vultures too so we will end this charade and get to the point. They may not come up with the drugs but they are definitely going to make a nice profit from them. But the competition is fierce these days. Some competitors in the generic market include Watson (WPI), Teva (TEVA) , Dr Reddy's Labs (RDY), Hi-Tech Pharmacal (HITK), Par Pharmaceuticals (PRX), and Caraco (CPD).

History

Conventional wisdom would indicate that finding a sure thing in the stock market is an impractical dream. However, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd. (TEVA) may be as close as you will ever get. As one of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies in the world this leader in generic and biogenerics is well positioned to prosper in today’s healthcare environment.

Teva, however, is much more than just the largest generic manufacturer and distributor; they also are one of the most innovative participants in the important fields of neurology for treatments of devastating diseases, other autoimmune diseases, and oncology.

Healthcare reform has been a hot topic of discussion in the news and on blogsites all over the country as the Obama administration mulls over whether or not a public option for healthcare makes sense and what a plan like that would entail. Any new reform to the current healthcare plan would have a great effect on stocks within the Healthcare sector.

Below is a list of stocks we find attractive and a few that we find unattractive within the S&P 500 Health sector. The chart consists of each company’s attractiveness as an investment opportunity using The Applied Finance Group’s (AFG’s) buy/sell criteria (explained below), and also grades each company based on expected Economic Margin (EM) change and valuation ranks within the sector. Companies expected to improve EMs and that have a more attractive valuation than their sector peers have proven through backtests to be more likely to outperform than stocks AFG views as overvalued and that have an expected decline in EMs.

The Financials

The Income Statement

Caraco (CPD) has annual $350M in sales and $32M in net income. The company has almost no CapEx, and over $45 in net cash. The company sells for a market cap of $116M and an EV of $70M, an EV-to-earnings multiple of 2x. The management has publicly stated a 25% sales growth for FY 2009 and should be growing revenue in high double-digits after that. At current prices, you are getting a dollar for 15 cents (we think the company should sell for 12x net income).

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI) earned $0.46 per share during the three months that ended on 30 June 2009, down from $0.51 in last year's second quarter.

This post examines the Income Statement for the quarter and compares it to our "look-ahead" estimates. Our target for Watson's Net Income in the latest quarter was $0.53 per share.

Q2 2009 Earnings Call Transcript

July 29, 2009 8:30 am ET

Below is a summary of updates to the BioMedReports.com FDA Calendar, which includes a database of 260 entries as of 7/15/09. I originally created this calendar to track companies with pending new drug, biological agent, or medical device new product decisions at the FDA. With the launch of BioMedReports.com, the FDA Calendar has expanded to include the following categories: pending new submissions to the FDA (e.g. NDA, BLA, 510k, PMA, sNDA, sBLA filings), pending complete response letter (CRL) re-submissions to the FDA, and pending late-stage clinical trial results.

Below is a summary of updates to the BioMedReports.com FDA Calendar, which includes a database of 258 entries as of 7/14/09. The calendar was originally created by Mike Havrilla to track companies with pending new drug, biological agent, or medical device new product decisions at the FDA. With the launch of BioMedReports.com, the FDA Calendar has expanded to include the following categories: pending new submissions to the FDA (e.g. NDA, BLA, 510k, PMA, sNDA, sBLA filings), pending complete response letter (CRL) re-submissions to the FDA, and pending late-stage clinical trial results.

The Russell 1,000 is now down 7.19% from its high on June 12th, while the average stock in the index is down 9.11%. For investors wondering which stocks have taken it on the chin the hardest and which ones have held up the best, below is a table of the biggest winners and losers since the 12th.

AIG is down the most at 59.32%, followed by CIT, BPOP, CCO, MBI, VHI, and FST. The sectors represented the most in the loser list are Energy and Financials. Only 14% of the index is up since the 12th, and Oshkosh (OSK) has been the best performing stock with a gain of 39%. Amgen (AMGN) is up the second most at 18.06%, followed by GLG, CI, CLWR, and CPA. Health Care and Consumer Staples stocks make up the bulk of the winners list.

When you lose, Don’t lose the lesson - The Dalai Lama

For the better part of 5 months I’ve been kicking myself over not dumping Pfizer (PFE) from the Secular Trends Portfolio the day they announced the Wyeth merger. The second I heard about the deal I honestly thought the TV announcer had made a mistake; “No no, it couldn’t be Wyeth. That would just be stupid”