This weekend, the US House of Representatives passed its version of health care reform and now awaits a version from the Senate.  The debate has been heating up since earlier this summer when President Obama was pushing for legislation before the summer recess.  Here are the biggest S&P Health Care gainers and losers over while the debate has waged on.   Read More

The Lightning Round is extended in this CNBC.com exclusive feature.   Read More

Worries over health care reform have caused the sector to be underowned, but there are still opportunities for investors looking to take advantage of the low prices, said Charles Boorady of Citigroup and Arthur Henderson of Jeffries & Co.    Read More

With $137 billion worth of brand name drugs going generic over the next several years, the recession and the looming threat of healthcare reform a lot of people have been running scared about what it all means for pharma. So, surprise, surprise! This morning IMS Health, which closely monitors the industry, came out with its annual forecast and it now says the American drug market is going to grow this year instead of shrink.   Read More

Shares of Aetna and UnitedHealth climbed Thursday, after the President’s primetime speech on health care. Do fewer surprises lie ahead for the space?   Read More

So far this quarter, only one S&P healthcare company, Aetna, has missed its consensus EPS estimate.  This week there are over 20 more healthcare companies reporting.  Yesterday after the bell Amgen blew the cover off the ball with a 40% rise in earnings and this morning, Teva Pharmaceuticals beat by three cents per share.   Read More

Unemployment hit 8.9 percent in April and some predict that number could climb over 10 percent in 2009 as major companies further streamline operations to combat the recession.  While some industries are more labor intensive than others, employee productivity is a key measure that managers and investors look at when evaluating performance.  Take a look at which companies are squeezing the most out their shrinking workforces.   Read More