Maria Bartiromo's Investor Agenda
MARIA BARTIROMO'S NEWSLETTERS
- BofA On Proposed Changes In The Housing Bailout Program
- The Future of The Media Landscape
- November Auto Sales Muddle Along
- Busch: What Obama Won't Say Tonight
- Stick with Equities—Avoid Emerging Markets: Laszlo Birinyi
- Pfizer Chomps On A Carrot
- Predictions 2010: Technology
- Predictions 2010: Consumers
- Predictions 2010: The Big Picture
- Who Were the Biggest Winners And Losers This Year?
- GE, Comcast Complete Deal Over NBC Universal: Source
- US May Raise Rates Before Jobs Recover: Fed's Plosser
- Stocks Likely Don't Need Santa to Keep Rally Going
- Larry Kudlow's Open Letter to Tiger Woods
- AIG Slashes US Debt Under Deal With New York Fed
- Seamstress Fined $5.7 Million for Insider Trading
- Super Fantasy Christmas Gifts of 2009
- Commercial Property Fears Are Overblown: Zell, LeFrak
MARIA BARTIROMO VIDEO
MARIA BARTIROMO'S NEW FREE NEWSLETTER
BUSINESSWEEK
RSS FEED
Text Size 
Senior Field Producer
 |
Photo by: Pete Souza President Barack Obama |
Drug companies have agreed to cough up $80 billion over the next ten years to reduce drug costs for seniors and to help pay for the President’s reform plan. Without reform, the President Obama says 20% of the U.S. economy will be "tied up in the health care system" in ten years.
We may see some volatility in a sector that’s traditionally very stable. Analysts say it’s time to reexamine your pharma stocks and position yourself for the changes President Obama will make.
Deutsche Bank analyst Barbara Ryan tells Closing Bell “investors need to look at healthcare stocks that are financially driven over the next couple years…based on earnings, cash flow and dividend yields.” Ryan’s picks are Merck [MRK
Loading...
()
] and Pfizer [PFE
Loading...
()
]. Ryan says the companies can “withstand any of the near-term challenges because they have all the synergies to cushion the blow.”
Meanwhile, Miller Tabak healthcare strategist Les Funtleyder is placing bets on UnitedHealth [UNH
Loading...
()
] and Humana [HUM
Loading...
()
]. Funtleyder says managed care and pharmaceutical names may be the most ‘worried about and beaten up,’ but as a whole stand to benefit from reform.
The timing of the reform still remains unclear. President Obama said he is aiming to sign a healthcare reform bill into law by October, but his efforts hit a series of stumbling blocks in Congress last week, after the Congressional Budget Office estimated the cost of one version of a bill in the Senate at about $1.6 trillion over 10 years.
To put that into perspective, that’s more than double the government’s $700 billion TARP plan for troubled banks, insurers, even automakers. Holy smoke!
Check out our discussion on Closing Bell with at 3.15P ET today.
Disclosure: Barbara Ryan has no conflicts with Merck, Pfizer. Deutsche Bank owns 1% or more of Pfizer. Pfizer is a banking client of Deutsche Bank. Deutsche Bank owns 1% or more of Merck. Merck is a banking client of Deutsche Bank.
Les Funtleyder has no conflicts with UnitedHealth, Humana.
_____________________________
_____________________________
Questions? Comments? Write to
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes