Bear Market Band-Aid

You’ve gotta’ love modern medicine. Not only does it cure stomach upset now it may be the best remedy for what ails your portfolio.

Johnson & Johnson posted second-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations on Tuesday, as strong demand for its medical devices and consumer products overshadowed negligible growth of prescription drugs.

Schering-Plough shares edged up Tuesday after a Lehman Brothers analyst raised his rating to "Buy," saying the drug maker will post better profit and revenue growth than its rivals through 2012.

Also higher sales of Rituxan, a cancer and arthritis treatment, developed jointly by Genentechand Biogen sent shares of both companies surging.

Is healthcare the Band-Aid for the bear market?

"What you’re seeing is a rotation out of the gloom and doom and into areas where investors think the numbers are achievable in 2008,” explains Kris Jenner, T. Rowe Price Health Sciences Fund portfolio manager on Fast Money.

"But as quickly as this phenomenon occurred, it could vanish just as quickly. So I recommend only looking at names with very solid fundamentals.

”I like Gilead ,” he counsels, “because they dominate in HIV medicine and they have excellent management.”

"I also like Baxter ,” says Jenner. “It’s a very steady-Eddie kind of company which I think is still priced reasonably and they have strong growth.”

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Trader disclosure: On July 15, 2008, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s Fast Money were owned by the Fast Money traders; Macke Owns (USO), (GS), (INTC), (MSFT), (WMT), (ATVID); Adami Owns (AGU), (C), (BTU), (GS), (INTC), (MSFT), (NUE); Seymour Owns (AAPL), (F), (INTC), (MER), (MSFT), (TSO); Seygem Asset Management Owns (EEM), (VIP); Terranova Owns (YHOO), (INTC), (RIMM),(SU), (VLO), (IYT), (XLF), (LUV), (BNI), (CME), (GOOG), (FCX); Terranova Is Short 30 Year U.S. Bond Futures (Sept.); Terranova Owns Dollar Index Futures (Sept.); Terranova Owns (SA)

Terranova is chief alternatives strategist at Phoenix Investment Partners; Phoenix Investment Partners Owns (IGE), (DBC), (DBV), (RWX), (AMZN), (AAPL), (ABT), (AMD), (ATI), (AW), (BA), (BAC), (BNI), (BSC), (BUD), (C), (CHK), (COH), (COP), (CSX), (CSCO), (CME), (CVX), (DAL), (DNA), (DVN), (FCX), (FNM), (FRE), (GOOG), (GS), (HAL), (HOT), (HES), (IBM), (INTC), (ICE), (JNJ), (JNPR), (JPM), (LEH), (LUV), (M), (MEE), (MON), (MOS), (MS), (MSFT), (NCC), (NUE), (NYX), (NDAQ), (OC), (PBR), (POT), (RBN), (RSG), (RIMM), (SU), (SUN), (SWKS), (TIE), (TSO), (USB), (VLO), (WB), (X), (XOM), (YHOO)

Jenner Owns (MRK), (PFE), (GILD), (WYE), (ELN); T. Rowe Price Health Sciences Fund And T. Rowe Price Own (GILD), (ALXN), (BAX), (BMRN), (JNJ), (SGP), (AMGN), (DNA), (MRK), (PFE), (WYE), (ELN)