BMY has always paid the highest dividend of the major drug companies. I heard on the radio today that if you go back in the market history like a century or so, dividends are half of the money made. And, with the new dividend tax, it should be even more so.

 
Anything over 100% is terrible. Why settle for that? I think we should all go to Edward Jones and pay them to sell us a mutual fund that in turn will take a chunk of the pie also. They will call you once a year and ask if you paid your yearly fee, not to ask how your finanicals are doing.....They will mail you lots of paper in the mail also.

Tom, thanks for the great ideas (Bert too, of course). I am leaning toward Pfizer so far but that is just a preliminary gut feeling from what I have heard about the company - They have a good amount of money spent for future development.... I will do more research on the web and wait for a pullback.

 
Opps, egg on my face. Turns out I paid $2.07 for GRA. Sold at $4.35. Guess we really did get over 100% on that one. Now I need to find a replacement for it in Marshall's little portfolio.

 
Opps! Hit our stop limits as GRA was hit with all manner of negative news from the asbestos world. I am selling out will I still have some profit, unfortunately - not the near 70% plus we had earlier. It lost near 30% today alone. Sure is painful having to sell with only a 40% profit. Don't you just hate it.

 
Andy, of the oldies and biggies, I like Johnson & Johnson (JNJ). They have a huge line and recently had some kind of a downgrade which should be a buying opp . A few years ago they bought out a company named ALZA which had pretty much of the inside track on the intradermal patches (for pain, nausea, etc, almost anything really). They have increased their earnings over 16% a yr for the last 5 yrs and almost 18% last yr. I also like Wyeth (WYE) and Pfizer (PFE). Pfizer is in the process of buying Upjohn Pharmacia which will make them the biggest kid on the block and some feel maybe too big to manage. I dont think so. I own all of these companies. I also like Medronic (MDT) the medical equipment maker. Biotechs are overpriced right now, but if you get a dip, take a look at BBH. It is a conglomeration of Merrill's that has most of the great biotech companies in one stock- like buy. Only clunker in the bunch is a little company called Biomira which has been trying to produce a cancer vaccine and not having much luck. But in this field they could be a barn burner tomorrow, although I would be suprised in the extreme. Wait for a pullback on this one though. It has had one hell of a run up recently. It might have a pullback if Biomira goes broke. I own both BBH and also MDT.

 
Alright, bought two more this morning. Check Point Software Tech (CHKP) just over its apparent new support of $20, breaking out of a year long consolidation. If it holds near or above the $20 range, it can go to $33 and then on to $43. I figure computer security is doing nothing except expanding over the next two centures or so.
Then for the tiny stock lovers, try Therma-Wave (TWAV). They have a new line of credit, huge new contracts to build/supply equipment to China, and --- a lovely 'W' bottom with a break out at about $2.00. There should be major support at $1.75 to 2.00. It has been above twenty. Another of those stocks showing life after the great fall where just a fractional recovery would represent a several hundred percent gain. I have always liked these huge risk reward ratio plays.

 
Here is another penny stock that has a good chart. Universal Access Global Holdings (UAXS) at about .45 cents and a very strong support line at about .39 cents. Once a $30 stock, if it got ten percent of the way back to its old high, it would be selling for $3.00 plus. That is about 500% up from here. For that kind of move, I'll take a little risk. But, remember, the stop is just under .39 !

 
Got stopped out of ICGE but damned if it doesn't look even better on the chart right now at .54 cents. So I am back in. For what is is worth UMC is now up 11%, JDSU is up 14%, MRGE is up 38%, UCOMA is up 54%, GRA is up 70%, LEXR (which we got stopped out of with a nice profit) is up over 100%. I am not feeling bad about a my little loss in ICGE. I do wish Tom would comment on Andy's question about BMY and MRK. Tom is, after all, our medical industry expert.