Healthcare 02 (May 15 - Dec 23)

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This Number Is Why Cancer Will Never Be Cured

By Michael Snyder

Source: The American Dream

http://www.thetradingreport.com/2015/05 ... -be-cured/

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Investing in health care works… sector fund IYH is up nearly 100% in three years.

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Biotech bull market rolls on… sector fund IBB jumps 40% over the past nine months.

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not vested

Sector SPDRs to Buy: Health Care SPDR (XLV)

Click to Enlarge Finally, I think you have to go with the Health Care SPDR (NYSEARCA:XLV).

With or without Obamacare, the healthcare sector almost has to keep moving higher. Healthcare only will get more expensive.

Someone has to pay those costs, whether it be people, insurance companies or governments. That means healthcare stocks get fed with revenue from someone.

Certainly, Obamacare seems to have only helped. The XLV was already the second-best all-time performer ofthe SPDRs, at 8.36%. It’s far ahead of all the others in other time frames. Its one-year return is 25.04%, three-year performance is 26.19%, and it’s 0.51% for the five-year period.

Top holdings of this fund include Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK).

Even if Obamacare blows up, which I believe it will, somebody still has to pay for healthcare. Technological advances are only making healthcare more expensive — and that’s yet another reason to buy the XLV.

Source: InvestorPlace

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Blue-chip drugmakers Abbott Laboratories and Eli Lilly rise 25% over the past year.

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Pharma giant Bristol-Myers Squibb reaches a 15-year high.

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not vested

Best ETFs for June: SPDR S&P Biotech (ETF) (XBI)

YTD Performance: +25%
Assets: $2.3 billion
Expense Ratio: 0.35%
Top Holdings: Synageva BioPharma Corp NASDAQ:GEVA), Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT), Dyax Corp. (NASDAQ:DYAX)

The SPDR S&P Biotech (ETF) (NYSEARCA:XBI) is an old favorite of mine to capitalize on both the reliable long-term growth in healthcare spending and the breakout potential of a new generation of cures.

Playing individual biotech can be a risky boom-or-bust game, but this diversified ETF is a great way to get the growth without TRADING stability.

The talk of a biotech “bubble” has all clearly been overblown in 2015, because while there has been volatility — which is quite characteristic for the sector — the overall trend has still been higher.

And after a pause in May, the time might be right for new money to buy in and ride the next leg higher.

This biotech ETF is admittedly smaller than some of the other healthcare funds that are out there, both in its total assets under management and the companies that it INVESTS IN. But that’s good, because you don’t want to think you’re in biotechs only to find out your ETF of choice is focused on $100 billion-plus megacaps like Gilead Sciences, Inc. NASDAQ:GILD).

Also, the diversification in XBI is very attractive. Consider a competing biotech FUND, the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology Index (ETF) NASDAQ:IBB), which has nearly 25% of its assets in its top three positions right now. That’s in contrast to the XBI that has no more than 2.1% weighting for a single stock.

Source: Investor Place

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Drugstores are in a long-term uptrend… Rite Aid, CVS, and Walgreens rise 25%-plus over the past eight months.

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U.S. Drug Shortages Frustrate Doctors, Patients

By Peter Loftus

Source: The Wall Street Journal

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-drug-s ... 00422.html

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THIS QUIET, STEADY TREND KEEPS GOING

Today's chart looks at one of the steadiest uptrends in the stock market... the "picks-and-shovels" of healthcare.

Regular readers know we're proponents of investing in "picks-and-shovels" companies to profit from sector and commodity booms.

Picks-and-shovels providers don't bet the company on one project... They sell vital goods and services to an industry (read our educational interview about it here).

As we've covered many times, the health care industry is booming right now. The Baby Boomer generation is increasing its health care consumption. Plus, Obamacare is boosting demand.

This is great for investment funds like the SPDR S&P Health Care Services Fund (XHS). It holds a diversified basket of picks-and-shovels providers to the health care industry.

As you can see below, business is booming. XHS is up nearly 130% in the past three years... and it just reached an all-time high. What's even more remarkable about the trend in XHS is its low level of volatility.

Despite the big rise, XHS has been 29% less volatile than the overall stock market over the past year. It's one of the steadiest trends in the market today.

Source: Daily Wealth