Date updated:06-02-2007
FANS OF ABBOTT LABORATORIES ARE FOCUSED on the company's launch of a new drug-coated cardiac stent, which they believe could trump competitors' products and snare up to 40% of the $5 billion market. Expectations for the product have helped fuel a 50% increase in the past 18 months in shares of the Abbott Park, Ill.-based health-care concern, which closed Friday at 56.30.
But investors may be overlooking the fact that most of Abbott's profits come from its slower-growth, lower-multiple pharmaceutical division, not jazzy technologies. And some prominent doctors have started questioning the safety and efficacy of one of Abbott's best-selling drugs, TriCor, which helps patients lower triglycerides, a type of non-cholesterol fat.

-
GSK
Glaxosmithkline P - $41.37
- +2.10%
- $41.14
Concerns about fenofibrate center on creatinine, a substance produced by the muscles and eliminated by the kidneys. A rise in creatinine typically indicates some sort of kidney malfunction. Fenofibrates and other fibrate drugs have been known to result in elevated creatinine levels. A study published in March in the Journal of the American Medical Association by Dr. Steven Nissen, chairman of the department of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, showed that 19 patients, or 38% in a control group that took fenofibrate, saw their creatinine levels rise above what is considered the upper limits of normal

-
MRK
Merck Co Inc - $33.43
- +2.58%
- $32.88
Nissen also raised concerns about Vioxx as well

-
ABI
Safety First Trus - $11.02
- +1.57%
- $11.00
Barrons feels that the stock is pricey at 56- especially as questions about TriCor seem destined to grow

-
AMGN
Amgen Inc. - $54.91
- +0.40%
- $54.65
No Analysis added

-
DNA
N/a - $80.43
- 0.00
- $80.43
No Analysis added

-
ABT
Abbott Laboratori - $52.35
- +1.59%
- $51.78
No Analysis added
- Top Professional Portfolios
- 1. Navellier & Associ...
- 2. Fidelity Contrafund - ...
- 3. Argus Management
- 4. Charlie Munger
- 5. Calamos Advisors
- show all
- Top Do-It-Yourself Portfolios
- » Joy
- » tsamanuli Portfolio 1
- » Albo's First Portfolio
- » Fundsonly Portfolio 1
- » rk00005
- show all
- Most Viewed Portfolios
- » Warren Buffett
- » George Soros
- » T. Boone Pickens - BP Cap...
- » Carl Icahn
- » Renaissance Technologies
- show all
By Roberto Pedone Posted on Nov. 9, 2009 Financial-Services Bull: Barron’s talks with Anton Schutz, portfolio manager at the Burnham Financial Industries Fund (BURFX)...
By Jonas Elmerraji Posted on Nov. 9, 2009 Last week brought investors a welcome return to gains as the S&P 500 pushed up 3.2% over the course of the last five trading d...
By Roberto Pedone Posted on Nov. 6, 2009 According to Jim Cramer, the bears are tellinginvestors six lies. On Wednesday’s “Mad Money” TV show, Cramer said if you ...
By Roberto Pedone Posted on Nov. 5, 2009 The traders on CNBC’s “Fast Money” told their viewers what they must know after Warren Buffett announced on Tuesday his l...
A. The only one I own : SLX,
too hard pick a winner out all of them
Here is the stock list of some of the largest % losers from Nov. 2, 2009. more
Unusually active options can often indicate that a major event in a stock is about to take place, or that unsophisticated investors (using options in lieu of leverage) are ... more
Here are the 10 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks with the highest yields as of the market close on June 2, 2009. more











Comments not available