More Than Half of Industry Executives Anticipate Multiple Deals Next Year

NOTE TO EDITORS: The Following Is an Investment Opinion Being Issued by RothmanResearch.com.

See the rest of the story here.

Theflyonthewall.com is Wall Street's specialist in breaking equity news. Veteran traders build a proprietary feed of news that's faster and more relevant than any other source. Try us for free and discover for yourself.

See the rest of the story here.

Theflyonthewall.com is Wall Street's specialist in breaking equity news. Veteran traders build a proprietary feed of news that's faster and more relevant than any other source. Try us for free and discover for yourself.

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Drug stocks advanced in early action Monday, boosted by a rally among major European drugmakers, while shares of Cephalon Inc. fell on news that a later-stage clinical study for its pediatric drug Cinquil came up short-handed.

Barron's posted a list of a number of stocks that it thinks are good bets for people who have retired or are about to retire. These are high quality stocks that pay great dividends and are good for people who do not have time to take risks and make up for big losses.

Many of these stocks yield over 3% and also raise their dividends regularly. Many are American stocks, some are not. They all have certain things in common, though: they have strong competitive advantage, their cash flow and earnings look healthy in both the long and the short haul, and they have strong balance sheets and attractive valuations. Here's the list.

Banco Santander (NYSE: STD)

This Madrid-based bank posted a profit of $13.3 billion, a 9% net increase at a time when many of the other US and European banking giants are failing miserably. The Banco Santander is a mostly retail and deposit focused bank, and with a dividend yield of 4.2% on its Big Board-listed American depositary, it is one of the most profitable banks in the world.

Chevron (NYSE: CVX)

Owing to the fact that price of crude oil rises with a falling dollar, just like gold does, investing in a oil company like Chevron is a good idea for a dollar hedge. Chevron earned $11.67 in 2008, when oil prices were $150 a barrel. This year, with crude oil prices down by 47%, Chevron is earning $7.65, but is still solidly profitable. It has steadily increased its book value per share as well as its dividends, which, coupled with the fact that it is a solid company with a long history of good results, will come as welcome news to people looking for safe bets. Chevron "has a nice focus on renewable-energy businesses," says Chris Tsai, who runs Tsai Capital in New York. "It's also a good inflationary play, perhaps better than gold when tax-adjusted," he says.

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC)

Intel is a mammoth company, with a manufacturing scale that includes microprocessors, semiconductor chips, and sundry other computer and communications gear, and a global reach that cannot be replicated by almost any other similar company. Dividends have grown an average of 28% annually since 2004. Intel's stock usually yield about 3.3%; only this year, it has dropped to 3%, which is not all that bad given the other good things about Intel.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson manufactures everything from Tylenol and Band-Aids to high-tech orthopedic hip replacements and coronary stents. It is one of the most respected US companies, and it is steadily growing in revenue and dividend yield. Currently, the yield stands at 3.1%, and dividend growth was at an average of 12% in the past 5 years. Johnson & Johnson is also trading at 13 times its earnings estimates, and Pioneer Investment's Carey says that "Here you have a chance to buy it at a cheap price."

McDonald's (NYSE: MCD)

McDonald's is the best-performing Dow industrial stock since 2002, up about 300% in these 9 years. This is not generally known, which is another reason McDonald's stock is a steal. And it is redeploying some of its enormous cash flow towards making things better for customers, adding new items to the menu etc - all of which will look very good in the dividend count for shareholders.

Nestlé (OTC: NSRGY)

This Swiss confectionery behemoth makes $100 billion in sales every year, in markets ranging from developed countries in the West to emerging markets in Asia and elsewhere. Surprisingly, Nestle still continues to gain market share, mostly because of the wide diversity of its line of products. Nestle's balance sheet is one of the strongest in the food industry, with a 2.6% stock yield and dividend growth of 11% annually over the last 5 years. A very good buy.

Novartis (NYSE: NVS)

This pharma company is another good investment for steady dividends. Novartis makes cardiovascular medicines like Diovan to oncology and neuroscience compounds, as well as vaccines and diagnostic tests and over-the-counter products such as Excedrin. Novartis is based in Basel, Switzerland, and its American depositary receipts have a dividend yield of 3.2%, and this has been rising 15% on an average every year for 5 years. At $4.55, which is less than 12 times 2010 earnings estimates, Novartis is cheap compared to the market P/E.

Novartis announced today new interim data from ongoing clinical trials demonstrating that a single 7.5µg dose of the company's influenza A(H1N1) 2009 unadjuvanted vaccine, half of the currently-approved US dose, fulfilled immune response criteria associated with protection in adults and the elderly (>=65 years of age).

With the heavyweight Novartis (NYSE:NVS) set to commercially launch Fanapt early next year, the schizophrenia drug could quickly gain a foothold in a huge market ($14 billion) that has the lowest selling product raking in over $1 billion in annual sales.

{tiny;TTNP;3}As both long and short term followers of Titan Pharmaceuticals well know, Titan will receive royalties of 8% on Fanapt sales up to $200 million and 10% on all sales thereafter; royalty rates that barely justify the current market cap of the company alone when considering the fact that Novartis, with their push and influence, could make Fanapt an instance force in the schizophrenia market.

And then there is Probuphine. For those new to TTNP, Titan recently received a grant from the NIH to fund a Phase III trial for Probuphine to confirm the drug's effectiveness in treating Opioid addiction.

Probuphine is also being tested in Phase II trials for the treatment of chronic pain.

While I have no doubt that TTNP continues to hold significant potential for the future, I sold a few shares into last week's spike to $2.30 in order to free up some cash and move it around a bit.

With Fanapt ready to launch in a couple of months, the next events that could/should move the TTNP stock price are:

Buyout news. I continue to believe that this is a possibility. Fanapt sales updates by the end of 1Q 2010. Probuphine pipeline updates. Shouldn't come until next year. Partner for probuphine. Could come at anytime, or Titan could go it alone for the time being, using grant money and/or Fanapt royalties. News of a TTNP move to a major exchange, although this only becomes a possibility if no buyout occurs, in my opinion.

In the event that Titan is not acquired, then a stock sale could become a possibility in order for the company to raise funds. If that were to be the case then I would expect it soon after the recent runup.

However, with a Fanapt revenue stream imminent and Probuphine looking more promising with every update, the days of Titan existing solely as a speculative company are dwindling.

Much of this is a rehash for long term readers, and while Titan still has some nice potential moving forward, it's not a bad time for those still holding sub-five cent shares to realize some profits, spread it around, buy wifey a new pair of shoes and take a vacation.

Of course, this is all just my opinion. Do your own DD.

 

Disclosure: Vinny Cassano is Long TTNP.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Nabi Biopharmaceuticals (NABI) signed a licensing agreement for a nicotine conjugate vaccine (NicVAX) as well as for the development of a second generation nicotine vaccine. NicVAX is an investigational vaccine for the treatment of nicotine addiction and the prevention of smoking relapse. Earlier in October, the vaccine received a $10 million grant [...]

(GSK) Anti-Smoking Vaccine Offered by GlaxoSmithKline

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Nabi Biopharmaceuticals (NABI) signed a licensing agreement for a nicotine conjugate vaccine (NicVAX) as well as for the development of a second generation nicotine vaccine. NicVAX is an investigational vaccine for the treatment of nicotine addiction and the prevention of smoking relapse. Earlier in October, the vaccine received a $10 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

As per the agreement, Nabi will get an upfront payment of $40 million and is eligible to receive more than $500 million (together with upfront payment) as option fees and milestones for the vaccine, NicVAX, and follow-on nicotine vaccines. Nabi has the potential to receive double-digit royalties from sales if the product is commercialized. GlaxoSmithKline will have an option to exclusively in-license NicVAX on a worldwide basis and a license to develop follow-on next-generation nicotine vaccines using Nabi's intellectual property together with GSK's own technology.

NicVAX is currently being studied in the first of two phase III clinical trials with results expected at the end of 2010. While Nabi will be responsible for the development of this vaccine, GlaxoSmithKline on exercising its option will take responsibility for further development and commercialization of NicVAX.

Company estimates put the worldwide number of smokers at about 1.2 billion and smoking causes approximately 5.4 million deaths per year. In view of the huge increase in the number of smokers, Datamonitor expects the global market for smoking cessation to reach $4.6 billion by 2016 and vaccines could account for $2 billion in sales.

Currently available smoking cessation therapies have relapse rates which can be as high as 90% in the first year after a smoker quits. Although the vaccine holds immense potential, we however remain concerned about its successful development. In October, an anti-smoking vaccine developed by Cytos Biotechnology and Novartis (NVS) missed its main goal in a mid-stage study.

Read the full analyst report on "GSK"
Read the full analyst report on "NABI"
Read the full analyst report on "NVS"
Zacks Investment Research

The holdings of a majority of our Ultimate Stock-Pickers yield 10 5-Star stocks.[More...]

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 16, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK), Sanofi-Aventis (SNY), Novartis (NVS), Baxter International (BAX) and AstraZeneca (AZN).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

Glaxo H1N1 Vaccine Approved

GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) recently received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its unadjuvanted influenza A (H1N1) pandemic vaccine. The FDA approved the supplemental biologics license application (sBLA), which was filed as a strain change supplement to Glaxo’s FluLaval seasonal flu vaccine. This means that Glaxo can now market its swine flu vaccine for use in adults to prevent influenza.

The company has already received an order for 7.6 million doses of its swine flu vaccine from the United States Department of Health and Human Services. This order is a part of the US Government’s intention to secure about 250 million doses to help fight the swine flu pandemic.

The current outbreak of swine flu pandemic can prove to be a big opportunity for vaccine manufacturers. In addition to Glaxo, other major players in this field include Sanofi-Aventis (SNY), Novartis (NVS), Baxter International (BAX) and AstraZeneca (AZN).

In fact, several companies including Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine division of Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Limited, the vaccine and diagnostics arm of Novartis, MedImmune LLC, a subsidiary of AstraZeneca and CSL Limited of Australia, have already received approval from the FDA for their swine flu vaccines.

Glaxo intends to start shipping its vaccine in December and expects to provide all the doses by year-end. We expect the company’s vaccine segment to post strong revenues in the fourth quarter of 2009. In addition to strong influenza product sales, the company has made significant progress in expanding its vaccine product portfolio. The approval of cervical cancer vaccine Cervarix in the US and Japan, H1N1 vaccine Pandemrix in Europe, and the H1N1 vaccine in the US should all help drive vaccine segment revenue.

Want more from Zacks Equity Research? Subscribe to the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5515.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5517

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5518.

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Contact:
Mark Vickery
Web Content Editor
312-265-9380
Visit: www.zacks.com

 

 

Zacks Investment Research

Companies featured in this segment: FPL Group Incorporated (NYSE:FPL), Siemens AG (NYSE:SI), GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE:GSK), AstraZeneca plc (NYSE:AZN), Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE:SGP), Merck & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MRK), Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS), Xstrata plc (LON:XTA)

Companies featured in this segment: FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), BP plc (NYSE:BP), Siemen AG (NYSE:SI), Chevron Corporation (Chevron) (NYSE:CVX), Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS.A), InterOil Corporation USA (NYSE:IOC), GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE:GSK), Pfizer Incorporated (NYSE:PFE), Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS), Eli Lilly & Company (NYSE:LLY), AstraZeneca plc (NYSE:AZN), Wyeth (NYSE:WYE), Genzyme Corporation (NASDAQ:GENZ), Merck & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MRK), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Santos Limited (OTC:STOSY), Petronet LNG Limited (BSE:532522)

Companies featured in this segment: Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR), American Electric Power (NYSE:AEP), Southern Company (NYSE:SO), ReneSola Limited (NYSE:SOL), POSCO (NYSE:PKX), Suntech Power Holdings Company Limited (NYSE:STP), Ormat Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:ORA), Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE:SNY), GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE:GSK), Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS), AstraZeneca plc’s (NYSE:AZN), Mitsubishi Corporation (OTC:MSBHY), Sharp Corporation (OTC:SHCAY), CSL Limited (ASX:CSL), Mumias Sugar Company Limited (NBO:MSCL), Athi River Mining Limited (NBO:ARM), Kenya Power & Lighting Company Limited (NBO:KPLA), Daewoo Engineering & Construction Company Limited (SEO:047040)

Companies featured in this segment: Westlake Chemical Corporation’s (NYSE:WLK), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ:TEVA), Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS), Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:WPI), GDF Suez SA (EPA:GSZ), Iberdrola SA (MCE:IBE), Scottish and Southern Energy (LON:SSE), Siemens AG (NYSE:SI), Areva SA (EPA:CEI), Electricite de France SA (EPA:EDF), National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG), The Hinduja Group, International Power plc (OTC:IPRPY), NTPC Limited (BSE:532555), Ashok Leyland Limited (BSE:500477), Gulf Oil Corporation Limited (BSE:506480), Hinduja Foundries Limited (BSE:505982), IndusInd Bank Limited (BSE:INDUSINDBK), HTMT Global Solutions Limited (BSE:532859), RWE AG (OTC:RWEOY), E.ON AG (OTC:EONGY), Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY), VeraSun Energy Corporation (NYSE:VSE), and Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO).

Schaeffer's Equities Analyst Colleen S. King a look at news on the Street before the market open.