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There’s a merger boom going on right now, but amid all the gloom, no one’s really paying much attention.

There has been a lot of strong recommendations around biotech lately on Contrarian Profits.

Phase 1 Investor editor Rob Fannon recently wrote that biotech was one of the few market sectors to show positive returns as  many other stocks were getting hammered. He sees great values in the sector.

There’s a good reason for this strength. A struggling economy won’t hurt biotech and medical as much as, say, an automaker, retailer, or restaurant chain… And biotech is one of the few industries showing solid sales growth.

As investors plowed into financial and housing stocks in the last few years, they forgot about the pharmaceutical industry, says Jim Nelson in Penny Sleuth.

But now that the party is over, biotech stocks are coming back in a big way. According to mutual-fund research firm Lipper, two biotech funds were amongst the top five best-performing vehicles in July – a dramatic reversal from June when commodities funds were leading the charge.

Big Pharma is buying up promising biotech companies in an effort to boost profit margins. This creates great opportunities for investors, and it’ only just the beginning…

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• Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) yesterday (Thursday) offered $4.5 billion in cash for biotechnology company ImClone Systems Inc. (IMCL), the Associated Press reported. ImClone’s board has yet to comment on the proposal, which offers its stockholders $60 per share, a 30% premium to its Wednesday closing price of $46.44. Bristol-Myers already owns about 17% of ImClone.

• Eastman Kodak Co. (EK) said yesterday (Thursday) that second-quarter profit fell, as traditional film-based revenue slumped 14% to $847 million. Sales climbed 1% from $2.47 billion to $2.49 billion, and revenue from digital businesses rose 10%…

Another strong play from medical stock expert Rob Fannon.

Rob says that although Big Pharma stocks are cheap right now – bellwether Pfizer (PFE) is cheaper than it’s ever been – drugmakers are racing off the side of a cliff.

This is because when patents expire drugmakers loose billions of dollars to generic manufacturers.

But biotech drugs can’t be copied easily. And the sector is in an uptrend. Rob recommends using a biotech ETF to play this trend.

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