Currently, medicine is, to a large degree, a “one size fits all” proposition. Doctors watch for adverse effects and check personal and family histories. Medical technologies, however, are designed for the general population, not individuals. That’s going to change.

I promise. Alexander Green and I are not in cahoots about the coming boom in corporate takeovers… We both researched the possibility separately. Unprompted, I might add. And yet, armed with different evidence, we arrived at the same conclusion. If you ask me, such a convergence of analysis in a narrow space of time shouldn’t be ignored. So today, let’s move on from why a takeover boom is imminent and focus exclusively on three takeover targets you can profit from…

While many analysts expect U.S. corporate earnings and overall economic data to remain weak by historical standards, there may well be enough of an improvement over the prior months and quarters to spark some optimism that there are better times ahead.

Is it a bull-market rally or a bear-market fake? It came right down to the wire, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day Friday with its first four-day rally since November, ending the week with a gain of 9.0%.

Talk about a winter of discontent… Over the past seven weeks, we’ve seen quite possibly one of the best examples of stock market fear in history.

It wasn’t too long ago that a bad bank just meant one with long lines, rude tellers and high fees. But times are changing and the definition today is completely different.

“Yes we can,” as incoming president Barack Obama famously declared in his presidential victory speech. Head down the road to The Capitol and we’ll need to modify that to, “Yes, we might,” as lawmakers in Congress debate an $825 billion economic stimulus package.

It’s clear that 2009 is going to be grim in economic terms. Martin Denholm says investors should stick to sectors that fare better during recessions. The healthcare sector, discount retailers and utilities companies provide essential products and generate repeat business. Martin picks the strongest companies in these “safe haven” sectors.

Ecuador, Ghana and Tunisia are the only equity markets up in 2008. But Marc Lichtenfeld says there are still profit opportunities closer to home. Many undervalued US stocks are due a rebound in 2009. Marc picks seven proven survivors that are among the biggest and best in their fields. He also selects two small caps that are well place to lead a market recovery next year.

How will the stock markets respond to a new US president? Martin Delholm says the impact will be less than some people expect. But some sectors will benefit from a regime change. With Obama the clear favourite to win, Martin recommends three clean energy stocks likely to gain from new subsidies.