There are a number of health care reform plans on the drawing boards right now, and they all seem to come with mind-numbing sticker shock. The administration’s new plan and Senator Kennedy’s plan are both estimated to cost $1 trillion over 10 years.

Both President Obama’s and Senator Kennedy’s healthcare plans are estimated to cost $1 trillion over 10 years.  I’ll believe it when I see it. When was the last time the government completed any project on budget?

It’s bold. It’s ambitious. And if it works, it should make America a healthier nation. Reform plans are a dime a dozen in Washington – many of which get stuck in political gridlock without ever reaching a satisfactory resolution. And healthcare reform is no different, with multiple presidents trying – and failing – to pass a plan that would see every American covered by healthcare insurance.

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.

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.

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.

Swiss drug company Roche (OTC:RHHBY) may not get its hands on San Francisco-based biotech outfit Genenetech (NYSE:DNA) as quickly as it had hoped.

Genetech has formed a special committee of independent directors to evaluate the $89-a-share acquisition offer from Roche, which already owns 56 percent of the US biotech firm.

If the deal does go through it may be bad news for Roche and Genentech shareholders, according to Phase 1 Investor editor Rob Fannon in The Growth Stock Wire. But it would be good news for the biotech industry as a whole…

While I believe the bid is a bad move for Roche – and not a great proposal for Genentech shareholders – this mega-deal is actually good for the entire biotech industry… and its investors.

With Genentech…