Most investors were not expecting good news. That is why shares of Human Genome Sciences (NASDAQ:HGSI) are soaring after the company released its latest Phase III results.

TARP May Cost Taxpayers $23.7 Trillion; Economists: Recession Not Over Yet; GM Gets 3 Bids for Opel; Defaults on Commercial Real Estate Hit 20-year High; Drug Company’s Stock Rises 276.81% After Successful Test; Porsche/Volkswagen Deal On Hold For Now; LEI Rises Again; AOL CEO to Revamp Advertising, Develop Community Sites…

In the past few years, a strange new “defensive” asset has appeared in the market.

Investors use the “defensive” label to describe businesses that enjoy steady demand for their products – like food, cigarettes and electric utilities.

After the 2001 anthrax attacks on government and media figures, no one wanted to take chances. In the worst biological attack in U.S. history, five people died and another 17 were infected. But what of future potential victims who don’t have such diligent facilities managers at their places of work and do come in contact with anthrax spores? TFN eNews reader and Hot Stock Confidential member John H. turned me on to a tiny outfit that addresses this deadly aspect of anthrax exposure.