“The U.S. bear market has deepened,” says The IHT.

Even helicopter Ben is worried. He’s told Congress that inflation risks have “intensified” and that there’s now a threat of “significant downside” to growth.

But contrarian investors should be lapping it up, says Marc Lichtenfeld in The Smart Profits Report. A bear market is where bargains are made.

Marc has put together a list of stocks that performed well in during the last bear… and four stocks that are currently battling the bear head on…

Brisbane-based growth hormone company Tercica, Inc. (TRCA:NASDAQ) will be acquired by French drugmaker Ipsen SA in a stock deal valued at more than $400 million.

Shares of biotech smallcap Sequenom, Inc. (Nasdaq:SQNM) soared over 20% in morning trading after the genetics and molecular diagnostic company reported that its nucleic acid technology is able to detect Down’s syndrome in pregnant women.