Healthcare Stocks, Including BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Making Big Moves on November 5, 2012

The Nasdaq has moved up 0.1%, the S&P 500 has declined 0.3% and the Dow has slipped 0.3% so far today. The healthcare sector is the category of stocks relating to medical and healthcare goods or services. This sector includes hospital management firms, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), biotechnology and a variety of medical products. Stocks in the healthcare sector are often considered to be defensive because the products and services are essential. Even during economic downturns, people will still require medical aid and medicine to overcome illness. Having a consistent demand for goods and services makes this sector less sensitive to business cycle fluctuations.

The biggest movers in the Healthcare sector (XLV) (+0.2%) are:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
BioMarin Pharmaceutical (Nasdaq:BMRN)	$4.63 billion	+29%
Pharmacyclics (Nasdaq:PCYC)	$3.99 billion	-12.9%
Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings (Nasdaq:ENDP)	$3.42 billion	-5.9%
Sarepta Therapeutics (Nasdaq:SRPT)	$509.3 million	+5.1%
Theravance (Nasdaq:THRX)	$2.06 billion	+3.5%
United (Nasdaq:UTHR)	$2.39 billion	+3.1%
West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST)	$1.79 billion	+1.9%

Forex Broker Summary: Forex Capital Markets (FXCM)

After a big jump of 29%, BioMarin Pharmaceutical (Nasdaq:BMRN) is trading at $48.27 per share. So far today, 6.1 million shares have changed hands.

Pharmacyclics (Nasdaq:PCYC) is at a share price of $49.96 after a sharp decline of 12.9%. So far today, the company's volume is 2.4 million shares, more than yesterday's 1.5 million shares.

Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings (Nasdaq:ENDP) has decreased to $27.50 per share, a 5.9% fall. This morning, the company's volume is two million shares. This is 1.2 times the average daily volume.

Sarepta Therapeutics (Nasdaq:SRPT) has moved up 5.1% and is currently trading at $23.66 per share. At 328,226 shares, the company's volume so far today is 0.2 times its current three-month average.

After rising 3.5%, Theravance (Nasdaq:THRX) is currently trading at a share price of $21.77. The company is currently trading a volume of 83,874 shares.

United (Nasdaq:UTHR) is currently trading at $48.49 per share, a 3.1% increase. So far today, 260,296 shares have changed hands, while it was 962,967 shares yesterday.

Rising 1.9%, West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) is currently trading at $53.67 per share. The company's volume for the morning is 15,620 shares. This is 0.2 times its current daily average.

The Bottom Line The nature of the market is such that stocks will have good days and bad days. Paying close attention to the previous ratios will help you identify key times to adjust your strategy. Tools like valuation ratios and profit margins, however, are only as useful as the context you put them in; remember to take historical data and competitor performance into account.