Sanofi SA and More Big Movers in Healthcare on December 28, 2012

The market is currently down, with the Nasdaq decreasing 0.3%, the S&P 500 declining 0.5% and the Dow falling 0.5%. 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 Healthcare sector (XLV) is currently lagging behind the overall market, down 0.3%, and its current biggest movers are:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
Questcor Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:QCOR)	$1.62 billion	-3.7%
WuXi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc (NYSE:WX)	$1.09 billion	+2.8%
Neogen (Nasdaq:NEOG)	$1.09 billion	-2.5%
Sanofi SA (NYSE:SNY)	$125.6 billion	-1.7%
PAREXEL (Nasdaq:PRXL)	$1.71 billion	+1.2%
Covidien (NYSE:COV)	$27.15 billion	-1.2%
Cantel (NYSE:CMN)	$790.7 million	+1.2%

Broker Summary: E-Trade Financial

Questcor Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:QCOR) has fallen 3.7% and is currently trading at $26.76 per share. The company is currently trading a volume of 874,415 shares.

WuXi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc (NYSE:WX) has risen 2.8% to hit a current price of $15.69 per share. The company's volume is currently 87,329 shares for the day, 0.3 times its current daily average.

Falling 2.5%, Neogen (Nasdaq:NEOG) is currently at a share price of $44.87. The company's volume for the day so far is 59,603 shares. This is on pace to reach yesterday's trading volume of 113,618 shares.

At $46.70, Sanofi SA (NYSE:SNY) has slipped 1.7%. At 216,056 shares, the company's volume so far today is 0.2 times its current three-month average.

After an increase of 1.2%, PAREXEL (Nasdaq:PRXL) has reached a current price of $29.42. This morning, the company is trading a volume of 243,874 shares.

Covidien (NYSE:COV) is currently trading at a share price of $56.66, a 1.2% decline. At 423,182 shares, the company's volume so far today is 0.2 times the current daily average.

Cantel (NYSE:CMN) has risen 1.2% and is currently trading at $29.41 per share. The company's volume is currently 23,841 shares. At this rate, trading activity will likely be down from yesterday when 108,068 shares changed hands.

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. However, these fundamental metrics must be analyzed with historic data, industry information in addition to firm specific financial statements.