Valeant Pharmaceuticals Int and More Big Movers in Healthcare on October 11, 2012

The morning has been good for the market. The Nasdaq has risen 0.3%; the S&P 500 is up 0.6%; and the Dow has climbed 0.3%. 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.

Outperforming the market overall, the Healthcare sector (XLV) is up 0.4% and its biggest movers so far today are:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
Cantel (NYSE:CMN)	$749.2 million	-8.6%
Bio-Reference Laboratories (Nasdaq:BRLI)	$872.8 million	+3.6%
Onyx Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:ONXX)	$5.63 billion	+2.5%
Valeant Pharmaceuticals Int (NYSE:VRX)	$16.47 billion	+2.4%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:VRTX)	$12.3 billion	+2.1%
Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX)	$10.07 billion	+2%
Cooper Companies (NYSE:COO)	$4.61 billion	+1.8%

Software Summary: Finviz.com Stock Screener

At $25.35, Cantel (NYSE:CMN) has slipped 8.6%. So far today, the company's volume is 145,129 shares, whereas yesterday, volume was only 76,060 shares. High volume indicates a lot of investor interest while low volume indicates the opposite.

Bio-Reference Laboratories (Nasdaq:BRLI) has risen 3.6% and is currently trading at $32.63 per share. The company's volume for the day so far is 121,578 shares. If a stock is trading on low volume, then there is not much interest in the stock. On the other hand, if a stock is trading on high volume, then there is a lot of interest in the stock.

Increasing 2.5%, Onyx Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:ONXX) is trading at $88.67 per share. The company's volume for the day so far is 341,085 shares, 0.3 times the current three-month average. Volume is used to evaluate how meaningful the price movement of a stock is.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals Int (NYSE:VRX) has moved up 2.4% and is currently trading at $56.59 per share. This morning, the company's volume is 228,677 shares. This is 0.2 times its average daily volume. Price change alone is not enough to know how a stock is doing. Volume is an important secondary indicator used to confirm trends suggested by price movement.

Rising 2.1%, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:VRTX) is currently trading at $58.18 per share. The company's volume is currently 1.1 million shares for the day, on pace to reach yesterday's volume of 1.9 million shares. A stock's volume conveys how excited investors are about it.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) is up 2% to reach a current price of $64.68 per share. So far today, 245,745 shares have changed hands. Volume indicates the level of interest that investors have in a company at its current price.

Cooper Companies (NYSE:COO) has increased to a share price of $97.97, a 1.8% rise. With 166,958 shares changing hands so far today, the company's volume is 0.3 times its current three-month average. The trading volume for a stock indicates the level of investor interest.

The Bottom Line The nature of the market is such that stocks will have good days and bad days. Daily stock performance should be weighed against historical performance and put in context of the market overall. However, these fundamental metrics must be analyzed with historic data, industry information in addition to firm specific financial statements.