Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Other Healthcare Stocks Making Big Moves on November 2, 2012

The Nasdaq remains relatively unchanged, the S&P 500 has decreased 0.2% and the Dow has declined 0.3% after the morning's trading. 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) has changed little on a quiet day for the overall market. These are the biggest movers in the sector currently:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
Dendreon (Nasdaq:DNDN)	$594.3 million	+23.1%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:VRTX)	$10.89 billion	-13%
ABIOMED (Nasdaq:ABMD)	$538 million	+11.2%
Questcor Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:QCOR)	$1.49 billion	-8%
Medivation (Nasdaq:MDVN)	$3.77 billion	-4.6%
ICON plc (Nasdaq:ICLR)	$1.44 billion	+4.2%
Onyx Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:ONXX)	$5.23 billion	-3.1%

Broker Summary: OptionsXpress Online Trading Platform

After a big jump of 23.1%, Dendreon (Nasdaq:DNDN) is trading at $4.74 per share. So far today, the company's volume is 16.9 million shares. This is more trading activity than there was yesterday.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:VRTX) is currently trading at $43.90 per share, after a steep drop of 13%. At 5.7 million shares, the company's volume so far today is 2.5 times the average volume over the last three months.

ABIOMED (Nasdaq:ABMD) rose a significant 11.2% to reach $15.14 per share. This morning, the company is trading a volume of 1.7 million shares.

Questcor Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:QCOR) has decreased to $23.41 per share, a 8% fall. So far today, the company's volume is 6.2 million shares, 1.5 times its current daily average.

At $48.81, Medivation (Nasdaq:MDVN) has slipped 4.6%. The company's volume is currently 484,810 shares. This is a sign that there will be less trading activity than there was yesterday.

After rising 4.2%, ICON plc (Nasdaq:ICLR) is currently trading at a share price of $25.15. The company's volume is currently 240,289 shares for the day, 1.1 times its current three-month average.

Currently trading at $77.83 per share, Onyx Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:ONXX) has fallen 3.1%. The company's volume for the day so far is 1.6 million shares.

The Bottom Line On any given day, a particular stock may see positive or negative change in its share price. It is important to weigh current activity against historical performance when making any investment decisions. Keep in mind that all these ratios should be compared against historical numbers and industry information in order to get a more complete picture.