Biotech ETFs are, in a word, hot. The biotechnology industry, if it were a sector, would be the second-best performing one in 2020. Biotech stocks collectively have generated 21% total returns (price plus dividends) on average, lagging only technology, which is up 26% year-to-date. That's no surprise given the rush of investors into stocks developing treatments and vaccines for COVID-19. But biotech ETFs are no flash in the pan. If you go back over the past decade, it has returned 524%. That...

You don’t grab a falling knife. But you don’t want to pass up a bargain. The coronavirus from China has revealed a host of potential bargains in the market’s minefield. Let things settle. Wait for a nothing day with the market closing slightly higher, and some (but not all) of the panic to go away. Then, assuming you still have some cash, pounce on some dividend stocks. With the 30-year bond trading at 1.8%, and the 10-year at 1.2%, any stock offering regular income is a bargain. Look for...

Retailing has been forced into a transformation over the past decade. And some retail stocks, once dogged by fear of those changes, have become attractive buys once again. The rise of Amazon.com (AMZN) and internet commerce has thinned the herd and continue to pick off stragglers. But several of the chains that continue to survive are premium or otherwise sought-out destinations that demand your attention. Some retailers are no longer just retailers, but manufacturers. They have increasing...

VMware (NYSE:VMW), the jewel in the crown at Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL), is one of the cheapest tech stocks you can buy right now, selling at under 10 times last year’s earnings. 2020 will be a pivotal one for VMW stock. It has closed on its $2.7 billion purchase of Pivotal Software. It can now offer what it calls a complete cloud solution against International Business Machines’ (NYSE:IBM) Red Hat unit. Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock.com Both companies are active in the market...

The story of Amarin (NASDAQ:AMRN) is both punny and deadly serious. The puns are because its drug candidate Vascepa is derived from fish oil. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of Vascepa Dec. 13 for patient with high triglycerides may be seen as fishy by some. Amarin — which is run out of New Jersey but calls Ireland its home for tax reasons — has fought for years to have Vascepa seen as a drug, with all the attendant protections, and not just a supplement. It contains only the...