Interesting article about the drug industry in the US, following what’s happening with Obama’s health bill. It seems like drug companies are on to a winner, regardless of whether they’re making Swine Flu pills or the world’s best thermogenic fat burner. Here’s how an analyst sees it:

“It could potentially add an additional 32 million lives with prescription drug coverage although some of this benefit will likely be offset by lower pricing,”

There’s an interesting look at the industry in the article, including a comparison with the German health market. Well worth reading if you’re working in the health industry.

Do you use a Smartphone, maybe an iPhone, a Blackberry or an Android phone? If so, you’re the target market for one of the many applications that can use GPS to determine where you are and share the information with your friends. The problem with these applications however, seems to be that they have limited lasting appeal which could be a problem when one looks at their market penetration. So, if you’re thinking about investing in one of these firms; it’s worth waiting to see if someone can develop a way to keep the market engaged. In the meantime, it would be better to put your money in psoriatic arthritis treatment or exotic investments, you may get more joy from there.

It’s been interesting to watch Apple’s stock price over the last few days and over the last few hours since the iPad has been announced. Yesterday was characteristed by a steady increase in price, probably as the market started to feel the anticipation around the product launch. As the product was being announced the market dipped as it didn’t seem as exciting as everyone thought. However, when the price point was announces; a price point that would certainly make the product was very attractive to consumers; the price rose once again.

Product announcements can make or break a company. You can imagine what would happen if a company announced it had a cure for Mesothelioma cancer, only to be exposed as a fraud a few days after. It would probably be quite hard to recover from something like that. In the meantime, we’ll keep an eye on Apple and see what happens to their stock over the next few days, as the industry starts to get their hands on the initial devices.

There are some great resources out there. For example, take a look at this chart that shows how a website like MicrocapMillionaires.com can let its members know that a particular stock is looking interesting:

Obviously, there’s always risk playing on the stock market, so you have to keep in mind that past performance is no indication of what will happen in the future. But it could always turn out to be an interesting hobby.

It’s interesting to see FlyBe preparing for a stock market flotation with a company valuation of £300 million. If you’ve never heard of them (I guess if you’re out of Europe they’ll be new to you), they’re a discount airline which has spread from humble roots to routes all over Europe.

Their website is quite intuitive, after all, you’re not looking for a life insurance online quote, but they do try to attach extra charges for everything but the kitchen sink along the way. Still, the market must be loving it, if they think there’s so much value.

They’ve tried to get off the ground twice already, well, you know what they say, third time lucky. We’ll see how the market plays this one.