OPTIMIZERx Corp. announced that it has engaged Beringea LLC, an investment banking and private equity firm. Beringea will assist in financial planning and strategically positioning the company for continued growth.

“Beringea specializes in advising clients who are seeking to execute strategic transactions or find private financing,” stated David Lester, CEO, OPRIMIZERx. “As we continue to position OPTIMIZERx’s growth within the healthcare marketplace we look to Beringea to be a strategic advisory partner for both growth and financial stability.”

“Beringea’s transaction advisory team has a deep expertise in the healthcare sector and is excited to share OPTIMIZERx’s value proposition with the market,” commented David Eberly, Beringea’s senior managing director and co-founder. “OPTIMIZERx’s ability to simplify complex medical processes like prescription sampling administration and distribution represents real cost saving opportunities to the industry and makes it an attractive player in the healthcare IT space.”

Let us hear your thoughts below:

Baltimore — (TFN): If politicians would get their heads out of their re-election campaigns, they would not have to make hasty, thoughtless decisions that cost you and I money.

In the days following Obama’s inauguration, Washington quickly passed a wide set of tax reforms. Part of the legislation included a $400 tax break for the country’s working class and increased healthcare funding for the country’s poor, unhealthy children thanks to increased taxes on the tobacco industry.

It is no surprise neither measure has worked out as planned.

According to reports today, more than 15 million of us will have to pay back the $400 we saved in taxes over the last few months due to an error on Washington’s end.

I hope Uncle Sam doesn’t expect interest on his loan come April.

The news out of the tobacco industry helps us continue our discussion on regulations. The good and the bad.

Winston Churchill once

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Today we are featuring top-performing “Health" equity mutual funds , which primarily invest in equity securities of healthcare and related companies.

Investors can find such funds by checking out the entire list of the Zacks #1 Rank Health Equity Funds.

3 Healthy Picks

Eaton Vance Worldwide Health Sciences A (ETHSX) long-term capital growth by investing in a global and diversified portfolio of health sciences companies. It was incepted in July 1985.

The fund pursues its objective by investing in worldwide health sciences portfolio. The fund invests primarily in common stocks of companies engaged in the development, production or distribution of products related to scientific advances in health care and companies with a broad range of market capitalization's, including small companies.

The fund has an expense ratio of 2.06% and a portfolio turnover of 48% as May 2009. The fund offers dividends and capital gains annually.

Samuel D. Isaly has been lead manager of the fund since

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Merge Healthcare Incorporated (MRGE) decided to raise up to $27.3 million in gross proceeds, before placement agency fees and other expenses, by offering 9,084,032 shares of the company’s common stock at a purchase price of $3.00 per share. The offer is only for select institutional investors and is expected to close on Nov. 18, 2009. Merge will use the proceeds primarily to prepay in full its senior secured notes held by Merrick RIS, L.L.C. due June 2010. The remaining amount will be used for general corporate purposes like the working capital financing. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is the lead placement agent for the fund raising offer. Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC and Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated are the co-placement agents for the offering. Merge is a healthcare software and services company focused on integrating radiology workflow to improve productivity, profitability and patient care ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 17, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Sealed Air Corporation (SEE) as the Bull of the Day and Hologic, Inc. (HOLX) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Genzyme Corp.(GENZ), Shire plc (SHPGY) and Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc. (PLX).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5506

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Sealed Air Corporation (SEE) reported third quarter 2009 EPS of 38 cents, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 33 cents and the prior-year EPS of 28 cents. The company raised its full-year 2009 EPS guidance to a range between $1.37-$1.45.

The company expects to continue to realize benefits from its cost reduction and productivity programs in the fourth quarter. Also, the company is witnessing improved market conditions in

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Companies featured in this edition of the newsletter: ACTC, CVM, CHIP, ENZ, HYTM, IWEB, ONEZ, PHC, SIHI, SRCO

Markets continued their strong performance this week in the absence of any major market driving earnings or economic reports, as the broad based buying that characterized the previous week continued and led to gains in all of the major indices. All told, the Dow added 2.5% on the week, gaining 247 points to close at 10,270, up 17.0% on the year. The Nasdaq posted a 2.6% gain on the week, closing at 2,167 to extend its yearly gains to 37.5%, while the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 gained 2.3% and 1.0% respectively, bringing their yearly gains to 21.1% and 17.4%.

Equity markets carried the momentum from the previous week’s session, as the thin economic calendar and lack of significant earnings reports provided little incentive for investors to slow their buying activities.

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Biotech company Genzyme Corp. (GENZ), faced yet another setback recently when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that vials of five drugs marketed by the company were found to be contaminated.   The affected drugs include Cerezyme, Myozyme, Fabrazyme, Aldurazyme and Thyrogen. All these drugs, excluding Thyrogen, are indicated for the treatment of rare disorders. The vials were found to be contaminated with stainless steel fragments, non-latex rubber from the vial stopper, and fiber-like material from the manufacturing process which could potentially harm patients.   As adverse events are yet to be reported and given the lack of alternative treatments for these drugs which treat rare disorders, the FDA did not issue a product recall. Instead, Genzyme has issued letters to U.S. healthcare providers reminding them to conduct a visual inspection of the vials and to filter them before using the products.   Genzyme has been ...

Nov. 12, 2009 (PR Newswire) — CORALVILLE, Iowa, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Vivakor, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: VIVK) is the keynote presenting company at the founders’ celebration of consumer product specialist, Regeneca International, Inc. (www.regeneca.com). The celebration will be attended by over 200 founders and guests of Regeneca International from across the United States. It will be hosted at the prestigious Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach, California. Vivakor’s Chairman, Matt Nicosia and CFO, Ed Corrente will both be attending the event.

Event attendee, Dr. Brian Scott , a Regeneca advisory board member and nationally recognized wellness expert, was particularly pleased to learn of Vivakor’s role in the event. “As a healthcare provider and speaker on issues regarding wellness and longevity, it is refreshing to hear the perspective of a company, doing business internationally, which can provide a particular focus on products which extend the length and

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Biotech Stocks: The Market’s Best Bargain Right Now…

by Robert Williams, Publisher

Last week, I told you that we had collectively moved over $5 trillion in cash from the sidelines to the markets, serving as the rally’s fuel, so to speak.

With all that cash back in play, it’s the economy that now must provide the impetus for the market to push higher. More specifically, we need corporate earnings to grow again. And the only way that’s going to happen is if the economy cooperates.

The prevailing price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) for the market is 23. Which, if you look at the chart below, has us already near the upper range, historically speaking. (Going back to 1900, the average P/E is 16.38.)

If you do the math, the

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Nationwide Health Properties Inc. (NHP), a real estate investment trust (REIT) investing in healthcare related assets in the U.S., has reported a 3.4% increase in total revenues in the third quarter of 2009 to $97.8 million compared to $94.6 million in the year-earlier quarter.  During the quarter, FFO (fund from operations) was $63.3 million or 56 cents per share, compared to $58.4 million or 56 cents in the year-ago period. Fund from operations, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs, is obtained after adding depreciation and amortization and other non-cash expenses to net income.  Despite challenging market conditions, Nationwide Health decided to acquire various healthcare properties from Pacific Medical Buildings LLC to capitalize on potential growth opportunities. Pacific Medical specializes exclusively in developing and managing medical office buildings, outpatient facilities and parking structures for hospitals, medical groups and universities.  According to the terms ...