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The Motley Fool's Weekly Editors' Picks

Sat, 11/12/2010 - 23:27 by Kris Eddy

 Fools were out and about this week in an investing world jampacked with actions and ideas. Here are three articles you might find useful as you decide how to invest your money.

 

Is Geron the Perfect Stock?

Fri, 10/12/2010 - 11:52 by Dan Caplinger

 Everyone would love to find the perfect stock. But will you ever really find a stock that gives you everythingyou could possibly want? One thing's for sure: If you don't look, you'll never find truly great investments. So let's first take a look at what you'd want to see from a perfect stock, and then decide if Geron(Nasdaq: GERN) fits the bill.

 

Milestone reached in disease research

Thu, 09/12/2010 - 10:08 by Prince damin

Evanston, Ill. -- U.S. researchers say they've reached a major milestone in ongoing efforts to wipe out some of the world's most lethal diseases.

Scientists at the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute and Northwestern University have experimentally determined three-dimensional protein structures from a number of bacterial and protozoan pathogens, which could potentially lead to new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics to combat deadly infectious diseases, a Northwestern release said Tuesday.

Some of the structures solved by the researchers come from well-known organisms like the H1N1 flu virus and those that cause plague, cholera and rabies, the release said.

Important multiple sclerosis research find

Wed, 08/12/2010 - 11:36 by Prince damin

Edinburgh, Scotland -- Scottish researchers say a discovery involving stem cells may lead to reversing nerve damage and paralysis caused by multiple sclerosis.

MS is caused when the body's immune system attacks a substance called myelin that covers and protects nerve fibers, disrupting messages as they are sent around the body.

Researchers from Edinburgh and Cambridge universities say they have identified a mechanism that helps regenerate the myelin sheaths that protect the body's nerve fibers, particularly in the brain, The Daily Express reported Monday.

Identifying a way of regenerating the sheaths could lead to new drugs and treatments, the researchers say.

The 10 Best Semiconductor Values

Wed, 08/12/2010 - 00:36 by Rex Moore

 Study after study has shown that stocks with low price-to-earnings multiples significantly outperform high P/E stocks. Research from my favorite investing guru, NYU professor Aswath Damodaran, pegged the outperformance at anywhere from 9% to 12% per year, depending on the study period. That's big money we're talking about.

 

This Just In: Upgrades and Downgrades

Tue, 07/12/2010 - 11:57 by Rich Smith

 At The Motley Fool, we poke plenty of fun at Wall Street analysts and their endless cycle of upgrades, downgrades, and "initiating coverage at neutral." So you might think we'd be the last people to give virtual ink to such "news." And we would be -- if that were all we were doing.

 

Consumers Are Still Scared Out of Their Minds

Sat, 04/12/2010 - 09:58 by Morgan Housel

 There's a surefire way to undermine an economy: (1) Scare people. (2) Wait. As James Madison put it: "The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money." Here's the good news: Consumer confidence rose in November to the highest level since June, and is now more than double the level of early 2009.

 

Wall Street's Best Hidden Stocks

Fri, 03/12/2010 - 11:24 by Rich Duprey

 When asked for the secret of his success, baseball player Wee Willie Keeler replied, "Hit 'em where they ain't." What worked for Willie at the plate applies equally well in investing.  Seeking stocks that others ignore, shun, or simply forget gives individual investors like you an edge over the professionals. When Wall Street turns a blind eye, you have a chance to get in before these stocks get discovered -- or rediscovered -- and start taking off. 

 

Study: Biodeversity loss ups disease risk

Fri, 03/12/2010 - 09:23 by Prince damin

Washington -- Plant and animal extinctions are not just a biodiversity problem but a threat to health, a U.S. study linking biodiversity and infectious diseases says.

Research funded by the National Science Foundation suggests species loss in ecosystems such as forests and fields results in increases in pathogens, disease-causing organisms, an NSF release said Wednesday.

The species most likely to disappear as biodiversity declines are often those that buffer infectious disease transmission, researchers said

Species that remain tend to be the ones that magnify the transmission of infectious diseases like West Nile virus, Lyme disease and hantavirus, they said.

The Smart Money Says to Buy American Eagle Outfitters

Tue, 30/11/2010 - 12:38 by Tim Beyers

Is American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO) headed higher, or lower? That's the question we ask when we evaluate insider buying and selling. We ask because how executives spend their paychecks is often a reflection of what they think of their companies' prospects.

 

Study: Charging for plastic bags cuts use

Tue, 30/11/2010 - 10:22 by Prince damin

Gothenburg, Sweden -- Consumption of plastic bags in China dropped by half when stores starting charging consumers for them, a Swedish study says.

Research by the University of Gothenburg showed the Chinese, the No. 1 consumers of plastic bags in the world, cut their use of them by half after a June 2008 ordinance against free plastic bags took effect.

Plastic bags is a growing global environmental problem and are becoming subject to various regulations in an growing number of countries with mixed results, a university release said.

University doctoral student Haoran He studied the effect of the Chinese ordinance as part of his thesis in environmental and behavioral economics.

Companies see end of lab animal tests

Tue, 30/11/2010 - 07:53 by Prince damin

London -- Drug and chemical companies say they endorse a Europe-wide initiative intended to eventually end the use of animals in research and safety testing.

Experts from companies including drug giants AstraZeneca, Procter & Gamble, Unilever and cosmetics firm L'Oreal say that soon the safety testing of new drugs and chemical products will use new technologies, including cell cultures and computer models, rather than living animals, The Daily Telegraph in Britain reported.

A report published by a panel of experts from industry, academic institutions and regulatory bodies supports an initiative aimed at finding alternatives to animal research.