Healthcare

With some wild swings, Tenet's stock has slumped to below $5 from its 52-week high of $6.46 in March. A controversial takeover bid is partly to blame. But the slide looks like an opportunity to get in on a good health care play.

A new suitor may be entering the bidding war for Healthscope, the second-largest private hospital chain in Australia: Tenet Healthcare. But the market's response to word of the negotiations has been decidedly negative.

The following is a round-up of news likely to affect stock prices today:

Shares of BP (BP) fell another 3% in London after tumbling 13% Tuesday, following news that the Obama administration was beginning a criminal probe into the Gulf of Mexico oil-drilling disaster. Investors remain skittish about...

As hyperactive and reactive as markets can be, sometimes they get it right. Witness Monday's relief rally after the House voted to overhaul health insurance. The major averages enjoyed vigorous gains, led for much of the session by, yes, the health care sector.

Unofficial data from the Congressional Budget Office project that the health care reform bill would cost $940 billion over the first 10 years and reduce the deficit by $130 billion. Over time, the savings will hit the trillions dollar mark. But not everyone is happy with the numbers.

For the past nine months, the German generic-drug company Ratiopharm has been in process to sell itself. And in the past couple weeks, the leading bidders included Pfizer (PFE), Actavis and Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA). Of course, investors and the media have speculated on the ultimate winner and...

Freshman Democratic congressman John Adler of New Jersey is a wanted man because he is bucking the party line on health-care reform. Being a maverick may be the best move for him politically even if puts him at odds with President Obama's top legislative priority.

Obama and congressional leaders have one last chance to convince Americans that health reform is above politics. There's no question the plan is complicated -- and probably flawed -- but failure to pass it means fewer will be able to afford insurance and costs will keep climbing.

PepsiCo will stop selling its full-sugar drinks in primary and secondary schools around the world by 2012.

Thanks to rising affluence, more sedentary populations and Westernized diets, the demand for drugs that combat cardiovascular diseases is growing in the developing world. And Western pharmaceutical companies are paying attention.