Investing Dopers, I Hope You're Not Long Pfizer or AstraZeneca

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Pfizer Inc. shares are down 17% in New York (about $35 billion in market cap gone right there) as of this posting after the company said its Celebrex painkiller increased the risk of heart attacks in a study of cancer patients. AstraZeneca Plc is down almost 8% in London after saying its Iressa lung-cancer treatment didn’t help patients live longer in a study. Ouch.

2

Pfizer (PFE) NYSE.

Astrazeneca Plc (AZN) NYSE.

3

I guess Pfizer just couldn’t keep it up.

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I’m a little more distressed by the Astra Zeneca news, as that might have some implications for my own company.

But either way, it means the whole sector’s probably going to be in the shitter today. I think I just won’t check to see what our stock is trading at. It will just depress me and make me want to wallpaper my cube with my stock options.

5

A friend of mine holds some Pfizer stock. Her theory is that pharmaceuticals may have their ups and downs, but they’ll recover and gain value after a loss. While she doesn’t have the money to invest now, she sees falling pharmaceutical prices as an opportunity to increase one’s holdings and that the inevitable rebound will result in higher gains.

6

I’ve held Pfizer stock for more than a decade, and the only time I freaked out was in 2001 - todays rather large dip is not bothering me to any readable degree.

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This is true - In a single study, in a single very specific kind of cancer. And yes, it is very disappointing. Actual press release here.

Disclaimer: While I work for AZ, any opinion I may present here is mine only, and not that of the company.

8

I have a small holding in Pfizer. The Celebrex problem is not that big a deal. It’s a fairly small piece of the overall drug array. Actually, the stock has come back up. The first day of the Celebrex debacle showed a 14% drop. Although it was down 11% more early on Friday, now it’s only a 13.97% drop. Usually, drug companies already have figured liability disasters into the books, and the day after the panic, they hit the ground running. Pfizer is still a solid company, and this little dip might be a buying opportunity.