More money for Medco
Big pharmaceutical companies aren’t the only ones being scorched by the rise of generic drugs. Shares of the major drug store chains - CVS/Caremark (CVS), Walgreen (WAG) and Rite Aid (RAD) - plunged between 5 percent and 8 percent Thursday morning after the companies reported that increasing use of cheaper generic drugs weighed on their December sales. The chains were already looking at a weak retail environment, given 2007’s surge in food and energy prices and the decline of the U.S. housing market. But CVS, Walgreen and Rite Aid all said Thursday morning that consumers’ shift to generic drugs reduced their sales gains by around 4 percentage points. On the bright side, the drug store chains’ pain probably means bigger profits for the big mail order pharmacies. That’s why Medco (MHS) and Express Scripts (ESRX) - two huge stock market winners last year - extended their gains Thursday.
- Big tab for Lehman swap sellers
- Morgan Stanley tumbles again on possible downgrade
- More taxpayer money for AIG
- Legg Mason downgraded
- Feds back Morgan Stanley deal
- BofA halves dividend
- Wachovia: Citi’s loss, Buffett’s gain
- Citi left at the Wachovia altar
- Buffett support fails to lift GE
- Buffett finds GE in bargain basement
- shame on you for such a shocking head... More
- Isn't it a pity that the 'uptick' rul... More
- I invest like many others. And every... More
- You must be kidding me when you said... More
- I wonder if Henry Paulson will let Go... More
- I would like to request that Mr. Mozi... More
- if wells fargo is allowed to buy wach... More
- I am a current employee of ccity. It'... More
- AIG needs more taxpayer money, and no... More
- Know how bad GE stock has become...We... More
- Accrued Interest
- Aleph Blog
- Bespoke Investment Group
- Big Picture
- Calculated Risk
- Dealbook
- Econbrowser
- Felix Salmon
- Financial Armageddon
- Footnoted
- FT Alphaville
- Infectious Greed
- Naked Capitalism
- RGE Monitor
- Seeking Alpha
- Information Arbitrage
- Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis
- Fortune on CNNMoney.com




