From Reuters:
Drug and vaccine makers on standby over swine flu
...Roche Holding AG's Tamiflu, known generically as oseltamivir, and GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Relenza, or zanamivir, are both recommended drugs for seasonal flu and have been shown to work against viral samples of the new disease....
...Making a vaccine against a new strain of flu takes months and vaccine companies said they were on standby to start the development process as soon as possible.Leading flu vaccine manufacturers include Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi-Aventis SA, Glaxo, Novartis AG and Baxter International Inc....
And: Finance chiefs, markets keep wary eye on swine flu
From Bloomberg:
Mexico Peso Falls on Concern Swine Flu to Deepen Economic Slump
Russia Suspends Mexican, Some U.S. Meat Imports on Swine Flu
Australia, NZ Dollars Drop on Swine Flu, Recession Concerns
Oil falls over 2 percent on flu fears
From Wang's Happy Trading:
Pandemic Plays
In the short term, we can be sure that travel will decrease. This means SELL the stock of airline companies. DAL, CAL, etc.
...Also, parts of the world with severe outbreaks will lose their tourism economy. Right now, Mexico is the center of the flu outbreak. The ETF for Mexico is EWW. We can expect EWW to decline relative to other regional ETF’s....
...Companies making influenza vaccines and antiviral agents will see buying interest. The Chinese biotech company SVA looks especially attractive as a pandemic play. Plays on antivirals are GSK and RHHBY. Good luck, and stay well....
From CNBC:
Asian Pharmas Rally on Flu Worries, Airlines SinkFrom ClusterStock:
And From Business Insider:How To Trade The Swine Flu Pandemic
...Basically: go long face masks and short related developing countries.In terms of buying opportunities, Helmsman’s Parry was advising his clients Monday morning in Asia to “break out the old SARS list of names that make face masks” for some short-term momentum, such as Japanese Hogy Medical (TYO:3593).
But the most likely securities to feel selling pressure are the emerging market ETFs. During the SARS crisis, U.S.-listed ETFs such as iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM), Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF (VWO), and Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Domestic fund (EDD) were not yet thought up. Swine flu may pose the first serious challenge to these recently listed ETFs’ growth prospects....
Swine Flu Stocks (BCRX, GILD, NVAX, NNVC, SVA)
From Bronte Capital:
Biota - a wild speculationFrom: Midas Oracle:Biota is an Australian listed company. It has a share in a drug that cures influenza and almost certainly works on swine flu. The stock went about 60% today.The drug (Relenza) is a true wonder except that it has several features that make it very difficult to market....
Swine Flu Prediction Markets
will there be confirmed cases of swine flu on every continent by july 1?From BioHealth Investor:
Swine Flu Treatment Stockpiles Released by CDC/DHS (RHHBY, GSK)