Another sucky day for the market. Few stocks did well today. Of the few was HGSI (Human Genome Sciences Inc.), and it looks like they recently reported. In fact, it looks like a lot of biopharm companies had a good day today. Also, their IR site looks very professional and clean, with all the information you could ask for, from releases to analyst coverage, and news updates. Actually this is what I expect from all IR websites. Why should I go on a wild goose chase looking for information that should be provided by the company? Sometimes, I just get annoyed with websites that look cheap, for lack of a better word, and just plain difficult to navigate.
So anyways, they currently boast a strong cash position. Not only that, their breakthrough drugs in the works are treatments for anthrax inhalation, lupus, and diabetes. Some are already in the process of obtaining approval from the FDA, quite impressive. Now the diabetes drug I'm most impressed with, but I thought about it just to play devil's advocate. Why don't we invest in programs, starting with children in grade school, emphasizing the dangers of overindulging in sugar? Well these types of socially positive, feel-good programs never really take off, in fact they're kind of waved away and ignored. A good friend of mine said 'America likes to come up with really expensive fixer-uppers to problems with simple solutions.' Case in point: expensive breakthrough drug therapy for insulin imbalance more impressive than moderate sugar intake with self-control, a.k.a. prevention. I guess I'm being too harsh if diabetes is hereditary, and not so much self-induced.
I believe that people don't like to change and especially don't like other people telling them they're doing something wrong. If someone's been eating lots of sugar & fat their whole lives, they don't want to hear someone, especially not a stranger, tell them that they need to change. *ahem* Jamie Oliver's experiment. I forgot where it was that he went. West Virginia was it? Now he goes to this town and tells them they're all unhealthy and they need to change their eating habits. Of course he's going to get a negative reaction. Good intentions are not enough, not at all, to spark a ("food") revolution. Now, I've only seen a few episodes with the boyfriend, who loves these documentary-like episodes. So the lunch ladies don't like him. Well duh, he's marching into their territory (the kitchen) and telling them their food is sucks. It's all processed, byproducted from what once was food. Lunchladies' reaction: You suck, we've been eating this all the time, what's wrong with it? Jamie needs to provide more solid reasoning why processed food is bad and why his stir-fries are better. Why are fresh ingredients better than processed byproducts? What nutrients does it have that the human body needs for health? Also, Jamie went on to tell them that they have excellent kitchen equipment, but they don't use it for anything other than reheating meat byproducts. Of course they're going to take offense to that. You're going to walk into someone else's job, do their job for a day, and tell them they don't even know how to use the same equipment they've been using for years? Even if Jamie is kind of right, I would be offended if some British jerk I didn't know told me I didn't know how to use the same things I've been using. Also, he cooked a lot of stir fry on that show. Stir fry is great for incorporating a lot of different ingredients, but man it looked like there wasn't much variety with his recipes on that show. and sometimes it looked pretty oily. What's more healthy than eating fruits & vegetables as they naturally are? You're not losing any of the nutrients that it already has.
Anyways these types of shows really bring to my eyes that some people eat junk food daily, as a staple. I'm surprised that, in a post agricultural revolution world, we're leaning more towards processed foods with preservatives, maybe for convenience, maybe for taste. How is it that as we gain more options for sustenance, a lot of people are actually leaning towards something manufactured from man-made ingredients, which isn't actually "food" (if you're considering the earth-grown nutrient rich concept of food).
Now I am very guilty of eating out more often than I should, and giving in to my sweet tooth. (Hey I'm human.) I guess we all know what's good for us, but a lot of times, it's just easier to put our health on the back burner. What's your excuse?
Oh yeah, on a separate note, I'm not sure about this one and I'm too lazy to check. It looks like CREE randomly had an ok day. It started off strong and then I guess a lot of people took their profits and checked out, leaving the LED wonder ticker to level off by the close of the day.
more randomness:
Pet peeves: incompetent people,
people who don't show effort
hypocrites. It's ridiculous and it's not right for anyone to get upset about something someone else did and turn around and do the exact same thing.
Other things that have really been bothering me lately...oh yeah customer service really sucks. People, do your job... Excuses for mistakes are a turn-off. Need I say more?
I think I need to write about something more positive, for my own sake.
