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By Kris Eddy | More Articles
February 19, 2011 | Comments (2)

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Fools were out and about this week in an investing world jampacked with actions and ideas. Here are three articles you might find useful as you decide how to invest your money.

An Inside Look at Biotech Investing
CAPS All-Star zzlangerhans talked with the Fool's John Keeling about investing in "baby biotechs," a label under which he lumps "all the small unprofitable drug developers." He continues: "For investing purposes, the small size and developmental nature of the company matters more to me than the composition of the pipeline."

Here are words of encouragement from zzlangerhans:

I do draw on my background in molecular biology and medicine to a certain degree, but trading these stocks is really a discipline unto itself. You don't need to be a doctor or a scientist to make money trading biotech. The most valuable skills are paying attention to detail and being able to understand mass psychology.

And here's a peek at his thoughts on using the run-up strategy he calls the "Bottle Imp," in which investors "[i]dentify a stock in depression with a major catalyst expected within six months to a year." His advice:

Many of these stocks will rebound dramatically at some future point in advance of the catalyst. If you are successful, don't get greedy. Sell with a reasonable gain and whatever you do don't play through the catalyst.

zzlangerhans says his strongest Bottle Imp candidate right now is Discovery Laboratories (Nasdaq: DSCO ) .

See the article to read more about how to invest in biotech stocks.

The Best Buys for Your Roth IRA
You still have a couple of months to max out your 2010 Roth IRA contribution. If you don't have a Roth, now is a good time to open one and start reaping the tax advantages that might work better for you in the long run than a traditional IRA, which lets you deduct your contributions and defer paying taxes until you withdraw the money in retirement.

With a Roth, you put in after-tax money, but "you'll never pay a penny of tax on the investment gains you earned along the way," wrote Fool editor and writer Dan Caplinger. "[T]he best way to make the most of your Roth is to buy investments that will produce the greatest returns."

Dan highlighted Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG ) and Coach (NYSE: COH ) as past examples of what to look for. Intuitive Surgical parlayed a groundbreaking technology into an effective monopoly, Dan wrote, while Coach is an example of a spinoff that thrived when set free from parent Sara Lee.

Read the article to find out more about maximizing your Roth retirement account.

Tenure Tyrants in Corporate America
Fool writer Alyce Lomax dug into data on how shareholders have been voting on executive pay, and she found several examples indicating more than just token unhappiness with the way business has been done. For instance, 46.1% of Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH ) shareholders favored a requirement that stock-option grants be performance-based, and 42.7% of Verizon (NYSE: VZ ) shareholders supported ending "golden coffin" death payments.

Check out the article to see the rest of Alyce's examples and to read about the "entrenchment costs" that can dwarf the direct monetary cost when a CEO gets a pink slip.

See a stock in this story you'd like to follow? Add it to My Watchlist, which will find all of our Foolish analysis on it.

The Steve Jobs Betrayal
You may already know that in the final year of his life, Jobs revealed a stunning betrayal — and told his biographer, "I will spend my last dying breath... and every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank to right this wrong." What was it that made Jobs so irate — and why could it make a few in-the-know investors some major profits over the coming months and years?

Enter your email address below to find out what made Jobs so enraged!

Fool online editor Kris Eddy owns no shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.

Intuitive Surgical is a Motley Fool Rule Breakers pick. The Fool owns shares of Coach, which is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Read/Post Comments (2) | Recommend This Article (14)

Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

Report this Comment On February 21, 2011, at 11:10 AM, jwthe wrote:

Mr. Cooper, the CFO sacrificed all the current shareholders.
He gave Lazard a sweet deal where they could buy the shares and warrants at $2.17
This means they can sell the shares on the open market and keep the warrants for free!(exercisable at about $3) Perhaps that is why Motly Fool is running this article now to keep the price up while Lazard sells; perhaps the Fools are being played by Lazard as well.
DSCO also did not publicize openly/well that two recent batches did not meet specifications. This could be bad and cause further FDA problems.
In short Lazard gets a risk free trade and general public can buy in at 2.35 cents but that means warrants are not free but cost the general public over 20cents.
By the time the general public gets their shares from Lazard the price of the stock will/might have dropped and you will loose more money when you sell to try and do what Lazard can do now therefore your warrants might cost much more than 20cents.
Good luck even selling the shares for 2.16 by the time you get them in your account.
What could Mr Cooper have done? He could have issued warrants to buy stock now, at the 2.35 price to current shareholders. and not given Lazard the risk free sweet deal to short DSCO yet again.
Show us what you are made of Mr Cooper. Buy the stock offering now or buy the stock on the open market and put it in your IRA and file your form 4 showing you did. You, Mr. Amick, Mr Lopez and the rest of the directors should put your monies where your mouths are. Then perhaps we can trust that you are working for the shareholders/the company and not for Lazard.
Please buy the stock at these low levels and hold the stock until FDA approval( a Disapproval might wipe out you and the rest of the people who take this articles advice)
Perhaps Mr.Cooper you should have given Lazard a no shorting clause or a no separation of shares and warrants clause. You sacrificed the longterm investors once again with your short sightedness. DSCO needs a new CFO.
Report this Comment On February 22, 2011, at 3:23 PM, allmymarbles wrote:

I would be very careful about DSCO. For one thing they have never been able to solve the stability problem. Interested parties are pushing this stock like mad and there is suspicion about the recent buy rating. Stockholders are in an uproar and in contact with the SEC. I fortunately got rid of this dog a couple of years ago when the handwriting was already on the wall.

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