Invest in Quest and LabCorp?

[Zarniwoop]

We may not want them to steal away our local business and our jobs, but....

Does anyone have an opinion about them as investments?

Is a pathologist buying stock in LabCorp the equivalent of a Mormon buying stock in Anheuser or Phillip Morris? I already think I'm in pathologist hell, so I'm not sure about the cosmic or teleologic consequences.

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[Thrombus]

We may not want them to steal away our local business and our jobs, but....

Does anyone have an opinion about them as investments?

Is a pathologist buying stock in LabCorp the equivalent of a Mormon buying stock in Anheuser or Phillip Morris? I already think I'm in pathologist hell, so I'm not sure about the cosmic or teleologic consequences.

Given that LabCorp and Quest are in the same business you are in essentially, I would never buy these companies simply for diversification.

Given the ultra-competitiveness of the lab business, I would rate both a strong sell.

Look at GE's experiment with Clarient. According to the figures I saw, they sold Clarient for 25% of what they paid for it.

Sell Sell Sell! (buy WMT, T, BX, JPM, CVS, NKE, DIS, AAPL, GOOGL, CMI for a good balanced portfolio at today's prices)

 

[WEBB PINKERTON]

Rather than invest in laboratories, I used to have success investing in companies we did business with. Cardinal health, Roche, Hologic, Digene, Tripath imaging, Becton dickinson etc.

Labcorp and quest seem to be in many of my mutual funds so I can't say I don't invest in them. They likely will end up winning the lab war as hospitals look to dump their labs (who are quickly becoming cost centers). Scale will ultimately prevail.

If I were a young pathologist today, I would be putting my money into rental property. You will need other sources of income.

 

[coroner]

Whether or not there's perceived fiscal hypocrisy from a pathologist investing in LabCorp or Quest I agree with the sentiments above that if you're looking into potential investment opportunities, consider those with better long-term growth, asset diversification, and risk stratification based on your goals. Whether or not those prospects are in the business of laboratory diagnostics, medical marijuana, or the adult film industry regardless of your moral convictions...