2 Dangerous Stocks Every Investor Must Avoid

admin|February 14, 2017

When it comes to your health and wallet, a small dose of skepticism could be a huge lifesaver.

You see, there are many companies… even entire industries… trying to make a quick buck at your expense.

How? By downplaying the harmful effects of their products in order to keep consumers ignorant.

For several decades, the lead industry advertised to consumers that indoor lead was safe and even a way to protect your health.

But scientists have long demonstrated that even small amounts of lead may cripple a child’s bodily and mental development.

Another example? Most consumers thought Lumber Liquidators – a once popular source of affordable hardwood flooring – was a name they could trust.

But when the truth about its formaldehyde-ridden laminate flooring was exposed, consumers got angry and the company’s stock got slammed.

And how about the effects of mobile phone radiation? Here in the U.S., we’re often told that electromagnetic radiation is quite safe… but the truth is the jury is still out.

And in Italy, the Supreme Court has ruled in favor a man who believes his brain cancer was caused by his heavy use of mobile phones for his job. The ruling was based on current available research that was NOT funded by the telecom industry, suggesting an increased risk of brain cancer development.

Then there’s the notorious tobacco industry, which successfully suppressed the research demonstrating the link between lung cancer and tobacco for decades.

Overall, too many companies out there face a conflict of interest. And inconvenient facts are often seen as a roadblock to bottom-line growth.

But what we care about most is protecting both consumers and investors from companies with skeletons hidden in their closets.

For example, take the biopharmaceutical industry.

Each day, millions of people around the globe rely on prescription medications.

These medicines treat horrible, life-threatening diseases and viruses. Or, in many cases, they just help people manage their symptoms and get through the day.

It’s clear that this industry is one of the most important industries in our global economy. It is has saved and improved the lives of millions of people.

But the industry faces what many consider a “moral hazard.” While checks and balances exist to ensure our drugs are safe and effective, there is a big, undeniable problem.

Here’s what I mean. Roughly 60% of all clinical trials are funded by “Big Pharma.”

And since drug companies are, ultimately, businesses – this creates a huge financial incentive for dishonesty.

It’s not hard to see why.

For one, public companies have intense pressure from shareholders to produce sales. If a drug keeps getting delayed or is entirely rejected by the FDA, investors will lose money… big money.

And that’s not to mention the exorbitant costs behind clinical trials. More than $30 billion is spent each year on drug research.

The huge amount of money on the line incentivizes many drug companies to mislead investors, the FDA and the public on their drug developments.

Then there’s the pressure from other competitors. It’s “best business practice” to market your drug as the safest and most effective product on the market.

Putting it all together, the industry is faced with some wrong, but very compelling, reasons to mislead the public. To be the best-seller, a company must convince consumers that its drug is safer and more effective than the rest.

And honestly, most investors fall for it. After all, it’s hard to find what’s intentionally hidden.

But it’s every man’s job to seek out the truth. It may not be the same “Know-How” we once used to skin our dinner, but sorting fact from fiction is a vital skill for a modern man. This sort of Know-How is a vital part of the Manward Press Triad.

We’ve decided to do our part to share this vital knowledge. In this report, we cast light on a couple of companies we believe are withholding the truth from the public.

We have the data to back up our bold claims.

A growing number of studies show that a key class of drugs on the market today may have devastating side effects. These side effects are so bad they could outweigh the drugs’ benefits.

Yet companies are still pushing them in order to make a profit. After all, they need to hit their quarterly estimates.

If you’re taking these drugs, you should know about these side effects. And if you’re an investor, you should avoid these stocks at all costs.

The Shocking Research Behind Fluoroquinolones

According to Transparency Market Research, the global antibacterial drug market is worth more than $43 billion.

Antibacterial drugs are used to treat infectious diseases, from a urinary tract infection to pneumonia.

One of the most popular classes of antibacterial drugs on the market is fluoroquinolones.

And it could also be the most dangerous.

A series of independent studies have built a strong case that the drug can have very damaging side effects.

In fact, many of these drugs have already been removed from the market. Yet some companies are still developing similar versions to this day.

To make matters worse, more than 20 years of research has now pointed to a consistent link between fluoroquinolones and skin cancer.

In a study conducted in 1997 by the University of Oulu in Finland, it was concluded that fluoroquinolones could warrant the label of a photochemical carcinogen, or cancer-causing chemical. Researchers discovered that animals given the drug – while exposed to sunlight – seemed to have an increased risk of developing skin cancer.

Another study published in Oxford’s Mutagenesis journal came to a similar conclusion the year prior. Swiss researchers found that “humans treated with [fluoroquinolone] antibiotics should avoid extensive exposure to sunlight or artificial UVA light.”

But it doesn’t stop there.

Again, another study, conducted in 2000 by a group of scientists from Spain and France, confirmed that while fluoroquinolones could be expected to damage mitochondria cells in skin tissue, this process was worsened under ultraviolet light.

And the list of studies goes on.

More recently, in July of 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration made a startling announcement. It said that fluoroquinolone antibiotics “are associated with disabling and potentially permanent side effects of the tendons, muscles, joints, nerves, and central nervous system that can occur together in the same patient.”

Yikes! And that’s on top of the piling evidence of its carcinogenic properties.

So, given all of this negative research, why are companies still pushing these dangerous drugs?

The answer is simple. There’s money to be made.

That’s until the research finally enters the public’s awareness and drives pushback from the medical community.

And if you think it’s unlikely, you need only look at history.

There’s a long list of FDA-approved drugs that have been pulled from the market.

Bextra… desPlex… Meridia… and the notorious Quaalude, just to name a few, were all highly popular drugs on the market for years.

Now they’re all gone after research proved the risks outweighed their benefits.

And that’s exactly why I’d advise you to stay away from the two fluoroquinolone pushers below.

Two Companies Investors Should Avoid

The first company you should avoid is Horizon Pharma PLC (Nasdaq: HZNP).

In late 2016, this company that’s popular with investors completed its acquisition of Raptor Pharmaceutical, which was working on developing a new oral fluoroquinolones treatment for some time, among other treatments.

Keep in mind that this acquisition occurred after the FDA’s announcement.

Horizon Pharma paid $800 million to acquire the manufacturer in the hopes that its other drug treatments would perform well.

Yet on that front, Raptor has had a hard time pushing drugs through its development pipeline.

Notably, it failed to show positive results in a Phase 2/3 trial for a new drug, called NASH, to treat Huntington’s disease. It also failed in a Phase 3 trial for Actimmune – a treatment for Friedreich’s ataxia.

And as we mentioned earlier, clinical trials are expensive.

Overall, the acquisition looks more likely to hurt Horizon’s bottom line than help it. Plus, we should expect the recent FDA announcement to affect the sale of fluoroquinolones in the foreseeable future.

Put simply, investors are going to get caught holding the bag if they don’t let this company go before it’s too late. Dump it.

Next, avoid Mylan N.V. (Nasdaq: MYL).

It is one of the leading manufacturers of a generic version of ciprofloxacin, one of the most popular fluoroquinolone antibiotics on the market.

But in addition to the damaging research against fluoroquinolones, Mylan has proven itself to be a scandal-ridden company that’s more concerned with profits than people.

In 2016, Mylan was heavily criticized for drastically increasing the price of its EpiPen, a lifesaving drug that’s been around for many decades.

The controversy became highly politicized, but for good reason. Mylan’s EpiPens were selling for $600 per auto-injector, yet they contained less than a dollar’s worth of epinephrine.

In the end, the company was forced to pay a $465 million settlement for overcharging Medicaid.

But it looks like the troubles are just starting for Mylan.

Now the Federal Trade Commission has gotten involved. It’s investigating whether or not Mylan’s business practices constitute a violation of antitrust laws.

If you’re holding the stock, dump it! You don’t want to be holding the bag when things go from terrible to catastrophic.

Be well,

Andy Snyder
Founder, Manward Press