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Filed under: Stocks to Buy

When my son had a huge boil under his arm, it turned out that it was filled with the killer staph, MRSA. It also turns out that my (otherwise) great doctor used a traditional lab to process the test, which took a week to determine it was MRSA.

Cepheid (NASDAQ: CPHD) manufactures the equipment and test that takes just two hours to do the same thing -- and is better and cheaper than traditional tests. CPHD wins 90%-plus of all competitive bids and its test could be available in low-tech facilities, such as doctor's offices or nursing homes, next year.

Filed under: Gilead Sciences (GILD), Stocks to Buy

Last year, as the market sank, one group actually went up -- large-cap, cashflow positive biotech and genomics companies.

This year, interest has shifted to the little guys -- the speculative biotech stocks that could be 10- or 20-baggers with one breakthrough.

Here are six biotech stocks with the potential to deliver life-changing profits:

Two important reports today offer early hints of the potential impact of a $1.1 billion federal program to compare the medical benefit and the cost-effectiveness of surgeries, medicines and medical devices. The reports — by the Institute of Medicine and the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research – suggest priorities for spending $700 million of the research funds set aside under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.