Based on this week’s market action, I believe there is a high probability that the predicted summer swoon has commenced. As I research sectors I think will hold up better than the market overall (healthcare, telecom, consumer staples, etc.) over the next six months; I came across a healthcare company that I believe is selling at a very compelling valuation. It is Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA), the leader in generic drugs. Here are ten reasons I think Teva is currently undervalued:

1. Teva has averaged over 20% revenue growth and approximately 18% earnings growth over the previous 5 years.
   

2. Despite these consistent rates of growth, Teva is selling for less than 10 times this year’s expected earnings and under 9 times next year’s consensus EPS.

3. The company is selling at the bottom of its five year valuation range based on P/E, P/B, P/S and P/CF. Its projected PEG is less than 1.

I am in the midst of a trip to Israel visiting current and prospective clients. Therefore, I thought it might be a good time to comment on the Israel ETF (EIS).

There is little doubt the Israeli economy is booming, its currency is strong, and Israeli companies have made tremendous accomplishments-- particularly in high tech. In fact, Israel is the only country that I can think of that was moved from the MSCI Emerging Countries index (ETF EEM) to the developed index (ETF EFA). The country also recently gained entry into the OECD.

But none of that necessarily argues for purchasing Israeli stocks, particularly not through the EIS iShares ETF. Here's why:

• Overconcentration: Many cap weighted indices of small countries suffer from an over-concentration of holdings in a small number of companies, and EIS is no exception. 67% of its portfolio is in its top 10 holdings.
• One stock, Teva

By Michael Fitzhugh

Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA) is chasing the top slot in Japan's growing generic drugs market with a $460 million deal to acquire a majority stake in the country's third-largest generics player, Taiyo Pharmaceutical.

Israel's Teva will own 57 percent of Taiyo when the deal is complete and is extending an offer to shareholders to acquire the remaining 43 percent of the private company as well. The deal values Taiyo at $1.3 billion overall. If it is completed by the third quarter of 2011 as expected, it will help Teva hit its goal of reaching $1 billion in Japanese sales by 2015, ahead of schedule, the company says.

Japan is the second largest pharmaceutical market in the world, valued at $96 billion in 2010 and could prove to be a strong, if challenging, market for generic drugmakers in the future. They currently enjoy just a sliver of the annual

The last few weeks have been incredibly volatile in U.S. markets. Though major indexes have been trending upward for the majority of 2011, last week saw a major blip in performance as commodities, namely oil and silver, took a nose dive, bringing down equities across the board. The major sell off was due to an unexpected jump in jobless claims, as well as a reasonably stronger dollar, which was then followed by an unexpected dip in unemployment, helping to correct markets from their tailspin. This week will have its sights set on the closing days of earnings season as bellwether firms from around the world shed light on their most recent quarter’s performance.

Today, prior to market open, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA) will release its quarterly earnings report. Teva is primarily concerned with generic drugs and creating cheaper alternatives to some of today’s most popular drugs. This company has been

At the beginning of 2010, Teva (TEVA) announced hugely ambitious sales growth targets that signalled the acquisitive company had no intention of slowing down (Teva's bullish forecast enhances generics outlook, January 8, 2010). The swoop on German generics player Ratiopharm a couple of months later was not a surprising move, but few have been anticipating the Israeli company turning white knight for Cephalon (CEPH).

Growth in specialty, branded pharmaceuticals is firmly in Teva’s sights and this $6.8bn deal –$1.1bn more than Valeant was prepared to pay – will certainly give the company’s current portfolio a big leg up. But by adding a pipeline with a number of high risk candidates, some of which will require serious investment, it becomes significantly more exposed to the risks of novel drug development.

Meeting targets

In a presentation Monday Teva said its branded business, led by MS therapy Copaxone, would immediately be boosted by

By Tim Seymour

Teva (TEVA) is a great company in a fantastic global space. Emerging markets need generic drugs. But the chart does not reflect this.

There has

The discord in the Middle East has made some investors wary about putting money to work anywhere in the region, including Israel. But while the Arab world churns, Israel remains relatively stable and is a great place to find exciting technology companies.

The best thing is that many of these stocks pay dividends.

The Israeli population of 7.4 million is young, with a median age of around 29, and the people love tech gadgets - especially cell phones. The country has an $8 billion phone market and there's 120 percent cellular saturation - 6 phones for every 5 people.

Compared to other countries, Israel's cellphone market is maturing, which has some analysts wary of future growth potential for the phone companies located there. In my opinion the market remains vibrant, however, and Partner Communications (Nasdaq: PTNR) remains an attractive option.

Since its commercial launch in 1999, Partner Communications has grown

The markets may be telling us that it is time to get defensive, or they may be telling us to stay the course and remain on offense. In recent days, depending upon what you read or how you analyze it, you can come to different conclusions according to your mood. However, one of the ways that we can try to take advantage of a mature market run while protecting ourselves from potentially staggering, abrupt declines is through the identification of resilient companies making products that consumers always need. These are also known as defensive stocks.

Since March 2009 the drug sector has been a mere average performer, and one of the weaker market sectors on a relative strength basis. The sector may be ready to rotate into a leadership role during the next upward phase of the bull market ... if it takes place. If it doesn't, we think we've

Partner Communications Company Ltd. (PTNR)

Q4 2010 Earnings Conference Call

February 23, 2011, 10:00 am ET

Executives