Today's Hot Topics   ▲  |  ▼

Earnings may just be getting underway, but you don't have to wait to see how earnings are working out to get a hold of these two stocks that are good buys regardless, notes Jack Adamo of Insiders Plus.

We have a total of five new buys in our two portfolios (two featured below). I'm only moving on these now because they are all acting stronger than the market, and a couple are coming off bases they've been building a while. In any case, I'm enthusiastic about them all. Whether or not we hit the exact best time to buy them is of little concern.

Roche Holding (RHHBY)
This is a Swiss pharmaceutical company. Genentech is a subsidiary of it. I'll give you their PR department's official description: Roche Holding AG operates in the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics worldwide. It discovers, develops, and provides diagnostic products and services that enable patients and health-care professionals in the detection, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases.

The company provides in-vitro diagnostics instruments and tests for the early detection and diagnosis of cancer. It is also involved in the research and development, and marketing of pharmaceutical products primarily in the therapeutic areas of oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolic disorders, and central nervous system.

In addition, the company provides a portfolio of diagnostics products, such as blood glucose meters for diabetes patients; point-of-care testing devices for the doctors; high-throughput analyzers for hospitals and commercial diagnostic laboratories; and state-of-the-art instruments and reagents for life science research.

Further, the company offers integrated cobas, a solution for blood serum testing in commercial and hospital labs, medical centers, and laboratory networks. Roche Holding AG also offers various products for researchers in the areas of amplification, cell analysis, gene expression, genome sequencing, microarrays, nucleic acid purification, protein analysis, real-time PCR systems, and transfection. The company was founded in 1896 and is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland.

As you can see, Roche is involved in a lot of stuff. It's an excellent company. I've been waiting months to buy it, hoping for a pullback when the market softens around third-quarter earnings.

I'm forced to pull the trigger now because it just had a very positive new development in Phase III clinical trials of a new cancer drug. It showed noticeably better efficacy in breast cancer treatment and is believed to have broader application.

The company's dividend is irregular, but generally solid and higher than most American companies. The current yield is 3.9%.

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD)
According to its PR department company profile, TD provides financial and banking services in North America and internationally.

The company’s Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking segment offers various financial products and services to personal and small business customers. It also provides banking solutions through telephone and Internet banking, as well as operates approximately 2,780 automated banking machines, and a network of 1,150 branches located in Canada.

In addition, this segment offers financing, investment, cash management, and international trade services to medium-sized Canadian businesses; a range of insurance products, including home and automobile coverage, and life and health insurance in Canada and the United States; business property and casualty business in the United States; and credit protection coverage on lending products. Its Wealth Management segment offers direct investing, advice, and asset management services to institutional and retail clients.

The company’s US Personal and Commercial Banking segment provides retail and commercial banking operations in the United States. This segment offers its financial products and services through a network of approximately 1,281 stores located from Maine to Florida.

Its Wholesale Banking segment provides a range of capital markets and investment banking products and services comprising underwriting and distribution of new debt and equity issues, providing advice on strategic acquisitions and divestitures, and meeting the daily trading, funding, and investment needs. This segment serves companies, governments, and institutions in financial markets worldwide.

Toronto-Dominion Bank was founded in 1855, and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

I actually don't like this bank. When it makes an acquisition, as it did with Waterhouse Securities and Commerce Bank, it immediately cuts services and/or raises fees. Still, the results speak for themselves, and this is a company that is well capitalized and well operated. The stock has more than quadrupled in the last ten years, and shows no sign of slowing.

Earnings are consistent and the stock pays a nice dividend, currently yielding 3.7%. It will surely be affected by currency swings between the greenback and loonie, but over time, that will work in our favor. Canada's budget deficits are much lower than ours. It won't have to debase its currency nearly as much.

Subscribe to Insiders Plus here...

Related Reading:

18 Stocks for a Sunny Year's End

2 Stocks with Rising Margins

Make Food Stocks a Portfolio Staple