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Is there a doctor in the House? How about the Senate?

The U.S. health-care system is sick, many would agree, and between lawmakers and the Obama administration, there is a litany of "cures" for what ails it. How can we expand medical coverage and cut expenses? Who pays -- and how much? Proponents and opponents mass at the patient's bedside, one eye on the poll charts and one on the clock. In politics, both timing and time is everything.

For health-care investors, however, time may be on their side. The more Washington fiddles, the less shareholders fear a radical overhaul that slashes industry profits. And Beltway gridlock gives investors time to determine who wins from whatever health-care reform ultimately does come to pass.

If you or your loved ones were on the operating table, would you really want doctors to dally and compromise the way lawmakers have on national health care? But the operating procedure is different for health-care investors, who are more likely to say, "Patient, don't heal thyself."

-- , assistant personal finance editor

INVESTING

Health-care stocks on the operating table

The prospect of U.S. health-care reform creates a dilemma for investors: Avoid medical-related stocks due to political concerns or buy into growing companies with some strong qualities.

Stockpicker of the Quarter is wary of the market

David Pedowitz isn't a money manager who expects quick profits. But the three stocks he recommended turned in strong 13-week results, giving Pedowitz MarketWatch's Stockpicker of the Quarter award.

Legg Mason's Miller upbeat on tech, bank stocks

Mutual-fund manager Bill Miller, whose famed Legg Mason Value Trust was broadsided in the market's collapse, continues to see a brightening light at the end of the tunnel.

Technology, mobile telecom stocks drive value-focused fund


Most mutual-fund managers view cash in their portfolios as something to spend, not save. Even managers of balanced funds, which blend stocks and bonds, prefer to opt out of safe, low-yielding cash.

Value manager hunts for steady performers

Tom Kolefas uses his background in mergers and acquisitions to help him run his mutual fund.

Mobius sees crisis without derivative regulations

Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Franklin Templeton Investments, said Friday he fears the U.S. and other countries will fail to regulate derivatives properly, setting the stage for a repeat of current financial turmoil in a few years.

COMMENTARY

Five reasons your mutual funds may disappoint

Conditioned to ride out downturns and hang on for the long haul, mutual-fund investors are weary, feeling like they've traveled thousands of miles but gone nowhere. The positive news reports have them able to stomach opening statements again, but the numbers still leave them feeling queasy.

Pay attention to value stocks with strong momentum

Value investing and momentum investing are like oil and water. The two strategies are at odds with one another and in many senses are polar opposites, at least according to conventional wisdom.

Is it time to pick markets, not stocks?

The cheesiest line in investing is that "It's a stock-picker's market." It's intended to mean that the times require superior selection abilities to make money, when the truth is that it's always a stock-picker's market.