The third calendar quarter ends Wednesday, and earnings season -- a loosely defined period during which many companies report financial results -- starts in early to mid-October. Wall Street's published forecasts suggest that operating earnings underlying the S&P 500, the

Takeovers and positive clinical results often drive big moves in biotech stocks. For example, Medarex, a human antibody specialist with 40 drugs in trials, traded at $8.40 a share in mid-July when Bristol-Myers Squibb () announced it would pay $16