Stockwatch: A Christmas Medical Conference

It was the week before Christmas week, and all around were losing their heads. Probably not because the three wise men were en route to Bethlehem, but rather because three of the four horsemen of the apocalypse appeared to be arriving in their stead, if the savage sell-off in the stock market was anything to go by. The first driver of last week's stock market sell-off was the continued plummet in global commodity prices. It is difficult to derive a strong fundamental connection between oil and drug prices since cheaper oil reduces the cost of goods of the latter, but nevertheless there was a positive correlation last week.