NOTE TO EDITORS: The Following Is an Investment Opinion Being Issued by Ridgewater Equity (RWE).

At last week's low, the U.S. markets had suffered a severe downdraft, with the Dow industrials plunging 895 points across just 13 sessions. Yet in the wake of last week's carnage, two technical events emerged, supporting a very near-term bull case.

Analysts at Northcoast Research have released an update on the Dental industry. According to a research conducted by analysts, the North American dental product sales through distributors decreased 1.5% year-over-year in the fourth quarter.

Analysts expect dental equipment sales to decline 5.2% year-over-year. The dental consumable sales are expected to increase 0.5% in the quarter. According to analysts, dental consumable sales have benefited from stronger procedure volume trends and favorable exchange rates. Analysts expect dental sales to increase 2%-3% in 2010.

According to analysts, the North American dental market turned positive in December and has remained strong in the early part of this year. Analysts at Northcoast Research have a Buy rating for Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC), Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ: PDCO), Sirona Dental Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRO), DENTSPLY International, Inc. (NASDAQ: XRAY), and Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGN).

Some 91% of health-care companies in S&P 500 are within 10% of 52-week highs.

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Patterson (NASDAQ: PDCO) hit a new 52-Week high of $29.46 so far today. Currently the stock is up $0.95 (3.4%) to $28.93 on 608,246 shares traded. Today's high is up $12.85 from a 52-Week Low ...(Click the story link or go to http://www.marketintelligencecenter.com for the full story)

There is no better judge of a company's health and future prospects than the actions of owners and executives of publicly traded companies. That's why insider buying and selling is a critical piece of data for investors, both institutional and individual.[More...]

The improving economic scene, both here in the U.S. as well as worldwide, is the main driver of the current oil rally that has seen the commodity settling around the $80 per barrel level. But high levels of product inventories (particularly gasoline), along with still higher supplies, will limit any sustained crude gains, in our view. But way too many factors weigh on oil prices -- from OPEC decisions and geostrategic tensions to the value of the U.S. dollar and seasonal variables -- to definitively size up each one of them for their respective impact on prices.[More...]

( click to enlarge ) (TLAB) faces resistance at the 6.20-6.23 range. A close above 6.23 would impart positive momentum. The stock is likely to move to the 7-7.40 range on the break past the resistance zone. I will watch the stock closely the next few days, watching for this move to occur. TLAB will move ...

The federal government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an in line decline in natural gas supplies. Stockpiles held in underground storage in the lower 48 states fell by 153 billion cubic feet (Bcf) for the week ended Jan 1. The inventory decline was the fifth in as many weeks.[More...]

We recently initiated coverage on Patterson Companies Inc. (PDCO) with a Neutral recommendation. We rate the stock as Neutral with a target price of $30 based on a P/E of roughly 15.5x our fiscal 2011 EPS estimate of $1.94. Patterson reported second quarter fiscal 2010 earnings per share of 41 cents, in line with the Zacks [...]

(PDCO) Patterson Companies Analyst Initiates Coverage at Neutral

Two Veteran Wall Street Analysts discuss: (Vern:) F, TMO, ZMH; (Val:) CAH, MTSC, PDCO

Two Veteran Wall Street Analysts Review the November 28, 2008 Edition of the Value Line Investment Survey