Roundtable: A Climate for Investment

Originally Published MX March/April 2002

FINANCE

Roundtable: A Climate for Investment

Experts are predicting that investment in the medical technology industry will continue to be strong throughout 2002.

Moderated by Steve Halasey

Speaking before the House Financial Services Committee on the state of the U.S. economy in late February, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan announced that he sees increasing signs that the economy is emerging from recession, but added that he expects to see a subdued recovery. Economists have also slowed their predictions, saying that they expect the general market to improve in the second half of the year rather than after the first quarter.

According to analysts, the outlook for the medical technology industry is just as bittersweet. The medical technology research team at Merrill Lynch expects sector rotation out of healthcare, "particularly after medical device stocks have had two spectacular years of relative performance." Says investment analyst Daniel Lemaitre, "Macro pundits are looking for an economic recovery to generate highly