Inverness Diagnosed as New Buy

This Action Alerts PLUS alert was originally sent to subscribers on June 19 at 10:53 a.m. EDT. It's being republished as a bonus for TheStreet.com readers.

Even though I've added several new stocks to the portfolio in the last month, I still have plenty of new ideas that I've been watching for a while. One of those, Inverness Medical Innovations (IMA Quote), has pulled back recently after a nice run -- it's trading around $49.28 as I write this -- and I want to use this opportunity to initiate a position.

After you read this Alert, I'll make my first purchase in the name by picking up 1,000 shares. As always, I will look to add to my position as the opportunity to improve my cost basis comes up. My goal is grow Inverness to 4%-5% of the portfolio.

Inverness is a health care diagnostics company, both professional and in-home, as well as a manufacturer of vitamins and nutritional supplements. The vitamins business provides the company with a stable revenue stream.

But what excites me are the incredible opportunities for Inverness in the diagnostics field. The company has recently agreed to acquire two companies -- Biosite (BSTE Quote) and Cholestech (CTEC Quote) -- that will drastically improve the company's product portfolio and distribution capabilities, specifically in the fast-growing cardiology diagnostic market.

The deals also offer incredible financial synergies from both a cost-cutting and revenue perspective. The Biosite transaction alone could prove to add more than 50 cents to 2008 earnings. Cholestech should add 5 cents to 10 cents to 2008 earnings.