Seeing Beyond Visx: Part 2

Last September, I came very close to buying Visx (VISX Quote), which would have been a very painful mistake as the stock is down 80% since.

In my column on the laser eye-surgery device maker last month, I cited a number of reasons why I didn't invest, but perhaps none was more important than what I was told by the clinical director of the Manhattan center of TLC Laser Eye Centers (TLCV Quote), the largest chain of laser-surgery centers in the world. TLC was using Visx's laser (and had paid Visx $24 million in royalties for the past year). However he said TLC was testing another company's new laser and was planning to switch to this machine, which was more precise than Visx's laser and carried no royalty fees.

Not surprisingly, many readers wanted to know which company made the new laser. The answer is (drumroll please): LaserSight (LASE Quote). ...