"According to the Spectrem Group, which recently polled the country's wealthiest people, they're the most optimistic they've been in months," says Marc Lichtenfeld.

The contributing editor to Investment U explains, "Let's take a look at 3 stocks that millionaires (and aspiring ones) should pay attention to: Apple (AAPL), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) and Varian Medical Systems (VAR).

"And according to Fidelity, 83% of millionaires surveyed said the financial crisis did not shake their confidence in investing. And of those who said they'll invest more money in the stock market, nearly 60% of them plan to buy technology stocks. And just under half expect to acquire pharmaceutical and healthcare stocks.

"Many growth and income investors will eventually need to start taking dividends to supplement other forms of cash flow," says Chuck Carlson, an expert in dividend reinvestment plans.

The editor of the DRIP Investor explains, "And many investors would like to receive those dividends on a regular basis. And, in fact, you can get monthly dividend check from a portfolio holding just three stocks.

"Foreign corporations have been on a mini buying spree in 2010. Not surprising, merger and acquisition activity has heated up a bit in the drug sector," says Chuck Carlson, editor of The DRIP Investor.

The dividend expert explains, " Global merger and acquisition activity topped $1 trillion in the first half of 2010, a 9.4% increase over the previous year. And Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), recommend stock in our Editor's Portfolio, has been one of the more active participants.

Early Friday morning, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) and AstraZeneca (AZN) announced the results of their randomized, double-blind Phase 3 clinical study in adults with type 2 diabetes that is inadequately controlled with metformin therapy. The study showed that dapagliflozin was non-inferior compared to glipizide (sulphonylurea) and improved glycosylated hemoglobin levels (HbA1c).

In addition to these results, the study also showed that dapagliflozin plus metformin brought about "significant reductions in efficacy secondary endpoints: reduction in total body weight from baseline, compared with a weight gain on glipizide plus metformin therapy, and a reduced number of patients reporting one or more hypoglycemic events."

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY - option chain) shares are rising today after the release of a study which shows that an experimental blood-thinning drug co-produced by BMY and Pfizer (PFE) cut the rate of strokes among people with abnormal heartbeats by more than 50% versus aspirin. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on BMY.

BMY opened this morning at $26.11. So far today the stock has hit a low of $26.00 and a high of $26.34. As of 12:25, BMY is trading at $26.20 up 0.35 (1.3%). The chart for BMY looks bullish and S&P gives BMY a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

Mead Johnson Nutrition (MJN) -- the makers of the popular infant formula Enfamil -- stand to benefit from parents' desire to take care of their children, even in the hardest of economic situations.

The company -- which spun off from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) in February 2009 -- had a somewhat disappointing earnings announcement last week due to rising administrative and advertising costs. But if emerging market sales can continue to improve, Mead Johnson looks like a good buy.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) broke above a key down-trending resistance level yesterday after the company received positive phase-three trial data for a drug that treats advanced skin cancer.

Bristol-Myers' ipilimumab compound is proving to be an effective treatment for patients with metastatic melanoma -- a disease with few available pharmaceutical treatments.

With the good news from the FDA and the positive breakout, Bristol-Myers is looking like a great buy candidate.

"Although the new health care legislation means that the pharmaceutical industry will face about $90 billion in new taxes and fees over time, the legislation also brings many benefits to pharmaceutical companies including a potentially huge influx of new customers now able to afford prescription medication through insurance coverage," says Melvin Pasternak.

The editor of Double-Digit Trading explains, "My top stock pick in the pharma sector is Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), which I believe offers a very attractive valuation and a great chart."

"It's time for income investors to come back to what's historically been a mainstay of diversified portfolios: big pharmaceutical companies. We're adding one of the sector's most durable members to the Income Portfolio, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY)," says Roger Conrad.

In Personal Finance newsletter, he explains, "The stock has been a lackluster performer since the 1990s, when it was last a Portfolio recommendation. The company's underlying business, however, has become ever-more valuable.

Pharmaceutical firm Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) announced that strong sales of Plavix and Abilify (an anti-clotting and psychiatric drug, respectively) helped boost the company's quarterly revenue. The boost wasn't enough though, as higher taxes and a litigation charge weighed on the company's profit, pulling it 3.5% lower.

BMY's quarterly earnings totaled 32 cents per share, a penny worse than a year ago. However, earnings excluding items would have been 48 cents per share (simple math tells me that the charges were 16 cents per share). These charges included a litigation charge that helped settle a shareholder lawsuit. Quarterly revenue checked in at $5.02 billion, which was 3% higher than the first quarter of 2007. Excluding the effects of the strong dollar, BMY's sales would have increased 8%. Expectations called for higher sales of $5.13 billion, but lower per-share earnings of 47 cents per share.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY - option chain) shares are headed higher today after the company said its fourth-quarter profit came in at $1.24 billion, or 63 cents per share, on revenue of $5.25 billion.

BMY's adjusted profit of 46 cents per share easily beat analysts' projections of 41 cents per share. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on BMY.

BMY opened this morning at $22.92. So far today the stock has hit a low of $22.72 and a high of $23.44. As of 12:05, BMY is trading at $23.39, up 1.14 (5.1%). The chart for BMY looks bullish and S&P gives BMY a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says it's a quick way to ensure growth in the face of generics competition.

Pfizer's (NYSE: PFE) (Cramer's Take) moves suddenly make sense. You lay off your scientists, you buy the better group at Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) (Cramer's Take) , you get Wyeth's franchise and you slash the sales budget, and voila, you have growth.

That's the greatness of the pharma industry. You need mergers, especially when Obama has made it clear that he's not going to be in the camp of stifling generic competition, of which Pfizer faces the brunt of.

It is why I recommended Forest Labs (NYSE: FRX) (Cramer's Take) last night -- believe me, that's the cheapest. I own Bristol-Myers (NYSE: BMY) (Cramer's Take) because BMY looks like Wyeth with a bigger dividend and a great cancer franchise.

Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG) (Cramer's Take) too -- Celgene was approached not that long ago when it was much higher. CELG's another way to replenish.

This post is part of a special annual report -- Top Stock Picks '09 -- in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked 75 leading newsletter advisors to select their favorite investment for the new year.

"My selection for 2009 is Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY)," says Chuck Carlson, the leading advisor in the area of dividend reinvestment plans.

In his The DRIP Investor, he explains, "This pharmaceutical company has a lot to offer investors, including a high yield, a rising profit stream, and a speculative kicker in the way of takeover appeal." Here's his review.

"Bristol-Myers Squibb has a number of popular brands, including Plavix, the company's leading cardiovascular product; HIV treatments Reyataz and Sustiva; and oncology product Erbitux. Its stable of products has helped drive decent sales growth.

"Bristol-Myers Squibb has done a nice job of ?rming up its balance sheet. The company's cash coffers were boosted by the sale of its ConvaTec medical-device and wound-care business for $4.1 billion.

"At the end of the third quarter, the ?rm had more than $7 billion in cash and securities, a 'signi?cant majority' of which was invested in Treasury Bills and Treasury-backed securities.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY - option chain) shares are falling today after the European Medicines Agency said it has rejected a request by BMY to market its breast cancer drug Ixempra. The agency said the increase in survival rates using the drug was not significant enough to warrant approval. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on BMY.

This morning, BMY opened at $18.92. So far today the stock has hit a low of $18.12 and a high of $19.30. As of 12:15, BMY is trading at $18.60, down $0.68 (3.5%). The chart for BMY looks bullish and S&P gives BMY a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a December bear-call credit spread above the $22.50 range. A bear-call credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of call options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make an 8.7% return in four weeks as long as BMY is below $22.50 at December expiration. Bristol-Myers would have to rise by more than 21% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

TGT hasn't been above $45 since early September and shown resistance around $21.50 recently.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.

DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in BMY.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) shares are falling today after the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America announced that effective January 1, 2009, drug-company sales representatives will no longer be allowed to give doctors free gifts or pay for restaurant meals on sales calls. This might result in BMY and other drugmakers having a tougher time selling their wares. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on BMY.

After hitting a one-year high of $32.35 last July, the stock hit a one-year low of $19.43 in June. This morning, BMY opened at $21.26. So far today the stock has hit a low of $20.71 and a high of $21.30. As of 12:20, BMY is trading at $20.86, down 64 cents (-3.0%). The chart for BMY looks neutral but improving, while S&P gives the stock a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy rating.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a December bear-call credit spread above the $25 range. A bear-call credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of call options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make an 11.1% return in five months as long as BMY is below $25 at December expiration. Bristol-Myers would have to rise by more than 19% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

BMY hasn't been above $25 since January and has shown resistance around $22 recently. This trade could be risky if the company's earnings (due out on 7/24) are a positive surprise, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by resistance BMY might find at its 200 day moving average, which is currently around $24.50 and falling.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.

DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in BMY.