Any experienced investor knows that these are not normal times. But they could become truly historic times, if the United States is able to pass universal health care legislation in the the weeks ahead.

Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, has crafted a health care bill that would cut the U.S. budget deficit by about $130 billion over 10 years, while extending coverage to up to 94% of Americans, The Associated Press reported Thursday. The bill's estimate cost is $848 billion.

For the first half of 2010, almost two thirds of money managers are bullish, according to Barron's. In fact, 54% are bullish, and 5% are "very bullish." Responses suggest that the Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to gain another 5% by the end of the year.

According to Barron's, "Today's bullish investors see the major stock indexes making steady progress through next June, amid signs the U.S. economy is on the mend after a searing recession."

"Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD), one of the world's largest biotechs, is a stock for all seasons," say growth expert Alexander Green.

The investment director for The Oxford Club explains, "It's a fine company with a solid balance sheet, a recession-proof business and excellent growth prospects."

"Gilead focuses on three main areas, including cardiovascular conditions and respiratory diseases. (Many may have taken its anti-influenza drug Tamiflu, Letairis to treat hypertension, or Macugen to treat macular degeneration.)

I'm reiterating my Buy rating for Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV (NYSE: PHG), commonly known as Philips, first recommended on June 2, 2009 at a price of $20.30. If you purchased PHG then, you're up about 20%.

Amsterdam-based Philips missed the Street's revenue and earnings estimates in Q2, in what amounted to an essentially break-even quarter.

The best strategy for President Obama and congressional Democrats regarding health care reform may be to "go it alone" -- to pass a bill that has Democratic Party support, with maybe one or two Republicans.

Further, the era of bipartisan cooperation is over, if it ever really began. The U.S. Congress is as polarized as it ever has been in the post-World War II era, with ideologues dominating each party. President Obama's effort to forge a post-partisan politics was admirable, but it did not get very far, largely due to a Republican Party that's dominated by a conservative base, but also due to a Democratic Party committed to largely liberal goals.

Unless you've been spending your summer vacation on a tropical beach with no television or internet access, you have seen that the public reception to Congress' proposals for heathcare reform have not exactly been well accepted. I mean, nut jobs showing up to town hall meetings with guns strapped to their legs isn't really the norm.

So you would think that the Republicans who are against a public insurance plan are in control, right? Not so fast.

Congressional Democrats are now talking about splitting the healthcare bills into two parts so they can take advantage of a loophole called reconciliation.

In recent stories I have highlighted several health care stocks that I think would be strong candidates for small portfolios (Part 1 and Part 2) that would be safe and pay high yields. These include: Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Abott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) and Novartis AG ADS (NYSE: NVS). I have been thinking about these companies and how others will fare in the health care debate.

While Washington debates the merits of various health care bills, the health care companies lobby to influence the outcome. Businesses and employees are resistant to taxing current health care benefits but very few people are opposed to taxing those that get big paychecks.

I think we are heading down the wrong path regarding health care "reform" once again. There is no question that most people want to improve health care in many respects, including but not limited to, the quality, cost, and delivery, but the devil is in the details and we may end up no better off than we started except of course with more complexity and greater cost.

Blood-transfusion leader Immucor (BLUD) introduced Geoffrey S. Crouse as the company's new Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Crouse will have worldwide responsibility for manufacturing and distribution in the new position, he will also be responsible for marketing and customer service. In his previous position at Millipore Corporation, Crouse led the Life Science Strategic Business Unit - helping improve manufacturing operations, leading acquisitions, all the while increasing sales and profitability.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says he counts at least six Democrats who won't fall in line -- this bill hasn't a chance.

Everyone's fretting about the new tax brackets -- or at least everyone who's rich or who lives in a high-tax state -- over the health care plan coming out of Congress. Everyone thinks that Nancy Pelosi can never be defeated. She is a juggernaut. More powerful than a speeding bullet. Etc.

But the Senate could be a different story. Remember Pelosi and co. need 60 votes, and there are exactly 60 Democrats. There are two publicly quoted Democratic senators who are not even the most likely biggest objectors -- Sen. Ben Nelson from Nebraska and Sen. Evan Bayh from Indiana.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), a company that counts Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) as colleagues, will report results for the second quarter on Tuesday, July 14. JNJ is expected to post a bit of a profit decline. Last year's Q2, according to Earnings.com, saw the health-care business earn $1.18 per share. This time around, analysts are thinking that JNJ will do somewhere around $1.11 per share.

Will JNJ beat the analysts? It's quite possible, since the company has a good record on this count. As a matter of fact, JNJ beat predictions by four cents back in April. Sales, however, came in a little weak. Interestingly enough, the market didn't really care too much about the earnings performance on that day. Shares had rallied a bit in pre-market trading, but they closed slightly down by the end of the regular session. I found a similar situation back in January.

A down day for the market and an earnings release that left nothing to be excited about hurt shares of Walgreen Company (NYSE: WAG) today, with shares off more than 6% heading into the close. The drugstore chain, with more than 7,000 locations, reported earnings of 53 cents per share; analysts expected 56 cents on average with a low of 54 cents. Earnings in the same quarter the year before amounted to 58 cents per share.

Sales for the quarter were up 8% overall, with comparable store sales growth up 2.8%. This was largely driven by increased sales of prescription drugs in the quarter, which were up 8.2% to comprise more than 65% of revenues.

Just when you thought it might be safe to peek your head back into the world of economic reports, it has hit the wire that American families will be shelling out an average of $16,771 this year for healthcare costs. That's a new record, up $1,162 per family.

It's a vicious cycle -- hospitals, doctors, drug companies and others are hiking their rates to fight the recession. In turn, many companies, in an attempt to cut costs, have cut back on the amount they'll pay as benefits, putting the burden on the employees.

"Health-care stocks have been volatile of late, as the prospects for significant healthcare reform are impacting the group," notes Chuck Carlson.

In The DRIP Investor, he explains, "Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) has not been immune to the weakness. And while these shares could remain under pressure in the short run, the company's prospects are significantly brighter than the typical health-care stock."

"First, Johnson & Johnson's diversified business portfolio, which includes pharmaceuticals, medical technology, and consumer products, should help to smooth out results and cushion declines in any one area.

I remember Toronto during SARS. As one of the harder hit areas, it was not a happy place. It was the end of winter, but that miserable, cold winter just didn't want to end. People walked the streets in a gloomy haze, afraid to take the subway and giving dirty looks to anyone brazen enough to cough in public. Worse, I couldn't even visit a friend in the hospital. All things considered though, in global pandemic terms, it was over relatively quickly. Let's hope swine flu will be the same.

In the meantime, let's put on our investors hats and see what's in store for some stocks:

Travel and tourist stocks
This is one of the worst hit areas, especially airlines, as people may cancel their travel plans. For example, AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) traded over 9 percent lower an hour after the open. Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL) was down over 15 percent. In fact UBS downgraded these airlines and hotels this morning: AMR, Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL), Host Hotels and Resorts (NYSE: HST), Lasalle Hotel Properties (NYSE: LHO), Marriott (NYSE: MAR), United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAUA), US Airways (NYSE: LCC). Carnival Cruise Lines (NYSE: CCL) also declined considerably. Best to stay away from the sector.

Health Care giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) had its chance to impress Wall Street this morning with its first quarter earnings release, and the company indeed put up better than expected results, pushing shares higher in the premarket.

Analysts had been expecting the company to earn of $1.22 per share, but the company surpassed those estimates, with a reported $1.26 per share for its first quarter. First quarter earnings were also on par with the $1.22 it reported during the first quarter of 2008.