Maybe it was the dollar rising earlier, maybe it was poor housing data from a drop in new home sales. Maybe they wanted more than a marginally positive durable goods reading. Maybe it was that oil inventory is back up. And then there is the notion that stocks have just gotten too far ahead of themselves and there were reports of a large strategist cutting GDP targets. But investors sold religiously today ahead of tomorrow's GDP figure.

Here were today's closing bell levels:

Dow 9,762.69 -119.48 (-1.21%)
S&P 500 1,042.63 -20.78 (-1.95%)
Nasdaq 2,059.61 -56.48 (-2.67%)

Top 10 Analyst Calls
Top Day Trader Alerts

Do you think we're going to see more or less genomics research in coming years? End of discussion.

Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) is the leading provider of equipment for genomics researchers and its lead is growing. Buy and hold may be almost dead, but it certainly applies to ILMN. The stock has been trashed along with the market, but it's simply the best at what it does - and getting better.

Your best strategy for life-changing profits?

This is a stock to buy for the long term to use as a base for selling calls. Or, even better, you can write some credit spreads, as the calls have terrific premiums.

Don't miss the complete list of biotech stocks to buy now.

And for more ways to profit, check out:

• The Best Cheap Stocks to Buy Now
• 5 Ways Twitter Can Make You a Better Trader

Last year, as the market sank, one group actually went up -- large-cap, cashflow positive biotech and genomics companies.

This year, interest has shifted to the little guys -- the speculative biotech stocks that could be 10- or 20-baggers with one breakthrough.

Here are six biotech stocks with the potential to deliver life-changing profits:

Biotech Stock #1: Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD)
Biotech Stock #2: Questcor Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: QCOR)

Biotech Stock #3: Cepheid (NASDAQ: CPHD)
Biotech Stock #4: Curis (NASDAQ: CRIS)
Biotech Stock #5: Cerus Corp. (NASDAQ: CERS)
Biotech Stock #6: Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN)

"Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) makes the Genome Analyzer, which is the workhorse of the genetic medicine revolution," says growth expert Mike Cintolo in The Cabot Top Ten Report.

"The Illumina Genome Analyzer is used by genomic research centers, academic institutions, agriculture and livestock companies, pharmaceutical companies, clinical research organizations and biotechnology companies all over the world.

"In the fourth quarter of 2008, for example, the company launched the In? nium HD HumanCytoSNP-12 BeadChip, a 12 sample BeadChip priced as low as $125 per sample that enables researchers to analyze nearly 300,000 genetic markers per sample.

Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN): Settles patent lawsuit with major rival Affymetrix (NASDAQ: AFFX). Shares trade up to $75.20 against 52-week low of $28.11.

Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC): Price of gold and gold producers just keeps rising. Stock moves up to $22.86 from 52-week low of $9.87.

Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY): Gold again. Rises to $16.30 from 52-week low of $8.40.

PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP): Soft-drinks sales aren't hurt by recessions, as far as anyone knows. Trades up to $79.79 from 52-week low of $61.89.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Ready to make some serious money? Wall Street Warrior Timothy Sykes isn't playing around -- he wants to make you rich. In this edition of StockWatch: Between the Bells, the MSN Money host and author of An American Hedge Fund: How I Made $2 Million as a Stock Operator & Created a Hedge Fund riffs -- and dances -- on a fistful of market strategies.

Tim has three daring tips for you. Digital content storage provider Isilon Systems (NASDAQ: ISLN) is sitting at an all-time low, more than 70% off its high at the start of the year, and looks priced to buy. Genetics biotech Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) is currently trading around $52; Tim sees ILMN climbing to $60. Sound a little too risky? Tim suggests checking out The Bruce Fund (BRUFX), a mutual fund focusing on domestic common stock, convertible bonds and zero-coupon government bonds.

Considering a short-selling strategy? Tim calls out China Precision Steel (NASDAQ: CPSL), which has jumped more than three-fold in little more than a week and looks set to slide.

Jamba Juice (NASDAQ: JMBA), meanwhile, is giving Tim fits -- revenues are up while same-store sales are slipping. He advises to stay away from JMBA.

Enjoy the clip, and let us know which of your favorite stock gurus you'd like to hear from in the next StockWatch: Between the Bells!

Innovative technologies now allow such detailed analysis of genetic variation and function that firms can work on the development of "personalized medicine". There is an outfit in San Diego that is in the front wave of firms designing the machines that make such research possible.

Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) is engaged in the development and marketing of tools for the analysis of genes. The firm sells systems that determine variation in genetic sequences, analyze which genes are active in a particular cell or group of cells, profile changes in genetic sequence function, and determine which proteins are present in cells and how they interact. Customers include biotechnology companies, research centers, and academic institutions.

The firm pleased investors last week, when it reported Q2 EPS of 16 cents and revenues of $84.5 million. Analysts had been expecting 13 cents and $77.7 million. Management also guided Q3 revenues to $88-92 million ($82.32M consensus) and FY07 revenues to $335-345 million ($323.05M consensus).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Steven Madden, Ltd (SHOO), Expedia, Inc (EXPE), Oracle Corp (ORCL) and Tim Horton's Inc (THI) round up today's noteworthy upgrade list:

• Steve Madden, Ltd (NASDAQ: SHOO) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Nollenberger as they believe Madden is well positioned going into the back half of 2007 with clean inventories and focused products.

• Matrix believes increasing marketing efforts and European growth are contributing to significant improvement in fundamental trends for Expedia Inc (NASDAQ: EXPE), and upgraded shares to Hold from Sell.

• Pacific Crest upgraded shares of Oracle Corp (NASDAQ: ORCL) to Outperform from Sector Perform to reflect improved channel checks and the probability of continued success.

• CIBC upgraded Tim Horton's (NYSE: THI) to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer based on valuation...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Banc of America upgraded Intersil Corp (NASDAQ: ISIL) to Buy from Neutral.

• Bear Stearns upgraded Illumina, Inc (NASDAQ: ILMN) to Outperform from Peer Perform.

• Buckingham raised Kohl's Corp (NYSE: KSS) to Strong Buy from Neutral.

• Matrix USA raised Titanium Metals Corp (NYSE: TIE) to Buy from Hold.

• Merrill Lynch upgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries Inc (NASDAQ: KLIC) to Buy from Neutral.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Blockbuster Inc (BBI), Molson Coors Brewing Co (TAP), Illumina, Inc (ILMN), and ARM Holdings plc (ARMHY) were today's more noteworthy upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Blockbuster Inc (NYSE: BBI) to Buy from Hold based on valuation, improving box office visibility and their belief that the lower-priced online-only rental product will help improve costs.

• Molson Coors Brewing (NYSE: TAP) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS based on valuation, volume strength and pricing.

• Matrix believes strong demand for genetic analysis equipment is boosting profits for Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN), upgrading shares to Strong Buy from Sell; Matrix sees upside to their Intrinsic Value Calculation of $50/share.

• ARM Holdings (NASDAQ: ARMHY) was upgraded to Overweight from Underweight at JP Morgan to reflect the strength in the high-end handset market...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Bristol Myers Squibb Co (NYSE: BMY) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.

• RBC Capital raised Sapient Corp (NASDAQ: SAPE) to Outperform from Sector Perform.

• Sandler upgraded Chemical Financial Corp (NASDAQ: CHFC) to Hold from Sell.

• UBS raised WESCO International, Inc (NYSE: WCC) to Buy from Neutral.

• Piper Jaffray upgraded shares of Omnicell, Inc (NASDAQ: OMCL) to Outperform from Market Perform.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN.O) announced on Monday that it will acquire Solexa Inc. (NASDAQ:SLXA.O) in a stock deal valuing about $600 million. Illumina will further invest $50 million in Solexa as compensation for Solexa shares just released.

Illumina makes instruments used by bio-science and pharmaceutical researchers to test and analyze genes. They also sell systems that assist in the testing of genetic variation and function in cross sections of the population. Illumina is currently trading at just over $41.00 a share which is in range of their 52-week high of $45.87. Illumina's 52- week low was $13.42, posted in January of this year.

Solexa a developer of new technologies for whole human genome sequencing. They provide a varied selection of genetic analysis utilizing just one sample. Solexa is now working on it's 1G Genome Analyzer to replace their previous standard, Massively Parallel Sequencing . Solexa is currently trading between $12.00 and $13.00. Solexa's 52-week high is $13.27 and their 52-week low was $7.20, posted in February of this year.

The companies expect the deal to close early next year and that significant earnings will be realized in the next three to five years. Could this be an exciting development? Well, it would be for me if they can finally prove that my great great-great-great-grandfather wasn't a chimp!