Bernie Madoff is getting used to his new neighbors. Gone are the days of Montauk and Manhattan, and he isn't sharing his space with topless dancers.

Now, he says goodnight to a drug pusher, chills with a former mobster, and hangs with a convicted spy ... and these guys are probably saying, "I hang around with Bernie Madoff." The former financier Ponzi schemer spends his evenings walking laps around the prison track at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex, not far from Raleigh, N.C.

We had a lot of big names trading up to new 52 week highs again today. The overall markets were pretty flat, with the DOW closing the day down 0.14%, the NASDAQ closing the day's trading up 0.04%, and the S&P ending the day a bit lower to finish today's trading down 0.28%.

Here are a few of the names that moved higher during the day to set new 52 week highs.

The markets had a relatively flat day to start the week, but there were some big name stocks that traded up to new 52 week highs in today's session. The DOW was up 0.2%, NASDAQ was down 0.01%, while the S&P saw the most change, closing up 0.4%.

Here are a couple of the bigger names that traded up to new 52 week highs in today's trading.

• Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC): Chipmaker Intel Corp. traded up to a new 52 week high today of $20.65. It set its 52 week low of $12.05 back on 2/23/09. The stock is trading higher today ahead of the company's third quarter earnings numbers, which are due out tomorrow following the market close. Analysts are expecting the company to show earnings of 27 cents per share. The company reported a loss of 7 cents per share for its second quarter. The stock closed the day up 1.1% at $20.40, up $0.23 on the day.

The dealmaking continues apace in the drug sector. Today, Warner Chilcott plc (NASDAQ: WCRX) agreed to shell out $3.1 billion for the global pharma business of Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG). The deal is all-cash.

There are several megatrends driving the pharma deals. First, it's getting tougher to produce new drugs. And unfortunately, many pharma companies are running out on the patent protection of key money-makers. At the same time, President Obama is intent on getting some type of reform in health care.

The mega pharmaceutical merger between Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) is one step closer to becoming official today after overwhelming approval by Wyeth shareholders.

The shareholder vote to sell Wyeth to Pfizer was not even close. Around 98% of shareholders voted to approve the sale, which is expected to happen by the end of the year.

Merck (NYSE: MRK) lost a lot of legal cases over whether its arthritis drug caused heart problems in patients. It even spent $4.85 billion to settle a lot of the claims against it. But, that did not end every suit, and the company is faced with new data that raises questions about the dangers of the drug.

Tough for Merck. But, putting out dangerous drugs can have side affects for both patient and company. According to Reuters, " A long-term analysis of people who took the arthritis drug Vioxx confirms it doubles the risk of strokes and heart attacks."

Most of these lawsuits come down to "did the company know of the danger, and, if so when?" Merck probably did not settle so many cases because it believed it was entirely in the right. It is hard to imagine that it did not have some sense that the data from the new study is true. It did test its own drug before it went on the market. But, did it test it well? Or, did it find that there were possible health risks but that they were acceptable? At least from a monetary standpoint.

The cynical observers of drug company practices say that the firms balance litigation costs against the money that they get from sales. If a product has some danger, it does not matter too much if it makes a great deal more money than the cost of legal consequences.

If the cynics are right, Merck has a tough road ahead.

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

The National Institutes for Health has announced the partial suspension of a diabetes treatment study which was focusing on aggressive measures to reduce blood sugar levels. An article in The Wall Street Journal indicates that the aggressive strategy being used apparently resulted in a small increase in the number of patient deaths as compared to a moderate treatment approach being used on other patients who were involved in the study. The increase was merely three deaths per 1000 patients, yet researchers are unable to correlate the exact reasons for the increase in deaths and therefore the more aggressive portion of the testing has been terminated.

The study did not focus on specific treatments. Rather, researchers were attempting to determine the importance of differing treatment strategies. John Buse, president for medicine and science at the American Diabetes Association stated, "We were basically trying to see if we should have a full-court press on blood sugar or just try to do a reasonable job." The study, which is named Accord, involves providing diabetic patients with various drugs in an effort to reduce blood sugar levels and is also seeking to isolate particularly beneficial bio-markers for monitoring diabetic patient health.

It looks like Pfizer is once again on the road to success.

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) is the world's largest research-based pharmaceutical company.

Analysts say that despite approximately flat 2008 revenue, margins should improve slightly, aided by PFE's restructuring/efficiency improvements designed to net $2 billion in savings by the end of 2008.

Analysts also like the growth forecasts for drugs Celebrex and Geodon, and also see more substantial revenue contributions from Lyrica, Sutent, and Chantix. Meanwhile, Lipitor, PFE's largest selling drug, has patent protection through 2010.

Analysts also like Pfizer's blue-chip customer list, which includes: McKesson (NYSE: MCK), Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) and AmerisourceBergen (NYSE: ABC). The Reuters F2008/F2009 EPS consensus estimates for PFE are $2.39/$2.54.

The risks? Analysts have an eye on Pfizer's pipeline development, an important component, given upcoming expiration losses, as well the company's roll-out timetable.

The First Call mean rating for PFE is: Hold. [24 firms.] Mean 2008 target: $28.00. [high: $33, low: $35.]

Stock Analysis: Pfizer is a moderate-risk stock not suitable for low-risk investors. Investors with an investment horizon longer than 3 years should be rewarded from PFE's shares. Sell/Stop Loss if you were to purchase shares in this company: $13.

Disclosure: Lazzaro has no positions in stocks. In addition to private real estate holdings, he owns corporate and municipal bonds, and cash certificates of deposit.

Given the market's continued choppy/consolidated pattern (or perhaps worse), one would think that there isn't a promising business model in the states today, with a technically-strong stock chart accompanying it. Pre-clinical / clinical research company Covance dispels that thesis.

Covance (NYSE: CVD) develops and conducts pre-clinical and clinical trials of potential commercial drugs. The company also offers laboratory testing services to companies in the chemical, agri-chemical, and food sectors.

Analysts like CVD's ramping drug development services demand from both pharmaceutical and biotech companies, new orders, market-share increase prospects, and the company's sector-leading research lab. The Reuters F2007/F2008 EPS consensus estimates for CVD are $2.65/$3.12.

The risks? Project cancellations, or a reduction in research and development spending by pharmaceutical and/or biotech companies would hurt CVD's results. Analysts also have their eye on a possible slowdown in drug development outsourcing.

The First Call mean rating for CVD is: Buy. [14 firms.] Mean 2008 target: $94.00. [high: $106, low: $83.]

Stock Analysis: Covance is a moderate-risk stock not suitable for low-risk investors. Investors with an investment horizon longer than two years should be rewarded from CVD's shares. Sell / Stop Loss if you were to purchase shares in this company: $56.

DISCLOSURE: Joseph Lazzaro has no positions in stocks. In addition to private real estate holdings, he owns corporate and municipal bonds, and cash certificates of deposit.

One of the problems with being a rapidly growing company, such as biotechnology company Genentech (NYSE: DNA) over the past couple of years, has been that sooner or later that growth must slow, and that is exactly what we saw when the company posted fourth quarter numbers Monday night.

Sure the company beat analysts' estimates, sure the company posted a 32 percent jump in annual profit, but when you are coming off a year like the company had in 2006, even these numbers fail to impress. Consider that in 2006, the company showed a mind-boggling 74 percent profit growth. For sure, 2006 was a tough act to follow, and almost impossible for the company to compete against.

Looking toward 2008, the company expects to see growth of around 18 percent. Not too shabby, but just not up to par with what investors have come to expect from the nation's largest biotechnology company. Shares of the stock have been trading lower today, and are currently off 2.2 percent at $69.06, and reached a low of $68.11 earlier in the session.

Uncertain economic times, it goes without saying, create uphill conditions for most stocks. But that does not mean one should not search for promising opportunities, and one that fits the bill, for high-risk investors, is Biomarin Pharmaceutical.

Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (Nasdaq: BMRN) develops and commercializes drugs for rare and chronic diseases.

Analysts like the fact that two of its drugs qualify for FDA orphan drug status, which grants exclusive marketing rights for seven years.

Biomarin's Aldurazyme, the sole therapy for mucopolysaccharidosis I (MPS I), obtained orphan drug status in the U.S. for seven years and in Europe for 10 years. Also, the company's Naglazyme is approved in the U.S. and Europe to treat MPS VI (Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome), another rare, genetic disease. The Reuters FY 2007/FY 2008 EPS consensus estimates for BMRN are -$0.15 to $0.49.

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) shares are slightly cheaper now than a decade ago, even though the company's per-share profits are more than 70% higher. The stock is unloved for a reason: Pfizer, like many drug makers at the moment, is finding it difficult to develop new medicines.

The company's biggest seller, Lipitor for lowering cholesterol, faces the loss of patent protection in 2011. Two of Pfizer's past hits, Zoloft for depression and Norvasc for high blood pressure, are already losing sales to generic competitors. Last year, a promising inhaled insulin flopped in the marketplace. The year before, a drug that raises levels of so-called good cholesterol proved too risky, and research was halted.

And Pfizer isn't alone. Last year, the Food and Drug Administration approved just 16 first-of-its-kind drugs, a 20-year low.

All that said, I think the stock warrants a purchase at today's price for five reasons.

Salix (NASDAQ: SLXP) has announced it will launch a generic version of its Colazal (treatment for ulcerative colitis) with Watson Pharma (NYSE: WPI). Mylan (NYSE: MYL), Apotex, and Roxane have received FDA clearance to market their own generic versions of SLXP's Colazal.

SLXP is recently down $1.01 to $8.00 in pre-open trading. Wachovia says, "Valuation range: $9 to $10."

SLXP January option implied volatility of 104 is above its 26-week average of 72 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

The pharmaceutical sector, due to its complexity, is not for the novice investor. Further, not every pharmaceutical company represents a defensive pick. But one that meets the bar, due to its niche, is Teva Pharmaceutical.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (ADR) (Nasdaq: TEVA), via an assertive product development program and acquisition schedule, has achieved a leadership position in the global generic segment.

Through a U.S. subsidiary Teva makes generic versions of brand-name antibiotics, heart drugs, and heartburn medications, among other drugs. The company boasts a 150-drug portfolio, including generics for blockbusters Prozac and Mevacor.

It was only a couple of months ago when drug maker Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) announced that it would be slashing 1,260 jobs in the U.S., and today we get news of another 2,500 job cuts worldwide by the year 2010.

Novartis has been particularly hard hit lately in the generic drug market from increased regulatory demands and Increased competition. During the July through September quarter, the company showed that profit fell by over 12 percent. The company did, however, benefit nicely from the sale of its Gerber baby foods and Medical Nutrition units to Nestle SA.

Looking ahead, the company is hoping that it will be able to regain momentum though engineering new drugs and streamlining its units.