Two for One
By Erica Garcia

(MONEY Magazine) – Generic drugs may be cheaper, but the stocks remain pricey, so snag a hybrid instead. The appeal is that when branded drugs are riding high, generics tend to lag, and vice versa. Our pick: Switzerland's Novartis (NVS), which is the world's fifth-largest drugmaker and boasts the second-largest generics business. The stock, an ADR trading at a recent $41, or 18 times projected '04 earnings, is a bargain. With it comes one of the strongest pipelines in Big Pharma, plus a fast-growing generics unit called Sandoz. Call it a health-care hedge. --ERICA GARCIA