Amgen shares have taken a beating in recent weeks over news that hotly anticipated bone-loss drug Prolia is faced with regulatory snags, but are investors’ fears well-founded? And, can the biotech regain its status as a growth-story stock?

Led by New York attorney general, they claim the company offered kickbacks to medical professionals to boost sales of anemia-fighting drug Aranesp.

One of the option strategies I often warn against more than recommend is the basic covered call. This may seem odd given that covered calls -- in which one buys underlying stock and sells a related call option -- remain one of the most basic and popular option strategies and is the bread-and-butter position for retail traders and money managers alike.These are often applied to blue chip core holdings such as Cisco (CSCO) IBM (IBM) and Microsoft (MSFT). But they’re also used in higher beta names like Apple (AAPL) or even biotechs like Amgen (AMGN) to harvest some of ...

Drug stocks trended lower early Thursday after several major pharmaceutical makers released mixed third-quarter earnings reports.

Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Thursday's session Amgen, Anglo American, Astoria Financial, Black & Decker, Delta Air, eBay, Goodrich, Lam, Logitech, McDonald's, Merck, New York Times, Novartis, Occidental Petroleum, Pactiv, Travelers, 3M, UPS, VMWare, and Xerox.