There are no safe havens in the stock market. Every stock carries risk. But some less than others. This column features stocks that have shown one or more of the following characteristics: less volatility, better earnings, larger market caps, safe and increasing dividends. In these times of turmoil, our goal is to show readers better opportunities for investing with fewer risks.

December 3, 2011 - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ-NYSE) engages in the research and development, manufacture, and sale of various products in the health care field worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Consumer, Pharmaceutical, and Medical Devices and Diagnostics.

The Pharmaceutical segment offers products in various therapeutic areas, such as anti-infective, antipsychotic, contraceptive, dermatology, gastrointestinal, hematology, immunology, neurology, oncology, pain management, and virology. Principal products include REMICADE for the treatment of immune mediated inflammatory diseases; STELARA for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis; SIMPONI, a treatment for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis; VELCADE for the treatment of multiple myeloma; PREZISTA and INTELENCE for treating HIV/AIDS patients; NUCYNTA for moderate to severe acute pain; INVEGA SUSTENNAtm for the acute and maintenance treatment of schizophrenia in adults; RISPERDAL CONSTA for the management of bipolar I disorder and schizophrenia; and PROCRIT to stimulate red blood cell production.

Medical Devices and Diagnostics primarily offers circulatory disease management products; orthopaedic joint reconstruction, spinal care, and sports medicine products; surgical care, aesthetics, and women's health products; blood glucose monitoring and insulin delivery products; professional diagnostic products; and disposable contact lenses. The company was founded in 1886 and is based in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Latest News:
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said Friday it will collaborate with a unit of Johnson & Johnson to study a potential combination therapy for chronic hepatitis C.

The companies will study a regimen that combines Johnson & Johnson's drug TMC435 with Bristol-Myers Squibb's daclatasvir. The clinical trial of the drug cocktail will begin in the first half of 2012. It will include a combination of the two drugs, the drugs plus pegylated interferon and ribavirin, and the drugs plus ribavirin.

Pegylated interferon and ribavirin have been staples of hepatitis C treatment for decades. Several drugmakers are studying potential treatments that could work without interferon, which is given by IV and is associated with particularly severe side effects. That could allow patients to treat their hepatitis C infections using only pills. Some studies are testing experimental drugs alone and without ribavirin.

Bristol-Myers of New York and Johnson & Johnson, based in New Brunswick, N.J., did not disclose the terms of their partnership.

Tibotec Pharmaceuticals is part of J&J's Janssen Pharmaceuticals business. In July the company announced a partnership with Pharmasset Inc. that will combine TMC435 with Pharmasset's PSI-7977, which is considered one of the most promising of all the current experimental therapies for hepatitis C in part because it's an oral treatment. Bristol-Myers is conducting late-stage trials of daclatasvir.

Expectations:
- Full year, 2011: $4.97 vs $4.76 in 2010.
- For 2012: $5.24
- For fourth quarter: $1.10 compared to $1.03 in 2010
- For first quarter next year: $1.31 vs. $1.35 this year.

Important Numbers:
- Trailing P/E: 15.5
- Forward P/E: 12.11
- Price to sales ratio: 2.73
- Price to book: 2.86
- Operating margin: 25.42%
- Profit margin: 17.69%
- Return on equity: 19.18%
- Profit margin: 17.69%
- Revenues for last 12 months: $64.42 billion
- Total cash: $30.93 billion
- Cash per share: $11.33
- Total debt: $18.36 billion
- Debt to equity: 29.84%
- Current ratio: 2.46
- Book value per share: $22.52
- Beta: .55
- 52 week change: 2.04%
- Shares Outstanding: 2.73 billion
- Float: 2.73 billion
- Held by institutions: 64.2%
- Dividend: $2.28
- Yield: 3.5%

Company Web site: www.jnj.com

-  Ted Allrich