Ebb & Flow

When the markets want to go down, even good news won't get in their way. Thus, although the biotech group had plenty of positive news flow on earnings and deals last week, the sector posted a bigger drop than the broader markets. Market watchers blamed profit-taking and geopolitical jitters.

The BioCentury 100 Index fell 5.9%, its largest percent drop in a single week since September 2003. The decline - which was more than triple that of any of the general markets - also puts biotech in the red for the year (see "Index Performance"). ...