According to data compiled by the Wall Street Journal on Monday May 2 page R8, the Health and Biotechnology sectors led the market (excluding gold oriented funds) in 2011 up 13.2% YTD and 6.7% in April.In the number two position was small cap growth up 13% and mid cap growth up 10.3%. Two health science funds as examples are T.Rowe Price Health Sciences Fund (PRHSX) up 18.79% YTD and Fidelity Select Biotechnology (FBIOX) up 18.2% YTD.

In a choppy market today but with many biotech winners here the major Rayno Life Science movers:

Albany Research (AMRI $5.50) soared 9.6% with double the average volume on no news. The stock was $4.65 five days ago before some 50-100k volume buyers spiked up the stock 15%. Earnings will be reported on Wednesday. Albany Molecular Research was added to the Rayno Life Science Portfolio on 2/10/11 at a Price of $4.70.

Amgen (AMGN $57.38) continued to attract buyers up 0.93%. There is still good value here near its 52 week high of $58.74.

Cephalon (CEPH $80.11) up 4% on Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd , the world’s largest generic drug Company, $6.2B counteroffer to Valeant’s (VRX) recent $5.7B bid for the Company.Valeant will now go away but there are lawsuits questioning the Cephalon Board’s actions. Further appreciation of the Cephalon stock is minimal so it will be taken off the Rayno Life Science Portfolio. The deal gives Teva branded drugs, an interesting biotech pipeline and  a major U.S. R& D capability.

Teva to Buy Cephalon for $6.8 Billion – WSJ.com

Gilead (GILD $40.67) was up 4.7%% on heavier than normal volume.

The Deutsche Bank 36th Annual Healthcare Conference begins tomorrow in Boston so that may be a factor in the strong tape today.

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