McCain Move Bolsters Vitamin Makers

NEW YORKA few publicly traded companies in the dietary supplement space saw stock prices rise on Monday, after Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) withdrew his support of the Dietary Supplement Safety Act, Dow Jones reported on The Wall Street Journal. McCains bill would have made major regulatory overhauls to the current federal oversight of the dietary supplement industry.

It looks like it will be an easier world to be in the dietary supplement business, Avondale analyst Bret Jordan told Dow Jones Shara Tibken. The bill would have significantly tightened regulatory requirements.

Tibken reported Nu Skin Enterprises Inc. (NUS) and Medifast Inc. (MED) were both up; however, Herbalife Ltd. (HLF) and Usana Health Sciences (USNA) were slightly down, which led Wedbush Morgan analyst Rommel Dionisio to comment to Tibken, Its not really affecting anybody else, and thats news that would lift them all. There are companies with much greater exposure to the U.S. business than Nu Skin.