For most of November, global equity prices slumped due to heightened apprehensions over European sovereign debt and unsustainable Treasury bond yields for those debt-ridden countries. In the US, positive economic data for the consumer sector and manufacturing was overshadowed by Europe and uncertainty surrounding the Congressional budget reduction. However, amid the anguish, the Federal Reserve along with five other central banks and China implemented measures to ease lending. As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 7.2% in the final three trading days of the month to finish up 0.8%. The S&P and NASDAQ also rallied more than 7% each but were down 0.5% and 2.4% for the month, respectively. Year to date, the Dow is up 4.0%, while the S&P 500 and NASDAQ have lost 0.8% and 1.2%, respectively.

The IBO Stock Indexes were mixed as companies with greater research funding exposure were increasingly pressured. The Laboratory Instrumentation and Diversified Instrumentation Stock Indexes fell 5.4% and 0.5%, respectively. The Process/Metrology/Motion Instrumentation and Lab Consumables/Equipment Stock Indexes gained 2.2% and 0.8%, respectively.

Laboratory Instrumentation Stock Index

Caliper Life Sciences was removed from the Laboratory Instrumentation Stock Index following its acquisition by Perkin­Elmer on November 7 (see IBO 9/15/11). For the month, the Index fell 5.4% to close at 569.85. Seventeen companies declined, and three improved. Pressure BioSciences lost the most value, falling 33%, while Accelrys grew 8%. Year to date, the Index has contracted 13.7%, with 13 companies trading lower and seven advancing. Pacific Biosciences has sustained the largest decline, slumping 82%, while Transgenomic is up 89%.

A number of companies in the Index reported better-than-expected-earnings. On November 3, PerkinElmer raised the bottom of its 2011 EPS range by $0.02 to $1.66–$1.68, yet shares fell 5.2% the following day. On the same day, Transgenomic reported strong quarterly sales, lifting shares 10.4% the next day. Fluidigm raised its full-year product revenue growth outlook on November 8, yet shares slipped 3.4% the next day. On November 15, Pressure BioSciences narrowed its quarterly operating loss and reduced its cash burn by 11%. Shares improved 5.6% the next day. It also closed a registered direct offering of $850,000.

Becton Dickinson (BD) projected fiscal year 2012 EPS of $5.75–$5.85 on November 2, 6% below analysts’ expectations. Shares fell 4.6%. On November 22, the company announced a 10% dividend increase to $0.45. Affymetrix fell 4.4% on November 2, prior to the company’s missed earnings report.

In other news, on November 11, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced a $750 million stock repurchase plan, leading shares up 2.3%. On November 4, Northland Securities downgraded Accelrys from “Outperform” to “Market Perform.”

Process/Metrology/Motion Instrumentation Stock Index

The Process/Metrology/Motion Instrumentation Stock Index improved 2.2% in November to 493.57. Half of the companies realized higher returns, and half declined. MTS Systems led the Index, gaining 10%, while Veeco Instruments fell 7% and 42% for the month and year, respectively. Year to date, the Index is up 9.7%, with four companies improving and two declining. FEI has the highest return, climbing 53%.

Veeco jumped 10.2% on November 4 in anticipation of greater demand for LED lighting products, as China announced it will phase out the use of incandescent lightbulbs. MTS Systems crushed fiscal fourth-quarter EPS estimates on November 17 (see page 12) and projected fiscal 2012 EPS to grow in the low double digits. Shares jumped 10.7% the next day. McAdams Wright Ragen downgraded FEI on November 9 from “Buy” to “Hold.” On November 21, ThinkEquity upgraded Veeco to “Hold” from “Buy.”

Lab Consumables/Equipment Stock Index

This month, the Laboratory Consumables/Equipment Stock Index improved 0.8% to 572.36. Five companies declined and two advanced for both the month and year. QIAGEN led the Index for the month, climbing 8%, while Pall has returned 10% year to date. Enzo Biochem has slumped 14% and 54% for the month and year, respectively. QIAGEN jumped 6.2% on November 3 after the company expanded the range of its full-year EPS outlook to $0.96–$0.97.

Diversified Instrumentation Stock Index

The Diversified Instrumentation Stock Index slipped 0.5% in November to 129.47. Six companies increased in value, while Illinois Tool Works fell 7% and 15% for the month and year, respectively. AMETEK had the largest monthly price return, gaining 8%. Year to date, the Index is down 3.4%, with two companies declining and five in positive territory. Teledyne Technologies leads the Index with a 29% return.

Mettler-Toledo raised its full-year EPS forecast by 1.4% on November 3 (see page 12) to $8.09–$8.14. Shares climbed 6.2% the next day. On November 15, Agilent Technologies projected fiscal first-quarter EPS of $0.67–$0.69, slightly below analysts’ expectations. But the company’s projected fiscal 2012 EPS of $3.00–$3.35 was above the average consensus.

On November 15, Bank of America upgraded Agilent from “Neutral” to “Buy” and KeyBanc downgraded Teledyne Technologies from “Buy” to “Hold.”

International

This month, three Pacific Region companies traded lower, and two increased. Techcomp improved the most, gaining 16%, while Shimadzu fell 8%. For the year, four companies are in negative territory, and HORIBA is up 4%. JEOL has lost the most value, sliding 28%.

On November 7, HORIBA reported an EPS decline of 19% to ¥38.16 ($0.49), leading shares down 2.9%. On November 10, Shimadzu reported a 13.4% decline in fiscal second-quarter net income to ¥2,709 million ($34.9 million).

In November, 10 European companies declined, and four improved. Alpha MOS realized the largest drop, falling 11%, while Oxford Instruments grew 27%. For the year, nine companies have negative returns, and five have advanced. Biohit has gained the most, rising 42%, while Scientific Digital Imaging has fallen 34%.

Halma reported on November 21 adjusted third-quarter EPS growth of 21% to £0.12 ($0.20). Shares fell 3.1%. On November 15, Oxford Instruments reported adjusted EPS growth of 62% to £0.28 ($0.45) for the first six months of fiscal 2012. Shares jumped 13.9%. On November 11, Spectris reported 12% organic revenue growth for the four months ending October 31. Shares climbed 8.7%. On November 21, Analytik Jena reported 59.3% growth in operating earnings for fiscal 2011, leading shares up 3.4% the next day.

 Line Graph: IBO Instrument Industry Stock Index

               Lab Instrument Stock Index       S&P 500

 Nov-09        548.41                           262.68

 Dec-09        565.94                           267.35

 Jan-10        546.93                           257.47

 Feb-10        566.22                           264.81

 Mar-10        585.87                           280.38

 Apr-10        596.47                           284.51

 May-10        557.61                           261.19

 Jun-10        531.11                           247.12

 Jul-10        513.20                           264.12

 Aug-10        499.94                           251.58

 Sep-10        556.95                           273.61

 Oct-10        579.40                           283.69

 Nov-10        589.00                           283.04

 Dec-10        660.07                           301.53

 Jan-11        657.02                           308.36

 Feb-11        661.02                           317.14

 Mar-11        661.90                           317.88

 Apr-11        703.32                           326.93

 May-11        721.22                           322.52

 Jun-11        712.55                           316.63

 Jul-11        676.63                           309.83

 Aug-11        635.47                           292.24

 Sep-11        577.75                           271.27

 Oct-11        602.13                           300.49

 Nov-11        569.85                           298.97

                               2011                                     2010

 Cos.       Date Rept. FQ     Adj.EPS   Consensus    Vs.Est.    Grw.    Adj.EPS

 Laboratory Instrumentation   

 ACCL       3-Nov      3Q     $0.10     $0.09        $0.01       0%      $0.10 

 AFFX       2-Nov      3Q    ($0.08)   ($0.04)      -$0.04    -300%     ($0.02)

 BDX        2-Nov      4Q     $1.39     $1.39        $0.00      12%      $1.24 

 BIO        1-Nov      3Q     $1.61     $1.53        $0.08       1%      $1.59 

 FLDM       8-Nov      3Q    ($0.22)   ($0.24)       $0.02       NA       NA

 HBIO       3-Nov      3Q     $0.05      NA           NA       -38%      $0.08 

 HLCS      14-Nov      3Q    ($0.01)     NA           NA        91%     ($0.11)

 LMNX       1-Nov      3Q     $0.05     $0.06       -$0.01       NM     ($0.02)

 MOCO      14-Nov      3Q     $0.27      NA           NA        42%      $0.19 

 PKI        3-Nov      3Q     $0.41     $0.39        $0.02      32%      $0.31 

 PBIO      15-Nov      3Q    ($0.15)     NA           NA        42%     ($0.26)

 SQNM       3-Nov      3Q    ($0.19)   ($0.19)       $0.00      10%     ($0.21)

 TBIO       3-Nov      3Q    ($0.03)   ($0.03)       $0.00     -50%     ($0.02)

 XRIT       3-Nov      3Q     $0.08     $0.07        $0.01       NM     ($0.00)

 Process/Metrology/Motion Instrumentation 

 MTSC      17-Nov      4Q     $0.94     $0.66        $0.28      74%      $0.54 

 SDIX      14-Nov      3Q    ($0.03)     NA           NA         NM     ($0.00)

 Lab Consumables/Equipment   

 KEQU      30-Nov      2Q    ($0.05)     NA           NA         NM      $0.33 

 QGEN       2-Nov      3Q     $0.22     $0.22        $0.00      -8%      $0.24 

 Diversified Instrumentation   

 A         15-Nov      4Q     $0.84     $0.81        $0.03       29%     $0.65 

 MTD        3-Nov      3Q     $2.01     $1.92        $0.09       18%     $1.71 

                                 Market Value     52 Week    Price   Change Change P/E   EPS     EPS    LTD/  FY   R&D 

 Company:  Exchange              (US $000s)     Low    High 11/30/11 1Month  YTD       12Month   FY    Equity ROE  Sales

 Laboratory Instrumentation           

 Accelrys: o                         $394,809   5.68   8.95   $7.13     8%   -14%  N/A   -0.46  -0.44    5%   N/A   28%

 Affymetrix: o                       $315,130   4.04   8.16   $4.52   -19%   -10%  N/A   -0.13  -0.15   39%   N/A   22% 

 Becton, Dickinson and Company:n  $16,294,977  69.59  89.75  $73.78    -6%   -13%   13    5.59   5.59   78%   26%    6% 

 Bio-Rad Laboratories: n           $2,683,401  84.02 126.98  $94.30    -5%    -9%   14    6.59   6.59   51%   12%    9% 

 Bruker: o                         $2,089,588  11.48  21.65  $12.52   -13%   -25%   25    0.50   0.58   25%   23%   11% 

 Cepheid: o                        $2,312,403  20.02  42.65  $34.30    -4%    51%  429    0.08  -0.10    3%   N/A   20% 

 Fluidigm: o                         $270,906  11.64  20.20  $13.49    -3%    -4%  N/A   -3.27  -8.94    6%   N/A   39% 

 Harvard Bioscience: o               $132,140   3.81   6.26   $4.42    -3$     8%   25    0.18   0.65   22%   21%    4% 

 Helicos BioSciences: o                $5,979   0.03   0.23   $0.07   -22%   -42%    0    0.78   0.87   78%   10%   20% 

 Illumina: o                       $3,782,574  25.57  79.40  $27.82    -9%   -56%   36    0.78   0.87   78%   10%   20% 

 Luminex: o                          $884,604  16.78  24.70  $20.76    -5%    14%   63    0.33   0.12    4%    2%   17% 

 MOCON: o                             $92,702  11.85  17.67  $16.47     6%    27%   16    1.00   0.84    1%   16%    7% 

 Pacific Biosciences: o              $154,707   2.64  17.01   $2.85   -27%    -82%  N/A  -13.78 -14.10    3%   N/A   N/A 

 PerkinElmer: n                    $2,146,001  17.45  28.75  $18.92    -8%    -27%   17    1.11   1.15   30%    7%    6% 

 Pressure BioSciences: o               $3,502   0.51   1.59   $0.56   -33%    -60%  N/A   -0.84  -1.35    6%   N/A   92% 

 Sequenom: o                         $414,740   3.82   8.71   $4.18   -16%    -48%  N/A   -0.77  -1.69   13%   N/A   92% 

 Thermo Fisher Scientific: n      $18,082,575  44.29  65.86  $47.25    -6%    -15%   14    3.42   2.53   59%    7%    3% 

 Transgenomic: o                      $61,659   0.40   1.85   $1.25    -2%     89%  N/A   -0.21  -0.04-1301%   N/A   11% 

 Waters: n                         $7,364,800  71.12 100.00  $80.00     0%      3%   18    4.53   4.06   75%   36%    5% 

 X-Rite: o                           $416,270   3.26   5.08   $4.80     6%      5%   54    0.09   0.04   72%    2%   11% 

 Process/Metrology/Motion Instrumentation         

 FEI Company: o                    $1,696,331  23.83  42.25  $40.36     2%    53%   17    2.32   1.34   20%    8%   10% 

 MTS Systems: o                      $634,924  28.00  48.72  $40.18    10%     7%   12    3.24   3.24   10%   24%    3% 

 Nanometrics: o                      $387,473  11.62  21.56  $16.47    -2%    28%    7    2.37   2.43    9%   33%   10% 

 SDIX: o                              $34,999   1.54   3.13   $1.71    -4%    -3%  N/A   -0.12  -0.05   N/A   N/A   11% 

 Veeco Instruments: o                $997,317  21.99  57.67  $24.89    -7%   -42%    4    5.99   6.13    0%   34%    1% 

 Zygo: o                             $299,704   9.40  17.81  $16.33     6%    33%   13    1.25   1.05    3%   15%   10% 

 Lab Consumables/Equipment           

 Enzo Biochem: n                      $94,553   1.98   5.83   $2.45   -14%   -54% N/A   -0.34  -0.34    0%   N/A    8% 

 Kewaunee Scientific: o              $271,224   8.01  14.25   $9.49    -1%   -30%  105    0.09   0.72   29%    6%    0% 

 Life Technologies: o              $7,235,229  35.30  57.25  $38.73    -5%   -30%   20    1.91   1.99   67%    9%   10% 

 Pall: n                           $6,443,388  39.81  59.50  $54.49     6%    10%   20    2.67   2.67   65%   21%    3% 

 QIAGEN: o                         $3,551,965  12.47  22.20  $14.91     8%   -24%   27    0.55   0.60   28%    6%   12% 

 Sigma-Aldrich: o                  $7,971,630  56.18  76.16  $64.81    -1%    -3%   18    3.60   3.12   23%   19%    3% 

 Techne: o                         $2,508,603  60.12  86.43  $67.49    -2%     3%   22    3.05   3.02    2%   19%    9% 

 Diversified Instrumentation             

 Agilent Technologies: n          $13,162,500  28.67  55.33  $37.50     1%    -9%   13    2.85   2.85   67%   23%   10% 

 AMETEK: n                         $6,962,100  30.87  47.00  $42.84     8%     9%   19    2.24   1.76   76%   16%    2% 

 Danaher: n                       $34,369,297  39.34  56.09  $48.38     0%     3%   16    2.99   2.64   60%   13%    5% 

 Illinois Tool Works: n           $22,209,981  39.12  59.27  $45.44    -7%   -15%   11    3.99   3.03   49%   16%    1% 

 Mettler-Toledo Int'l: n           $5,219,784 126.10 193.56 $159.80     4%     6%   21    7.70   6.80  105%   30%    5% 

 Roper Industries: n               $8,374,859  64.90  88.76  $85.19     5%    11%   20    4.22   3.34   54%   12%    4% 

 Teledyne Technologies: n          $2,119,832  40.86  60.91  $56.68     4%    29%    8    6.84   3.27   40%   15%    3% 

 Laboratory Instrumentation Stock Index                      569.85    -5.4%-13.7%  19                  56%   10%    7% 

 Process/Metrology/Motion Instrumentation                    493.57     2.2%  9.7%   9                   9%   23%    5% 

 Lab Consumables/Equipment Stock Index                       572.36     0.8% -8.6%  21                  48%   12%    7% 

 Diversified Instrumentation Stock Index                     129.47    -0.5% -3.4%  15                  59%   16%    4% 

 Dow Jones Industrial Average                             12,045.68     0.8%  4.0%     

 S&P 500                                                   1,246.96    -0.5% -0.8%     

 NASDAQ Composite                                          2,620.34    -2.4% -1.2%       

                                                             Price   

 Region                      Market Value   Market Value   11/30/11   Change   Change       EPS      EPS    LTD/   FY   R&D/ 

 Company                      (US $000s)    (Local 000s)   (Local)    1Month    YTD   P/E 12Month    FY    Equity  ROE Sales 

 Pacific Shares              

 Hitachi High-Technologies:t  $2,974,857   ¥230,574,634       ¥1674     1%     -12%   15   ¥115.34  ¥129.07  11%   7%   3% 

 HORIBA: t                    $1,301,377   ¥100,866,845       ¥2385    -6%       4%   12   ¥205.36  ¥187.11  17%   9%   8% 

 JEOL: t                        $208,890    ¥16,190,582        ¥204    -3%     -28%   58     ¥3.51    ¥3.51  93%   1%   5% 

 Shimadzu: t                  $2,373,401   ¥183,957,122        ¥622    -8%      -1%   18    ¥35.00   ¥36.00   0%   6%   3% 

 Techcomp: si                    $72,294     SGD 93,000    SGD 0.40    16%      -5%    8     $0.04    $0.04   9%  18%   0% 

 European Shares              

 Halma: l                     $2,037,823     £1,299,724       £3.45     3%      -4%   18     £0.19    £0.19  46%  20%   5% 

 Oxford Instruments: l          $842,973       £537,648       £9.74    27%      39%   15     £0.64    £0.64  28%  34%   7% 

 Renishaw: l                  $1,049,374       £669,291       £9.20    -6%     -25%   10     £0.90    £0.90  35%  33%  10% 

 Scientific Digital Imaging: l    $2,781         £1,774       £0.10    -7%     -34%    9     £0.01    £0.01   0%  N/A   5% 

 Spectris: l                     $22,822     £1,455,575      £12.52    -2%      -5%   13     £0.99    £0.82  32%  19%   8% 

 Alpha MOS: c                    $11,266        € 8,396      € 2.15   -11%     -19%  N/A   -€ 0.05  -€ 0.14  15%  N/A  16% 

 Analytik Jena: g                $74,816       € 55,758     € 10.65    14%      27%  N/A   -€ 0.04   € 0.34  55%   5%  10% 

 Biohit: h                       $54,625       € 40,711      € 2.99    -4%      42%   71    € 0.04   € 0.00  70%   2%   6% 

 CyBio: g                        $10,289        € 7,668      € 1.07   -11%       4%    8    € 0.14   € 0.14   2%  13%   6% 

 Sartorius: g                   $803,791      € 599,040     € 32.00    -1%      13%   12    € 2.67   € 2.29  93%  12%   6% 

 Tecan: s                       $724,781    CHF 662,501    CHF 58.1     5%     -26%   11   CHF5.10  CHF4.43   5%   7%  10% 

 Datacolor: s                    $71,009     CHF 64,907   CHF 386.3    -6%     -11%   12  CHF31.05 CHF29.26   5%   0%   9% 

 Biotage: st                        $596      SEK 4,062     SEK 5.1    -3%     -24%  N/A  -SEK4.82 -SEK4.91   6%  N/A   9% 

 Exiqon:  no                     $53,528    DKK 296,684     DKK 8.9    -8%      -6%  N/A  -DKK1.30 -DKK1.28   4%  N/A  32%