The US markets continued the trend of volatility throughout the month of November. Investors were optimistic, hoping the upcoming G-20 summit, the mid-term elections, the jobs report and the annual Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping event would boost the stock market.

On November 2, the Bureau of Labor Statistics provided a positive October report highlighting a steady unemployment rate of 3.7%. In addition, on November 7, stocks rose after a consensus forecast from investors proved correct that showed Democrats winning the House, while the GOP kept control of the Senate.

However, by mid-November, the optimism was short-lived thanks to a major selloff in the technology sector, with markets closing in bear territory on November 19. This selloff renewed investors’ concerns about a volatile US economy as they repositioned their portfolios to find alternative sectors to invest in, such as energy. Towards the end of the month, the Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping event did not curtail investors’ worries, as the US stock market experienced its worst performance during the Thanksgiving week since 2011. In addition, reports of the US raising tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25% on January 1 raised concerns as well. The month ended on an uncertain note with the Commerce Department not revising its estimate of the 3.5% increase in the third quarter GDP on November 28, and the G-20 Summit beginning on November 30 and continuing through December.

On November 9, US oil prices slipped into a bearish market falling below $60 due to various factors such as oversupply of oil in the US, the softening of US oil sanctions in Iran, the slowdown of the global economy and the rising US dollar. At its lowest, oil prices slipped to $49.41 on November 29.  On November 30, there was a slight increase of 2.3% to $51.45 as Russia met with Saudi Arabia, the leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), to cut production supply.

On November 28, the Federal Reserve confirmed that they were still going to raise interest rates in December but appeared uncertain about maintaining the quarterly increase scheduled for next year. The Fed stated its benchmark was “just below” neutral, meaning the banking system believed the US economy was not in a confirmed state of speeding up or slowing down. There were concerns about high-risk corporate debt and housing, yet encouragement with the strong numbers for consumer spending and disposable income. With this uncertain status of the US economy in mind, the Fed concluded it would be open to upcoming economic data to help shape future policies.

For the month, all three major stock indexes experienced slight gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.7%, the S&P 500 was up 1.8% and the NASDAQ was up 0.3%. Year to date, the Dow has risen 3.3%, the S&P 500 has gained 3.2% and the NASDAQ is up 6.2%.

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Laboratory Instruments and Products Stock Index

The Index rose 7.6% to 414 this month and is up 22.7% for the year. The Index’s performance was solid with most companies experiencing gains except five of them. The worst performing company for the month was Kewaunee Scientific, declining 11.4%. The company that performed the best was Pacific BioSciences, with a 75.7% increase as Illumina announced plans to buy the company (See IBO 11/15/18).

Reporting strong third quarter revenue, EPS and margins exceeding the company’s expectations, on November 2, Bruker increased its full-year non-GAAP EPS guidance to $1.36–$1.40, a $0.02 boost from prior guidance, resulting in 12%–16% growth.

Mettler-Toledo, on November 4, reported fiscal third quarter financials and forecast fourth quarter adjusted EPS guidance to be $6.72–$6.77 resulting in 13% growth. The guidance was adjusted to reflect an expectation of local currency sales growth of about 6%. For the fiscal full-year 2018, the company increased its earnings guidance by 15% of $20.20–$20.25. As with the fourth quarter guidance, the full-year guidance was adjusted to reflect an expectation of local currency sales growth of about 6%. For full-year 2019 the company predicted its adjusted EPS guidance to be $22.40–$22.60, an 11%–12% increase due to an expectation of local currency growth of 5%.

On November 6, Becton Dickinson (BD) reported its fiscal fourth quarter financials and forecast fiscal 2019 adjusted EPS guidance to be $12.05–$12.15. The guidance was adjusted to reflect the company’s projected revenue growth of 5%–6%. In quarterly dividend news, BD approved a 2.7% increase to its company’s quarterly dividend. The stockholders will receive quarterly cash dividends of $0.77 per outstanding share instead of $0.75.

On November 14, Agilent Technologies announced its Board approved a 10.1% increase in the company’s quarterly dividend. As a result, stockholders will receive a quarterly cash dividend of $0.16 per outstanding share up from $0.15. Agilent Technologies announced its fiscal fourth quarter results on November 19 and forecasted its fiscal 2019 non-GAAP EPS guidance to be $3.00–$3.50, resulting in 9%–11% growth. The company adjusted its non-GAAP EPS guidance to reflect less favorable foreign exchange.

On November 27, MTS Systems forecast a fiscal full-year 2019 GAAP diluted EPS of $2.30–$2.60, which would represent 20% growth.

The following companies did not provide EPS guidance: Bio-Rad Laboratories, Fluidigm, Luminex, NanoString Technologies and Pacific Biosciences.

In other news, on November 16, Nanostring Technologies entered an amended and reinstated $20 million Loan and Security Agreement with Silicon Valley Bank.

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Diversified Laboratory Stock Index

The Index rose 5.3% in November to 271.64 and is slightly down 0.1% year to date. All the companies experienced gains. Corning gained the least, rising 0.8%, while Xylem was up the most, increasing 11.3%.

On November 1, AMETEK announced its fourth quarter guidance. The company forecast EPS of $0.82–$0.84, a 17%–20% increase from its previous guidance. In addition, the company projected fourth quarter sales to increase by 10%, with organic sales up mid-single digits. Also, AMETEK announced an amended and reinstated revolving $1.5 billion credit facility with a syndicate involving JP Morgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, PNC, SunTrust and five additional banks. The loan has a maturity date of October 2023, and proceeds will be used to finance company initiatives, including acquisitions.

In other news, on October 31, Danaher began the registration process of issuing two million common shares for its employee benefits plans. The total purchase price for the stock is expected to be up to $194 million. On November 12, Roper Technologies declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46, a 12.1% increase.

International Stocks

For the month, the Asia Pacific markets were mixed but with mostly positive gains. India’s Sensex was up 3.38%, but China’s Shanghai Index declined 3.30%.

Prices for the Pacific region companies in the IBO Stock Table were mixed this month with the most significant decline for Hitachi High-Technologies, sliding 4.9%. In contrast, Precision System Science experienced the greatest gains in the Table, rising 8.6%.

European equity markets were mostly down in October except for Spain’s IBEX 35, rising 0.94%. The index that experienced the biggest loss was Germany’s DAX with a 2.27% decline.

Prices for the European stocks in the IBO Stock Table were mixed, with many companies showing declines in November. Spectris was the biggest winner with an 11.7% increase. In contrast, Horizon Discovery was the biggest loser, registering a 12.3% decrease.

In other news, on November 5, Biotage updated its organic sales growth goal and EBIT goal: the company projected organic sales to grow 8%, while EBIT is projected to increase by 15%.