In November, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a new two-year high of 11,406.84 following the US Federal Reserve’s $600 billion stimulus plan. Economic data continued to improve and included strong corporate earnings, rising consumer confidence and subdued inflation. On November 23, third-quarter US GDP growth was revised upward to 2.5%, compared with the previous […]

In the third quarter of 2010, revenues for IBO’s Laboratory Instrument Sales Index grew 8.9% to $5,240.26 million, including a loss of 0.8% from currency. Organic revenue growth was 9.6%, benefiting from increased demand and a weak year-over-year comparison. Asia remained the fastest-growing market. Europe was challenging. Operating profit improved 16.7% to $1,024.83 million, and […]

Two recent reports quantify the effect of the worldwide recession on corporate R&D spending. Both the European Union and Booz & Company found that R&D spending by the world’s largest publicly held R&D companies declined last year for the first time in many years. However, as both reports noted, R&D spending fell less than revenues […]

Strong third-quarter corporate earnings and future quantitative easing expectations boosted major US markets in October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and NASDAQ gained 3.1%, 3.7% and 5.9%, respectively. Unfortunately, higher profits have been spurred by restructuring initiatives, including reduced employment and restrained spending, defying support for economic growth. On October 29, the Commerce […]