The industrial controls business in 1997 outdid even the volatile and booming stock market. Dancing around the 8,000 level, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and other market indexes managed to recover on "Turnaround Tuesday" most of the losses suffered on "Meltdown Monday" in late October. The general market indexes made gains of 20% to 30% for the year while the Control Engineering (CE) Index soared, gaining about 50%.

The big gains industrial controls made in market value in the second quarter carried over for the year. Even when the CE Index figures are dampened by factoring in both the stock price increases and decreases with the market value, the increase in quarter-to-quarter and year-to-year numbers are between 35% and 45%.

The CE Index was also recently adjusted to accommodate the acquisition of valve manufacturer Keystone International by Tyco International in 1997. Even the DJIA bounces some of its 30 stocks and replaces them when needed. Name changes also tend to confuse some indexes.

Tyco's addition increases the number of large companies in the CE Index. Keystone was small compared to Tyco, which ranks with Emerson, Honeywell, and Rockwell.

The earnings picture for industrial controls took a big dip in 1Q97 due to a negative performance by one company's stock and a big drop for another company, though it still achieved positive earnings overall. Both companies turned around later in the year, while most of the other companies secured either positive or improved results.