04/01/2004
Dow Jones News Services
(Copyright © 2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
By Hollister H. Hovey
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Merrill Lynch thinks extremely little things could one day make investors a lot of money.
The firm is introducing the Merrill Lynch Nanotechnology Index, which will include equal weighted holdings of 25 companies that have a significant amount of their future profits tied to this miniature technology.
The index will be quoted by the American Stock Exchange under the symbol "NNZ", but it isn't something in which people could invest directly, the firm said.
"We believe nanotechnology could be the next growth innovation, similar in importance to information technology over the past 50 years," Merrill technology analyst Steven Milunovich said in a Thursday research note. "Nanotech is real - the questions generally are when, not if."
Nanotech, the name of the science of making things less than 100 nanometers in size (a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter), isn't a separate industry, he said, but a new approach applied to various sciences.
The following companies will be included in the index: Amcol International(ACO), Applied Films (AFCO), Altair Nanotechnologies (ALTI), Biosante Pharmaceuticals (BPA), Caliper Life Sciences (CALP), Cabot Microelectronics
(CCMP), Emcore (EMKR), FEI (FEIC), Flamel Technologies (FLML), Headwaters (HDWR), JMAR Tech (JMAR), MTS Systems (MTSC), Nanometrics (NANO), Nanophase Technologies (NANX), Nanogen (NGEN), NVE Corp. (NVEC), Universal Display (PANL), Pharmacopeia (ACCL),
SkyePharma (SKYE), Symyx Technologies (SMMX), Three-Five Systems (TFS), Harris & Harris (TINY), Ultratech (UTEK), Veeco Instruments (VECO) and Westaim (WEDX).
-By Hollister H. Hovey, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5287;
hollister.hovey@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-01-04 1217ET
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