Companies: BIO    CLT    DAG    HRR    IMM   

As extreme turbulence gripped the FTSE and techMARK during November, Aim provided nervous investors with something of a safe haven. It remained remarkably stable at 1632.30 points.

As ever, pharmaceutical developments and technological advancements attracted the attention of investors. Biofocus, which provides data analysis and computational chemistry services to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, was up by 91.5p, from 468.5p to 560p. The computer games and animation effects producer, Digital Animations, also soared by 145 per cent to 99p. The rise came on the back of interim results to September, which showed sales trebling to £1 million and pre-tax profits remaining firm at £295,000.

For many media and technology plays, however, November was a month to forget. Internet Music & Media, which streams global and electronic dance music broadcasts on the web, saw its shares crash to the year's low of 46.5p. The company announced losses of £1 million for the ten months to June on turnover of £69,000.

Another media company which failed to entertain investors was intellectual property rights company Winchester Entertainment. Although pre-tax profits hit £970,000 - a 38.1 per cent rise - turnover fell from £2.8 million to £2.4 million for the half-year to September. Chief executive Gary Smith said the reduction in turnover reflected an 'emphasis on US sales of studio films', which he hoped would prove 'advantageous in the long term'. The company is placing 7 million shares, at 315p per share to raise £22.05 million in an offer underwritten by Investec Henderson Crosthwaite. The money has been earmarked to fund a move into UK film distribution and the acquisition of further children's TV rights. The market was unimpressed by the placing and the bullish plans for the future and the shares slipped 20p to 333.5p.

The internet security and data management company Harrier plunged from 214.5p to 99p. Harrier warned full year profits would be 'substantially' below expectations due to delays in customer orders. When the on-line games portal Gameplay shed its suffix on 19 October, it gained 9p to 200p. However, of the 15 other companies sporting dotcom suffixes, eight slumped. The e-commerce development group bizzbuild.com, which turned in losses of £2.75 million, is 'deferring investment in several projects while valuations come down'. Its shares languish at an all-time low of 45.5p - a sixth of the 306p high.

A raft of downgrades afflicted the telecommunications sector and both EuroTelecom Communications and Celltalk lost 2.5p, which left their shares suffering at their year's low of 80p and 51.5p respectively. However, strong gains by the FTSE 100 market leader Vodafone boosted the ailing shares of Future Integrated Telephony, which rose by 50p to 165p.

Hefty gains were dug up in the mining sector. The iron smelter Aulron Energy gained 13p to 41.5p, after it announced its South Australian steel and energy project would cost $1.2 billion. For the gold diggers, Brancote was a shining option. After a 38.5p rise the share price was 168.5p. The company is considering a number of takeover bids. Even more priceless was the platinum bounty of Aquarius Platinum. The shares rose 10p to 322.5p after its merger with Kroondal Platinum was announced.

Newcomers worth keeping an eye on include the business and IT management consultancy Charteris and MobileFuture. MobileFuture is a wireless application and internet service provider which lost £0.6 million last year, on sales of £46,000. Shares started trading at 72p giving the group an initial valuation of £15.7 million. They now sit at 85p, after £4.7 million was raised for marketing prior to flotation. Managing the group is the ex-golfer Andrew Munro.

In the next few weeks there are a batch of new recruits due to move from Ofex to Aim. One of the most interesting is Knowledge Technology Solutions. This company develops technology solutions via the subsidiary Cognita and provides on-line financial publishing through Sharepages.com. It is placing 33 million shares at 4.5p to raise £1.5 million, valuing the company at £3.7 million.