I've bought and sold VIVO for ten years now. I've been to three or four ASMs, taken the plant tours and talked face to face with management a number of times, albeit as a small potatoes investor.

The resultant instincts I have developed are telling me VIVO is no longer the earnings stalwart it was for the past 5-10 years, and like Chessen recently said, is in a "show me" mode.

They seemed to have lost their mojo a little. Execution seems to have waned. The sense of urgency that always pervaded that company is not as evident.

So, if I may beg the question, "Why is that?"

Maybe the boys are resigned that they will soon put the company up for sale, and as such, are not leaning forward so hard in new product development or acquisitions or the other things that a company eager to attract new investors might routinely do.

At every ASM I've been to, when that question of selling the company came up, they never flinched at that possibility, quick to say that a sale was always an option, "for the right price."

The top two guys have been there for a while--the time may be right for an exit. The PE is still high but the balance sheet is wonderful, cash flow is robust and they have some great niche products that an Abbott or 3M or someone may find attractive. Synergy is a beautiful thing when it exploited properly by an acquiring company.

So, I've added "takeover candidate" as an increasingly viable aspect of VIVO's attractiveness.

Again, it purely instinctual.

But its MY instinct and and I'm sticking to it.