Question-and-Answer Session
Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Chris Shaw from EDS [ph]. Please proceed.
Chris Shaw - UBS
Yes, good morning. Good quarter. Thanks guys. I was... can you just talk briefly just about the strength in tetrabrom and what you are seeing, and what has changed since I guess you guys last talked? I think actually last time you talked, I think you were seeing some strength at the beginning of the quarter. But could you just talk about that a little bit?
John M. Steitz - Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Yes, I would be happy to, Chris. This is John Steitz. You know, through the course of 2006, we really saw very strong volumes, in particular in the fourth quarter of last year, and that defied what some of the indicators were, like the booked and billed report.
Chris Shaw - UBS
Right.
John M. Steitz - Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
So we thought through the course of '06 there was really a buildup in the supply chain of inventory, which we have been really correcting for, particularly in the third quarter of '07. We had our biggest decline then, and we were hoping for sequential improvement in tetrabrom, and that's what we saw. And basically, I think a much more realistic supply chain inventory situation is out there. So we feel pretty good about continuing to improve volumes through the course of '08 as well.
Chris Shaw - UBS
What's the latest book-to-bill look like?
John M. Steitz - Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
I haven't seen the one for December, but I know October and November were slightly above 1.0, which is a reasonable indicator.
Chris Shaw - UBS
Right. Curiously, is there... I forgot. Did Tamiflu... do the benefits of Tamiflu extend into 2007? Or was it just the second half of '06?
John M. Steitz - Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
No, it was all the third and fourth quarter, particularly the fourth quarter of '06. And really what happened there was our customer wanted us to include their intermediates in the pricing of the product. So it wasn't so much a... it really diluted the margin at that time.
Chris Shaw - UBS
Okay. And then finally...
John M. Steitz - Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
It accelerated sales artificially is what I am saying.
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