[July 05, 2011] Area companies' stocks see strong gains in first half; overall market averages moderate returns Tweet CHAMPAIGN, Jul 05, 2011 (The News-Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Stocks got off to a great start this year, but fizzled and sputtered as spring went on. After running up nearly 11 percent in the first four months of this year, the Dow Jones industrial average ended the first half of the year only 7 percent higher than when it began. That's still a great return compared with pitiful rates on certificates of deposit. And the Dow Jones index fared better than most stock exchanges around the world. Moderate returns for the overall market cloaked particularly strong results for some companies. In fact, a wise investor who chose quality stocks in certain sectors -- and avoided dogs -- had a decent chance of reaping double-digit percentage gains in the first half of 2011. Consider this. Of 69 publicly traded companies with a significant presence in East Central Illinois: -- 27 saw their stock price soar by 10 percent or more during the first half of the year. -- Eight watched their stock price plummet by 10 percent or more. -- The other 34 had middling performances, with prices either up or down less than 10 percent. The big winners in the first half of 2001 included television broadcasters, health care companies and railroad stocks. Nexstar Broadcasting, which owns WCIA-TV in Champaign, and Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns WICD-TV in Champaign, saw run-ups of 37 percent and 34 percent, respectively. Their stocks also turned in exceptionally strong performances in 2010, as advertising rebounded. Coventry Health Care, which owns PersonalCare in Champaign, and Universal Health Services, which operates The Pavilion in Champaign, had gains of 38 percent and 19 percent, respectively. CSX, Canadian National, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific -- all of which have railroads running through East Central Illinois -- fared well, appreciating by 22 percent, 20 percent, 19 percent and 13 percent, respectively. Most had outstanding performances in 2010. Other standouts so far this year: -- Littelfuse, which has a research center and high-power testing facility in Champaign, up 25 percent. -- American Water Works, which provides drinking water for Champaign-Urbana and surrounding areas, up 16 percent. -- First Busey, the parent company of Busey Bank, up 13 percent. First Busey, on the rebound, impressed investors in the first half of the year, though several other banking companies did not. Also among the bigger winners: Ball Corp., Comcast, ConAgra Foods, Digi International, Macy's, Owens Corning, Pearson, Qualcomm, Rockwell Automation and Silgan. The biggest duds during the first half of 2011 included a number of banking companies: Centrue Financial, down 40 percent; Regions Financial, down 11 percent; Old National, down 9 percent; and Wells Fargo, down nearly 10 percent. Also having a tough time in the market: -- THQ, which owns the Volition video-game studio in Champaign, down 40 percent. Weaker sales of video games have hurt the industry. -- American Airlines, which serves Willard Airport in Savoy, down 31 percent. Higher fuel prices helped drive the stock down. -- Sony, the parent company of iCyt in Champaign, down 26 percent. Sony's PlayStation video-game platform ran into problems with hackers this year, undermining confidence in the company. -- Bon-Ton Stores, which operates the Bergner's store in Champaign and the Elder-Beerman stores in Danville and Mattoon, down 23 percent. Others battered by the markets included FreightCar America, Nacco and Yahoo. To see more of The News-Gazette, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to www.news-gazette.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]