Local index has best showing in more than five years
Who needs Vioxx anyway⢠Not the Trib 30.
The local stock index pumped up to its best monthly close in more than five years on Sept. 30. It was the same day Merck & Co. pulled the popular pain-killer from shelves on heart-risk concerns, plunging the widely held stock.
The Trib 30 ended September at 173, the best monthly close for the index since hitting 189.4 in June 1999, just prior to the tech-bubble burst.
Gainers overwhelmed losers by five-to-one, with 25 stocks increasing in value and just five falling.
Twelve of the Trib 30 issues rose to new 52-week highs during the month. None of the index members dropped to a new low.
The Trib 30 is an equal-weighted index of stocks of public companies located or dominant in Western Pennsylvania. An investor who divided $100,000 equally among Trib 30 stocks on Dec. 31, 1997, would own a portfolio worth $173,000 on Sept. 30.
Vioxx maker Merck's stock suffered a 27 percent drop, its worst close since 1996, last Thursday when it announced it would discontinue the drug. As one of the Dow Jones industrial average's 30 stocks, Merck's descent pulled the widely watched U.S. index into negative territory that day.
By contrast, the Trib 30 index logged its fifth increase in as many months.
Every local stock that hit a new, 52-week high in August -- American Eagle Outfitters, Mine Safety Appliances, National City and Verizon -- set another new high in September.
Hip clothier American Eagle soared to a new high of $38.22, breaking the month-ago mark of $34.79, largely on favorable analyst reports.
Manufacturer Mine Safety reached a new high of $44, also on the wings of analyst recommendations.
National City, the Cleveland-based bank corporation, set a new high of $39.81. The bank's business and balance sheet is well-positioned for the Federal Reserve's recent rate hike, and analysts rated National City highly in recent weeks.
Another repeating high-flyer was Verizon, which rose to a new high of $41.01. The telecommunications giant last month debuted a feature that allows customers to order Direct TV service merely by calling a Verizon sales representative.
Despite bad news, Allegheny Energy set a new high of $16.20 last month. The electric utility made the Big Board's list of most-active short-sellers last month and announced it would take a heavy charge for the sale of an Illinois power plant.
Design/engineering/construction company Michael Baker reached a new high of $16.68. It opened several offices in support of its role as a federal emergency management contractor and announced a new credit facility from National City.
FedEx, whose ground force is in Moon, zoomed to a new high of $88.90, smashing August's mark of $83.47. The package deliverer was bolstered by higher earnings estimates and upbeat news on the economy.
Also hitting new highs in September were high-tech steelmaker Allegheny Technologies ($20.50), power utility Dominion Resources ($65.87), gas utility Equitable Resources ($54.49) marker maker Matthews International ($36.81) and rail industry servicer Wabtec ($18.91).
