Many investors lost up to half of the value in their investment portfolios in 2008.
The performance of BizTimes Stock Index last year reflected that grim reality. The index, which tracks the cumulative relative value of the stocks of publicly traded companies based in southeastern Wisconsin, closed the year at 90.39, down 46.8 percent from where it began 2008.
The BizTimes Stock Index finished 79.76 points below its opening value of 169.76 on Jan. 1, 2008.
The local index fell even deeper in 2008 than its broader counterparts, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 34 percent, the S&P 500 lost 38 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 40 percent.
Only four local stocks out of the 35 stocks in the local index managed to post gains in their share prices in 2008: Weyco Group Inc. (up 20.18 percent); Bank Mutual Corp. (up 9.18 percent); Merge Technologies Inc. (up 7.56 percent); and The Marcus Corp. (up 5.05 percent.
The five largest local losers of the year were: MGIC Investment Corp. (down 84.49 percent); Twin Disc Inc. (down 75.24 percent); Johnson Outdoors Inc. (down 75.24 percent); Waterstone Financial Inc. (down 73.87 percent); and Journal Communications Inc. (down 72.60 percent).
Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. provided historical data for the BizTimes Stock Index, which is moderated daily by North Shore Bank.
Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist for Baird, is uniquely bullish and expects the stock market to rebound in the first half of 2009.
In his recent Morning Conference Call note, Bittles wrote, “The weight of the evidence argues for improved stock market conditions in the first half of 2009. Although large gains the last two weeks could result very near term in a consolidation phase, the strong action in the broad market and mounting upside momentum suggests that any weakness that does develop will be limited in both time and price. Despite recent gains, the equity market remains oversold long term, and with unprecedented amounts of cash on the sidelines, the benefit of the doubt should be given to the bulls. The record cash also speaks volumes to the deep-seated pessimism and fear in the market that is discounting the worst for the economy in ‘09. Should the economy stabilize later this year as expected, the equity markets should anticipate this well in front of the event. The areas of the stock market expected to outperform include information technology, materials and emerging markets. … The outlook for the U.S. economy in 2009 calls for significant weakness in the first quarter followed by a gradual improvement in the second half of the year.”
BizTimes Stock Index Research compiled by Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc.
BizTimes Stock Index
Research compiled by Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc.
Stock Name Symbol Closing price Closing price Percentage
12/31/07 12/31/08 change
Weyco Group, Inc. WEYS 27.5 33.05 20.18%
Bank Mutual Corp. BKMU 10.57 11.54 9.18%
Merge Technologies, Inc. MRGE 1.19 1.28 7.56%
Marcus Corp. MCS 15.45 16.23 5.05%
Wisconsin Energy Corp. WEC 48.71 41.98 -13.82%
Sensient Technologies Corp. SXT 28.28 23.88 -15.56%
A.O. Smith Corp. AOS 35.05 29.52 -15.78%
Snap-on, Inc. SNA 48.24 39.38 -18.37%
Kohl’s Corp. KSS 45.8 36.2 -20.96%
Briggs & Stratton Corp. BGG 22.66 17.59 -22.37%
Metavante Technologies Inc. MV 23.32 16.11 -30.92%
Brady Corp. BRC 35.09 23.95 -31.75%
Zbb Energy Corp. ZBB 1.98 1.35 -31.82%
Fiserv, Inc. FISV 55.49 36.37 -34.46%
Badger Meter, Inc. BMI 44.95 29.02 -35.44%
Manpower, Inc. MAN 56.9 33.99 -40.26%
MagneTek Inc. MAG 4.28 2.4 -43.93%
Actuant Corp. ATU 34.01 19.02 -44.08%
Assisted Living Concepts Inc. ALC 7.5 4.15 -44.67%
Koss Corp. KOSS 17.813 9.3 -47.79%
Marshall & Ilsley Corp. MI 26.48 13.64 -48.49%
Johnson Controls, Inc. JCI 36.04 18.16 -49.61%
Rockwell Automation, Inc. ROK 68.96 32.24 -53.25%
Strattec Security Corp. STRT 41.43 16.45 -60.29%
Bucyrus International Inc. BUCY 49.695 18.52 -62.73%
Harley-Davidson, Inc. HOG 46.71 16.97 -63.67%
Joy Global, Inc. JOYG 65.82 22.89 -65.22%
Ladish Co. LDSH 43.19 13.85 -67.93%
Modine Manufacturing Co. MOD 16.51 4.87 -70.50%
Orion Energy Systems Inc. OESX 18.82 5.41 -71.25%
Journal Communications Inc. JRN 8.94 2.45 -72.60%
Waterstone Financial Inc. WSBF 12.82 3.35 -73.87%
Johnson Outdoors, Inc. JOUT 22.5 5.572 -75.24%
Twin Disc, Inc. TWIN 35.385 6.89 -80.53%
MGIC Investment Corp. MTG 22.43 3.48 -84.49%
