The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted annual gains for the sixth-straight year in 2014, its longest winning streak since 1999.
With the exception of market hiccups in January and October, stocks rose slowly and steadily during the year. The Dow closed at a record 38 times, while the S&P 500 did so 53 times.
The Dow ended the year at 17,823.07, just shy of the 18,000 mark it had surpassed midway through December (invertir en Amazon). Still, the Dow was up 7.5 percent in 2014, its sixth-consecutive yearly gain. The S&P 500 finished the year at 2,058.90, up 11.4 percent, its third consecutive annual gain.
The Nasdaq Composite finished the year at 4,736.05, up 13.4 percent, also marking its third consecutive annual gain.
Local stocks in the BizTimes Stock Index also shared in the wealth of 2014, with 22 of the 41 stocks of publicly traded companies based in southeastern Wisconsin posting gains for the year.
The top 10 local stocks for the year were: Strattec Security Corp. (up 84.9 percent); Magnetek Inc. (up 69.6 percent); Merge Technologies Inc. (up 53.4 percent); The Marcus Corp. (up 37.7 percent); Physicians Realty Trust (up 30.3 percent); Waterstone Financial Inc. (up 30.0 percent); Wisconsin Energy Corp. (up 27.6 percent); Douglas Dynamics Inc. (up 27.4 percent); Snap-on Inc. (up 24.9 percent); and Sensient Technologies Corp. (up 24.4 percent).
By virtually any measure, 2014 was a banner year for Strattec, as the auto parts supplier benefitted from the rebound of the U.S. automotive sector.
Strattec designs, develops, manufactures and markets automotive access control products, including mechanical locks and keys, electronically enhanced locks and keys, steering column and instrument panel ignition lock housings, latches, power sliding side door systems, power lift gate systems, power deck lid systems, door handles and related products.
Strattec recorded record fiscal first quarter net sales of $122.2 million, while its quarterly net income grew to $9.3 million. The company grew its annual sales to General Motors Co., Chrysler Group LLC and Ford Motor Co. during the year.
“On behalf of all Strattec associates, it is a great pleasure for us to announce the results of an outstanding three months. In our core business, we experienced the combination of a strong automotive market and benefits from our strategic initiatives which resulted in an 18 percent increase in sales versus last year. For a limited period of time, unpredictable market circumstances in our service business added another 35 percent to our revenues. Extraordinary efforts by our hourly and salary associates to respond to unusual customer demands and higher utilization of assets combined to generate significant incremental margin. It resulted in an unusually good quarter in which sales and profit broke our previous records,” said Strattec president and chief executive officer Frank Krejci. “In addition to the positive metrics, we completed a four-year agreement with our unionized Milwaukee associates and were awarded Supplier of the Year by Ford Rotunda for outstanding service to their dealers. That recognition makes us especially proud, as it highlights the service side of our business that has historically been overshadowed by our manufacturing. It is also a nice follow-on to last year’s Supplier of the Year award from Chrysler.”
