Industry Stocks: October Performances

Company September 28 October 31 % Change
October was a lackluster month for publishing industry stocks, with the Publishers Weekly Stock Index falling by less than 0.1%. Twelve stocks had gains in the month, while the stock price at eight companies fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.6%. The biggest winner in October was Hastings Entertainment, which saw a remarkable turnaround in its stock performance continue in the month by posting a 31% gain to $8.28, a 52-week high. Investors were heartened enough by Amazon.com's third-quarter results and prospects for the fourth quarter to push its stock price up 16.9% in October. While Hastings enjoyed a strong October, Borders Group had the worst month among the companies on the Index, with its stock price down 18.6%. An increase of $2.05 on October 31 following the release of its first quarter results, limited Reader's Digest's stock decline in the month to 3.7%.
Source: Cahners Publishing
Winners
Hastings Entertainment 6.32 8.28 31.0%
Amazon.com 5.97 6.98 16.9
Courier Corp. 21.66 25.00 15.4
Educational Dev. Corp. 5.10 5.74 12.5
Pearson 11.12 12.10 8.8
Losers
Borders Group 19.15 15.59 -18.6%
McGraw-Hill Cos. 58.20 52.58 -9.6
R.R. Donnelley 27.05 25.50 -5.7
Reader's Digest 18.39 17.70 -3.7
John Wiley 20.88 20.20 -3.2
Publishers Weekly
Stock Index 334.25 333.97 -0.08%
Dow Jones Average 8,847.56 9,075.14 2.6%