Even though there were more winners than losers on the Publishers Weekly Stock Index in January by a nine to six count, the PWSI fell slightly in the month. The decline was primarily due to the big drop suffered by Amazon, whose stock price fell by more than $10 in January. While Amazon posted big sales gains in 2010 and the fourth quarter, its margins are under pressure as it continues to make investments in such areas as infrastructure and technology, and investors are concerned about its profit prospects for 2011. Another stock in the loser column, Courier Corp., had a disappointing start to fiscal 2011. The financial troubles of the biggest loser in January, Borders Group, are well documented. Barnes & Noble’s stock price has benefited from Borders’ s problems, with investors believing B&N could become the nation’s lone national bookstore chain.

Winners

Company Dec. 31 Jan. 31 % Change
Barnes & Noble 14.15 15.75 11.3%
McGraw-Hill 36.41 38.98 7.0
Reed Elsevier 33.63 35.63 5.9
Pearson 15.89 16.66 4.8
CBS 19.05 19.83 4.1

Losers

Borders Group .90 .73 -18.9
Hastings Ent. 6.12 5.54 -9.5
Courier Corp. 15.52 14.18 -8.6
Amazon 180.00 169.64 -5.7
Books-A-Million 5.80 5.69 -1.9
Publishers Weekly
Stock Index 464.08 461.70 -0.5
Dow Jones Aver. 11,577.51 11,896.93 2.7