The Publishers Weekly Stock Index was unable to overcome a bad month for the stock market in general in May. The PWSI fell 6.9% last month, a slightly worse decline than the 6.2% posted by the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Only four stocks on the PWSI had an increase in their share price in May, while 10 had declines, including Books-A-Million whose stock price slipped by one cent, to $3.18 per share. Barnes & Noble’s stock price continued the roller-coaster ride it has been on for most of 2012. After jumping 56% in April following word of Microsoft’s investment in its Nook business, the stock had the biggest decline of companies on the PWSI in May, falling 20.8%. Among the winners in May was Hastings Entertainment, whose stock price received a boost after a better than expected first- quarter report.

Winners

Company April 30 May 31 % Change
Courier Corp. 10.27 10.93 6.4%
Disney Corp. 43.11 45.71 6.0
Hastings Ent. 1.97 2.07 5.0
John Wiley 45.19 45.50 0.7

Losers

Company April 30 May 31 % Change
Barnes & Noble 20.75 16.43 -20.8%
RR Donnelley 12.51 10.76 -14.0
McGraw-Hill Cos. 49.17 43.38 -11.8
Scholastic 30.55 26.95 -11.8
Reed Elsevier 33.05 29.58 -10.5
Amazon 231.90 212.91 -8.2
Publishers Weekly
Stock Index 538.59 501.50 -6.9%
Dow Jones Aver. 13,213.63 12,393.45 -6.2