A huge gain on the last day of November pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average into positive territory for the month, but that was not enough to lift the Publishers Weekly Stock Index. Even though eight of the 14 companies on the PWSI posted gains in their stock price, the PWSI could not overcome a more than 20-point decline by Amazon in the month as investors continue to fret over the e-tailer’s profit margins. Hastings Entertainment’s stock price took another hit in November, falling another 21.1% after reporting weak quarterly results. Barnes & Noble was the big winner in the month, with its share price jumping 42.1%, although the share price took a hit December 1 after B&N’s second-quarter results and forecast for the year disappointed analysts.

Winners

Company Oct. 31 Nov. 30 % Change
Barnes & Noble 12.27 17.44 42.1%
Courier Corp. 8.69 11.05 27.2
Walt Disney Co. 34.88 35.85 2.8
Books-A-Million 2.22 2.28 2.7
John Wiley 47.56 48.10 1.1

Losers

Hastings Ent. 1.99 1.57 -21.1
Amazon 213.51 192.29 -9.8
R.R. Donnelley 16.30 15.02 -7.8
Educational Dev. Corp. 5.50 5.24 -4.7
Reed Elsevier 34.19 33.30 -2.6
Publishers Weekly
Stock Index 490.67 476.12 -3.0
Dow Jones Aver. 11,955.01 12,045.68 0.7