Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

By Timothy C. Barmann
Journal staff writer

At the end of the second day of financial turmoil on Wall Street, shares of Rhode Island companies were mixed, with some getting a boost, while others suffered big drops.

The good news for local investors is that for the year, a majority of the 14 companies are faring better than the S&P 500 index, which is down about 19 percent since Jan 1.

Today's biggest local decliners were Towerstream, which closed at $1.01 a share, down 13 cents or 11.4 percent; and Astro-Med, which closed at $8.82, down 86 cents or 8.9 percent. Towerstream's decline followed a 4.2-percent drop yesterday.

Towerstream, based in Middletown, sells wireless, high-speed Internet access services to companies in several markets across the country. Astro-Med, based in West Warwick, designs and makes a range of specialty printers and electronic instruments.

Shares of Providence-based Textron fell 73 cents or 2 percent to close at $34.54, to set a new 52-week low. That followed a drop of $2.65 a share, or 6.8 percent yesterday. The conglomerate has now lost half of its market value since the beginning of the year.

Shares of CVS Caremark closed at $36.13, down 39 cents or 1.1 percent today. That followed a drop of $1.12 or 3 percent yesterday. CVS is down 9.1 percent for the year.

The two companies that experienced the biggest declines yesterday, Capital Properties of East Providence and Washington Trust of Westerly, recovered them today.

Capital Properties, which owns the land beneath several prominent buildings in downtown Providence, gained $1.45 or 6.7 percent to close at $23.20 a share today. That followed a decline of a decline of $1.65 or 7.1 percent yesterday.

Washington Trust, which offers banking and wealth management services, rose $1.89 or 8.5 percent to close at $24.15. Shares had fallen $1.85 or 7.7 percent yesterday.

Several of the companies posted modest gains both yesterday and today. They include Bancorp Rhode Island, FGH International, KVH and LIN TV.

The company with the best performing stock so far this year has been Pawtucket-based Hasbro, which has seen its share price increase by 49 percent since Jan. 1.

Today, shares of the giant toymaker were up 64 cents or 1.7 percent, to close at $38.11. Shares fell 41 cents or 1.1 percent yesterday.

Stock watch: 14 Rhode Island-based companies

Keep up with these R.I. companies, stock markets and your own stocks, at projo.com's Market Watch page.

 Tags  Wall Street

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