Posted on: Sunday, October 12, 2003

Top gainers, losers in the new bull market

By Hope Yen
Associated Press

NEW YORK — In the first year of Wall Street's new bull market, it's no surprise that telecommunications and Internet shares were among the biggest winners on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market.

The two sectors took a big hit during the three-year bear market, which began after the collapse of the tech bubble in 2000. But after the three main stock gauges hit multiyear lows on Oct. 9, 2002, many investors saw promise and value in the beaten-down shares.

Seven of the top 10 NYSE stock performers as measured by their percentage gain in returns were in telecoms, according to data through Tuesday. The returns include price change and dividend distributions.

Top gainers included American Tower Corp. and Crown Castle International Corp., both owners and operators of radio and broadcast towers. American Tower had the biggest return at 922 percent and is now trading close to $11; Crown Castle returned 472 percent and trades at about $11.

That compares to 32 percent gain for the Dow Jones industrials and a 33 percent climb for the Standard & Poor's 500 index since the Oct. 9, 2002 low. Because a bull market is typically defined as a sustained 20 percent move upward, the date can be considered the end of the bear market.

Other telecom winners were Nortel Invesora S.A. (returning 834 percent); Nortel Networks Corp. (794 percent); Corning Inc. (668 percent); Telecom Argentina STET (606 percent); and Avaya Inc. (524 percent).

And the biggest NYSE loser? Oneida Ltd., whose return dropped 76 percent after the maker of dinnerware last December restated its earnings for the past three years.

For the Nasdaq, Web services for China's huge population continued their streak, contributing to the tech-focused index's stunning 70 percent gain since Oct. 9, 2002.