Are some San Diego companies worth more...

Are some San Diego companies worth more dead than alive? If the firm’s name is Handyman, that may very well be the case, according to Irving Katz, director of research at San Diego Securities.

Handyman’s stock price climbed 12 1/8 to 43--even touching 46 on Friday--after the company’s announcement it would sell or liquidate its assets by year-end.

The stock, which had traded between 26 and 36 this year, has always been valued more for its real estate than for its operating earnings, which have been lacking, Katz said.

Interest rate-sensitive stocks were again the big losers last week, as they followed the bond market down. Home Federal Savings & Loan dropped 2 3/8, Imperial Corp. of America was down 1, Great American First Savings Bank dropped one-half, and San Diego Gas & Electric was down by 1.

Cousins Home Furnishings was down three-eighths to 2 5/8--its yearly high was 7 3/4--as it continued to report losses while changing the identity of its stores.

Fabulous Inns dropped three-quarters to 4, as the battle for corporate control continues.

Cipher Data Products hit a yearly low of 10 5/8, down from its high of 21 3/4. Forced employee vacations and softness in new orders are seen as factors, Katz said.

GTI was down one-quarter to 2, despite the threatened proxy fight and the company’s announced liquidation.

Defense-oriented stocks joined the slide, with Cubic down five-eighths, Titan down one-quarter, IRT down one-half, CCT down one-half, DH Technology down three-eighths and Humphrey down one-half.

New issues hitting new lows, Katz said, include Women’s Health Care Centers, which went public at 6 and closed at 2 3/4, and Syntro, which went public at 8 and is now selling at 3 7/8.