Most of Biggest County Firms Rebound in Dow

By MARIA L. La GANGA

Oct. 30, 1987 12 AM PT

As the Dow Jones Industrial Average staged a mild comeback Thursday, most of Orange County’s 100 largest public companies followed suit. The Dow average gained 91.5 points to finish 4.9% above Wednesday’s close, and the county-based companies’ shares gained an average of 4.7% for the day--their first overall gain in the last six trading days.

The price of a composite share of the local companies’ common stock rose to $7.09 from $6.77 Wednesday. Although the composite price gained, it was still down 37.2% from the Oct. 2 average of $11.30 per share.

Of the 100 local stocks, 60 gained in Thursday’s trading, while 23 lost and 17 finished the day unchanged. In addition, 21 of the 100 stocks closed at their lowest prices of the past 52 weeks.

Ultrasystems stock did a dramatic turnaround, going from Wednesday’s No. 1 percentage loser to Thursday’s No. 1 gainer as it rose $1.675 per share to close at $5.875, up 38.2%.

Wespercorp took an equally flashy turn, but in the opposite direction. It was Wednesday’s leading local gainer and Thursday’s biggest loser. Wespercorp common stock dropped to 37 1/2 cents per share Thursday, down 25 cents--or 40%--for the day.

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Maria L. La Ganga

Maria L. La Ganga is the deputy managing editor for California and Metro, overseeing the Los Angeles Times’ largest editorial department. She joined The Times in 1981 as an academic intern, splitting her time between the former Metro section and National Dragster, the official publication of the National Hot Rod Assn. She has served as Seattle bureau chief, San Francisco bureau chief, edited in the Business section and pitched in on six presidential elections, five for The Times and one for the Guardian. La Ganga left The Times in 2015 and returned in 2018 after a brief hiatus during which she wrote for the Guardian and the Idaho Statesman. She was named city editor in 2022 and promoted to her current role in 2024. La Ganga graduated from Granada Hills High School in the San Fernando Valley and Cal State Northridge, where she studied English literature and journalism.

Most of Biggest County Firms Rebound in Dow

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