As the stock market meandered through another...

As the stock market meandered through another dull week, it was interesting to note that the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which moved through a 1,000-point range last year, has moved up and down within only a 230-point range since the first of the year, said Irving Katz, director of research for Thomas Green/San Diego Securities.

With the public essentially out of the market and dividend recapture plays taking 40% of whatever trading there is, the institutions are the only remaining players, Katz said. Some of the institutional favorites were among the widest losers of last week, with Price Co. down $1.75, Henley Group down $1.375, Molecular Biosystems down $1.125 and Cipher Data Products down $1. Other downsiders were Magma Power, down $1.625, and Advanced Marketing Systems, down $1.50.

New lows were reached by Great American First Savings Bank, at $8.625, and Telequest, at $.50, Katz said.

Selling close to yearly lows were Beeba’s Creations, CCT, Gen-Probe, Cousins Home Furnishings, Southwest Bank and Precision Aerotech.

Monitor Labs was unchanged after running up more than $1 last week. Thermo Electron, which had announced a 5.12% interest on Friday, said it had sold most of its Monitor position.

A surprise was a new high reached by San Diego-based Cohu, at $10.875. The stock is selling at nine times its earnings for the past 12 months.

Good news had very little effect with Maxwell Laboratories, up only $.25 to $10.50 after reporting third-quarter earnings of $.42 compared with $.24 in last year’s third quarter. The stock is selling at below book value and at eight times its earnings for the past 12 months.

Mail Boxes Etc. also gained $.25 despite declaring at 25% stock dividend, Katz said.

New listings in the accompanying chart include Amistar, which manufactures automatic equipment for assembling electronic components for printed circuit boards, and Weaver Arms, an arms manufacturer that recently announced an agreement to produce a carbine in China.

Annual meetings this week include: PS Group at 10 a.m. today, La Jolla Bancorp at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday and Fabulous Inns at 10 a.m. Friday.