After three weeks of relentless selling, stocks...

After three weeks of relentless selling, stocks began to show some signs of life last week and by Monday had recovered 79 points of the 267-point drop after the Jan. 2 Dow Jones Industrial Average high of 2810.15.

Whether the recovery is a technical reaction to overselling or a reflection of a rosier economic outlook remains to be seen, said Irving Katz, director of research at Thomas Green/San Diego Securities.

Very few San Diego stocks were affected, however, as only six gained more than 1 point and only two lost 1 point or more. The only new high, and the largest gainer of the week, was Magma Power, gaining $1.75 to a new high of $31.75. The stock is up 20% for the first five weeks of this year, and it reported excellent first-quarter earnings of $.31 a share, contrasted with $.10, and $1.01 for the entire year, contrasted with 43 cents the previous year.

On the rebound and gaining 1 point last week was Chart House Enterprises, which had made a new low the previous week as the result of a misinterpretation of the company’s earnings report. Revenues increased 9% in 1989, and income before extraordinary items rose 55% compared to pro forma 1988 earnings.

Other 1-point gainers last week included San Diego Gas & Electric, Maxwell Laboratories, Psicor and Xytronyx.

Some San Diego stocks have fallen precipitously this year. Advanced Marketing Services has dropped 52% as a result of poor quarterly earnings, Molecular Biosystems is off 23% and Mail Boxes Etc. is down 20%. A new 52-week low of $2.125 was recorded by TCS Enterprises.

Annual shareholder meetings to be held this week include Mitek Systems on Wednesday and TCS Enterprises on Friday.