1990, although unsuccessful for most San Diego...

1990, although unsuccessful for most San Diego stocks, was a near disaster for some, said Irving Katz, a San Diego-based financial analyst.

Although the major stock market indexes were all down for the year--the Dow Jones Industrial by 4.5%; Standard & Poor’s 500 index by 7% and the NASDAQ composite of over-the-counter stocks by 18.4%--some San Diego stocks were losing more than 80% of their value.

Imperial Corp. of America, which closed last year at $1.125, became valueless in 1990.

Great American Bank fell 94.2% and HomeFed Corp. dropped 84%.

Other major losers included Advanced Marketing Services, down 84.9%; Intermark, down 83.5%, and Burnham Pacific Properties, down 40.8%.

Even stalwart Price Co. stock fell 2.8% for the year as earnings and same-store sales flattened out.

DH Technology was down 41.7%; Synbiotics down 42.4%; Biomagnetic Technologies down 39.3%, and Molecular Biosystems off 26.1% in 1990.

San Diego stocks that finished the year higher or unchanged included Mission West Properties (controlled by Intermark), 16.4%, and Cohu, 9.1%.

PS Group gained $2.50 last week and managed to gain 9.7% for the year as investors tried to ride the coattails of Warren Buffett.

Buffett recently announced his intention to increase his holdings in PS Group to 45% of total shares outstanding.

PS Group stock is one of the rare San Diego stocks selling near its high for the year.

Another in this group that held its own in 1990 was San Diego Gas & Electric, which only lost a modest $.375 for the year.

Xytronyx, which seesawed all year after hitting a high of $22, fell $2.75 last week to close the year relatively unchanged at $11.25.

The only other two gains in San Diego stocks were Mycogen, up 3.7%, and Medical Imaging Centers of America, up 4.5%.