Stock markets took a wild ride in 2011 to end up with some rather mild returns.
The S&P 500 ended the year flat, and the Bloomberg Colorado Index, a basket of 88 stocks based in the state, dropped 2.5 percent.
“There are definite winners and losers. It was a stock picker’s market,” said Andy Ratkai, president of Praxis Advisory Group in Denver.
Debt woes in the U.S. and especially in Europe derailed what had started out as a promising year for stocks, Ratkai said.
The state’s top-performing stock was Midway Gold, a recent transplant to Denver. Midway, which trades on both U.S. and Canadian exchanges, rose 151.2 percent on the back of strong gold prices.
Gold broke above $1,900 an ounce in late summer before retreating to well under $1,600 at year’s end.
But gold stocks weren’t a sure bet. Solitario Exploration lost 60.6 percent, and Golden Star Resources lost 64.1 percent.
The state’s second-best performer, ADA-ES Inc., offers one example of how volatile 2011 was.
The environmental technology firm’s stock doubled early in the year, only to fall by two-thirds in the spring after an unfavorable arbitration ruling.
New federal rules limiting mercury in coal-plant emissions along with the successful installation of 26 clean-coal facilities helped the stock recover to a 102.9 percent gain.
“We are getting a lot of requests for proposals,” said Mark McKinnies, chief financial officer of the Littleton company.
The big gain in 2011 was years in the making, he said. The EPA has spent about 20 years devising mercury standards, and ADA-ES developed its mercury-cleaning technology early last decade.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, with a gain of 58.8 percent, was the top performer among Colorado companies with a market value of $1 billion or more.
“As to what drove our success in 2011, in a word, I’d say focus,” said company spokesman Chris Arnold.
Chipotle has maintained an emphasis on fresh, sustainably sourced food and on advancing its best-performing employees, Arnold said. A new Asian concept the burrito chain is testing also has generated buzz among investors.
Companies in the same sector, from energy to biotech, populated both the bottom and top of the rankings, making it hard to discern themes.
Investors seemed to favor blue- chip stocks paying dividends, which helped push the Dow Jones industrial average up 5.5 percent.
Newmont Mining, the state’s largest public company in market value, lost 2.3 percent on the year. A newcomer, Arrow Electronics, the state’s largest company in revenues, rose 9.2 percent.
At least 18 Colorado companies shed more than half their value, including Janus Capital Group, down 51.3 percent.
Ascent Solar Technologies suffered the biggest drop among Colorado stocks, falling 88.4 percent.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410, asvaldi@denverpost.com or
