Colorado stocks, as a group, did slightly better than larger U.S. stock indexes during a savage third quarter — but that is like saying they froze to death instead of drowning after the Titanic went down.
The Colorado Bloomberg Index, a basket of 75 stocks based in the state, declined 5.9 percent from the start of July to the end of September.
That compares with a 6.9 percent drop in the S&P 500, a 7.6 percent drop in the Dow Jones industrial average and a 7.4 percent decline in the Nasdaq composite.
“A brutal quarter for investors,” noted Paul Dickey, president of INS Capital Management in Denver. Each day recently seemed to offer a different reason to sell — Europe, China, Japan, biotech stocks, high-yield bonds. The Fed won’t tighten. The Fed will tighten.
All of the churn resulted in the worst quarter for U.S. stock since 2011, a resounding dirge that somehow managed to end on an up note Wednesday.
Most of the action was centered on the downside, with 16 public companies in the state losing 40 percent or more of their stock value during the quarter. Almost all of them deal in commodities or energy.
Bonanza Creek Energy was the biggest loser, falling 77.7 percent during the quarter. Investors who valued it at $2.35 billion a year earlier now put a $202 million price tag on it.
Triangle Petroleum was down 71.7 percent, Ascent Solar Technology was off 67.1 percent, Bill Barrett Corp. lost 61.6 percent of its value, and so on.
Fifteen Colorado stocks did show a positive return during the quarter, led by Dot Hill Systems, which rose 59 percent.
Dot Hill shares soared after Seagate Technologies announced Aug. 18 that it would buy the Longmont maker of hardware and software storage systems for $694 million.
Seagate’s offer per share was about 50 percent above the trading range of Dot Hill’s stock in the prior months.
Mesa Laboratories, a Lakewood maker of quality-control instruments, rose 25.3 percent on improving earnings, making it the second best performer in the state.
Ampio Pharamceuticals was up 21.9 percent on a favorable ruling from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, bucking the larger trend that saw biotech stocks get slammed hard.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, up 19.1 percent, and Molson Coors Brewing, up 18.9 percent, ran neck and neck for best return among the state’s largest companies in market value.
Even if the rest of the world is falling apart, burritos and beer will always be in demand.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410, asvaldi@denverpost.com or @aldosvaldi
