Colorado companies fought the winds of change during the second quarter, but a majority saw their shares end lower as investors braced for the financial storm coming out of Greece.
The Bloomberg Colorado index, a basket of 76 stocks based in the state, fell 2.26 percent in the second quarter and is down 1.95 percent in the first half of the year.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.88 percent for the quarter, and the S&P 500 was off 0.23 percent, ending a streak of nine consecutive quarterly gains.
“The market has been trading in a tight range over recent months, and there aren’t many specific themes we can point to,” said Matt Coffina, editor of Morningstar StockInvestor in Chicago.
One of the most pronounced trends from April through most of June involved investors lightening up on utilities, real estate investment trusts and other interest rate-sensitive holdings.
In Colorado, companies in the same sectors populated both the winner and loser ranks.
Denver-based Resolute Energy, which jumped 71.8 percent during the quarter, was the state’s top performer. But the downtrodden oil producer’s move up was measured in cents, not dollars, from 56 cents to 97 cents. Last summer it was trading in the $8 range.
At the other extreme was Denver-based Emerald Oil, which fell almost as much as Resolute rose — 71.3 percent.
Molycorp, which filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday, saw a 76.5 percent drop in its already depleted value that took its share price from 38.5 cents to 9 cents during the quarter.
Another molybdenum miner, Lakewood-based General Moly, was up 38.8 percent during the quarter, ranking it as the state’s third- best performing stock.
Deeper snows and higher earning estimates boosted ski resort operator Intrawest Resorts Holdings, whose share value rose by a third. Among Colorado companies with a market value of $1 billion or more, premium cable channel provider Starz did the best, rising 30 percent.
Biotech was another sector that offered extremes. Westminster-based Arca Biopharma rose 45.6 percent, making it the state’s second-best performer, while shares of Ampio Pharmaceuticals fell 68.5 percent during the quarter, the third-worst performance.
The beating that renewable energy stocks took when oil prices moved lower late last year continued, with Real Goods Solar down 58.6 percent and Ascent Solar Technologies off 50.9 percent.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410, asvaldi@denverpost.com or twitter.com/aldosvaldi
Winners and losers
CompanyQ2 ReturnResolute Energy71.8%Arca Biopharma45.6General Moly38.8Intrawest Resorts33.3Starz30Molycorp-76.5%Emerald Oil-71.3Ampio Pharmaceuticals-68.5GlobeImmune-64.4Real Goods Solar-58.6
