Dec. 2--Not all local stocks participated in Monday's Wall Street carnage.

Shares of YRC Worldwide Inc. posted their sixth consecutive gain, rising 14 cents and closing at $4.12, a 3.5 percent gain.

Add that to the five previous trading days, and owners have reclaimed $2.56 a share.

The stock's continued uptick followed news late Friday that the company and the Teamsters union had agreed tentatively on contract changes aimed at pulling the trucking company through its financial struggles.

YRC has seen the weakening economy cut into shipping demand.

Its credit rating has been slashed, forcing the Overland Park-based company to pledge its remaining unpledged assets as collateral under its credit agreement. The company also is trying to raise $150 million by selling and leasing back a group of its terminals.

Investors bet Monday that management and labor may know how to turn an 18-wheeler more quickly than expected.

Holders of most other area stocks took Monday's market assault head on.

Shares of Sprint Nextel Corp., Entertainment Properties Trust and FCStone Group Inc. each dropped more than 20 percent as the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 8.9 percent.

The $5.72 a share decline at Entertainment Property Trust, to $18.81, pushed shares below the previous low close on Nov. 20 but not below the intraday trading low that day.

Layne Christensen Co. fell 19.6 percent, down $4.42 to $18.16.

Banking stocks were not spared.

UMB Financial Corp. fell 16.4 percent, or $7.84, to $39.97, and Commerce Bancshares Inc. lost 12.1 percent, falling $5.30 a share to $38.51.

Kansas City Southern showed the transportation sector didn't follow YRC. Its shares dropped $2.47, or 11.3 percent, to $19.45.

An analyst's downgrade gave Cerner Corp. a shove. The stock dropped $3.25, or 9 percent, to $32.73 as Raymond James analyst Sandy Draper cut his rating from outperform to market perform. Neither Draper nor his report were available Monday.

Investors can get information on stocks and mutual funds free online at The Kansas City Star's Web site. Just go to the Business page at KansasCity.com.

The stock market suffered one of its worst days since the financial meltdown Monday, slicing almost 680 points off the Dow Jones industrial average as Wall Street snapped out of its daydream of a rally and once again faced the harsh reality of a recession.

Not only did stocks end their five-day winning streak, they erased more than half the gains. The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index, one of the broadest market gauges, lost nearly 9 percent.

The Dow lost 679.95 points and closed at about 8,149.

Financial stocks tumbled as investors grappled with doubts about the ultimate success of the government's efforts to prop up the banking sector.

To reach Mark Davis, call 816-234-4372 or send e-mail to mdavis@kcstar.com.

-- The Associated Press

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