Jan. 28--The last four months have been a rough time for the nation's stock markets, but they have been particularly tough on seven local stocks.

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., Dana Holding Corp., La-Z-Boy Inc., Libby Inc., MBT Financial Corp., N-Viro International Corp., and Ohio Art Co. are all trading at under $5 a share. A year ago, all but N-Viro were trading at well above $5 -- the threshold below which commonly indicates what some investors call a "penny" stock that is traded over the counter or on the Pink Sheets listings.

N-Viro, a waste treatment firm, is traded over the counter, and toymaker Ohio Art is on the Pink Sheets. But the others continue to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq. Only Dana has been warned by the NYSE that it could be removed because its stock price has been so low.

Shane Ewbank, a financial adviser at Smith Barney's Toledo office, said a convergence of seven fairly diverse local stocks -- a tire maker, an auto- parts firm, a furniture maker, a glassware maker, a banking firm, a waste-treatment firm, and a toy maker -- trading below $5 a share probably hasn't happened previously, but it is probably not significant given the economy's sad shape.

"Those companies have to be hurting because there's no question that the Toledo economy is feeling it," Mr. Ewbank said.

"Their common thread is that everything has been affected and that's what we've been seeing in the market since late 2008. There's no safe place to hide," he said.

A key question for the firms: With their stock trading so low, might some be vulnerable to a takeover?

Furniture industry analyst Wallace Epperson, of Mann, Armisted & Epperson, of Richmond, Va., said it is unlikely that La-Z-Boy, for example, would be taken over because

few companies can borrow what they need to orchestrate a takeover or merger.

"Everybody is putting off everything right now," Mr. Epperson said.

Many firms in the furniture, banking, and auto sectors have strong assets and good underlying value, he said, "but their stock prices don't reflect the true value of these companies."

"All these [stock prices] are is a recognition of the methodology used by the big investors today," he said. "It has nothing to do with the value of some of these companies."

Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.

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