Jul. 5--The king of recliners is no longer a decliner.

The region's publicly traded companies are getting a lesson this year in financial physics: What goes up must come down, and what goes down comes back up -- usually.

After being pounded in the stock market in 2008, most of the 16 regional companies with publicly traded shares rebounded in the first half of 2009, buoyed primarily, analysts say, by the notion that things might be looking up.

And leading the turnaround pack was Monroe-based home furniture maker La-Z-Boy Inc., posting a 119 percent return since Jan. 1 after experiencing a 71 percent share-price drop during 2008.

Although La-Z-Boy is still 40 percent off its $7.90 share price of Jan. 1, 2008, the company surprised analysts last month by posting a $5.3 million profit for its latest quarter on revenue that had fallen 23 percent to $284.5 million.

Analysts had anticipated the home furnishings company to lose 11 cents a share instead of turn a 10 cent-a-share profit, and the response sent the stock rocketing from a share price of $2.18 on June 2 to $4.72 at the close of the month.

The company largely cut its way back to profitability, dramatically reducing its operating costs and paying down $28 million in outstanding debt.

"The road is still long but we have navigated our way through many hairpin turns and I'm proud of the work our team has done," Kurt Darrow, the company's chief executive officer, said in a conference call with analysts last month.

The 16 regional firms -- as diverse in industries as they are in localities -- represent just a portion of northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan's economies.

But they do offer a window on the economic well-being of a region that reaches from Monroe to Sandusky to Defiance.

And for the first half of this year, at least, most of the 16 have shown improvement.

The 9 percent average gain during the first half of 2009 for the local market basket followed a decline of 46 percent in 2008 and gains of 5 percent in 2007 and 11 percent in 2006.

As in past years, results reflect swings in each firm's share price, plus any dividends paid.

(Ten of the 16 firms paid dividends).

The local average gain compares favorably to most of the major market indexes during the same period. gains of 5 percent in 2007 and 11 percent in 2006.

As in past years, results reflect swings in each firm's share price, plus any dividends paid.

(Ten of the 16 firms paid dividends).

The local average gain compares favorably to most of the major market indexes during the same period.