Oct. 6--The rally in the U.S. stock market that started earlier this year continued through the third quarter, boosting both the Tulsa Index and two national stock indexes.

The Tulsa Index surged 23.5 percent in the July-to-September period while the Standard and Poor's 500 rose 15.6 percent and the Russell 2000 rose 19.3 percent.

Of the 65 companies included in the local index, 62 saw their share price rise during the quarter.

"These are just eye-catching substantial returns, and the data backs up that. No. 1, Oklahoma has not suffered as much as the national economy," said Jake Dollarhide, CEO of Longbow Asset Management Co. in Tulsa.

He attributed the performance of Tulsa Index to its composition of a "broad, diversified group of strong companies with local ties to the Oklahoma economy which has fared better, in most categories, than the national average."

The Tulsa Index includes companies that have headquarters or other significant operations in the Tulsa World's readership area. The SandP 500 is a composite of the nation's largest companies, while the Russell 2000 is an index of smaller companies.In

the first nine months of the year, the local index was up 58.1 percent, beating out the 19.3 percent rise in the SandP 500 and 22.4 percent for the Russell 2000.

Brunswick Corp. was the local index's top gainer during the third quarter -- its stock price rose 177.3 percent.

It was followed by AMR Corp., up 97.8 percent; Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc., up 76.3 percent; Whirlpool Corp., up 65.5 percent; and International Bancshares Corp., up 58.2 percent.

Even among the bottom five performers for the quarter, only three posted negative returns.

"We couldn't fill out of the bottom five -- there were not five stocks that actually lost," Dollarhide said.

Level 3 Communications Inc. was down 7.9 percent for the quarter.

It was followed by Matrix Service Co., which was down 5.3 percent; Orchids Paper Products Co., down 2.7 percent; Verizon Communications Inc., up 0.1 percent and North American Galvanizing and Coatings, up 0.2 percent.

Even of the three that had negative returns for the quarter -- Level 3, Matrix, and Orchids Paper Products -- their share price has significantly risen so far this year. Orchids Paper Products Co.'s stock price, for instance, was up 128.6 percent for the year, while Level 3 Communications was up 98.6 percent.

The top gainer so far this year was Dollar Thrifty, which has seen its stock price soar more than 2,100 percent through Sept. 30.

Although the stock market experienced a dip at the outset of October, Dollarhide thinks November and December could be strong and that the SandP 500 could rise another 5 percent to 10 percent by year's end.

A lot of money is sitting on the sidelines, and as investors watch the positive momentum in the stock market and hope for a full economic recovery next year, more capital should flow into U.S. equities, Dollarhide said.

While he thinks the Tulsa Index could rise another 15 percent to 20 percent by the end of the year, he did temper his outlook with caution.

"We're not out of the woods yet," Dollarhide said. "Right now investors are investing in anticipation of a recovery, and if that doesn't materialize in 2010 we could still be in for a rocky period."

Laurie Winslow 581-8466 laurie.winslow@tulsaworld.com

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