WASHINGTON INVESTING: Some Battered Area Stocks Rebounded Last Month
Remember last January? The stock market roared up the tracks like a runaway freight train. In 21 trading days, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 262 points, or 13.8 percent, as it climbed through the 2000 and the 2100 levels. The Johnston. Lemon index of 30 blue-chip Washington area stocks rose</br></br>Remember last January? The stock market roared up the tracks like a runaway freight train. In 21 trading days, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 262 points, or 13.8 percent, as it climbed through the 2000 and the 2100 levels. The Johnston. Lemon index of 30 blue-chip Washington area stocks rose 8.9	percent. All in all, stock prices went up more in January 1987 than they did in some previous years.</br></br>What about this January, the month just concluded? It wasn't thrilling. The stock market puffed along the tracks like the Little Train That Couldn't. The Dow started the year by going up for four straight days, gaming a total of 113 points. On the fifth day, it fell 140 points, giving back all it had gained and more. And all this was happening at the 1900 to 2000 levelsÛÓabout where the Dow-had been a year ago.</br></br>When January trading ended Friday, the Dow stood at 1958.22. only about 20 points above where it started the year. The gain was barely 1 percent. And the Dow stocks, which once were the biggest gainers, are now lagging behind the other indexes.</br></br>The Standard & PoorÛªs 500 rose 4 percent, the American Stock Exchange index was up 3.4 percent, the Wilshire index of