Bruker BioSciences Corp. (BRKR)

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Companies with Madison area operations also had a strong 2009

January 8, 2010 - By JUDY NEWMAN - Wisconsin State Journal

Several companies with significant operations in the Madison area also counted 2009 as a strong year for their stock.

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/article_52e2d3a8-fca8-11de-b3ba-001cc4c03286.html

• Shares of Sears Holdings, parent company of Lands' End, Dodgeville, more than doubled, ending 2009 at $83.45, up 115 percent from their 2008 close at $38.87. Last Thursday, the stock topped $100 in trading during the day after Sears and several other retailers raised their projections for fourth-quarter profits.

Sales for retail companies overall were "surprisingly strong" for most of the year, said Todd Parrish, analyst with Robert W. Baird & Co., Milwaukee.

"Relative to the environment we're in, sales managed pretty well. There wasn't a desperate kind of unloading (merchandise)," Parrish said.

• Mattel, parent of American Girl, Middleton, saw a 25 percent gain, closing 2009 at $19.98, up from $16.00 a year earlier.

• Kraft, parent of Kraft/Oscar Mayer, Madison, inched up to $27.18 from the 2008 close of $26.85. The stock hit its 52-week low in March, when it fell to $20.81 a share.

• Shares of Bruker, whose Bruker AXS division is based in Fitchburg, tripled to $12.06, from $4.04 the year before. Bruker AXS makes analytical X-ray systems for scientists and researchers.

• Spectrum Brands was suspended from trading on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2008 after it fell in the range of pennies and got stuck there. After going through bankruptcy proceedings in 2009, the old stock was eliminated and new shares ended the year at $22.50.