The Bloomberg / Star-Bulletin Index is a price-weighted index designed to measure the performance of Hawaii-based companies. The index was developed with a base value of 100 as of December 31, 1999. A chart of the index which shows the weekly performance of its members is published weekly in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

Penny stock surges

Penny stock Mera Pharmaceuticals Inc., which entered into a research collaboration with a San Diego biotech firm, rose 8 percent this week to unseat Barnwell Industries Inc. as the top-performing stock in the Bloomberg Honolulu Star-Bulletin index. Mera has risen 80 percent this year and gained a fraction of a penny this week to 2.7 cents.

Barnwell's shares fell 6.2 percent to $66.23 after earnings fell more than 75 percent due to a big one-time item a year ago. Barnwell is up 78.6 percent this year.

SOURCE: BLOOMBERG NEWS
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