Jul. 6--IN LINE with national trends, the stocks of publicly traded companies in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan were pummeled during the first half of this year.

Led by Dana Holding Corp., Libbey Inc., and Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. -- all of which had share-value declines of more than 50 percent -- the 17 major firms in the region collectively posted a drop in stock value of 15 percent.

Just three firms, Tecumseh Products Co., building products manufacturer Owens Corning, and real estate trust Health Care REIT Inc. had gains.

Particularly hard hit were banks. Total share returns of the five publicly traded banks in the region were down 21 percent.

"Financials are taking the biggest hit. They're pretty well carrying the rest of the market down," said Helyn Bolanis, president of Parlan Financial Corp. in Sylvania Township.

"It looks a little scary, doesn't it? These are the concerns across the board in the investment community, that there's weakness in the overall economy."

Eight of the 17 local firms are below $10 a share, compared with three a year ago.

The measures use stock price plus any paid dividends. The local performance mirrors national stock indices. The Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index each slumped 16 percent from Jan. 1 to June 30, and the Nasdaq was off 13 percent.

Locally, Tecumseh Products' share return jumped 40 percent in the first half of the year.

Jim Nicholson, chief financial officer, said the gain was pushed by investor confidence. The firm, which plans to move from the Lenawee County town for which it is named to suburban Ann Arbor starting this week, makes compressors used in air conditioners and refrigerators.

"If you look at the movement in our stock price last year, we were highly depressed because of a period of sustained losses and a troubled balance sheet, a lot of debt and not a lot of cash flow to repay that debt," Mr. Nicholson said.

Some investors considered the firm a potential candidate for bankruptcy, he added.

But last year the company sold its pump and engine-making operations to focus on compressors, paid down debt, and strengthened its balance sheet, Mr. Nicholson said. "I think the market has reacted to us taking those positive steps, getting back focused on the core product, and making other improvements," he said.

The company still is being hurt by a strong currency in Brazil, where it makes most of its compressors, and high commodities prices, Mr. Nicholson said.

Toledo's Owens Corning share value rose 13 percent over the last two quarters. Toledo's Health Care REIT's stock price declined from $46.69 a share to $44.50 a share, but its dividends of 68 and 66 cents boosted its total return to 3 percent.

But the other firms' declining values catch the most attention.

Among those dropping are typically stable bank stocks, such as MBT Financial Corp.