For the first time this year, the Publishers Weekly Stock Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted increases for the month, with the PWSI up 8.4% in March. It was the hard-pressed retailing segment that led the way, headed by Books-A-Million, whose stock price shot up over 80%, helped by the announcement of a stock repurchase program. Scholastic's stock enjoyed a big bump in the month. Its third quarter was mixed, but the company said it expected to benefit from more federal funding for education. Its stock price jumped despite downgrades from the S&P and Moody's credit rating agencies. Simon & Schuster parent company CBS saw a selloff in its stock price after a UBS analyst downgraded the stock to sell.
| Company | Feb. 27 | Mar. 31 | % Change |
| Source: Reed Business information | |||
| Winners | |||
| Books-A-Million | 2.55 | 4.60 | 80.4% |
| Scholastic | 11.01 | 15.07 | 36.9 |
| Barnes & Noble | 17.94 | 21.38 | 19.2% |
| McGraw-Hill Cos. | 19.73 | 22.87 | 15.9 |
| Borders Group | .55 | .63 | 14.5 |
| Losers | |||
| CBS | 4.27 | 3.84 | -10.01 |
| R.R. Donnelley | 7.79 | 7.33 | -6.0 |
| Franklin Elec. Pub. | .90 | .85 | -5.5 |
| John Wiley | 31.39 | 29.78 | -5.1 |
| Reed Elsevier | 29.81 | 28.50 | -4.4 |
| Publishers Weekly | |||
| Stock Index | 245.54 | 266.21 | 8.4 |
| Dow Jones Aver. | 7,062.93 | 7,608.92 | 7.7 |
