Stocks experienced solid gains for the two-week period ended May 8. The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 finished up 2.9 and 3.4 percent respectively. The Nasdaq gained 4.4 percent, while the Valley 50 index nearly equaled that performance with an increase of 4.2 percent. The best local performer was IPC The Hospitalist Co. Inc. with a gain of 23.1 percent after beating analyst estimates with its first-quarter results. Trio-Tech International Inc. placed second with a gain of 15.2 percent. The worst local performers were Ceres Inc., down 14.8 percent, followed by Salem Communications Corp. with a loss of 10.6 percent.
