The month of October was met with rising COVID-19 numbers around the world along with pre-election angst and the inability to pass a stimulus bill, a combination that drove stock prices down. Stocks of Iowa companies, though, mostly fared better.

Markets rallied today on news of a COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 835 points, or almost 3%, CNN Business reported.

Seven of the 18 Iowa-based companies on the Business Record’s Iowa Index posted stock price losses for the month of October. Four Iowa-based stocks posted double-digit gains; 11 companies in total posted gains. Seven companies posted losses, with only one company posting a double-digit loss. 

Flexsteel Industries Inc. had the largest gain of the month with a 16.46% increase. Ames National Corp. had the second-biggest gain at 14.27%. American Equity Investment Life Holding had the third-biggest with a 12.87% increase.

Meredith Corp. posted the biggest percentage loss at 16.16%. Winnebago Industries Inc. had the second-biggest loss with a 9.13% decrease. Lee Enterprises Inc. was third with a 7.14% decrease.

The Iowa Index, an unweighted average price of 18 Iowa-based public companies, increased a modest 0.51% in October, compared with a 2.29% decrease in the Nasdaq stock index and a 4.61% decrease in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. 

The Iowa-based companies that make up the Iowa Index are in bold in this list of companies with sizable operations in the state.

See the full Iowa Index