During this five years and five months period of time from March 6, 2009 through August 18, 2014, Illinois was blessed with having the US Senate Democrat Second in Command, the very influential Party Whip Dick Durbin.
I found 110 Illinois Headquartered Companies in Yahoo's or Google's superb Finance websites or from SEC filings with current Total Market Capitalizations of at least $100 mil and which also had their common stocks trading on each of the following three dates:
- On December 31, 2007 during President Bush's second term
- On March 6, 2009, very early in President Obama's first term, which was the lowest point for the US stock market due to the spillover effects resulting from the 2008 financial meltdown, and
- also on the most recent date August 18, 2014.
I also included five Illinois Companies which were sold in 2014 and two Illinois Companies whose common stock first started trading in 2008. That makes a total of 117 Illinois Companies shown below.
The historical stock prices of these companies were obtained from the following two excellent internet resources.... Google Finance and MarketWatch Big Charts.
These 117 Illinois Companies had their average equal-company-weighted stock market prices decline by a massive 56% from December 31, 2007 during President Bush's second Presidential term, to March 6, 2009, very early in President Obama's first term, which was the very lowest point for the overall stock market due to the spillover effects resulting from the disastrous 2008 Financial Meltdown.
But in the five years and five months since March 6, 2009 through August 18, 2014, the average stock market prices of these same 117 Illinois Companies have increased by a clearly spectacular 534%.
Thus in the six years and seven months from December 31, 2007 before the 2008 financial meltdown to the most recent date August 18, 2014, the equally-company-weighted average stock market prices of these same 117 Illinois Companies have increased by an impressive 66%...... yeah, they have not just recouped the massive amount they lost with the disastrous 2008 financial meltdown, but also added another 66%.
Below here are the stock market prices of each of these 117 Illinois Companies, overwhelmingly Chicago Metro Area Companies, on August 18, 2014, on March 6, 2009, and on December 31, 2007, along with the related Stock Market Price Percentage Changes:
| Market | Market | Market | ||||||
| Price | Price | Price | ||||||
| % | % | % | ||||||
| Change | Change | Change | ||||||
| Market | Market | Market | 3-6-09 | 12-31-07 | 12-31-07 | |||
| Price | Price | Price | to | to | to | |||
| Illinois Company | HQs | 8-18-14 | 3-6-09 | 12-31-07 | 8-18-14 | 3-6-09 | 8-18-14 | |
| $s | $s | $s | ||||||
| DURBIN | ||||||||
| Tenneco | Lake Forest | IL | 64.74 | 0.86 | 26.07 | 7428% | -97% | 148% |
| General Growth Properties | Chicago | IL | 24.33 | 0.33 | 41.18 | 7273% | -99% | -41% |
| KapStone Paper & Packaging | Northbrook | IL | 30.72 | 0.75 | 3.50 | 3996% | -79% | 778% |
| Manitex Intl | Bridgeview | IL | 12.26 | 0.46 | 6.07 | 2565% | -92% | 102% |
| Akorn | Lake Forest | IL | 37.97 | 1.53 | 7.34 | 2382% | -79% | 417% |
| Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrances | Bolingbrook | IL | 94.53 | 4.40 | 17.15 | 2048% | -74% | 451% |
| Sparton Corp | Schaumburg | IL | 30.23 | 1.50 | 4.94 | 1915% | -70% | 512% |
| Brunswick | Lake Forest | IL | 43.15 | 2.18 | 17.05 | 1879% | -87% | 153% |
| Century Aluminum | Chicago | IL | 21.60 | 1.10 | 53.94 | 1864% | -98% | -60% |
| Coleman Cable | Waukegan | IL | 26.25 | 1.44 | 9.45 | 1723% | -85% | 178% |
| Strategic Hotels & Resorts | Chicago | IL | 11.96 | 0.77 | 16.73 | 1453% | -95% | -29% |
| Material Sciences Corp | Elk Grove Village | IL | 12.74 | 1.00 | 7.43 | 1174% | -87% | 71% |
| Discover Financial Services | Riverwoods | IL | 61.06 | 4.95 | 15.08 | 1134% | -67% | 305% |
| United Continental | Chicago | IL | 47.84 | 3.94 | 35.66 | 1114% | -89% | 34% |
| Middleby | Elgin | IL | 88.74 | 7.99 | 25.54 | 1011% | -69% | 247% |
| Methode Electronics | Chicago | IL | 33.28 | 3.37 | 16.44 | 888% | -80% | 102% |
| Littelfuse | Chicago | IL | 91.13 | 9.54 | 32.96 | 855% | -71% | 176% |
| Catamaran | Lisle | IL | 46.35 | 5.01 | 3.63 | 826% | 38% | 1179% |
| Hillshire Brands | Chicago | IL | 62.78 | 7.08 | 16.06 | 787% | -56% | 291% |
| Jones Lang LaSalle | Chicago | IL | 135.90 | 16.99 | 71.16 | 700% | -76% | 91% |
| Westell Technologies | Aurora | IL | 1.71 | 0.23 | 1.44 | 637% | -84% | 19% |
| First Industrial Realty Trust | Chicago | IL | 18.41 | 2.51 | 34.60 | 633% | -93% | -47% |
| Taylor Capital Group | Rosemont | IL | 21.05 | 3.10 | 20.40 | 579% | -85% | 3% |
| Packaging Corp America | Lake Forest | IL | 66.29 | 9.92 | 28.20 | 568% | -65% | 135% |
| ACCO Brands | Lake Zurich | IL | 7.34 | 1.10 | 16.04 | 567% | -93% | -54% |
| USG Corp | Chicago | IL | 28.48 | 4.29 | 35.79 | 564% | -88% | -20% |
| CNA Financial | Chicago | IL | 38.12 | 6.98 | 33.72 | 446% | -79% | 13% |
| John B Sanfilippo | Elgin | IL | 28.88 | 5.58 | 8.42 | 418% | -34% | 243% |
| Motorola Solutions | Schaumburg | IL | 60.81 | 12.70 | 16.04 | 379% | -21% | 279% |
| Caterpillar | Peoria | IL | 106.98 | 23.23 | 72.56 | 361% | -68% | 47% |
| Horace Mann Educators Corp | Springfield | IL | 29.74 | 6.46 | 18.94 | 360% | -66% | 57% |
| Zebra Technologies | Lincolnshire | IL | 76.71 | 16.69 | 34.70 | 360% | -52% | 121% |
| Wintrust Financial | Rosemont | IL | 46.08 | 10.05 | 33.13 | 359% | -70% | 39% |
| United Stationers | Deerfield | IL | 41.73 | 9.25 | 23.11 | 351% | -60% | 81% |
| LKQ Corp | Chicago | IL | 27.23 | 6.10 | 10.51 | 346% | -42% | 159% |
| GATX | Chicago | IL | 64.99 | 14.70 | 36.68 | 342% | -60% | 77% |
| IDEX Corp | Lake Forest | IL | 77.31 | 17.53 | 36.13 | 341% | -51% | 114% |
| Beam Suntory Inc | Deerfield | IL | 83.47 | 19.07 | 72.36 | 338% | -74% | 15% |
| Titan Intl | Quincy | IL | 14.56 | 3.33 | 25.01 | 337% | -87% | -42% |
| Kemper Corp | Chicago | IL | 35.98 | 8.34 | 47.99 | 331% | -83% | -25% |
| CF Industries | Deerfield | IL | 256.94 | 60.59 | 110.06 | 324% | -45% | 133% |
| Ingredion Inc | Westchester | IL | 78.18 | 18.46 | 36.75 | 324% | -50% | 113% |
| Allstate | Northbrook | IL | 61.28 | 14.55 | 52.23 | 321% | -72% | 17% |
| Calamos Asset Management | Naperville | IL | 12.74 | 3.05 | 29.78 | 318% | -90% | -57% |
| Boeing | Chicago | IL | 124.98 | 30.10 | 87.46 | 315% | -66% | 43% |
| Orbitz Worldwide | Chicago | IL | 8.70 | 2.17 | 8.50 | 301% | -74% | 2% |
| Dover | Downers Grove | IL | 88.94 | 22.32 | 46.09 | 298% | -52% | 93% |
| WW Grainger | Lake Forest | IL | 242.83 | 61.45 | 87.52 | 295% | -30% | 177% |
| AMCOL Intl | Hoffman Estates | IL | 45.74 | 11.59 | 36.03 | 295% | -68% | 27% |
| Equity Residential | Chicago | IL | 66.79 | 17.09 | 36.47 | 291% | -53% | 83% |
| Great Lakes Dredge & Dock | Oak Brook | IL | 7.44 | 1.92 | 8.72 | 288% | -78% | -15% |
| Stepan Company | Northfield | IL | 49.29 | 12.90 | 16.27 | 282% | -21% | 203% |
| Federal Signal | Oak Brook | IL | 15.09 | 3.99 | 11.22 | 278% | -64% | 34% |
| VASCO Data Security | Oakbrook Terrace | IL | 14.50 | 4.09 | 27.92 | 255% | -85% | -48% |
| Deere | Moline | IL | 86.11 | 25.51 | 93.12 | 238% | -73% | -8% |
| Anixter Intl | Glenview | IL | 87.20 | 25.90 | 62.27 | 237% | -58% | 40% |
| InnerWorkings | Chicago | IL | 8.76 | 2.62 | 17.26 | 234% | -85% | -49% |
| John Bean Technologies | Chicago | IL | 29.05 | 8.85 | 14.00 | 228% | -37% | 108% |
| Illinois Tool Works | Glenview | IL | 87.97 | 26.80 | 53.54 | 228% | -50% | 64% |
| Ventas | Chicago | IL | 65.49 | 20.41 | 45.25 | 221% | -55% | 45% |
| Richardson Electronics | Lafox | IL | 10.12 | 3.17 | 7.01 | 219% | -55% | 44% |
| Treehouse Foods | Oak Brook | IL | 80.64 | 26.56 | 22.99 | 204% | 16% | 251% |
| PrivateBancorp | Chicago | IL | 28.83 | 9.57 | 32.65 | 201% | -71% | -12% |
| Schawk | Des Plaines | IL | 20.80 | 6.94 | 15.52 | 200% | -55% | 34% |
| Hub Group | Downers Grove | IL | 47.11 | 15.87 | 26.58 | 197% | -40% | 77% |
| Equity LifeStyle Properties | Chicago | IL | 45.34 | 15.29 | 22.84 | 197% | -33% | 99% |
| Arthur J Gallagher | Itasca | IL | 46.30 | 15.68 | 24.19 | 195% | -35% | 91% |
| RR Donnelley & Sons | Chicago | IL | 17.21 | 5.87 | 37.74 | 193% | -84% | -54% |
| Accenture | Chicago | IL | 79.81 | 28.00 | 36.03 | 185% | -22% | 122% |
| Consolidated Communications | Mattoon | IL | 23.75 | 8.38 | 19.90 | 183% | -58% | 19% |
| Walgreen Co | Deerfield | IL | 62.07 | 22.09 | 38.08 | 181% | -42% | 63% |
| First Midwest Bancorp | Itasca | IL | 16.87 | 6.28 | 30.60 | 169% | -79% | -45% |
| MB Financial | Chicago | IL | 27.30 | 10.17 | 30.83 | 168% | -67% | -11% |
| Mondelez | Deerfield | IL | 36.04 | 14.15 | 21.35 | 155% | -34% | 69% |
| AAR Corp | Wood Dale | IL | 27.64 | 10.99 | 38.03 | 152% | -71% | -27% |
| Hospira | Lake Forest | IL | 55.48 | 22.21 | 42.64 | 150% | -48% | 30% |
| Stericycle | Lake Forest | IL | 119.00 | 47.74 | 59.40 | 149% | -20% | 100% |
| Aptar Group | Crystal Lake | IL | 63.68 | 25.55 | 40.91 | 149% | -38% | 56% |
| Morningstar | Chicago | IL | 67.85 | 28.79 | 77.75 | 136% | -63% | -13% |
| Oil-Dri Corp America | Chicago | IL | 30.39 | 13.11 | 21.94 | 132% | -40% | 39% |
| Cabot Microelectronics | Aurora | IL | 42.66 | 19.06 | 35.91 | 124% | -47% | 19% |
| RLI Corp | Peoria | IL | 45.41 | 21.88 | 28.40 | 108% | -23% | 60% |
| CME Group | Chicago | IL | 73.81 | 36.49 | 137.20 | 102% | -73% | -46% |
| Merge Healthcare | Chicago | IL | 2.59 | 1.31 | 1.19 | 98% | 10% | 118% |
| Lifeway Foods | Morton Grove | IL | 13.33 | 6.82 | 11.83 | 95% | -42% | 13% |
| Old Republic Intl | Chicago | IL | 14.90 | 7.66 | 15.41 | 95% | -50% | -3% |
| Archer Daniels Midland | Decatur | IL | 49.79 | 25.96 | 46.43 | 92% | -44% | 7% |
| FreightCar America | Chicago | IL | 27.45 | 14.52 | 35.00 | 89% | -59% | -22% |
| Abbott Laboratories | Abbott Park | IL | 42.23 | 22.44 | 26.87 | 88% | -16% | 57% |
| Allscripts Healthcare Solutions | Chicago | IL | 14.41 | 7.93 | 19.42 | 82% | -59% | -26% |
| Heritage-Crystal Clean | Elgin | IL | 15.99 | 8.84 | 14.19 | 81% | -38% | 13% |
| McDonald's | Oak Brook | IL | 94.25 | 52.12 | 58.91 | 81% | -12% | 60% |
| PCTEL | Bloomingdale | IL | 7.56 | 4.31 | 6.86 | 75% | -37% | 10% |
| Inland Real Estate | Oak Brook | IL | 10.53 | 6.12 | 14.16 | 72% | -57% | -26% |
| AM Castle | Oak Brook | IL | 9.57 | 5.89 | 27.19 | 62% | -78% | -65% |
| Tootsie Rolls Industries | Chicago | IL | 27.96 | 17.33 | 22.96 | 61% | -25% | 22% |
| Rubicon Technology | Bensenville | IL | 6.30 | 3.93 | 23.75 | 60% | -83% | -73% |
| Huron Consulting Group | Chicago | IL | 63.10 | 40.75 | 80.63 | 55% | -49% | -22% |
| Navigant Consulting | Chicago | IL | 16.51 | 11.07 | 13.67 | 49% | -19% | 21% |
| Baxter Intl | Deerfield | IL | 75.21 | 51.92 | 58.05 | 45% | -11% | 30% |
| Heidrick & Struggles Intl | Chicago | IL | 20.12 | 14.00 | 37.11 | 44% | -62% | -46% |
| Northern Trust | Chicago | IL | 67.15 | 47.38 | 76.58 | 42% | -38% | -12% |
| BankFinancial Corp | Burr Ridge | IL | 10.37 | 7.54 | 15.82 | 38% | -52% | -34% |
| The Female Health Co | Chicago | IL | 3.93 | 2.95 | 2.61 | 33% | 13% | 51% |
| Coeur Mining Inc | Chicago | IL | 8.28 | 6.30 | 49.40 | 31% | -87% | -83% |
| Terra Nitrogen Co. LP | Deerfield | IL | 153.00 | 118.97 | 149.53 | 29% | -20% | 2% |
| Lawson Products | Chicago | IL | 17.86 | 14.25 | 37.92 | 25% | -62% | -53% |
| United States Cellular | Chicago | IL | 37.46 | 30.34 | 84.10 | 23% | -64% | -55% |
| Telephone & Data Systems | Chicago | IL | 25.50 | 23.08 | 57.59 | 10% | -60% | -56% |
| Sears Holdings | Hoffman Estates | IL | 35.16 | 33.01 | 94.81 | 7% | -65% | -63% |
| First Mid-Illinois Bancshares | Mattoon | IL | 20.51 | 19.90 | 26.05 | 3% | -24% | -21% |
| DeVry Education Group | Downers Group | IL | 42.85 | 44.19 | 51.96 | -3% | -15% | -18% |
| First Busey | Champaign | IL | 5.68 | 6.15 | 19.86 | -8% | -69% | -71% |
| Landauer | Glenwood | IL | 36.57 | 50.65 | 51.85 | -28% | -2% | -29% |
| Fuel-Tech | Warrenville | IL | 4.64 | 7.48 | 22.65 | -38% | -67% | -80% |
| Inteliquent | Chicago | IL | 11.10 | 18.99 | 19.02 | -42% | 0% | -42% |
| Career Education | Schaumburg | IL | 5.60 | 20.80 | 25.14 | -73% | -17% | -78% |
| Average % Change all 117 | 534% | -56% | 66% |
It is just incredible how many Illinois Companies with Market Capitalizations above $100 mil have been sold just recently. It is a very good sign to see so many acquiring companies to be looking to the Chicago Metro Area just like it is for college basketball recruiters to be looking to players from Chicago Area High Schools.
In addition to the above five Chicago Area Companies acquired so far in 2014, there were another five of them acquired in 2013.
But in addition to all of these Chicago Metro Area Companies which existed at December 2007 doing so well, there were also many of them filing Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) subsequently that have had very robust stock market price appreciation from their Initial Offering Prices. Below here are the 20 Illinois IPOs since 2009 which had stock market price appreciation of at least 8% above the Initial Offering Price:
| % | |||||||||
| Market | # of | ||||||||
| Price | Months | ||||||||
| 8-18-14 | Change | Stock | |||||||
| Stock | From | Traded | |||||||
| IPO | City | State | Market | Offering | Offering | Thru | |||
| Date | Illinois Company IPO | HQs | Sector | Industry | Price | Price | Price | 8-18-14 | |
| $ | $ | ||||||||
| 7/29/10 | Envestnet | Chicago | IL | Technology | Financial Services | $46.40 | 9.00 | 416% | 49 |
| 2/10/09 | Mead Johnson Nutrition | Glenview | IL | Consumer Goods | Processed & Packaged Goods | $94.75 | 24.00 | 295% | 66 |
| 11/5/09 | Hyatt Hotels | Chicago | IL | Services | Lodging | $60.65 | 25.00 | 143% | 57 |
| 10/28/09 | Addus HomeCare | Palatine | IL | Healthcare | Home Health Care | $22.75 | 10.00 | 128% | 58 |
| 6/7/13 | Textura | Deerfield | IL | Technology | Application Software | $29.65 | 15.00 | 98% | 14 |
| 4/5/12 | Retail Properties of America | Oak Brook | IL | Financial | REIT-Retail | $15.57 | 8.00 | 95% | 28 |
| 6/27/13 | CDW Corp | Vernon Hills | IL | Technology | Information Technology Services | $32.69 | 17.00 | 92% | 14 |
| 6/15/10 | CBOE Holdings | Chicago | IL | Financial | Diversified Investmrnts | $51.75 | 29.00 | 78% | 50 |
| 7/19/12 | Durata Therapeutics | Chicago | IL | Healthcare | Biotechnology | $15.99 | 9.00 | 78% | 25 |
| 10/2/09 | Echo Global Logitcs | Chicago | IL | Services | Trucking | $24.75 | 14.00 | 77% | 58 |
| 3/21/13 | Aviv REIT | Chicago | IL | Financial | REIT-Diversified | $28.10 | 16.00 | 76% | 17 |
| 4/20/11 | Sagent Pharmaceuticals | Schaumburg | IL | Healthcare | Drugs-Generic | $26.10 | 16.00 | 63% | 40 |
| 1/18/13 | SunCoke Energy Partners, L.P. | Lisle | IL | Basic Materials | Nonmetallic Mineral Mining | $30.65 | 19.00 | 61% | 19 |
| 4/4/14 | Grubhub | Chicago | IL | Technology | Internet Information Providers | $41.11 | 26.00 | 58% | 4 |
| 7/21/11 | SunCoke Energy | Lisle | IL | Basic Materials | Steel & Iron | $24.42 | 16.00 | 53% | 37 |
| 3/19/14 | Paylocity Holding | Arlington Heights | IL | Technology | Application Software | $24.80 | 17.00 | 46% | 5 |
| 5/23/13 | Global Brass and Copper Holdings | Schaumburg | IL | Industrial Goods | Metal Fabrication | $15.55 | 11.00 | 41% | 15 |
| 10/30/13 | Surgical Care Affiliates | Deerfield | IL | Health Care | Skilled Health Services | $29.41 | 24.00 | 23% | 10 |
| 5/20/10 | Accretive Health | Chicago | IL | Healthcare | Management Services | $13.19 | 12.00 | 10% | 51 |
| 7/28/11 | Horizon Pharma | Deerfield | IL | Healthcare | Major Drug Manufacturers | $9.69 | 9.00 | 8% | 37 |
In like manner on the employment front, from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Illinois' State unemployment rate precisely doubled, going from 5.5% in December 2007 to 11.0% in October 2009, which was the very lowest point for the US Labor Market due to the lagging spillover effects resulting from the disastrous 2008 Financial Meltdown. But in the four years and eight months since then, when Democrat Dick Durbin was in office, the Illinois State unemployment rate has declined sharply from 11.0% in October 2009 to 7.1% in the most recently reported June 2014.
Illinois Citizens must be extremely pleased with both the outstanding performance of nearly all of their Illinois Companies as well as with the substantial drop in the Illinois Unemployment Rate, both occurring during the most recent roughly five years when the very influential Democrat Dick Durbin was serving in the US Senate very effectively for the interests of his Illinois constituents.
