When it comes to jobs, Pittsburgh may have lagged much of the country last year, but the same can't be said for the performance of its companies -- at least not when it came to their stock price.

	Online Graphic: Winners and Losers See a graphic that shows the best- and worst-performing shares of Pittsburgh's publicly traded companies.

The PG/Bloomberg Index of local company stocks soared 22.06 percent over the past 12 months, led by a mix of up-and-comers and some old stand-bys, from former Westinghouse electrical distribution unit Wesco International (up 235 percent) and Upper St. Clair-based coal and natural gas producer Consol Energy (up 58 percent) to high-tech software and equipment firms II-VI (up 65 percent), Ansys (up 62 percent) and Ansoft (up 59 percent).

By comparison, the Dow Jones industrial average closed the year up 3.14 percent, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index finished up 8.97 percent and the tech-laden Nasdaq index rose 8.56 percent, excluding reinvested dividends. It remains to be seen, if the performance of the local Pittsburgh index is a harbinger of things to come for a region that could use some uplifting economic news.

Here's a rundown of some of the past year's local winners -- and losers:

Winners

Wesco International
This stepchild of Westinghouse Electric began cutting costs, boosting productivity and developing new marketing initiatives in the economic downturn that began in 2001. The efforts paid off as the recovery strengthened last year. Net income doubled during the first nine months of 2004 to $47.3 million after climbing 30 percent in 2003.

American Eagle Outfitters
A strong back-to-school-season lifted shares of the Marshall retailer, which lives or dies based on its ability to meet the fashion expectations of America's teenagers. Also energizing the shares: payment of its first dividend and the sale of its Bluenotes stores in Canada, a 2000 acquisition that never panned out.

Mine Safety Appliances
The O'Hare firm continued to benefit from record sales of products to the fire safety, military and home security markets. Hot products include a new combat helmet for the military; thermal imaging cameras that help locate victims in burning buildings; and the first gas mask to meet federal standards for protecting public safety workers from terror attacks and other incidents involving chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agents.

Michael Baker
The Moon-based engineering and energy services firm started the year with a $721 million backlog of business that grew to more than $1.5 billion at the end of the third quarter, thanks to new federal contracts, including developing and managing a national digital map of floods and other hazards. The five-year contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency has a maximum value of $750 million.

Nova Chemicals
The Canadian-based company with a management center in Moon was a star performer in a year when commodity stocks sizzled. Profits increased sixfold in the first nine months of 2004. Higher chemicals prices, including a 60 percent run up in polyethylene, helped.

Allegheny Technologies
Thanks to a new contract with the United Steelworkers of America and the reviving economy, the Downtown-based specialty metals producer broke a 10-quarter losing streak when it posted a second-quarter profit of $26.6 million. Rising tide of steel stocks lifted all boats and Allegheny's shares had sunk lower than many others, reaching $2.45 in the spring of 2003.

Losers

Tollgrade
A three-year telecommunications industry slump took its toll on the Cheswick concern, which makes testing equipment for telephone and cable television companies. Revenue fell 1 percent in the first nine months of 2004 while earnings tumbled 63 percent.

Mylan Laboratories
Two quarters of disappointing earnings and a glum forecast from CEO Robert J. Coury sent shares of the Canonsburg generic drug maker sharply lower. An ugly proxy fight with billionaire investor Carl Icahn over its proposed $4 billion acquisition of King Pharmaceuticals and unfavorable actions by the Food and Drug Administration finished the job.

Alcoa
The year started well enough for the Pittsburgh-based global aluminum giant, with strong prices and demand lifting second-quarter sales to their highest level in the final quarter of 2000. Then came flat third quarter profits and downgrades from Wall Street firms that cited higher costs for energy and raw materials, the weaker U.S. dollar, and softer demand from the automotive and housing markets.

C-Cor and IGate
The rebound of tech stocks made these two local companies top performers in 2003, but they tumbled to the bottom of the heap last year. Oakdale-based IGate's losses widened considerably because of higher operating costs and nearly $5 million in restructuring charges. A $1 million loss in its fiscal first quarter ended in September stalled State College-based C-Cor's recovery.

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