Investor snapshot: In rough seas, game stocks tread water

Game stocks were mixed Friday as the week drew to a close. Shares in Activision (ATVI) climbed 60 cents to close at $15.42, and Konami (KNM) shares rose a quarter to $22.60. Electronic Arts (ERTS) shares saw minor gains, trading 14 cents higher at $51.92. Shares in Midway (MWY) and Eidos (EIDSY) were up by pennies in the day's trading.

On the downside, shares in Electronics Boutique (ELBO) slid 90 cents to $42.07. Jamdat Mobile (JMDT) shares lost 30 cents, closing at $20.28, and shares in THQ Inc. (THQI) were trading 29 cents lower at $22.43. Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) shares closed 12 cents lower at $38.98. Shares in Atari (ATAR) and Vivendi Universal (V) were down a few cents each.

In overseas trading, Nintendo shares closed 80 yen (74 cents) lower at 11,620 yen ($107.91) on the Japanese exchange. Shares in Ubisoft, traded on the Paris Stock Exchange, lost .08 euros (10 cents) Friday to finish the week at 30 euros ($38.72).

Looking back to Jan. 3--the first trading day of 2005--many game stocks have shown healthy increases while others have been hurting. THQ kicked off the year at $22.43; its share price today is $5.42 higher. Take-Two's shares are currently trading $3.60 higher than their January opener of $35.38, and shares in Electronics Boutique are $2.07 higher than their 2005 debut, $40. Midway shares are now trading 26 cents higher than the $10.02 they started with on Jan. 3, and Atari shares are up 31 cents from $2.79 on the quarter.

Electronic Arts shares fell $8.96 over the three-month period from their opening price of $60.88, despite the important sports-license acquisitions it scored during the quarter.

Activision shares were $4.21 lower today than their Jan. 3 price of $19.63. For Jamdat Mobile, share prices were down $3.34 from $20.28, and Vivendi Universal shares lost $1.67, from $32.35, for the quarter. For Konami shares, the drop was 62 cents from its 2005 opening price of $23.22, and Eidos shares fell 44 cents over the quarter, down from $1.62.

In Paris, Ubisoft shares gained 4.16 euros ($5.37) from their quarterly opening price of 25.84 euros ($33.33). Nintendo shares, traded in Japan, lost 1,380 yen ($12.82) from their Jan. 4 price of 13,000 yen ($120.72). (The Japanese markets were closed on Jan. 3, 2005.)

On the broader markets, April Fools' Day was no laughing matter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 99.46 points to 10,404.30. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 14.42 points, closing at 1984.81, while the S&P 500 closed 7.67 points lower at 1,172.92.