GateHouse Shares Hammered Down To 44 Cents

By: Mark Fitzgerald Wall Street continued its beat-down of GateHouse Media Inc. stock Friday, sending shares below half a buck and cutting its value by nearly 50% in the week.

GateHouse (NYSE: GHS) closed 4 p.m. EDT trading at 44 cents, down 19 cents, or 30.16%. That was a new all-time low for GateHouse, which has traded as high as $17.43 in the past 52 weeks. The stock opened Monday at 88 cents.

Big Board floor trading of Fairport, N.Y.-based GateHouse's stock has been halted because it trades below $1. It faces delisting if it remains at depressed levels, and it cannot bring its market capitalization above $75 million. Based on Friday's close, its market cap is about $25.6 million.

It was a mixed day for the newspaper sector as the broader market closed down on rising oil prices and concerns the economy could still be heading into a recession.

The Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO) closed on the down side, off $19.50, or 3.15%, at $598.75. The company reported a second-quarter loss on charges related to buyouts at its flagship Washington Post.

Also closing down was Gannett Co. Inc.; The McClatchy Co.; E.W. Scripps Co.; and Journal Register Co., which closed at a penny a share on the OTC Pink Sheets.

Gainers were American Community Newspapers; Journal Communications; Lee Enterprises Inc.; Media General Inc; and The New York Times Co.