Stock market continues bull run

The U.S. stock market finished the second quarter with a flourish, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallying on the final four days of June.

The surge gave the Dow its fourth consecutive quarterly rise.

“Give the market a much better-than-expected data point, and it’s a one-way ticket up,” Elliot Spar, market strategist at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., told MarketWatch.com.

The Dow closed the quarter at 12,414.34, up 0.8 percent for the quarter and up 7.2 percent for the year.

Twenty-six of the Dow’s 30 components tallied gains in the quarter, as investors took comfort in the reclaiming of the 12,000 mark.

Twenty of the 36 local stocks in the BizTimes Stock Index gained ground in the quarter, led by Merge Technologies Inc., Johnson Outdoors Inc., MagneTek Inc. Twin Disc Inc. and Koss Corp.

However, the manufacturers in the local index sported mixed results, as Badger Meter Inc., Zbb Energy Corp. and Strattec Security Corp. reported double-digit decreases in the quarter.

The stock of Merge Healthcare, which has headquarters in Hartland, Wis., and Chicago, emerged as a penny stock of favor among institutional investors in the quarter. Merge Healthcare’s stock topped by the BizTimes Stock Index for the quarter by rising 38 percent to $5.13 per share.

The company announced in June it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Opthalmic Imaging Systems Inc. (OIS) of Sacramento, Calif.

Upon the closing of this merger, Merge Healthcare will add ophthalmic imaging and informatics to its current portfolio of enterprise imaging solutions for radiology, cardiology and orthopaedics; a suite of products for clinical trials; software for financial and pre-surgical management; and applications that fuel the largest modality vendors in the world.

“Merge Healthcare is a leader in virtually every image-intensive healthcare specialty, and with OIS we will add the important specialty of ophthalmology,” said Jeff Surges, chief executive officer of Merge Healthcare. “Demand for ophthalmic imaging solutions is increasing due to factors such as an aging population, improved treatment results based on early disease recognition and increased incidence of visual impairment, as well as the growing need for portable diagnostic equipment. OIS is a recognized leader in ophthalmic imaging and informatics. The OIS solution suite and client base of prominent clinics and hospital networks are an ideal complement to our enterprise imaging capabilities and will be a great addition to our solutions portfolio.”

The BizTimes Stock Index will lose a local stock later this month, when BMO Financial Group closes on its acquisition of Milwaukee-based Marshall & Ilsley Corp., the parent company of M&I Bank. The M&I brand will give way to BMO Harris Bank.

The transaction also will anoint Green Bay-based Associated Banc-Corp. as the largest Wisconsin-based bank.