The SJC 25 Stock Report, Jan. 29, 2012

Editors Note  – In this feature, we check on the health of the Fortune 500 companies which have a presence in San Juan Capistrano. 

It was a rocky week, with some dips canceling out some gains. 

The TJX Cos., which runs the local Marshall's, hit its highest share price ever. Citigroup was our biggest winner on the week, while Wells Fargo was our biggest loser. So obviously it's not an industry "thing." 

Quest Diagnostics had a good week. Its earnings-per-share came in 17 cents higher than expected. But next quarter's outlook isn't as rosy. Still, after punching in less-than-stellar results since the , it was nice to plug in a good bounce.

Our three-month performance stands at a +5.9 percent, while the Dow Jones is up 3.7 percent and the S&P 500 is up 2.47 percent. SJC Patch 25 for the win! Wonder when anyone's going to take notice of our index???

Some Business Briefs for You:

Ralphs grocery store's charitable arm, the Ralphs Fund, will be raising money for and other hospitals, the company announced this week. Since 2005, Ralphs, its associates and customers have given more than $1.2 million to children's hospitals in Southern California. This year, Ralphs has set a goal of raising $200,000 for children's hospitals. Nice!

By now, you've read that . Still no word on which locations will get the alcohol. While personally, I can see it at the one by the Mission, surrounded by some terrific restaurants, I have a harder time seeing it in the one at the corner of Del Obispo Street and Camino Cap.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce called this week for government to ease its immigration restrictions on entreprenuers who want to come to the country and open a business. It noted 18 of the Fortune 500, including Big Lots and Google, were started by immigrants. These companies generated $1.7 trillion of revenue in 2010. 

Uh-oh. The Ritz-Carlton chain of hotels, owned by Marriott, borrowed money against for of their ritzy (the name fits!) properties in New York and Washington, and the lenders are getting nervous. They say the loans are at risk for defaulting, as travel to the luxurioius hotels have fallen. That would be the pitz. (Sorry, couldn't help myself!)

Tom Keller, who has served as president of Vons for 40 years, announced his retirement. But I just loved the name of this website that published the item: Perishable News. 

Censorship at UPS? After Pres. Obama spoke to workers in Las Vegas Thursday, some reporters wanted to get reaction. But when the employees started to talk, they were whisked away by company officials. A UPS spokeswoman later said that only pre-arranged interviews are allowed. Hmmm, wonder what the workers were about to say ...

Finally, here's more on the Chipotle-ization of Taco Bell.

 Ticker 

  % Change

 on the Week 

  +3.11

– Financial data provided by Google Finance