Johnson Outdoors up 11% ... but hold the celebration

The story on the Journal Sentinel website sent me scrambling. Posted at mid-day, it said that Johnson Outdoors had the largest gain today of any Wisconsin stock!

"In a mixed day for stocks nationally, Johnson Outdoors Inc. (JOUT) led all Wisconsin stocks at midday, with a gain of $2.16 a share or 11.2%."

By the time I got around to checking, the New York Stock Exchange had closed for the day, and, yes indeedy, JOUT ended the day with a big gain: Up $2.16 cents from its Friday close. That's what the RacinePost stock widget on our main page says, also.

But a look at the fine print takes the achievement down a notch or three: There were just two trades today, each of 100 shares. In other words, exactly $4,284 worth of Johnson Outdoors stock changed hands today, out of the company's $197 million market cap; 200 shares out of 9.2 million!

In actuality, JOUT is back within a penny of where it was all day Friday -- except for the final trade that day, which dropped it down ... um, $2.16, thanks to one trade of 200 shares of stock.

Up is good, but read the fine print. Don't break out the champagne just yet. Much ado about nothing, in other words.