Hart Capital Management Inc., a Spokane-based investment firm, says the stock value of 15 publicly traded Inland Northwest companies as measured in an overall index fell 6 percent in the second quarter, compared with the previous quarter.

For its Inland Northwest Index, Hart Capital uses a methodology similar to that of the Standard & Poor's 500 to track the companies' stock value. The S&P was up by 2.4 percent in the same quarter.

The investment company says Coeur Mining Inc. was the laggard in the region's index, down nearly 30 percent for the quarter. The mining industry has dealt with falling commodity prices, and Hecla Mining Co.'s stock price also was hit hard in the second quarter, falling 24.6 percent.

Because Coeur is moving its headquarters to Chicago in the next few months, this was the last time Hart's regional financial reports will include that mining company's results. Coldwater Creek Inc., Ambassadors Group Inc., and Red Lion Hotels Corp. also had second-quarter declines of nearly 21 percent, 17.6 percent, and 14 percent, respectively.

Financial companies had the top-performing stocks in the Hart Capital index, with Northwest Bancorp., Sterling Financial Corp., and WTB Financial Corp. increasing by 10 percent, 9.6 percent, and 8.3 percent, respectively.

In the past 12 months, the index rose nearly 11 percent, which compared with gains of nearly 18 percent and 22.4 percent, respectively, by the S&P and the Russell 2000 small-cap stock market index, Hart Capital says.

Meanwhile, in what it calls the Inland Northwest Composite, Hart Capital tracks the same companies' combined market value, or capitalization, which is share price multiplied by the number of outstanding shares.

As of June 30, the composite stood at $10.5 billion, up 3 percent, or $309 million, from a year earlier. Hart Capital attributes the increase largely to market cap increases of $349 million, $308 million, and $247 million, respectively, by Potlatch Corp., Sterling Financial, and Clearwater Paper Corp., although declines by Coeur, Hecla, and Red Lion partially offset those gains.

While the composite rose from a year earlier, it was down $1.1 billion, or 9.2 percent, from $11.6 billion at the end of March, due mainly to second-quarter market value declines by Coeur, Hecla, and Potlatch.

The companies in both the index and composite reports include Ambassadors Group, Avista Corp., Clearwater Paper, Coeur, Coldwater Creek, Hecla, Idaho Independent Bank, Intermountain Community Bancorp., and Itron Inc. The others are Key Tronic Corp., WTB Financial, Northwest Bancorp, Potlatch, Red Lion, and Sterling Financial.

Hart Capital, which is located at 601 W. Main in downtown Spokane, is a privately owned wealth and asset management investment firm with clients located around the Inland Northwest. It started issuing its quarterly reports in 2006.