Thursday, February 19, 2009

Alloy Steel Update



Ugly tape for Alloy Steel International (OTC BB: AYSI.OB) on a down day. Looks like a flat-lining EKG. No company-specific news today, but there have been some tentatively positive indicators related to the metals sector recently1. Picked up a few more shares today at .29.


1E.g.,

- Temasek, the $134 billion Singaporean sovereign wealth fund, recently hired Chip Goodyear, former CEO of blue chip miner BHP Billiton, as its new chief (Wall Street Journal: Temasek Shakes Up Its Top Ranks -- Ho Ching Out, 'Chip' Goodyear In at Singapore Fund; a Commodity Push?)

- China bought a stake in (over-levered) blue chip miner Rio Tinto (BBC: China takes a stake in Rio Tinto)

- The Baltic Dry Index was up 147% year-to-date as of February 17th (Bloomberg: "Shipping Index Surge Signals Commodity Currency Gains"). It's up about 166% as of today (but still down steeply from its 2008 highs).

On the other hand, the continuing global recession is obviously bearish, and as reader Sivaram noted in a recent comment thread ("Mohnish, How Are You Feeling"), Mohnish Pabrai mentioned in his annual investor letter that he has turned bullish on the commodity sector, which, given his recent track record, could be considered a bearish indicator.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dave, please get out of these microcaps before they bust like firecrackers Christine so loves cracking. Don't tell me I didn't warn ya!

-Paul

Anonymous said...

NOT my comment.

The real Paul Price

Anonymous said...

Buy Alloy.... it's a "Steel" at this price.

DaveinHackensack said...

This goes in the bearish indicator column, NY Times: "Anglo American Cuts 19,000 Jobs".