Quick, name one thing you learned about sports as a child. Chances are, whether it was a parent or a coach, someone conditioned you to keep your eye on the ball.
Although I missed my share of volleys on the tennis court, I will not for one moment take my eyes off the bellwether stocks of global industry. I continue to encourage every Fool to do the same throughout this complex crisis.
Amid a flurry of earnings reports out this week, scrappy steelmaker Nucor
Rewarding this resilience, buyers carried the company's stock to an intraday, double-digit percent gain on Wednesday. Smaller competitors Steel Dynamics
When it comes to keeping his eye on the ball, Nucor CEO Dan DiMicco is the Joe DiMaggio of industry executives. Over the past several years, DiMicco has built the company into America's second-largest steelmaker and North America's largest metals recycler. Don't expect this CEO to exit out the back door like POSCO
While participating in the deep production cuts that have shrunk the industry to less than 50% of capacity utilization, Nucor has thus far maintained a no-layoffs policy. As competitors like ArcelorMittal
Nucor boasts a massive moat of liquidity that's greater than the company's total debt balance. Recognizing lingering uncertainty, Nucor again declined to offer numerical guidance for the present quarter, and quipped that anyone trying to do so is "kidding themselves.” Don't kid yourself, this steelmaker will likely withstand the storm and see you on the other side.
Further Foolishness:
- Will production declines cut t oo deeply?
- POSCO's outlook is not as rosy as it looked just weeks ago.
- All eyes on the stimulus plans.