It's been a pretty rough year for stock investors, with the S&P basically ending flat in 2011. While the general market went nowhere last year, quite a few stocks poured in monster performances.
Chemical prices have been all over the place, but fertilizers and titanium dioxide have been two very bright spots for the industry.
Here's a list of this year's top 15 performers in the chemicals industry:
|
Company |
YTD Return |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Valhi |
171.2% |
| 2 |
Flotek Industries |
86.6% |
| 3 |
Terra Nitrogen |
69.6% |
| 4 |
NewMarket |
63.9% |
| 5 | Innophos Holdings | 39.6% |
| 6 | Innospec | 39.0% |
| 7 | Airgas | 30.8% |
| 8 | W.R. Grace | 28.2% |
| 9 | FutureFuel | 28.2% |
| 10 |
Balchem |
23.8% |
| 11 | Tredegar | 19.9% |
| 12 |
LSB Industries |
16.3% |
| 13 |
RPM International |
15.6% |
| 14 | Ecolab | 15.1% |
| 15 | Praxair | 14.7% |
Source: S&P Capital IQ. Only includes companies listed on U.S. exchanges with a market capitalization greater than $500 million.
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