Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of AK Steel
So what: AK Steel was hit twice over the weekend, getting a downgrade from Dahlman Rose & Company and from Goldman Sachs. Goldman cited weak steel prices, debt, and the company's pension funding requirements as a reason for the downgrade.
Now what: AK Steel now sits with a sell rating from Goldman and a hold rating from Dahlman. We don't usually take analyst ratings too seriously, but this may be a time to take a step back from this stock. Earnings estimates for 2012 have fallen like a rock recently and the company has more than $3 billion of long-term debt and other liabilities. I don't think this is a good sign for the stock going forward and would wait for stronger fundamental performance before giving my thumbs-up.
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