GraphTech International (GTI)

Company

"GrafTech International Ltd. is one of the world's leading manufacturers of carbon and graphite products for industrial applications in a diverse array of industries: metal production, electronics, chemicals, aerospace and transportation, among others. Our products, which include carbon and graphite electrodes, carbon and graphite cathode blocks, advanced carbon and graphite materials, and flexible graphite, are manufactured on four continents and sold in over 70 countries around the world. Continuing a century-old tradition of global leadership, the employees of GrafTech are united in their dedication to common goals: continually improving productivity, maximizing profitability and delivering the highest levels of quality and value to our customers." (company website)

Buy

1-Mar-06. When GTI got slammed after adverse news, I held out hope that it was an over-reaction and cooler heads would eventually prevail, bringing the price back up. For a time, that seemed to be the case, so I violated the rule about cost-averaging down.

• Price momentum (PPO) — gaining for past week
• Trend (ADX) — weakening has stabilized
• Money flow (CMF) — still negative, but stable
• Relative strength (RSI) — picking up a bit
• Volume — up days with average volume

9-Mar-06. GTI reported pro-forma earnings in line with expectations but swung to loss (GAAP) on huge charges. The Market was not impressed. What to do???

Sell

10-Mar-06. This dog just won't hunt. It was time to do the right thing and dump it. The price has fallen below when GTI got slammed, and there is nothing in the chart that I can interpret as even a glimmer of hope.