From Barron's 5-14-07 "I prefer companies that are more consistently profitable, period. A good example is Nucor. Nucor is as nonintegrated as a company could get, yet they have, because they are not integrated, a very tight rein on their costs. When Katrina hit and gas prices skyrocketed, very few of the integrated companies had hedges in place. The interesting point is that before the gas-price run-up, Nucor's natural-gas cost per ton of steel shipped was only $5, while the integrateds' cost per ton was $35. Nucor was hedged for the next 18 months. The week before Katrina, the average cost of natural gas per ton of steel shipped was $35 for the integrated companies, seven times Nucor's cost, which was only $5. Nucor has had a better focus on controlling costs, and it is true for Steel Dynamics, as well."

From Barron's 5-14-07 "June will be a better month for both Nucor and Steel Dynamics [STLD]. Pricing for hot-rolled coil has improved from a low of $5.25 on average early in the first quarter to $5.75 a ton now. There is an awful lot of steel that is sold on contract, and contract prices unilaterally were up for the calendar year. In overview, we are looking for increasing domestic market share and pricing opportunities as steel imports decline and prices are higher offshore. We are seeing record prices for a whole bunch of steel products overseas."

From Barron's 5-14-07 "Two stocks at the top of my list are Reliance Steel & Aluminum [RS] and Nucor. Both are growth companies masquerading in cyclical clothing. Both have grown their top lines about 20% since 2000. Both have grown their bottom lines significantly more than that. If you hold the debt constant for the next five years, you could easily see both companies funding growth in the 10% to 12% range totally from internal cash flow and earnings per share of a similar amount."

From Barron's 5-14-07 "The other theme, which has been less prevalent but is going to get bigger, is about Europe and Japan looking for exposure to high-value-added markets. There is increasing pressure on the Japanese companies in particular to expand their participation in the U.S. I could see Japanese or European interest in a company like AK Steel [AKS]. What makes AK Steel unique is that they are the buyers of the semi-finished steel made in Russia, Brazil and India, and they have one of the best consumer-durable franchises in this country. While it would be a great fit for U.S. Steel, AK Steel's valuation is relatively rich for them. AK Steel would be worth more to a Japanese or European company, which would pay more to get into the automotive market in the U.S."