Recently, AK Steel Holding Corp. (AKS) announced the fourth installment of a price increase for its carbon steel products. The company raised spot market prices for its carbon steel products by $40 per ton, effective with all new orders for September and October shipments. This adds to a hike of $40 per ton for hot rolled products and $50 per ton for cold rolled and coated products announced in the beginning of July.

AK Steel has lately taken several steps including price increases that convey its optimistic outlook on the steel industry. Recent developments in the sector that range from possible growth in Chinese demand to stability in the auto industry after the bankruptcy of General Motors and Chrysler LLC are factors behind this optimism.

In the second quarter, AK Steel posted a narrower loss of $47.2 million, or 43 cents per share, compared to a loss of

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AK Steel Holding Corporation (AKS) announced its second-quarter 2009 results on Jul 21.

Net losses were 43 cents per share, which was narrower than our expectations for a loss of 53 cents. However, the company had reported a profit of $1.29 in the year-ago period. Operating loss of $72.5 million in the quarter was marginally lower than the estimated loss of $75 million to $80 million.

Net sales for the quarter plunged 64% to $793.6 million on shipments of 740,600 tons, higher than the expected shipments of 725,000 tons in the quarter. But on a year-over-year basis, shipments were down about 57% from 1,737,800 tons. The average selling price for the second quarter was $1,072 per ton, a 17% decrease over the second quarter of 2008. AKS had expected the selling price to decline 3%-4% per ton.

AK Steel provided its guidance for the third quarter of 2009. Shipments are expected

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AK Steel: Losses to continue in 2Q 2009 Ohio-based AK Steel Holding Corporation (AKS), a leading producer of flat-rolled carbon, stainless, electrical steel and tubular products, is set to release its earnings for the second quarter of 2009 on Wednesday, July 22. On May 5, 2009, AK Steel had revised its second quarter 2009 guidance provided with the first quarter 2009 results. The company anticipates that its second quarter shipments will likely be closer to 725,000 tons rather than the 800,000 tons estimated in its initial guidance. With the reduction in anticipated shipments for the quarter, AK Steel anticipates its average per-ton selling price for the second quarter 2009 to decrease approximately 3% to 4% compared to the first quarter. The company expects planned maintenance costs to be $15 million higher in the second quarter compared to the first quarter, primarily due to a planned ...

A federal judge handed the Obama administration an important victory in its push to steer the automobile industry back to health Sunday, approving the sale of General Motors Corp.’s (OTC: GMGMQ) most profitable assets to a new government-run company.

The move removes an important barrier to the company’s plan to exit bankruptcy.

Judge Robert E. Gerber of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York issued a ruling saying the sale was GM’s only option and that it would “prevent the death of the patient on the operating table,” according to Reuters.

The 87-page ruling rejected appeals from a group of bondholders, tort claimants and unions who had objected to the plan.

“As nobody can seriously dispute, the only alternative to an immediate sale is liquidation — a disastrous result for GM’s creditors, its employees, the suppliers who depend on GM for their own existence, and the communities

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The economy continued to show signs of recovery from the worst recession in 60 years as the total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits dropped for the first time since January, the Labor Department reported yesterday (Thursday).

The good news came in spite of a small jump in initial applications for state unemployment insurance, which rose by a more-than-expected 3,000 to 608,000 in the week ended June 13. Analysts polled byReuters were expecting claims to dip to 600,000 from a previously reported 601,000.

But analysts were largely focused on a trend in continuing claims, which tracks jobless workers who stayed on government benefit rolls.

Those claims plunged by 148,000 to a smaller-than-anticipated 6.69 million in the week ended June 6, the latest week for which data was available. That is the lowest number since May 9, and the largest one-week drop since November 2001, Reuters reported.

And in another sign the labor

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Top financial officials from the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations on Friday issued an upbeat evaluation of the global financial crisis, describing signs that markets were stabilizing around the world and warning that it was necessary to devise “exit strategies” to disengage from stimulus programs that have been put in place.

The G8 met for two days in Lecce, Italy. Eight world finance ministers – including U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, and his global counterparts from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia – also agreed to create “a set of common principles and standards governing the conduct of international business and finance,”The Washington Post reported.

In a communiqué called “the Lecce Framework” – which described the strategy for obtaining those goals – the finance ministers called on government leaders to fill in the regulatory gaps that led to the global financial crisis, including

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To read a related story on how the long-term dismantling of U.S. banking regulations set the stage for the …

GM Cans Mid-Size Trucks; Treasury Yields Soar to 7-month High; Airlines Grounded by $9 Billion Loss; Copper Sinks as Dollar Rises; Supreme Court Delays Chrysler Sale; McDonald’s misses estimates; Apple debuts new iPhone

After repeated attempts to sell its medium-duty truck operations,General Motors Corp. (OTC: GMGQ), yesterday (Monday) said that it would halt their production by July 31. Reuters reported. “After four years of working with multiple potential buyers, General Motors has decided to wind down its medium-duty truck operations,” the automaker said in a statement.  GM plans to cease production of Chevrolet Kodiak and GMC Topkick. The automaker sold about 20,000 of the vehicles last year, down from roughly 30,000 in 2007, as the U.S. economy sank into a deep recession. Yields on two-year treasuries soared to the highest level since November, as investors expressed concern that record issuance of U.S. debt may overwhelm demand ...

If history is our guide, then the rally we’ve seen in U.S. stocks in recent weeks is more than just a periodic run-up in share prices – it’s the initial stage of a prolonged bull market.

The 13-week rally the Dow Jones Industrial Average has experienced off its March lows is the most powerful surge that index has seen since the Great Depression. If we look to history, stocks should continue to rally over the next three months.

“I say this with the utmost confidence and my fingers tightly crossed: This is the start of a new bull run,” Hugh Johnson, chairman of Johnson Illington Advisors, told MarketWatch.com.

The 13-week stretch from March 9 through May 29, which saw the Dow soar 28.3%, has been bested only once – by the 40.8% run-up the Dow enjoyed in the 13 weeks that followed its hitting a bottom in May 1932. The

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Reports Point to Housing Market Bottom; Big Three Automakers Beat Estimates; Microsoft Will Unveil New Operating System in Time for XMAS; Dallas Fed President: Economy ‘Getting Less Worse’; European Jobless Rate Climbs;  Pepsi Bottling Chief Could Cash In

The housing market showed further signs of bottoming in April, as pending sales of previously owned U.S. homes saw their biggest monthly gain in seven and a half years, the National Association of Realtors reported. The number of Americans signing contracts to buy previously owned homes climbed 6.7% in April, more than forecast and the fourth increase in five months. The report supports the case for a housing bottom made in Money Morning on Monday, where it was noted that housing prices are starting to move upward in western U.S. markets and should soon slowly begin to rise in hard-hit east coast markets.  “Based on what we just ...