A Tough Week for Many-- European Materials Stocks, in Particular

It has been a tough week for equity markets around the world.  In Europe, the Materials sector has been particularly weak:



And, while the group has few constituents that show a high likelihood of outperformance in the near future, one member distinguished itself with especially negative performance this week:



In the wake of announcing a dramatic cut to its dividend, the German fertilizer and agricultural chemicals company saw stock prices fall significantly.  Our relative strength point-and-figure chart (versus the MSCI World Index) shows weakness extending back to 2011:



For now at least, the bearish downtrend line seems likely to remain intact.