Fisher Investments on Materials

Foreword ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xv Part I Getting Started in Materials 1 Chapter 1 Materials Basics 3 Materials 101 4 Commodity Pricing Basics 9 The Production Process 13 Chapter 2 A Brief History of Materials 29 The Industrial Revolution 29 Structural Shifts in Metals Since the Industrial Revolution 33 Industrialization of the Emerging Markets 37 Chapter 3 Materials Sector Drivers 41 Key Drivers 42 Drivers at Work 46 Case Study: Copper 51 Part II Next Steps: Materials Details 63 Chapter 4 Materials Sector Breakdown 65 Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) 66 Global Materials Benchmarks 67 Metals & Mining Industry 74 Chemicals 88 Construction Materials 96 Paper & Forest Products 96 Containers & Packaging 98 Chapter 5 Staying Current: Tracking Sector Fundamentals 101 What to Watch 102 Chapter 6 Case Study: The 2003 to 2007 Bull Market in Materials 117 The Backdrop 119 Demand Growth 120 Supply Constraints 130 The Growth of Mergers and Acquisitions 136 Part III Thinking Like a Portfolio Manager 139 Chapter 7 The Top-Down Method 141 Investing is a Science 141 The Top-Down Method 144 Top-Down Deconstructed 150 Managing Against a Materials Benchmark 157 Chapter 8 Security Analysis 163 Make Your Selection 164 A Five-Step Process 165 Important Questions to Ask 173 Chapter 9 Materialize Your Portfolio: Investing Strategies 181 Strategy 1: Adding Value at the Industry and Sub-industry Level 182 Strategy 2: Adding Value at the Security Level 189 Strategy 3: Adding Value in a Materials Sector Downturn 190 Strategy 4: Investing in Commodities 191 Appendix A: Materials Sector Resources 195 Appendix B: Top 10 Materials Firms by Industry 199 Notes 203 Glossary 217 About the Authors 223 Index 225