One of the stock market's defined industry sectors is "basic materials". This sector is comprised of companies that are involved in the exploration and/or development of the world's natural resources i.e. forestry, coal, aluminium, gold etc.

Basic materials are an important portion of any investor's stock portfolio. However, the sector has been a turbulent one this year.

When times are tough, as they were earlier this year, demand for basic materials falls off, driving down both sales volumes and prices.

Because basic materials companies have a lot of costs that they must pay regardless of how much they are producing, profit margins narrow substantially.

The opposite is true when the economy picks up. Sales volume and prices run higher, margins expand and earnings tend to do better. That's the scenario Wall Street expects to play out in 2004, as polled analysts expect material sector profits to expand by 53 percent.

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@EDITRULE:Engelhard

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@EDITRULE:Worthington Industries

@EDITRULE:Symbol Exchange Recent Price

WOR NYSE $12.81

52 Week High: $20.40

52 Week Low: $11.80

Worthington Industries is one of the leading diversified metal processing companies. The company is one of North America's premier value-added steel processors and one of the leaders in manufactured metal products such as automotive after-market stampings, pressure cylinders, metal framing and metal ceiling grid systems. Paul Michael Jenkins is an investment advisor at LOM Holdings Ltd. He can be contacted at at (441) 294-7004, or paul.jenkins