MiddletownJournal.com

MIDDLETOWN — There was a time when investors shied away from steel stocks, seeing the industry as cyclical and many of the companies as troubled.

No more, apparently. CNNMoney.com has spotlighted shares of AK Steel Corp. (NYSE: AKS) as one of the 10 best-performing stocks in 2007.

"As demand for steel skyrocketed last year, AK Steel Holding turned in the second-best return to investors — a solid 174 percent increase in stock performance," David Goldman, a CNNMoney.com writer, said in a piece posted on the site late last week.

The steelmaker — based in Middletown until it moved its headquarters to West Chester Twp. last year — took note of the accolade in a news release Monday.

"During 2007, we put the pedal to the metal, shifting into a higher gear to accelerate our company's growth and performance," James Wainscott, AK's chairman, president and chief executive, said in AK's statement.

Goldman wrote that AK's performance was "all the more remarkable" given that it had locked out its hourly work force from its Middletown plant — AK's biggest steelmaking plant — from March 2006 to March 2007.

AK relied on temporary replacement workers after locking out what initially were more than 2,500 employees, a number that dropped to about 1,800 returning workers when the lockout ended.

AK ranked 378 on the 2007 Fortune 500 list.

AK's stock was the only locally based stock to appear on CNNMoney's "winners" list.

The site identified Troy, Mich.-based Delphi as a "loser" after posting a negative 96 percent return to investors.

Shares of AK closed down $1.60 Monday to $39.83.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or

tgnau@coxohio.com