Chemical Ali’s Cronies

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As ubiquitous and necessary as chemicals are in modern society, the only time that they seem to garner any attention is when they are used for malicious purposes. In the case of the late “Chemical Ali,” pictured above, he used chemicals as weapons of human destruction against ethnic Kurdish rebels from northern Iraq in the late 1980’s and throughout the 1990’s as a member (and first cousin) of Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Looking at firms that manufacture chemicals for a more humane use, I am impressed with the price action of late. To be sure, the bulls still have some work to do. Nonetheless, seeing these five stocks all break above prior resistance trendlines and out of falling wedges on strong buy volume is an excellent start. This sector has been impressive throughout this bull market that began in March of 2009, and the recent relative strength should come as no surprise.