Investopedia: A Much Better PPG, But Not Cheap

Many chemical companies, including Huntsman (NYSE:HUN), are trying hard to divest commodity businesses in favor of higher-margin and more consistent specialty or differentiated product lines. With an upcoming transaction with Georgia Gulf (NYSE:GGC) that will see it shed its commodity chlor-alkali business, PPG (NYSE:PPG) is taking another strong step in that direction. Although PPG's strong share in specialty coatings and growth potential in areas such as optical and specialty materials are quite attractive, the stock's strong performance this year seems to discount a lot of this already.

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Investopedia: Georgia Gulf Needs Stronger Housing To Validate Its Independence

It's an open question as to whether corporate executives really take their duty to shareholders seriously, but that becomes an even more relevant issue when a potential takeover comes into the picture. Georgia Gulf (NYSE:GGC) management may well be right that Westlake's (NYSE:WLK) buyout bid undervalued the company's potential, but a great deal of that potential is tied to both a housing recovery and an improvement in the company's cost structure.

While the long-term potential value of Georgia Gulf definitely exceeds the Westlake offer, it may be hard for the company to surpass that offer in the short term.

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Investopedia: Is There Enough Economic Growth To Push Olin Higher?

The easy days are long over for companies that represent leveraged plays on economic growth. There may still be a feeling of general malaise and disappointment in the economic recovery, but the numbers are what they are and economic activity is strongly up off the bottoms. That represents a problem for Olin Corp (NYSE:OLN), as this chemical manufacturer has enjoyed a solid recovery from the depths of the recession, but now has to find a way to maintain the momentum.

A Mixed Fourth Quarter  
All in all, Olin's performance for the fourth quarter was fairly mixed. Revenue rose about 16% as the company offset lower volume in chloralkali and caustic potash with higher netbacks. The company's operating rate was a disappointing 70%, though, and well below industry averages for the quarter.

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