Seeking Alpha Seeking Alpha Portfolio App for iPad  From a
scientific standpoint, graphite is full of potential. The
material has a variety of purposes such as building graphite
electrodes to melt scrap metal, and as a heat-resistant
composite. It is used in steel production, transportation,
alternative energy, chemicals, oil and gas exploration, and
other industries. More recently, advanced technologies have
allowed for the creation of atomic sized plates known as
graphene. This substance holds paradigm-shifting capabilities in
battery technology and superconductivity.  Commodities overall
have unfortunately suffered thanks to the current global
slowdown. The steel tracking ETF Market Vectors Steel (SLX) is
down over 16% year to date. On July 9th, the IMF has reduced its
growth forecast for 2013 for the third time to 3.1%. Later in
the same month the World Steel Association reported steel
production down 2.7%, if data from China is excluded. It's the
kind of environment where we can find fundamentally sound