The entire steel industry saw their stocks hit hard last Friday. Supply and delivery worries - paired with a recent rally - finally prompted some steel company shareholders to bank some profits and eliminate a growing liability.

The key losers were the usual suspects, such as U.S. Steel (X), Nucor (NUE), Oregon Steel (OS), and AK Steel (AKS) just to name a few. They were all down between 2.1 percent and 3.5 percent for that Friday. The Dow Jones U. S. Steel Index (DJUSST) gave up 2.3 percent that day, and had ultimately lost 4.5 percent between last Thursday's close and Tuesday's close.

That, however, appears to be the end of the slide, as predicted by Deutsche Bank analyst David S. Martin. Martin stated in a research note that "consumption trends in key end-markets remain strong, inventories remain balanced and improved fundamentals offshore are helping." He expects the steel market to stay robust in 2006, despite the worries that manifested themselves a few days ago. In Martin's research note, he still predicted strong steel markets in the second and third quarters, citing the fact that bigger picture demand is still outpacing supply.