Earlier this morning, J.P. Morgan upgraded chemical and material maker Cabot (CBT: sentiment, chart, options) to "overweight" from "neutral." The brokerage made the move thanks to the belief that CBT has reached a "cyclical bottom." In addition, J.P. Morgan believes that raw material costs have reached a relative peak, which will still impact CBT's fourth-quarter margins CBT's price increases are contractually delayed by a quarter. CBT stated that 2009 should prove "materially better," as raw materials have begun to decrease in price and it finished-product prices have increased.

As oil boils thanks to concerns over the hurricane potential of Gustav (or Katrina II as the media may make us believe), CBT has enjoyed a nice 4-day run capped by today's 1%-plus move. However, let's not turn a blind eye to CBT's horrendous long-term performance. During the past 52 weeks, the stock has shed 31%. Furthermore, the equity's recent rally has met with resistance at its descending 10-month moving average. CBT has not closed a month atop this trendline since June 2007 and the streak seems as if it will continue through today.