Well, it looks like a bargain basement stock in an industry that has been slaughtered, but I'm not sure I would want to be a buyer just at the moment. It got hit hard today both on the Bolsa and the NYSE, and it couldn't sell its commercial paper on Wednesday - they're trying to roll over $3 Bn in debt. Given the industry it's in, I would say it has been a victim of the credit crisis coming and going.
And while the stock cratered today, many competitors' stocks went up or at least lost a much smaller percentage.
Cash flow, earnings and profits all slipping, the industry hit hard, and Hugo Chavez seized CX's Venezuelan operations. The company is trying to sell 16 facilities in Australia, but I'm not sure they will be able to find a buyer until the credit markets unfreeze substantially.
I think they stretched too far too fast and have been smacked hard in the credit and housing crisis. It will take them a while before they can get it all straightened out, and while you might be getting in at the very bottom - you might also have to ride it down farther still.
If you just want to throw some play money at it, that's one thing. But I think I would look among prospects with better balance sheets and a much less precarious exposure to the whole credit mess.
