U.S. Steel Hunkers Down By Scott Rothbort About this article: To read Scott Rothbort's preview of the U.S. Steel conference call, click here. U.S. Steel opened for trading down rather hard -- about 8% in the hole. You can attribute that selling to the poor quarter as well as arbs that were jumping ahead of the convertible issuance to hedge positions they would acquire in the offering. However, that loss was cut in half after a few hours of trading. I do not believe that X is in as dire a condition as one might imply from the actions taken today. Rather, I believe that the company was jut trying to hunker down for what could be a protracted downturn in the steel industry and provide enough liquidity to survive with little damage. The company's Z-Score dropped slightly to 2.61, which is still strong. However, that could decay if conditions go from bad to worse. Unless and until... Or, call us at 1-866-321-TSCM (8726) Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. ET. Outside the U.S. and in Canada, call 1-212-321-5200. More Stories From RealMoney Durable Goods Up Move Down the Tech Food Chain Jobless Claims Still High Bulls' Tenacity Is the Big Question Mark Should You Buy It? Pharmaceutical Product Development Bad News Trumps All Support for Banks Holds, For Now Bummer, Yields Are on the Rise Money on the Line Makes a Big Difference Structured Products: Unsafe at Any Price MORE STORIES FROM REALMONEY

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