Name: USG Corp. (USG)
Web Site: http://www.usg.com
Brief Description: USG Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and distribution of building materials. The company operates in three segments: North American Gypsum, Worldwide Ceilings, and Building Products Distribution. North American Gypsum segm ent manufactures and markets gypsum wallboards, cement boards, and fiber panels primarily in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Its products are used for various building applications, such as interior walls, ceilings, and floors in residential, commercial, and institutional construction, as well as for industrial applications. Worldwide Ceilings segment manufactures and markets interior systems products worldwide. Its interior ceilings products, such as ceiling grid and acoustical ceiling tile are primarily used in commercial applications in United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region. Building Products Distribution segment distributes gypsum wallboard, drywall metal, ceilings products, joint compound, and other building products in the United States. The company distributes its products through building materials dealers, home improvement centers and other retailers, specialty wallboard distributors, and contractors. In addition, it manufactures mineral fiber products and metal specialty systems. USG Corporation was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The company and its subsidiaries filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in June 2001. USG Corporation operates its business as debtors-in-possession.

04/17/06 - Stock Pick update

ANALYST OPINION: We downgrade USG Corp. (USG), to Neutral rating. [Contact the Analyst]

INVESTMENT PERFORMANCE: USG's stock price jumped by 229.0% since we had assigned a Buy rating in February 4, 2005, providing THIRTEEN times higher investment return potential compared with RUSSELL 2000 INDEX. Despite excellent performance, we downgrade and drop coverage of USG Corp. (USG) mainly because it is much out of our small cap focus.