Type: Public
On the web: http://www.rockwoodspecialties.com
Employees: 9,800
Employee growth: 2.9%

Rockwood Holdings, which operates as Rockwood Specialties, gets most of its sales from specialty chemicals, including lithium compounds, metal treatments, and performance additives (such as wood preservation chemicals and iron oxide pigments). Other products include titanium dioxide pigments, advanced ceramics, specialty compounds, and custom synthesis intermediates. A leader or #2 in many of its niches, the firm was created in 2000 when Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) bought several Laporte divisions; it added parts of Dynamit Nobel to its collection in 2004. Sales to Germany outpace those to any other nation. KKR still owns 42% of Rockwood.

Key numbers for fiscal year ending December, 2007:
Sales: $3,136.4M
One year growth: 5.4%
Net income: $317.1M
Income growth: 207.9%

Officers:
Chairman and CEO: Seifi Ghasemi
SVP and CFO; SVP and CFO, Rockwood Specialties Group: Robert J. Zatta
VP Investor Relations and Communications: Paints, Coatings & Other Finishing Product Manufacturing

Competitors:
Arch Chemicals
Elementis
PolyOne

A technical indicator that measures the percentage change between the most recent price and the price "n" periods in the past. It is calculated by using the following formula:

(Closing Price Today - Closing Price "n" Periods Ago) / Closing Price "n" Periods Ago

ROC is classed as a price momentum indicator or a velocity indicator because it measures the rate of change or the strength of momentum of change.

Investopedia Says:
Many traders use a value greater than zero to indicate an increase in upward momentum and a value less than zero to indicate an increase in selling pressure. However, some of the most valuable signals are generated when the price of the asset and the ROC are heading in opposite directions (known as divergence). For example, in the chart above you can see that the ROC is sloping downward while the price of the asset is increasing. This is generally an early indication that a sharp decline may be on the way.

Related Links:
Learn how to build a price rate of change indicator and incorporate it in your strategy. Measure Momentum Change With ROC
Divergences may signal a change in market direction, but traders must also identify the speed of that change. Divergences, Momentum And Rate Of Change

The Republic of China, or Taiwan. Compare PRC.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.