Dow ($DOW) confirmed a death cross this week and is now the sector's most damaged name on the short window — RSI fell from 48.4 to 42.0, its trend classification dropped from weak-up to strong-down, it fell 3.03% on the day alone, and it now sits 6.5% below its 200-day average. But the one-year and alpha data still put Dow marginally ahead of the market (+23.13%, alpha +4.48) — a name whose multi-year record (down more than 40% over both the 2-year and 3-year windows) makes even that positive year read as a bounce inside a longer decline, not a secular trend. DuPont ($DD) is the sector's clearest long-term winner and the opposite case: up 35.94% over the year with the cohort's best alpha (+17.29) and consistently positive returns across 2, 3, and 5 years, even though it's currently basing 3.7% below its 200-day ($136.66) with a weak-tagged short trend. In between sit Sherwin-Williams, Linde, Ecolab, Air Products, and PPG — mostly still (barely) above their 200-days but every one lagging the market by 14-27 points of alpha over the year, regardless of what their short-term "strong-up" or "weak-down" tags say.

Data as-of the 2026-09-04 close for all nine tickers, including the sector ETF ($XLB). All numbers from the pre-computed chemicals summary. Comparison scan: the August 28, 2026 close — a normal one-week gap.

Dow's deterioration is the sharpest single-name move in the sector this scan. Its RSI dropped from 48.4 to 42.0, its price fell 3.03% on the day and 3.54% on the week, and its short-term trend classification downgraded two steps, from weak-up to strong-down — the sector's only confirmed death cross this scan (golden cross flipped false, death cross flipped true). It's now 6.5% below its 200-day average, deeper than the 2.5% breach flagged two scans ago. The one-year and alpha numbers are still marginally on Dow's side (+23.13% over the year, +4.48 alpha), but the multi-year record undercuts that: Dow is down 42.92% over 2 years and 45.67% over 3 years, meaning the positive trailing year is a bounce off a much deeper decline, not evidence of a genuine secular trend. LyondellBasell ($LYB) moved the other direction this week — its RSI firmed slightly (52.6→50.0) and its price held roughly flat (-0.24% weekly, +7.61% on the month), staying 5.0% above its 200-day with a +16.98% one-year gain, though its alpha (-1.67) is essentially flat versus the market and it shares Dow's weak multi-year backdrop (down 33.05% over 2 years).

DuPont remains the sector's standout on every long-horizon measure and the story hasn't changed in two scans: up 35.94% over the year (was 40.62%) with the cohort's best alpha at +17.29 (was +20.75), and — unlike Dow or LyondellBasell — consistently positive across every multi-year window (+28.37% over 2 years, +39.10% over 3 years, +45.50% over 5 years). Its short trend downgraded from weak-down to down this scan (RSI eased to 36.2 from 43.7, price fell 10.71% on the month) and it's now 3.7% below its 200-day, but that's a mild breach against an otherwise clean secular-compounder record — a deep pullback inside an intact trend, not a breakdown, with $136.66 the level to watch if it deepens further.

The rest of the sector kept easing without confirming a break. Sherwin-Williams' RSI dropped from 47.7 to 41.8 and its trend downgraded from strong-up to weak-down; it's now down 8.77% over the year with the sector's worst alpha at -27.42 (was -25.69), even though it still sits a hair above its 200-day (+0.3%) — the clearest case in this cohort of a name that reads as flat-to-broken on the real long-horizon numbers despite a short-term tag that used to say "strong-up." Linde's trend also downgraded (weak-down→down, RSI 48.2→38.5) and it's now fractionally below its 200-day (-0.6%) with a barely-positive year (+1.1%) and -17.55 alpha. Ecolab kept its strong-up tag even as its RSI fell from 57.4 to 47.2 and its 30-day return swung from +1.08% to -2.17% — its own one-year number (+1.58%) and alpha (-17.07) tell a much weaker story than the trend classifier does, the clearest trend-tag-versus-reality mismatch in the sector this scan. Air Products and PPG both eased on RSI (57.9→47.8, 48.5→47.0) while holding roughly steady long-horizon numbers (+3.9% and +2.64% over the year, -14.75 and -16.02 alpha) — neither improving nor confirming a break. The sector ETF, XLB, cooled modestly (RSI 56.9→49.5, 30D +2.78%→-0.38%) but stays 4.7% above its 200-day, up 14.85% over the year and only 3.2% off its 52-week high — holding up notably better than either the airline or cruise-line lanes covered in this same sweep.

Dow and LyondellBasell are the two names in this cohort structurally most exposed to crude-oil and natural-gas-liquids feedstock costs — both run large petrochemical/olefins operations that convert oil- and gas-derived feedstocks into plastics and intermediates — and this week's US-Iran military escalation is a well-documented driver of the oil backdrop: MarketWatch (Sept 1) reported oil settling at a six-week high after US strikes on Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg (Sept 2) headlined "US, Iran Escalate Attacks; Global Bond Selloff Deepens," and Bloomberg (Sept 4) reported hedge funds raising bullish Brent bets to a May high as the conflict continues. That's the documented macro backdrop for rising input costs across the sector. But no company-specific news receipt for Dow or LyondellBasell falls inside this week's Aug 28–Sep 4 window — both were last pulled Aug 28, predating this move — and no stock-events entry sits in that window either, so the connection between the oil spike and Dow's specific death cross this week is a structural/macro read, not a confirmed cause from this data.

• Dow: RSI 48.4→42.0 (dropped), trend weak-up→strong-down (downgraded two steps), golden cross→death cross (newly confirmed), price $30.51→$29.44, 7D -5.66%→-3.54% (still negative), 30D +0.20%→-0.78% (turned negative), 52-week-high gap -28.61%→-31.12% (widened); now 6.5% below its 200-day, versus 2.5% two scans ago.
• LyondellBasell: RSI 52.6→50.0 (roughly flat), trend up→strong-up (upgraded), price $63.67→$63.52 (roughly flat), 7D -5.72%→-0.24% (stabilized), 30D +5.26%→+7.61% (accelerated), 52-week-high gap -24.15%→-24.33% (flat).
• Sherwin-Williams: RSI 47.7→41.8 (dropped), trend strong-up→weak-down (downgraded), price $344.86→$333.71, 7D -0.51%→-3.23% (worsened), 30D +0.28%→-9.52% (swung sharply negative), 52-week-high gap -8.71%→-11.03% (widened); alpha -25.69→-27.42 (worsened).
• Air Products: RSI 57.9→47.8 (dropped), trend strong-up unchanged, price $308.09→$301.27, 7D +0.97%→-2.21% (reversed negative), 30D +4.70%→+2.09% (decelerated), 52-week-high gap -2.15%→-4.32% (widened, no longer near its high).
• Linde: RSI 48.2→38.5 (dropped), trend weak-down→down (downgraded), price $489.51→$477.57, 7D +0.41%→-2.46% (reversed negative), 30D -4.24%→-2.75% (roughly flat, still negative), 52-week-high gap -10.71%→-12.88% (widened).
• Ecolab: RSI 57.4→47.2 (dropped), trend strong-up unchanged, price $286.75→$279.28, 7D +1.82%→-2.61% (reversed negative), 30D +1.08%→-2.17% (turned negative), 52-week-high gap -7.28%→-9.70% (widened).
• PPG: RSI 48.5→47.0 (roughly flat), trend weak-down unchanged, price $114.22→$112.53, 7D +0.48%→-1.44% (reversed negative), 30D +2.14%→-5.54% (swung negative), 52-week-high gap -14.40%→-15.66% (widened).
• DuPont: RSI 43.7→36.2 (dropped), trend weak-down→down (downgraded), price $136.98→$131.59, 7D -1.00%→-3.86% (worsened), 30D -0.81%→-10.71% (swung sharply negative), 52-week-high gap -13.29%→-16.70% (widened); alpha +20.75→+17.29 (eased but still by far the sector's best).
• XLB (ETF): RSI 56.9→49.5 (dropped), trend strong-up unchanged, price $53.18→$52.44, 7D -1.35% (new), 30D +2.78%→-0.38% (turned negative), still 4.7% above its 200-day and 3.2% off its 52-week high.

RSI (Relative Strength Index) gauges how aggressively a stock has been bought or sold over roughly the past two weeks, on a 0-100 scale — under 30 signals an oversold, potentially undervalued stretch; over 70 signals overbought, extended risk; readings in between are neutral. Trend reflects a stock's structural direction based on its moving averages over the past several weeks — it is a short-window read, not a verdict on the multi-year story, and a "strong-up" tag can sit on top of a year that's actually lagging the market. vs SMA shows how far price sits above or below its 20-day average. The one-year change, alpha, and the distance from the 200-day average are the longer-horizon check: a stock above its 200-day with a strong one-year gain and positive alpha is genuinely beating the market; a stock that's flat-to-negative on the year with meaningfully negative alpha is quietly lagging no matter how constructive its short trend tag looks, and a positive one-year number sitting on top of a deeply negative 2-to-3-year record is a bounce inside a longer decline, not a secular trend.

RSI < 25 (Oversold): None this scan.

RSI 25-40 (Approaching Oversold): DuPont (36.2) and Linde (38.5) sit here. DuPont's read is the sector's best on the year despite the low RSI — a mild pullback in an intact trend. Linde's is genuinely weak — roughly flat on the year with meaningfully negative alpha.

RSI 40+ (Neutral-to-Strong): The remaining seven names sit here, but the multi-year check splits them sharply. Dow (42.0) confirmed a death cross this scan and sits below its 200-day, though its trailing year is a bounce within a much deeper 2-3 year decline. LyondellBasell (50.0) and XLB (49.5) both hold above their 200-days with solid one-year gains, though alpha is roughly flat for both. Sherwin-Williams (41.8), Air Products (47.8), Ecolab (47.2), and PPG (47.0) all carry constructive-to-neutral short readings but stay flat-to-negative over the full year with 14-27 points of negative alpha — the sector's persistent laggard cluster, unchanged in character from two scans ago.

Does Dow's death cross resolve quickly, or does it confirm the deeper multi-year decline the 2-3 year numbers already show? Does DuPont's short-term trend ever catch up to its year-long strength, or does the sector keep discounting its best long-horizon name? And does the sector ETF's relative resilience this week (still above its 200-day, near its high) hold if oil keeps climbing, or does chemicals start tracking the sharper divergence already showing up in airlines and cruise lines.

• Tape data (price/RSI/SMA/returns/alpha/200-day): pre-computed summaries as of the 2026-09-04 close — chemicals.
• Comparison figures: 2026-08-28-chemicals (2026-08-28 close).
• Broad-market context (SPY, TLT, VIXY): market-pulse (same 2026-09-04 close).
• Cross-sector read: airlines, travel-leisure (same close).
• Oil/Iran macro corpus: 2026-09-01-marketwatch-global-oil-prices-surge-to-a-6-week-high-after-the-u-s-strik--mktw-0005209956, 2026-09-02-bloomberg-us-iran-escalate-attacks-global-bond-selloff-deepens-the-asi-tkq1r8rkv2te00, 2026-09-04-bloomberg-hedge-funds-hike-bullish-oil-bets-to-may-high-as-iran-war-fl-tkuuckt96osg00.
• News/event check on Dow and LyondellBasell's reversal: latest and latest (both fetched 2026-08-28, predating this move) and research/stock-events/ (no entry in the August 28–September 4 window) — driver unconfirmed at the ticker level from this data.