Looking for a run-up in Monsanto (MON)

Posted Feb 12th 2009 9:45AM by Douglas McIntyre

Monsanto (NYSE: MON) has had a problem. Its genetically altered seeds have been hard to sell outside the U.S. For some reason, there is an impression that they may produce products that are less safe than those from natural seeds. With the economy making it harder to pay for planting crops and harder for developed nations to send food to countries where people are hungry, Monsanto's troubles may be easing.

According to the FT, the use of genetically altered crops is moving outside the US quickly. "The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) said the global area of GM crops increased from 114m ha in 2007 to 125m ha in 2008, producing a harvest worth $7.5 billion."

Use of the seeds is also growing in EU countries like Spain.

The trend for using products produced by firms like Monsanto is bound to help the industry and the companies shares. They have fallen from a 52-week high of $145.80 to $80.13. They are becoming a very attractive investment.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

Tags: agriculture stocks, AgricultureStocks, genetically modified seeds, GeneticallyModifiedSeeds, GM, MON, Monsanto