General Mills misses expectations, sells off

Management missed Wall Street's expectations, that's what happened. Thanks a lot, General Mills, because I expressed confidence in you. I thought you had a good chance of beating the analysts. Man, was I off. The call was for around $0.88 per share. General Mills did $0.79 per share. In the previous year's Q3, the company did $0.87. So, instead of showing at least a little growth, the bottom line dropped by 9%.

Higher input costs and tough comparisons were blamed in the press release. Expenses related to marketing increased 6%. Which is not surprising, given the intense competition out there between big-brand names and private-label portfolios. Companies like Kraft Foods, Inc. (NYSE: KFT), Kellogg (NYSE: K), Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB), and The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG) all have to worry about their evil supermarket counterparts. Especially these days, when money is tighter than ever. General Mills may have observed a decline in its gross margin, but there is one thing that investors can be happy about it: Operational cash flow over the nine-month period increased by a healthy 24%, driven by proper management of working capital.

If you're into both holding General Mills for the long term and dollar-cost-averaging, then today is your day. If you're into trading, then today is not your day. The stock hit a new 52-week low, and that spells trouble on a technical basis. You could go for a short-term bounce, but as I've said on many occasions, you've got to be very careful in the current environment. Trades have a way of breaking down like never before. I'm sure a lot of professionals will be looking to capture a bounce from General Mills, but for the retail investor, I'd just look at this one as a long-term vehicle.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change without notice.