Posted Jun 16th 2009 1:00PM by James Cullen
Filed under: Commodities, Agriculture, Stocks to Sell
In the most recent edition of Barron's, fund manager Scott Black touted shares of Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ: CALM), the country's largest egg producer, as a stock worth buying. The company generates a return on equity of over 30%, and Black said that at just over 5x earnings, the stock is extraordinarily cheap. When the market revalues Cal-Maine at "just eight times [next year's estimated] earnings, you've got a $38.50 stock." Shares of CALM, which closed Friday at $22.90, were up to $24.86 by Wednesday morning.
I'm familiar with Cal-Maine, having been introduced to the company more than a year ago when it was the focus of a presentation at the Boston College Investment Club. Last summer, I spoke with the company's CFO, Tim Dawson, who gave me a much better understanding of the egg business. Though I came away convinced that Cal-Maine is in very capable hands, I believed then -- as I still do now -- that the stock is not a buy. Here's why.
Continue reading Cal-Maine gets a Barron's boost, but is it a value trap?
Posted Jun 4th 2009 10:20AM by Steven Halpern
Filed under: International markets, China, Newsletters, Agriculture, Stocks to Buy, Green Stocks
"Asia is booming again, and one industry that is growing like wildfire is 'green' tech in China," says Mark Skousen. In The Turnaround Alert, he eyes China Green Agriculture (AMEX: CGA)."
"Urban population and demand for energy is exploding, causing pollution and a reduction in per capita arable land to feed 1.4 billion Chinese.
"One way to profit is to buy China Green Agriculture, one of the fastest-growing agricultural technology companies in China.
Continue reading China Green (CGA): Agriculture and tech
Posted Jun 2nd 2009 10:40AM by Steven Halpern
Filed under: International markets, Newsletters, Commodities, Oil, Agriculture, Stocks to Buy
In The Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter, editor J. Royden Ward searches for stocks that meet the investing criteria of the legendary Ben Graham, known as the father of value investing and mentor of Warren Buffett.
Here, the advisor takes a look at Overseas Shipholding Group (NYSE: OSG), a crude oil and energy shipping operation.
"Overseas Shipholding is a leading crude oil and energy shipping company with 120 vessels either owned or leased. In addition, the company derives 25% of revenues from grain, coal, and iron ore.
Continue reading A 'Ben Graham value' in shipping
Posted May 29th 2009 3:20PM by Connie Madon
Filed under: International markets, Commodities, Oil, Agriculture
Is there a big commodities rally underway? Let's look at the numbers:
- The Commodity Research Bureau index (CRB) of 19 energy, metal and agricultural prices gained 14%, the most since 1974
- Gasoline soared 30% in May
- Gold and copper also surged
- Corn and soybeans reached their highest levels since last September
- Crude oil has jumped 29%, the most since 1999
- Gasoline futures for June delivery surged 31%, the most since 2006
- Cotton futures were up
- Gold is at $980.00 per ounce
- Silver posted the biggest monthly gain in 22 years
So you are probably asking: What is fueling this rally?
Continue reading Is there a big rally in commodities on the way?
Posted May 22nd 2009 3:00PM by Steven Halpern
Filed under: Newsletters, Commodities, Oil, Agriculture, Stocks to Buy, Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI)

Is it time to ride the rails? In Gordon Pape's
The Internet Wealth Builder, analyst
Tom Slee reaffirms his buy rating on
Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE:
BNI), his top pick in the sector.
"Burlington Northern is my preferred choice in the railroad industry. At first glance, Burlington Northern had a particularly bad first quarter.
"Profit was $0.86 a share, down sharply from $1.30 a share the year before. However, when unusual items such as an unfavourable coal rate decision are excluded, operating earnings amounted to a much more acceptable $1.13 a share, well above the 96c analysts were looking for.
Continue reading Burlington Northern (BNI): On the right track
Posted May 5th 2009 11:10AM by Elizabeth Harrow
Filed under: Earnings reports, Bad news, Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), Options, Agriculture
Agricultural issue Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) is sharply lower in today's trading after falling short of Wall Street's earnings expectations. The company confessed to a 98% slide in third-quarter net income, thanks to hefty investment losses and a weak pricing environment.
ADM reported a profit of $8 million, or 1 penny per share, compared to its year-ago results of $517 million, or 80 cents per share. Investment losses for the period totaled 36 cents per share. Revenue for the quarter tumbled 21% to $14.8 billion, impacted by strength in the U.S. dollar and softer commodity prices. As a result, gross margin contracted from 6.2% to 4.4%.
Continue reading Quarterly profit plummets 98% at Archer Daniels Midland
Posted May 1st 2009 11:30AM by Steven Halpern
Filed under: International markets, Newsletters, Mutual funds, ETF Investing, Commodities, Agriculture
"Resource-rich, politically stable and increasingly prosperous, Chile is an attractive play on commodities and growing wealth in emerging markets," explains Mark Salzinger, editor of The Investor's ETF Report.
Chile is also a favorite investment position of Nicholas Vardy, editor of The Global Bull Market Alert, who notes, "Thanks to its fiscal prudence, its lack of a domestic housing bubble, and its sizeable wealth reserves, Chile has weathered the current global economic meltdown better than most countries."
Here, the two advisors assess the longer-term opportunity in iShares MSCI Chile (NYSE: ECH), an exchange-traded fund.
Continue reading Hot prospects for Chile (ECH)
Posted Apr 28th 2009 10:30AM by Elizabeth Harrow
Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts, Agriculture
Illinois-based Corn Products International, Inc. (NYSE: CPO) stepped into the earnings spotlight this morning, with the food firm reporting first-quarter net income of $17 million, or 22 cents per share, down sharply from $64 million, or 85 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2008. Sales for the period fell 11% to $831.1 million.
The results were impacted by higher net corn costs, softer volumes, and foreign currency translations. Analysts were expecting significantly higher earnings of 49 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters.
As if the wide earnings miss wasn't enough of a downside catalyst, CPO multiplied its negative momentum by slashing its outlook for the remainder of 2009. "We now anticipate lower volumes in North America due to the economic environment and a slightly longer than anticipated rebound in pricing in Brazil to offset the currency and volume impact," explained Chief Executive Sam Scott.
Continue reading Corn Products reports weak 1Q, slashes earnings outlook
Posted Apr 28th 2009 8:00AM by Melly Alazraki
Filed under: Before the bell, International markets, Earnings reports, Market matters, Citigroup Inc. (C), Bank of America (BAC), Economic data, Oil, Agriculture

U.S. stock futures were sharply lower Tuesday morning as investors were concerned about further implications of the swine flu as the WHO increased its threat level for the outbreak, and as it has been reported Citigroup and Bank of America may need to raise more cash.
As the number of confirmed and suspected cases of swine flu worldwide rose, the World Health Organization
increased its alert level on the deadly disease to phase 4, and added that containment of the outbreak wasn't feasible.
Continue reading Before the bell: Stocks set to plunge on swine flu, banks
Posted Apr 27th 2009 1:00PM by Melly Alazraki
Filed under: Walgreen Co (WAG), Novartis AG ADS (NVS), Baxter Intl (BAX), CVS Corp (CVS), Hormel Foods (HRL), Tyson Foods'A' (TSN), Smithfield Foods (SFD), Gilead Sciences (GILD), Agriculture

I remember Toronto during SARS. As one of the harder hit areas, it was not a happy place. It was the end of winter, but that miserable, cold winter just didn't want to end. People walked the streets in a gloomy haze, afraid to take the subway and giving dirty looks to anyone brazen enough to cough in public. Worse, I couldn't even visit a friend in the hospital. All things considered though, in global pandemic terms, it was over relatively quickly. Let's hope swine flu will be the same.
In the meantime, let's put on our investors hats and see what's in store for some stocks:
Travel and tourist stocksThis is one of the worst hit areas, especially airlines, as people may cancel their travel plans. For example,
AMR Corp. (NYSE:
AMR) traded over 9 percent lower an hour after the open.
Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:
RCL) was down over 15 percent. In fact UBS downgraded these airlines and hotels this morning: AMR,
Continental Airlines (NYSE:
CAL),
Host Hotels and Resorts (NYSE:
HST),
Lasalle Hotel Properties (NYSE:
LHO),
Marriott (NYSE:
MAR),
United Airlines (NASDAQ:
UAUA),
US Airways (NYSE:
LCC).
Carnival Cruise Lines (NYSE:
CCL) also declined considerably. Best to stay away from the sector.
Continue reading Don't fear the swine flu . . . trade it
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