Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce, Wang Chao, led a business delegation that signed agreements with grain companies to buy just over 3 million tons of soybeans from the U.S., Reuters reported. The U.S. trading companies involved in the $1.8 billion deal are Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and Bunge (BG). No details about price and delivery were given.

When dealing with state-run companies, there is a protocol that must be followed. In this case, a government official, Chao, was present to sign off the deal with the two state-run grain companies allowed to import agricultural products into China.

Bunge Ltd. (BG) reported Thursday morning that its third-quarter profit dipped 8.6% due to charges, even as revenue for the period rose 2.9% year-over-year. The agribusiness baron raked in a profit of $212 million, or $1.36 per share, on revenue of $11.66 billion.

Excluding one-time items, BG's net income of $2.26 per share easily exceeded analysts' consensus estimate for a profit of $1.57 per share. However, the firm's quarterly revenue fell short of Wall Street's forecast for $12.48 billion.

"One way to capitalize on the recent fear-drenched selloff is to take advantage of attractive valuations and invest in businesses tied to the long-term agriculture story," says David Dittman.

The contributing editor to KCI's Personal Finance explains, "Rising populations and growing middle classes in emerging markets mean people will spend more on food and increase their consumption of agriculture-intensive proteins. Here are two ways to profit from increasing demand for agricultural products: Monsanto (MON) and Bunge (BG).

"These two agribusiness heavyweights -- both of which we hold in our model Growth Portfolio -- have suffered because of specific short-term issues that don't threaten their respective positions in the sector.

Bunge (BG - option chain) shares are rising today after the company announced its board has approved a stock buyback plan under which BG will repurchase up to $700 million worth of common shares through December 31, 2011. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on BG.

BG opened this morning at $49.28. So far today the stock has hit a low of $49.28 and a high of $51.90. As of 11:55, BG is trading at $51.09 up $3.33 (7.0%). The chart for BG looks neutral and S&P gives BG a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

U.S. stock futures once again rose Thursday morning, indicating Wall Street is ready to finish this shortened week on a high note. Investors await economic data on jobs and manufacturing as they mull the implications of the health care bill just passed in the senate. Markets will close at 1 p.m. Eastern today and volume is likely to be light. Market are closed Friday.

Health care and related sectors are in focus today after the Senate passed a landmark health care bill Thursday. The bill ushers in near-universal medical coverage for the first time in the country's history. The Senate's bill must still be merged with legislation passed by the House before Obama could sign a final bill in the new year. There are significant differences between the two measures, but both bills would extend health insurance to more than 30 million more Americans, but still leave over 20 million uninsured.

Despite largely positive corporate earnings reports, investor caution has set upon Wall Street. For the third straight day stocks are set to move into negative territory, with futures showing the three major U.S. indexes heading lower ahead of Thursday's opening bell.

Some blamed Wednesday's near 1% drops in the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 on a late-day sell-off driven by the latest Beige Book survey from the Federal Reserve that showed the economy is ever so slowly emerging from recession -- too slowly, it would seem, for investors.

With banking stocks getting crushed in the first few trading days of 2009, is there anywhere to hide?

For those looking to buy stocks, I provided a list of Top 10 Stocks for 2009. You won't find any financial stocks on the list.

Instead, I targeted a few themes that I believed would do well for varying reasons. One theme that I am particularly keen on is agriculture.

In a world that is full of fraud, bank collapses and historically low interest rates, I want to have some defense in any long recommendation.

The thing that makes agriculture so attractive is that the hedge fund maniacs turned this once boring space into the thrill ride of a lifetime. After a roller-coaster year, many great names in the space can be had for cheap prices.

One of the names on the list just got a whole lot cheaper.

Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) announced Tuesday it had hired Carol Bartz, former Autodesk CEO, as its new CEO. Already from the start, her style and address were apparently different from her predecessor's. Yahoo also said President Sue Decker will resign after a transitional period. YHOO shares gained over 2% in premarket trading.

Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) warned of a fourth-quarter loss of some $6.4 billion, mostly due to poor performance in its credit business but also because of some equity trading losses. It expects to have further write-downs on its exposure to bond insurers. DB shares were nearly 10% lower in premarket trade.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Citigroup (NYSE: C) late Tuesday announced their plan for a brokerage joint venture. Citi sold to Morgan a 51% stake in its Smith Barney unit for $2.7 billion. When the deal closes, Citi said it will recognize a gain of roughly $5.8 billion after taxes. There were no real surprises there. With that, Citi, which has become a financial supermarket, is now seen as trying to save its core banking unit by shrinking itself by one-third, according to the Wall Street Journal, which also reported that "Citi will also announce steps to shed two consumer-finance units and the company's private-label credit-card business, and scale back on the trading the company does on its own behalf." MS shares were over 3% lower in premarket trading, Citi' over 4.5% lower.

I made it through mid-year of tracking my 2008 picks from last December and then -- Wham! -- I went from a slight advantage to being humbled badly by the market. However difficult it is to display your failings, once again I will share all of the horrors since I posted the original story Chasing Value: Final list -- 8 stocks for 2008.

The master is still the master, Warren Buffett and his life's work Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B) beat me easily as well as the three indices I tracked.

For the most part, unless you started shorting stocks, there was no place to hide and most of my picks were big losers. There were two that beat Buffett and the market. The defense sector was the defensive sector it was supposed to be with Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) doing well on a relative scale. The other place you could have a morsel of stability was utilities and Huaneng Power International (ADR) (NYSE: HNP) lost less but not by much.

This post was writtenby Minyanville contributor Ryan Krueger.

Looks like Verasun Energy Corp. (NYSE: VSE), a formerly popular ethanol stock and second largest producer, has won court permission to cancel contracts signed to purchase corn. It is now in bankruptcy. I'm also hearing about a lot of excess ethanol funded by your tax dollars being sold to other countries. That worked out well.

The mistaken policy and debates are endless, the trades are what I am chewing on instead. I think consumers of corn at lower prices are set up for some awfully tasty '09 comparisons for their bottom lines. Corn Products International, Inc. (NYSE: CPO), after Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG) backed away from its take-over, is a name I have re-entered from the long side after closing out my position just after the non-merger was announced and shares traded twice what they are now. They sweeten something you'll eat or drink in the next hour.

Longer term, however, I am even more interested in the ingredients, not the end products. But it's still early. I have been long gone from 2008 corn contracts for quite some time, but am starting to poke around out on the futures curve. On the same day this court ruling was announced abolishing artificial demand, quiet real demand emerged as Mexico was a big buyer of corn.

I'll take a few billion eaters over several million drivers any day.

Analysts have been negative on the agri-business processing sector recently, but the stocks have been shedding value for two months and they may have to reconsider. Bunge Ltd. (NYSE: BG) is delivering 42% growth according to Smart Money.

The stock is down 16% from my original post recommending it for 2008 and it is trading down more this morning. However, I have not changed my opinion about the prospects of the company and my original rational has remained solid despite the wild swings in the stock over the past few months.

Last year when I posted Serious Money: ADM, Bunge, Potash Corp. -- it's a hungry world it looked like there was no downside, and even though it is disappointing to see the stock down now, all I can say is the investment opportunity is even better. As they are a leading producer of soy and soy products, how can one resist this level of growth at a P/E of 8, half the market average?

After seven months of tracking my 2008 picks -- Wham! -- I went from beating the indices and Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B) to being humbled by the market. However difficult it is to display your failings, once again I will share all. This is the low point since I posted the original story Chasing Value: Final list -- 8 stocks for 2008.

Only Reliance Steel & Aluminum (NYSE: RS) remained in positive territory, down from five stocks that were up in the last report. Sometimes, the reasons for the downslide were more obvious than they were in the cases for my picks. The cutting in half of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) has been reported often, as the largest independent oil refiner in North America has had its profit margins squeezed.

Loews Corporation (NYSE: L) has been hurt by its insurance interests and helped by its holdings -- a 51% stake in Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. (NYSE: DO) that has been doing well as the world remains desperate for more oil and natural gas.

The gap between the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Standard & Poor's 500 Index and the technology heavy NASDAQ Composite Index is narrower than in the past.

We had the internet bubble and the real estate bubble and now, there is the ethanol bubble. Recently, I ran some numbers on ethanol and to my amazement realized that it is – too use a catch phrase from the environmental world -- not sustainable. Turning food into fuel is just plain silly; and when oil prices come down the ethanol bubble could pop big.

I ran did a little research and found some numbers:

• 47% of the Mexician' diet is corn
• it takes 2.4 pounds of corn a day to feed a hungry person
• it takes 22 pounds of corn to make one gallon of ethanol
• there are 42 gallons of refined gas in one barrel of oil

Now, a little basic math can be very enlightening. To replace one barrel of oil, it takes 42 gallons of ethanol or (42x22)=924 pounds of corn. That is enough corn to feed one hungry person for (924/2.4) 385 days – a little more than one year.

In the agricultural sector, it's been nirvana for investors. But are prices too high?

Perhaps not. Take Bunge Ltd. (NYSE: BG), which is a major fertilizer and oilseed producer. Bunge has agreed to pay $4.4 billion for Corn Products International Inc. (NYSE: CPO), a producer of finished corn products. Some of its customers include biggies like Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). This is a stock-for-stock deal. In other words, why not take advantage of the high market caps?

Both companies have rich histories. Corn Products got its start in 1906 and Bunge was founded in 1818. But it's the future that matters, and Bunge is certainly bullish on the global growth trends in the agricultural markets. To take advantage of this, it makes sense to bulk up. Corn Products will expand Bunge's offerings as well as provide some diversification.

In fact, Bunge also raised its full-year 2008 earnings forecast from $7.10-$7.40 to $9.35-$9.65. This doesn't even include the impact of the Corn Products transaction.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

U.S. stock futures were higher early Monday as a recovery from Friday's selloff seemed in the cards. Oil, which will continue to be in focus alleviated some pressure as it came off highs, and several deals also gave boost to stocks. The Federal Reserve is due to have a two-day policy meeting starting Tuesday. Most investors expect the Fed to keep its key federal funds rate unchanged but change the focus, or give more weight to inflation.

U.S. stocks fell sharply Friday as oil prices climbed once again and financials continued to be in the headlines. The Dow industrials tumbled 220 points, or 1.83%, for a weekly loss of 3.7%. The Dow closed below 12,000 at 11,482.69, a three-moth low. The S&P 500 dropped nearly 25 points, or 1.85%, Friday and 3.1% last week. The Nasdaq Composite, with the same weekly decline, fell nearly 56 points, or 2.27%, Friday.

Without any economic readings out today, the market will undoubtedly focus on oil. Despite Saudi Arabia saying Sunday it will produce more crude this year if the market needs it, oil prices rose overnight as the promise was kept vague enough for any concrete relief.