Voltaire said, "Common sense is not so common" and George Bernard Shaw commented that having " ...enough of it was genius."

This reminds me of Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) or Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc. (AAPL) that have both displayed plenty of the former and arrived at the latter in their business pursuits.

Derivatives like Collateral Debt Obligations, or CDO's, and Credit Default Swaps, get their value from something else entirely: total hype in an environment of smoke and mirrors.

It turns out that if you build layer upon layer of derivatives until you have no idea what the original underlying value truly is, it becomes so convoluted that a genius can't comprehend it at all. It is self evident that nobody could even determine all the counter-party risk.

Shares of seed and agricultural products company Monsanto Company (NYS: MON) plunged from $92 to $79 yesterday when the company lowered guidance. Monsanto has long been a favorite play on the growing demand for food. It's high-tech, genetically manipulated seeds can produce higher crop yields. No doubt, the food future looks bleak and that's good for Monsanto. But how long will investors have to wait before demand hockey sticks for these seeds and Monsanto can make higher prices stick?

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Chesapeake, Brookfield Asset Management and Nile Therapeutics were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Jefferies initiated Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) with a Buy rating and $54 target and thinks the company can post group-leading organic growth in production and reserves over the next several years.
  
• Thomas Weisel assumed Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM) with a Market Weight rating citing slowing cash flow growth.
  
• Rodman & Renshaw is positive on Nile Therapeutics' (OTC: NILT) lead compound, CD-NP, a chimeric natriuretic peptide with potential efficacy and safety enhancements that could permit broad use in acute heart failure setting. The firm started shares of Nile with a Market Outperform rating and $7 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Baird initiated Concur Tech (NASDAQ: CNQR) with a Neutral rating.
  
• RBC Capital initiated General Moly (AMEX: GMO) with a Sector Perform rating and $11 target.
  
• Wachovia (NYSE: WB) was reinstated at Goldman with a Neutral rating.

General Moly (AMEX: GMO) is a mining company that specializes in mineral development and exploration in central Nevada. On November 19, the company announced a strategic alliance with ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT), which includes MT's purchase of 8.2 million shares at $8.50 per share, for a net investment of about $70 million. After this transaction, MT will own roughly 12.6% of GMO's outstanding shares. GMO will in turn supply approximately 6.5 million pounds of molybdenum each year for five years once its Mt. Hope deposit begins production.

GMO shares have been moving higher since February, when they collided into their 10-month and 20-month moving averages after months of sideways consolidation. Since this impact, the stock has nearly quadrupled in value to hit a new all-time high.

Currently, from a shorter-term perspective, the stock is pulling back to test double-barreled support around the $8.50 level. Not only is this the site of the security's July 2007 valuation (former resistance can come back and serve as support), but it is currently home to GMO's rising 10-day moving average as well.