The new earnings season doesn't kick off until Alcoa (AA) reports its first-quarter results on April 11, but a few stragglers are still reporting their earnings for the previous quarter this week. The most prominent earnings reports on tap are Wednesday's results from Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) and from Monsanto (MON). Here's what analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect to see.

Bed Bath & Beyond

During its fiscal fourth quarter, the nation's largest domestics retailer opened new stores and its CEO sold shares. Analysts anticipate that the New Jersey-based company will report per-share earnings of 97 cents, an increase of 11.3% from the same quarter of last year. The company also is expected to post revenue of $2.4 billion for the three months that ended in February, a 6.3% rise from a year earlier.

This post is part of a special report, Top Picks for 2010, the 27th annual survey in which TheStockAdvisors.com asks the nation's leading advisors for their single favorite stock for the new year. See all 80 stocks listed here.

Roger Conrad, editor of The Canadian Edge, is a leading specialist in the niche investment area of high-income Canada-based trusts; for his top pick for 2010, he turns to ChemTrade Logistics (CGIFF), which trades both on the Toronto exchange and in the U.S. over-the-counter market.

Conrad explains, "ChemTrade Logistics is a major producer of specialty chemicals, particularly sulphuric acid. It's also a Canadian income trust yielding over 12% with most of its operations overseas. That adds up to a unique triple play for investors in 2010.

This post is part of a special report, Top Picks for 2010, the 27th annual survey in which TheStockAdvisors.com asks the nation's leading advisors for their single favorite stock for the new year. See all 80 stocks listed here.

"Monsanto (MON) is my top investment idea for 2010," says Sy Harding, an advisor well-known for his seasonal timing strategies.

In his Street Smart Report, he observes, "Monsanto is the world's leading provider of biotech-advanced seeds and agricultural products for growers; seeds for corn, soybeans, cotton, fruit, and vegetables, which are produced by its genomics division."

"Any company that can consistently create revenue out of air is worth a look," says Jim Stack, referring to Air Products & Chemicals (NYSE: APD).

In his InvesTech Market Analyst, the advisor and money manager explains, "We especially like a company that can create over $10 billion a year in sales ... from air (actually industrial gases)." Here, he explains the reasons he rates the shares a 'buy' in his model portfolio.

"For APD, much of that 'air' revenue comes from the sale of tonnage gases. Tonnage gas delivery involves the on-site or pipeline delivery of hydrogen and other chemicals to oil refineries.

"DuPont EI Neumours (NYSE: DD) is a world-class company with a world-class dividend yield," says growth & income expert Bryan Perry. Here's the latest from his The Cash Machine.

"Some of the biggest winners in a recovering economy are those stocks of companies engaged in the basic businesses such as industrial chemicals, plastics, and adhesives.

"The firm can implement price increases along the way, which could translate into phenomenal earnings surprises and set a stock like DuPont in motion higher.

I recently put together a report of stocks to avoid in 2009. In compiling the list, I used general themes that I thought would struggle during the coming year. At the top of the list were chemical companies.

Though not on the list of specific stocks to avoid, I certainly did consider calling out Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) as a stock to avoid in the coming year. That would have been insightful, as shares of DOW lost nearly 20% of their value due to the termination of a joint venture project in Kuwait

The proposed K-Dow Petrochemicals was formed to help Dow reduce exposure to the highly cyclical petrochemical plastics business. More importantly, the $17.4 billion venture was slated to provide Dow some much needed cash, including $7 billion up front.

That cash was going to be needed in Dow's yet-to-be-closed acquisition of Rohm and Haas Company (NYSE: ROH). That deal is currently valued at just over $15 billion and would have been much easier to swallow with the K-Dow deal intact.

Now, legitimate questions are being raised as to whether the Rohm and Haas deal will close. Dow is claiming, and had previously claimed, that it did not need the Kuwait deal to fund the acquisition.

"Broad-based chemical, agriculture, and 'science technology' company DuPont (NYSE: DD) is about as 'blue chip' as companies get," says Bill Martin.

In his BullMarket.com, the trading and investing expert explains, "One of the oldest firms in the country DuPont has shown it can continue to remake itself and grow." Here's his review.

"DuPont offers the potential of significant gains once the major weak links in the U.S. economy -- namely housing and the automotive sector -- rebound from their funks and eventually begin to grow.

"DuPont turned in a solid performance in the second quarter, posting a profit of $1.08 billion, or $1.18 per share, up from $972 million, or $1.04 per share, a year ago.

"The bottom line was enhanced by seven cents a share as the result of a lawsuit settlement and a lower tax rate that resulted from a one-time tax settlement. The company cited strength in is agricultural products business as well strong sales in emerging markets for the growth.

"The soaring cost of food isn't just hitting families in the US; it's hitting everyone around the world," says Neil George. Here, in Personal Finance, he looks at some agriculture, chemical and seed plays.

"During the past five years, consumer food costs have soared by more than 117%. And that momentum is increasing; in the trailing 12 months alone, prices surged more than 52%.

"The mega-investors aren't waiting around; they're buying into other parts of the ag business-from grain elevators to ag processors and distributors-as a workaround for such potential regulation.

"You shouldn't be sitting on your hands, either. This food trend is going to be here for a while, so you better stake your claim while buyers still outnumber sellers.

"One way to invest in this trend is to step into companies that are serving the ag producers. This means the companies developing and selling engineered seeds, as well as chemicals and fertilizer products needed to not just grow crops but more bountiful and, therefore, more profitable crops.

Resource industry specialists Roger Conrad and Yiannis Mostrous are bullish on the agriculture and water sectors; in their model portfolio they already hold 6 stocks in these sectors.

The co-editors of Vital Resource Investor explain, "We see strong underpinnings for continued higher agricultural prices for many years to come." Here's their latest agrculture play: EI du Pont de Nemours (NYSE: DD).

"Recently the United Nations Food Agency warned of civil war in some countries because of global food shortages. With the rapid urbanization of Asian countries, we see a growing global dependence on a shrinking number of food producing nations, particularly with the world adding 78.5 million people each year.

"There will be ups and downs for prices along the way. A throttling back of America's efforts to develop ethanol so extensively or a move to use something besides corn to brew ethanol could take some of the upward pressure off corn prices.

"A real global recession could also cause food prices to back off for a time and it's also possible we'll see some form of US government intervention to curb food prices, particularly as the presidential election develops.

"We are looking for companies that are expanding rapidly in international markets, sporting respectable yields, and offer solid management and a history of big results," says Keith Fitz-Gerald.

In his Money Map Reporter, he says, "There are a few gems out there. And one such company is Celanese Corp. (NYSE: CE).

"Celanese is the world's largest supplier of acetyl products, including acetic acid and vinyl acetate. What's important to understand is that CE makes 'building block' chemicals based on acetate.

"These chemicals are in almost every household in the world. It specializes in making acid products that others use to create things like plastics, cigarette filters, emulsions, alcohols, acetate products and even food ingredients.

"Not only is CE the world's largest supplier of this specialized material; it also enjoys a huge competitive advantage, based on lower production costs and economies of scale. In fact, 95% of CE's products are number one or number two in their respective markets.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"My favorite conservative idea for 2008 is Sigma-Aldrich (NASDAQ: SIAL), one of the world's largest providers of research chemicals, reagents, chromatography products, and related products," says Kelley Wright, editor of Investment Quality Trends.

"SIAL distributes more than 100,000 chemical products for use primarily in research and development, diagnosis of disease, and as specialty chemicals for manufacturing.

"The company believes it is the leader in the worldwide market for research chemicals, estimated at about $8.75 billion, with annual revenue growth of 3%-4%. The worldwide market for fine chemicals is estimated at $50 billion, with annual growth of 2%-3%. SIAL projects that it ranks among the top ten players in the fragmented fine chemical industry.

"The company's balance sheet is relatively strong, with a total debt-to-capital ratio of 26.6% as of September 30, 2007. This should allow SIAL to make additional acquisitions and further repurchases of its common stock. SIAL has acquired 83 million (adjusted) of its common shares since November 1999.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"Nanotech has an incredibly broad application spectrum and the sector offers enormous opportunities," explains Gregg Early in The Real Nanotech Investor.

"My conservative favorite for 2008 is Bayer (OTC: BAYRY). Although the stock is up 50% since we first added it to our portfolio less than a year ago, its return isn't surprising given current market conditions.

"Bayer has a number of things going for it beyond its significant incorporation of nanotech into various product lines; it even sells Baytubes, proprietary ready-to-use, multi-walled carbon nanotubes. It's also a big, safe stock.

"But it's still undervalued relative to its pharma competitors. And it's a German company that has the spending power of a euro-based firm with significant exposure in every major developed and developing market in the world.

Each year Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, surveys the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is part of his 24th annual Top Picks Report.

The BASF Group (NYSE: BF) is the top conservative idea for 2007 from Gregg Early, editor of The Real Nanotech Investor: A Small World of Big Profits. He notes, "BASF is one of the premier chemicals companies in the world and it's well positioned to be the most dominant and influential chemical company of the 21st century.

"Nanotech is to this century what chemistry was to the 20th century -- one of the most pervasive advancements in every aspect of our lives.

"Like penicillin or the transistor, it will take society decades to fully realize the implications. BASF is already well on its way to applying the lessons it has long been learning on this front.