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Technical Trade Alerts on Agricultural Chemical Stocks POT, SYT, AGU, MON, CF, TRA for Oct. 9
10/13/08
ticker(s):
POT,
SYT,
AGU,
MON,
CF,
sector(s):
Thursday October 09 2008
Today’s Trade Alerts include: Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE:POT: Summary, Messages, Articles), Syngenta AG (NYSE: SYT: Summary, Messages, Articles), Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU: Summary, Messages, Articles), Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON: Summary, Messages, Articles), CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF: Summary, Messages, Articles) and Terra Industries Inc. (NYSE: TRA: Summary, Messages, Articles).
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (POT: Summary, Messages, Articles) Trade Alert – POT Benefits from Higher Fertilizer Prices
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (POT: Summary, Messages, Articles) shares rose 7.60% to $106.14 in early Thursday trading. PotashCorp engages in the production and sale of fertilizers, and related industrial and feed products in North America.
The company is the world's largest fertilizer enterprise producing three primary plant nutrients potash, phosphate and nitrogen. It has recently benefited from higher fertilizer application rates, higher crop plantings, increasing demand for biofuels and rising crop prices. Paul Raman, CFA, said rising fertilizer prices, especially potash, will expand PotashCorp's margin.
According to Industrial Info Resources, PotashCorp is expecting to produce almost 10 million tons of potash this year, representing 22% of the world's capacity. The company hopes to increase capacity to over 15 million tons by 2012. In order to achieve this goal, the company is launching major expansions of its Canadian mines.
PotashCorp manufactures and sells solid and liquid phosphate fertilizers; animal feed supplements; and industrial acid, which is used in food products and industrial processes.
It also produces nitrogen fertilizers, as well as nitrogen feed and industrial products, including ammonia, urea, nitrogen solutions, ammonium nitrate and nitric acid.
The company's primary customers for fertilizer products include retailers, dealers, cooperatives, distributors and other fertilizer producers. It sells purified phosphoric acid directly to consumers of the product.
In today's daily chart, POT's Bollinger Bands indicate greater than normal volatility as reflected by an increase in distance between the upper and lower bands. Trading within its Bollinger Bands, the stock reflects neither an overbought nor oversold condition relative to its recent price trend. MACD for POT currently indicates a strong bearish signal, with the indicator below the 9-day moving average signal line, and also below the critical 0 level, indicating that moving averages are trending lower. With share prices currently below the stock's 13-day moving average, the bearish signal is more pronounced with decreasing moving averages.
Syngenta AG (SYT: Summary, Messages, Articles) Trade Alert – SYT Receives Analyst Upgrade, Enters Mutli-year Agreement with Metabolon and Five-year Tech Infra Agreement with HP
Syngenta AG (SYT: Summary, Messages, Articles) shares slipped 3.19% Thursday, trading at $34.85 in early trading. Syngenta, an agribusiness company, operates in crop protection and seeds businesses worldwide.
Citigroup recently upgraded Syngenta from Hold to Buy. According to a Citigroup analyst, Syngenta’s valuation looks compelling, with the company committed to delivering more than 35% earnings per share this year and high teens in 2009 (first half of 2008 growth was 41%). He added that new products, supportive markets, tight cost management and the upturn in seeds margins for 2009 all point to progress.
Syngenta also announced a multi-year agreement with Metabolon for biochemical profiling technology that will enhance the Syngenta technical toolkit for its seeds research programs. This agreement will support Syngenta researchers' understanding of plants' response to environmental conditions and decisions on crop traits earlier in the development cycle.
HP, the world’s largest technology company, also announced it has signed a five-year technology infrastructure agreement with Syngenta.
Under the terms of the agreement, HP will use its Adaptive Infrastructure as a Service solution to transform Syngenta’s current infrastructure-based services into subscription services aligned to Syngenta’s business processes. The service will be delivered from HP’s next-generation data centers in Isle D’Abeau, France, and Alpharetta, Georgia.
Syngenta is an agribusiness that is involved in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of a range of products designed to improve crop yields and food quality.
It operates in three segments: Crop Protection, Seeds and Business Development. The Crop Protection segment offers herbicides, primarily for corn, cereals, soybean and rice; fungicides for cereals, fruits, grapes, rice, soybean and vegetables; insecticides for fruits, vegetables and field crops; and professional products, such as seed treatments, products for public health, and products for turf and ornamentals. It focuses on various corps, including corn, cereals, soybean, fruits and vegetables, oilseeds, sugar beets, rice and cotton, and turf and ornamentals. The company markets these products through independent distributors and dealers, agricultural consultants and growers.
The Seeds segment develops, produces and markets seeds and plants based on advanced genetics and related technologies. This segment offers approximately 100 product lines, including vegetables, flowers, corn, cereals, sugar beet and sunflower. The company markets these products worldwide under NK, GOLDEN HARVEST, GARST, HILLESHOG, S&G and ROGERS brand names.
The Business Development segment offers a sugar beet suitable for cultivation in tropical climates in India. It also has various products under development, including VipCot for improved resistance to insects; and Amylase corn for use in the production of ethanol.
Syngenta has operations in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, the Asia Pacific and North America.
In today's daily chart, SYT's Bollinger Bands indicate above normal volatility as reflected by an increase in distance between the upper and lower bands. Trading within its Bollinger Bands, the stock reflects neither an overbought nor oversold condition relative to its recent price trend. MACD reflects a strong bearish signal, with the indicator below the 9-day moving average signal line, and also below the critical 0 level, indicating that moving averages are trending lower. With share prices currently below the stock's 13-day moving average, the bearish signal is more pronounced with decreasing moving averages.
Agrium Inc. (AGU: Summary, Messages, Articles) Trade Alert – AGU Receives Approval from TSX for Share Buyback
Shares of Agrium Inc. (AGU: Summary, Messages, Articles) jumped 6.25% to $40.51 Thursday morning. Agrium produces and markets agricultural nutrients, industrial products and specialty products worldwide, as well as involves in the retail supply of agricultural products and services in North and South America.
Agrium has recently received approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) to buy back up to 5% of its currently issued and outstanding common shares in the next 12 months.
CreditSights said Agrium’s healthy free cash flow and cash available on its balance sheet should allow it to fund the repurchase plan for its 7.9 million shares without having to issue additional debt.
Agrium operates through three segments: Retail, Wholesale and Advanced Technologies. The Retail segment markets crop nutrient products in liquid or dry form, including nitrogen, phosphate, potash, sulphur and micronutrients; crop protection products, such as herbicides, fungicides and insecticides; Vigoro branded and private label seeds; and a range of custom application and agronomic services, as well as other services, including applying crop input products, obtaining and analyzing soil and tissue samples, and crop scouting. As of December 31, 2007, this segment operated 444 farm centers and 49 distribution facilities across 30 U.S. states, Argentina and Chile.
The Wholesale segment manufactures, purchases and markets a range of nutrients, including nitrogen-based, potash, and phosphate-based crop nutrient products. It also owns and operates facilities that upgrade ammonia and urea to other products, such as nitrogen solutions and nitric acid. In addition, this segment operates fertilizer granulation and blending plants in the United States.
The Advanced Technologies segment produces and sells controlled-release crop nutrient and professional products to the agriculture, specialty agriculture, professional turf, horticulture, and consumer lawn and garden markets. It also offers pest control products to the structural pest control industry, including pest control in residential and commercial structures.
In today's daily chart, AGU's Bollinger Bands indicate greater than normal volatility as reflected by an increase in distance between the upper and lower bands. Trading within its Bollinger Bands, the stock reflects neither an overbought nor oversold condition relative to its recent price trend. MACD reflects a strong bearish signal, with the indicator below the 9-day moving average signal line, and also below the critical 0 level, indicating that moving averages are trending lower. With share prices currently below the stock's 13-day moving average, the bearish signal is more pronounced with decreasing moving averages.
Monsanto Company (MON: Summary, Messages, Articles) Trade Alert – MON Reports Narrower Q4 Loss of $172 Million
Monsanto Company (MON: Summary, Messages, Articles) shares climbed 8.19% to trade at $88.22 in early Thursday trading. Monsanto, together with its subsidiaries, provides agricultural products for farmers principally in the United States.
The company recently said its loss narrowed to $172 million in its fourth fiscal quarter as sales rose 35%. Sales of branded Roundup herbicides and soybean seeds and traits were key drivers for the quarter. The company's herbicide segment posted $936.0 million in sales, 48.1% greater than the $632.0 million reported in last year's corresponding quarter, while the company's soybean segment grew 33.3%, to $11.0 million, from $33.0 million.
Chief Executive Hugh Grant told investors that strong global demand for grain will boost sales even amid a global economic downturn. Grant said Monsanto expects to earn gross profit between $9.5 billion to $9.75 billion in 2012, up from its prior estimate of $8.6 billion to $9.1 billion. Grant further said most of the profit growth will come from selling engineered seeds.
Monsanto operates in two segments, Seeds and Genomics, and Agricultural Productivity. The Seeds and Genomics segment produces corn, soybeans, canola and cotton seeds, as well as vegetable and fruit seeds, including tomato, pepper, eggplant, melon, cucumber, pumpkin, squash, beans, broccoli, onions and lettuce. This segment also develops biotechnology traits that assist farmers in controlling insects and weeds, as well as provide genetic material and biotechnology traits to other seed companies for their seed brands.
The Agricultural Productivity segment manufactures glyphosate-based, acetanilide-based and other selective herbicides; lawn-and-garden herbicides for residential lawn-and-garden applications; and bovine somatotropin to increase efficiency of milk production in dairy cows.
The company offers its products under the Roundup Ready, YieldGard, Agroceres, Asgrow, DEKALB, D&PL, Deltapine, Vistive, Seminis, Royal Sluis, Petoseed, Posilac, and Bollgard and Bollgard II brand names.
It also licenses germplasm and trait technologies to seed companies in the United States and international markets.
The company sells its products through distributors, independent retailers, dealers, agricultural co-operatives, plant raisers, and agents to farmers, agricultural chemical producers and dairy farmers.
Monsanto has a joint venture with Cargill Inc. to commercialize a proprietary grain processing technology under the name Extrax, as well as a research and development collaboration with BASF in plant biotechnology that focuses on high-yielding crops and crops that are tolerant to adverse conditions, such as drought.
In today's daily chart, MON's Bollinger Bands indicate above normal volatility as reflected by an increase in distance between the upper and lower bands. Trading within its Bollinger Bands, the stock reflects neither an overbought nor oversold condition relative to its recent price trend. MACD reflects a strong bearish signal, with the indicator below the 9-day moving average signal line, and also below the critical 0 level, indicating that moving averages are trending lower. With share prices currently below the stock's 13-day moving average, the bearish signal is more pronounced with decreasing moving averages.
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF: Summary, Messages, Articles) Trade Alert – CF's VP for Sales Retires
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF: Summary, Messages, Articles) shares jumped 12.81% to $64.65 Thursday morning. CF Industries engages in the manufacture and distribution of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer products in North America.
The company recently announced that Monty R. Summa, its vice president of sales, will retire at year-end. Summa has led the company’s sales organization since August of 2003, when he joined CF Industries.
Stephen R. Wilson, chairman and CEO of CF Industries, explained, “In his five years at this company, Monty Summa has redirected the sales organization from its focus of serving the needs of our previous owner cooperatives to its present position as a strong, reliable supplier to the broader North American agriculture market.”
At CF Industries, Summa led development of the company’s innovative sales programs and tools, notably its Forward Pricing Program and PROMISESM, a state-of-the-art e-business customer service tool.
CF Industries operates through two segments, Nitrogen Fertilizer and Phosphate Fertilizer. The Nitrogen Fertilizer segment offers ammonia, urea and urea ammonium nitrate solutions.
The Phosphate Fertilizer segment provides diammonium phosphate and monoammonium phosphate used in agricultural fertilizer applications.
The company's customers include cooperatives and independent fertilizer distributors located in the grain-producing states of the Midwestern United States.
In today's daily chart, CF's MACD reflects a weak bullish signal, with the indicator trending above the 9-day moving average signal line but still below the 0 level, indicating bearish moving averages. Trading within its Bollinger Bands, the stock reflects neither an overbought nor oversold condition relative to its recent price action. With share prices currently above the stock's 13-day moving average, a bullish trend is reflected, strengthened by rising moving averages, indicating a significant buying momentum for the stock.
Terra Industries Inc. (TRA: Summary, Messages, Articles) Trade Alert – TRA Enters Unregistered Sale of Equity Securities
Terra Industries Inc. (TRA: Summary, Messages, Articles) shares increased 8.79% to $21.57 Thursday morning. Terra Industries, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and marketing of nitrogen and methanol products for agricultural and industrial markets worldwide.
According to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Terra Industries exchanged a total of 21,500 shares of its 4.25% Series A cumulative convertible perpetual preferred shares for a total of 2,158,634 shares of the company's common stock. The exchanges took place in the form of individually negotiated transactions between the company and each of four holders of the preferred stock.
Pursuant to the agreement, shares of common stock were issued based upon a conversion rate of 100.4016 shares of common stock per preferred share. Each holder also received a cash payment to adjust for dividends and as an inducement for the conversion of such holder's preferred shares.
Terra Industries operates in two segments, Nitrogen and Methanol. The Nitrogen segment offers fertilizers, such as anhydrous ammonia, urea ammonium nitrate solutions, ammonium nitrate and urea, as well as nitric acid, carbon dioxide and dinitrogen tetroxide.
The Methanol segment manufactures methanol, which is used as a raw material in the production of various chemical derivatives, as well as in the production of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), an oxygenate and octane enhancer for gasoline.
Terra Industries sells its products to national agricultural retail chains, farm cooperatives, independent dealers and industrial customers.
In today's daily chart, TRA's Bollinger Bands indicate greater than normal volatility as reflected by an increase in distance between the upper and lower bands. Trading within its Bollinger Bands, the stock reflects neither an overbought nor oversold condition relative to its recent price action. MACD reflects a strong bearish signal, with the indicator below the 9-day moving average signal line, and also below the critical 0 level, indicating that moving averages are trending lower. With share prices currently below the stock's 13-day moving average, the bearish signal is more pronounced with decreasing moving averages.
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Today
| Stocks | Searches Today | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| POT | (POTASH CP SASKATC) | Summary Messages Articles | 1 (0%) |
| SYT | (SYNGENTA AG ADS) | Summary Messages Articles | 0 (new!) |
| AGU | (AGRIUM INC.) | Summary Messages Articles | 1 (0%) |
| MON | (MONSANTO COMPANY) | Summary Messages Articles | 0 (new!) |
| CF | (CF IND HLDGS INC) | Summary Messages Articles | 0 (new!) |
| TRA | (TERRA INDS INC) | Summary Messages Articles | 0 (new!) |
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