Last week, ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG) announced that it would reduce salt by 20% across its portfolio of food products by 2015. Since 2006, the company has already removed more than 2 million pounds of salt from it products. The company’s commitment builds on ConAgra Foods’ legacy as a leader in helping consumers reduce and control sodium intake.  More than 20 years ago, ConAgra Foods introduced Healthy Choice meals to the marketplace, the first and still the only line of meals in the grocery store to earn the “healthy" label, in part, for meeting the U.S. government’s recommendations for healthy sodium levels.  In fact, the latest HealthFocus Trend Report noted that both interest in and use of lower salt options among primary grocery shoppers has increased dramatically over the past four years. In 2004, 19% of shoppers indicated they used low-sodium products once a week or ...

Companies featured in this edition of the newsletter: ACTC, CVM, CUR, DKAM, ENZ, IMUC, IWEB, PHC, SVUL, SRCO, SVUL, XSNX

Markets extended their winning streak yet again this week, as all ten sectors of the S&P 500 finished in positive territory and markets hit fresh highs for the year once again, despite the lack of any significant developments on either the corporate or economic fronts. All told, the Dow ended up 2.2% on the week, gaining 214 points to close at 9820 on the week, up 11.9% on the year. The Nasdaq performed slightly better, gaining 2.5% on the week, closing at 2132, up 35.2% on the year, while the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 gained 2.5% and 4.1% respectively, up 18.3% and 23.7% on the year.

While it was a relatively quiet week as far as headlines were concerned, there were some positive economic developments in the form

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 14, 2009 - Zacks Research Equity Strategist, Dirk Van Dijk says that S&P 500 earnings are continuing to show red ink. He tracks companies on the Zacks.com web site, naming names, while forecasting trends for the months ahead.

Key Points from Van Dijk's Latest Earnings Assessment

Second-quarter total net income expected to be down 34.9% year over year Staples only sector expected to post positive growth in second quarter Seven sectors expected to decline more than 25% Financials expected to rebound after disastrous 2008 Early positive surprises lead disappointments by 7:1 margin Third quarter expected to be down 22.9% year over year Estimate cuts for 2009 again outnumber increases slightly Full year 2009 expected to fall 13.6%, ...

A surprise rise in demand for durable goods and Oracle's better-than-expected earnings pushed equity markets higher yesterday, but stocks pared gains as policy makers at Federal Reserve decided to keep the benchmark interest rate between zero and 0.25%.  The S&P 500 index edged up 0.7% to 900.94 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 23 points or 0.3% to end the day at 8299.86.  Tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 1.6%.  Boeing (NYSE:BA) continued to trade lower after announcing that it had again delayed initial test flight of its 787 Dreamliner program.  Volume on the NYSE was light at 1.10 billion with advancing issues outpacing declining stocks by a seven-to-three margin.  Crude price eased 0.2% to $68.53 as weekly US stockpile reports were ahead of estimates.  The absence of Fed plans to extend or increase its $300 billion debt buyback program sent Treasury prices lower, with the 10-year, which influences interest rates

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div style="text-align: justify;"Citigroup is downgrading span style="font-weight: bold;"ConAgra (NYSE:CAG) /spanto Hold from Buy and removing it from their Top Picks Live list.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"What's Happened? —/span On Tuesday (6/9) ConAgra’s Slim Jim manufacturing plant in Garner, NC exploded killing three people. On Saturday (6/13), the local news paper indicated that the ATF has ruled the explosion an accident caused by a natural gas leak. ConAgra has not commented on the situation.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"- Extensive Damage Done — /spanThe plant was extensively damaged and will likely be off-line for quite a long time and is the only plant that makes Slim Jim. Citigroup est. revenues of Slim Jim at $200 mm/yr and EPS contribution at $0.06/sh.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"- Insurance Coverage is Unknown — /spanConAgra has not yet made any comments regarding its insurance coverage on the plant; nor its coverage with regards to business interruption ...

General Mills Inc. (GIS) and ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG) both topped analysts' forecasts on their second-quarter profit, as the deepening global economic slump forced more cash-strapped customers to dine at home. Price increases for their products and improved cost-control measures also helped the companies post better-than-expected results.

General Mills' net income fell 3.1% to $378.2 million, or $1.09 a share, in the quarter. Excluding certain one-time items, profit was $1.36 per share, compared with the consensus estimate of $1.22. The maker of Progresso Soup also boosted its 2009 earnings guidance, even after forecasting a 9% increase in costs. General Mills now expects to earn between $3.83 and $3.87 a share, from an earlier view of $3.81 and $3.85.

ConAgra posted quarterly earnings of $168.1 million, or 37 cents a share, down from $244.8 million, or 50 cents, a year ago. Excluding items, earnings were

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Stock markets in Asia and Europe opened sharply lower after Lehman Brothers (LEH) announces bankruptcy. Another news is about Merrill Lynch (MER) which was surprisingly bought by Bank of America (BAC). From Big five financial firms only Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) remain. These two will release earnings results this week.Monday:Economic Empire (1.4) CU & IP (79.6%, -0.3%)Earnings Titan Machinery (TITN), Discover (DFS), Pall (PLL)Tuesday:Economic CPI & Core (0.2%, 0.0%), FOMC StatementEarnings Best Buy (BBY), CBRL (CBRL), Goldman (GS), Kroger (KR), AAR (AIR), Adobe (ADBE), Darden (DRI)Wednesday:Economic Weekly Crude, Bldg P’s & Starts (925K, 950K)Earnings General Mills (GIS), Morgan Stanley (MS), CKE (CKR), Dress Barn (DBRN)Thursday:Economic Weekly Claims, Leading Indicators (-0.2%), Philly Fed (-10.0)Earnings Carnival (CCL), ConAgra (CAG), FedEx (FDX), Cintas (CTAS), Oracle (ORCL), Palm (PALM)http://stockweb.blogspot.com/atom.xml

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