BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. (BJ), a leading warehouse club operator in the United States, recently reported sales for the four-week period ended August 29, 2009. The sales for the month declined 1.9% to $757.6 million from $772.6 million reported in the same month last year. Comparable club sales fell 6.0% for the month of August versus an increase of 15.4% in the same month last year, hurt by lower gasoline prices and volumes compared to the prior year. BJ’s Wholesale Club currently operates 184 wholesale clubs and 103 gasoline stations in 15 states. Gasoline sales for the month of August dipped 8.2% compared to a 7.7% rise in sales last year. Excluding gasoline, merchandise comparable club sales climbed 2.2% versus an increase of 7.7% last year. Merchandise comparable club sales increased in the first three weeks but slid in the fourth week. Excluding gasoline sales, ...

Following the deadly Sayano-Shushenskaya accident, Rusal could lose up to as much as 500,000 tons of aluminium production, which is equal to around 11% of 2008's output.  It is expected that energy tariffs will increase in winter for 'industrial users' meaning cost-cutting will be difficult for the indebted firm.  Alisher Usmanov's mining company Metalloinvest has procured a loan from VTB to refinance its debt to Sberbank.  At the MAKS air show Putin lambasted the aerospace industry for its 'lack of discipline', whilst a 'record sum' for orders was racked up in defense deals between Sukhoi and the Defense Ministry.  Iran has prohibited its airlines from using Russian-made aircraft after two crashes last month by Russian-built planes.  President Medvedev and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite emphasized the need for secure economic ties following a trade spat concerning dairy products.  ...

The Hershey Company (HSY) is expected to release its second-quarter results on July 23, 2009.

It expects annual earnings for fiscal 2009 to be below the long term range of 6% to 8%, due to unprecedented commodity and pension cost increases, higher levels of core brand investment spending, and current weak macroeconomic conditions. Management expects commodity costs to increase by $175 million in 2009; however, the increase could be lower if current market prices, particularly for dairy products, continue through the remainder of the year.

The aggressive competition in the confectionary category is also negatively-affecting Hershey's near-term prospects. In addition, the changing consumer habits, in part driven by the low-carb phenomenon, and the growing awareness of healthier snacking options, are also reducing incremental demand for confectionery and other snack products.

Furthermore, Hershey's has entered the high-margin single-serve cookie market. Although the focus on higher margin products is commendable, the viability of

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Neogen Corp. was named to Fortune Magazine’s list of the fastest growing small public companies in the United States during 2008. The list includes 100 companies and Neogen Corp came in 21st. Fortune Magazine considers revenue growth and stock performance measured over a multiyear period to compile the list, which is released annually.

Neogen Corp stock returned 21.6% to investors on an average annualized basis over the last three years. James Herbert, the CEO of Neogen Corp said, “We are very pleased that this respected financial publication has once again recognized our company’s financial performance as one of the best in America.”

Neogen Corp. was founded in 1982, and has several different divisions. The Food Safety Division designs and manufactures tests to detect bacteria, allergens and toxins in food and dairy products. The Animal Safety division designs and manufactures diagnostic and Veterinarian equipment and instruments for use

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On July 6, 2009, International Business Machines (IBM) announced its agreement for a 10-year strategic outsourcing deal worth over Rs. 80 crores with Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), better known as Amul – India 's largest dairy products marketing organization. IBM engages in the development and manufacturing of the advanced information technology. Under the deal, IBM through its SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform will manage and operate Amul’s IT environment. The project would start with the implementation of the SAP (ERP) application along with the roll out of necessary modules and systems for Amul. This will help improve Amul’s operations including its supply-chain, and process efficiencies besides strengthening consumer base and accomplishing growth. We view this deal as very positive for both the companies. This win will enable IBM to focus on its investments on differentiating technologies with high-growth potential and high-value segments ...

TODAY: SCO wraps up in blaze of activity; Medvedev calls BRIC 'historic event'; no decision from US on defense system; German MPs agree Khodorkovsky trial is trial for Russian justice; Vaclev Havel speaks out against RussiaFor detailed step-by-step coverage of the SCO summit, see Ria-Novosti.  The countries endorsed the re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov calling his visit to Russia 'symbolic'.  Yulia Latynina comments on long-standing collusion between Russia and Iran:  'Iran spends so much money on Russia that supporters of the Islamic revolution work in the Russian Embassy in Tehran'.   The summit also saw: the signing of a declaration affirming a multipolar world, castigation of North Korea, promises to help Afghanistan and ...

TODAY: 'Milk war' steps up a notch; Lukashenko absent from security summit in Moscow; rapid reaction force agreed upon at CSTO meeting; Kremlin hopes for larger role in Afghanistan resolution; third killing in North Caucasus in week of violence; US says WTO bid for three needs to be examinedBelarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has vexed President Medvedev by boycotting a meeting of the CSTO, the post-Soviet security bloc, without personally informing him.  Tensions have been high recently due to trade disagreements on dairy products.  Russia has emphasized that the milk import ban is a technical matter and has been over-politicized by Belarus.  Belarussian experts will arrive in Moscow today to continue discussions over the issue, which it hopes will be settled within ...

Taiwan-based food and beverage group Uni-President has announced plans to produce dairy products in Wuhan, Hubei, and to sell these products under its Uni-President brand in China. Xiao Fengshi, the general manager of Uni-President Central China, told local media that dairy sector is the largest sector for Uni-President's food business in Taiwan. The group plans to [...]

Why invest in commodities? Two and a half billion people are going to live like Americans in the next 20 years and prices go up over time, that’s the nature of inflation.

We are in the middle of a global economic crisis and commodities are on sale. Buy commodities now while they are still cheap. When we finally emerge from this global economic crisis — prices will explode higher. I’m talking about another long-term bull market in commodities. Let me explain…

Inflation Will Push Commodities Prices Higher

Our Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is an inflationist, which is an advocate of the policy of deliberate inflation achieved by increasing the supply of available currency and credit. They call him helicopter Ben because he once quoted a statement made by Milton Friedman, about using a “helicopter drop” of money into the economy to fight deflation.

Bernanke is a student of the causes of

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Chinese dairy giant Yili has published its annual financial report for 2008 showing that it made losses of CNY1.96 billion during the year. Yili said that due to the global financial crisis and the melamine scandal in 2008, the demand in China for dairy products declined significantly, and had a major impact on the dairy market. However, [...]