Monsanto Company (MON) has signed a long-term supply contract with Air Products (APD), the leading global hydrogen provider. According to the contract, Air Products will build a new world-scale hydrogen production plant to be located at Monsanto's Luling, Louisiana, Roundup facility. The new hydrogen plant is scheduled to be on-stream in Jan 2012.  Air Products will build a steam methane reformer (SMR) producing over 100 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of hydrogen. The SMR will be connected to Air Products' East Gulf Coast pipeline network, which supplies refineries with hydrogen needed to make cleaner burning transportation fuels, in addition to meeting the hydrogen needs of the local petrochemical industry. In addition, the facility will produce additional hydrogen via a clean-up of a hydrogen-rich off-gas feed coming from Monsanto. Monsanto will use steam from Air Products' SMR process to benefit its Roundup production plant. ...

Today before the market opened, Monsanto Co. (MON), the largest chemicals and biotech seed maker reported results for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2009, ended August 31, 2009. Excluding one-time items (on an ongoing basis), the company reported earnings of 2 cents per share, compared to a loss of 3 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. This was above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 1 cent per share. However, the company posted a wider loss in the quarter, which increased to 43 cents per share on an as-reported basis, from 31 cents in the year-ago quarter, due to restructuring charges and the divestiture of the company's sunflower operations. Restructuring lowered earnings by 53 cents. During the quarter, the company also increased the restructuring reserve to the $550 - $600 million range to support its cost-cutting effort. SG&A as a percentage of revenue was ...

Third-quarter earnings season officially starts on Wednesday afternoon with Alcoa's (AA) report. The aluminum maker is expected to announce revenues of $4.5 billion and a loss of 11 cents per share. The results will look awful compared to last year because the commodity bubble peaked in Q308.

Joining AA will be 6 other S&P 500 members: Costco (COST), Family Dollar (FDO), Marriott (MAR), Monsanto (MON), Pepsi Bottling (PBG), PepsiCo (PEP) and Yum! Brands (YUM). We have confirmed scheduled reports from a total of 24 companies.

Economic data will largely take a backseat to the earnings news. There is comparatively little on the calendar, with the most newsworthy release being the September ISM services index. The weekly energy and mortgage applications reports could still influence trading, however.

Monday: September ISM services survey Wednesday: August consumer credit, September treasury budget, weekly crude inventories, weekly mortgage

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• McDonald's (NYSE:MCD), reported August same-store-sales rose 2.2%, but noted US comps were up a less-than-expected 1.7%, noting rising unemployment levels and increased competition from price-cutting rivals hurt revenues

• Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) San Francisco event once again saw the shares move lower, this year off 1%, despite the welcome appearance of Jobs, and iPod price cuts and improvements.  An 8 GB iPod Nano will include built-in video and an FM radio; price cuts of as much as $120 were made.  This morning JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) upped its rating on Apple to "outperform" from "market perform," with a $200 price target

• Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN) raised its third quarter earnings and sales guidance, with third quarter guidance increased to 37 cents to 41 cents a share from prior range of 29 cents to 39 cents a share; revenues guidance was lifted to $2.73 billion to $2.87 billion from prior $2.5 billion to $2.8

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Michigan-based chemical giant Dow Chemical (DOW) announced that its agricultural arm Dow AgroSciences has received regulatory approvals in the U.S. and Canada to launch its genetically modified (GM) corn seed – SmartStax. The all-in-one corn trait platform is scheduled for a commercial launch in 2010.   SmartStax is a high-yielding package for weed and bug control in corn. It features a unique combination of insect control traits that significantly reduces the risk of resistance for pests both above and below ground. It also protects the crop from being damaged by some weed and grass control chemicals. The GM seed combines as many as 8 different herbicide tolerance and pest protection genes.   SmartStax is jointly developed and marketed by Dow AgroSciences and Missouri-based agricultural solutions provider Monsanto (MON) following a cross licensing and research and development collaboration agreement in 2007.   SmartStax has received registration from the ...

* JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) upgraded shares of Sallie Mae (NYSE:SLM) to "overweight," citing improved earnings visibility from its transition to primarily a loan service providers, which will lower interest-rate and funding risks

* Quantas Airlines cancelled orders for 15 Boeing (NYSE:BA) 787 Dreamliners scheduled for 2014-2015 delivery, and deferred orders for 15 more, citing the tough economic environment

* Potash (NYSE:POT) lowered its earnings guidance for the second quarter from $1.10-$1.50 to 70 cents, citing substantially lower than expected potash sales volume on deferrals by its global customers and lower realized prices for phosphate fertilizers

* UBS (NYSE:UBS) warned of a second quarter net loss, announcing $3.48 billion in capital-raising with a 293.3 million share offering at $11.91, a 6.9% discount to yesterday's close

* Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) lowered its 2010 earnings estimate and price target on Monsanto (NYSE:MON), citing lower glyphosate profits and lower seed price gains. The 2010 estimate was cut 50

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - June 22, 2009 - Zacks.com releases the list of companies likely to issue earnings surprises. This week's list includes Oracle (ORCL), Micron (MU), Monsanto (MON), Bank of America (BAC), KB Home (KBH), Lennar (LEN) and CKE Restaurants (CKR). To see more earnings analysis, visit http://at.zacks.com/?id=3207.

Every day, Zacks.com makes 4 stock picks available, free of charge. To see them, go to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5612.

The Week's Events

We'll see another round of early second-quarter results this week. A total of 42 companies are scheduled to report, including 14 S&P 500 members. Oracle (ORCL), Micron (MU) and Monsanto (MON) will be among the mostly closely-watched reports.

The Fed will also grab traders' attention. A 2-day meeting is scheduled for

...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - June 22, 2009 - Zacks.com releases the list of companies likely to issue earnings surprises. This week's list includes Oracle (ORCL), Micron (MU), Monsanto (MON), Bank of America (BAC), KB Home (KBH), Lennar (LEN) and CKE Restaurants (CKR). To see more earnings analysis, visit http://at.zacks.com/?id=3207.

Every day, Zacks.com makes 4 stock picks available, free of charge. To see them, go to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5612.

The Week's Events

We'll see another round of early second-quarter results this week. A total of 42 companies are scheduled to report, including 14 S&P 500 members. Oracle (ORCL), Micron (MU) and Monsanto (MON) will be among the mostly closely-watched reports.

The Fed will also grab traders' attention. A 2-day meeting is scheduled for

...

Avalon Oil & Gas Inc. is an independent domestic oil and natural gas producer. The company’s strategy is to use efficient reservoir maintenance and innovative technology to generate stable cash flows and production from a portfolio of oil and gas leases. Avalon currently has leases in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Avalon Oil & Gas is led by a strong leadership team which consists of two officers and two directors.

Kent Rodriguez, CEO – Mr. Rodriguez joined the company as president and CEO in January 1997. Since 1995, he has been the managing partner of Weyer Capital Partners, a Minneapolis-based venture capital company. From 1985 to 1995, Mr. Rodriguez was employed in various capacities by the First National Bank of Elmore, Minnesota.

Jill Allison, Vice-President – Ms. Allison brings over 20 years of diversified management experience in business development and technology commercialization. She

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I love hard assets… like energy, agriculture and metals.   Why?  Because there is a good chance that inflation is going to devalue paper currency around the globe.

You need to have a portion of your wealth in something tangible—something you can hold in your hand, like a hard asset.  I’m talking about oil, grains, livestock, sugar, copper, aluminum, gold, silver, platinum and even forest products like lumber.

The price of oil will never go to zero!  Someone will always be in the market to buy gasoline.  Gold has never been worth $0.  Silver could always buy you a meal–even in ancient times.

But can the value of a stock or a paper currency go to zero?  Yes, indeed.  One good way to invest in hard assets is to buy the Market Vectors RVE Hard Assets Exchange Traded Fund (HAP).  This ETF closely tracks the Hard Assets Producers index which consists of over

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