Long time readers will know this is about the 678,211,121st (give or take) time I've cut back the fertilizer names as they break support at the 50 day moving average, only to reverse on me within days. [Jul 7: Cutting Some Fertilizer Exposure] I even wrote in that entryHistorically you want to buy them when they touch the 50 day moving average since they bounce, but with the market acting so poorly we could get some washout action.So ONCE AGAIN - I am repeating the same pattern, and with egg on face buying back what I sold - luckily I sold right near support so we are paying almost the same price to get the position back. It would of been nice to of bought on yesterday mornings dip but I was greedy ...

I actually expect dividend payment to become part of the rule for other commodity makers, especially the fertilizers as they turn into cash flow machines. Cleveland Cliffs (CLF) trading up 15% this AM on this line item along with raised 2008 guidance and preliminary 2009. Boo and Yah. Unfortunately some sucker sold a partial position at $99, citing market conditions earlier this week. (hand in the air) None of the 2008 guidance is "news" to blog readers but I guess it was "news" to the market. If only the market could stay upright for more than 3 hours at a time. Blah.As a result of the recently announced iron ore settlements between major Asia-Pacific iron ore producers and consumers, as well as the rising ...

On June 10th, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) called a public meeting of its Energy Markets Advisory Committee to address continually exponentiating oil prices.

Representatives from major investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley fielded questions regarding their banks’ roles in the oil futures market for the first time under the public eye. Many groups have raised suspicion as to whether the banks are using investors’ funds to bid up oil prices, while at the same time issuing predictions that prices will rise.

Donald Casturo, managing director of Goldman Sachs, stated: “There is a clear separation between our research and trading departments…The firm is acting within the terms of the law.”

Still, organizations like Industrial Energy Consumers of America remain skeptical of the truth in this statement. The CFTC announced the launch of an investigation to be conducted by a special panel consisting of Federal Reserve, SEC,

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Agrium (AGU) the smallest of the 3 major potash producers in Canpotex is out this morning with increased guidance - expect the same from Mosaic (MOS) and Potash (POT). This is leading the sector higher with AGU up 9% in early trading - keep in mind unlike the other 2 names mentioned, Agrium has a large retail component. Essentially they've taken their own lowball guidance up by around 80 cents, and now are firmly over the analysts $2.50. Looks like analysts are *still* behind the curve even after making huge upward revisions the past 60-90 days, once they saw the writing on the wall - writing we were urging them to see last fall [Oct 23: Analysts Still Doubting the Fertilizer Stocks] I wroteFolks, I am not a full time fertilizer analyst working for a major brokerage (in fact the ...

(AP:NEW YORK) Wheat prices plunged to a five-month low Wednesday as investors bet that U.S. crop yields will meet demand and ease price increases for flour, bread, pasta and other foods.

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Hansen Natural (HANS), which makes Monster energy drink, reported lower-than-expected quarterly results as cost increases drove down profitability, sending its shares down 13 percent after hours. The company posted a first-quarter net income of $28.8 million, or 29 cents a share, compared with $20.2 million, or 21 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts expected the company to earn 35 cents a share. Hansen lost sales as customers made early purchases in the fourth quarter to beat price increases. It also demonstrates the short attention span suffered by most investors, as this was all discussed on the conference call three months ago. At the time, I said “Hansen Natural is giving back the last month’s gains today after reporting higher than expected sales and lower than expected margins. Both were explained by customers stocking up ahead of a price increase.” Early this year I felt that growth was available on ...