On this week's earnings preview I wrote this in regards to Deere (DE):Major ag equipment player Deere (DE) - I don't own the equipment stocks anymore; at some point the rising cost of steel, petrol products and the like will be hurting the bottom line unless they can pass all the costs along to farmers - over the next year if inflation does not abate this is the type of company who could see profit margins squeezed simply from the constant increase in input costs.Here are the results - looks like a good call with the stock down 8%. Sometimes a rising tide (agriculture boom) does lift all boats. But sometimes you need to think farther ahead than that - as Wayne Gretzky says - don't be where the puck is, be where it's going to be. ("I ...

Knock on wood but we continue a strange streak of no major earnings blowouts from the myriad fund holdings. I had reduced both positions going into earnings to reduce risk, but looks like both came through quite well. As opposed to Huron Consulting (HURN) which we sold out of yesterday, peer FTI Consulting (FCN) just continues to execute quarter after quarter; beat estimates and raise guidance - par for the course for these guys. All the drivers that should be driving HURN are in fact driving FCN. All this earnings growth even with a large share count increase (nearly a quarter) - even more impressive. Business advisory firm FTI Consulting Inc. said Wednesday its first-quarter profit more than doubled, surpassing Wall Street's expectations, as fallout from the subprime mortgage mess spurred strong revenue growth across all business segments. For the three months ended March 31, the company reported income ...