Seed company Monsanto was one of the few companies that appeared unscathed during the mess over the past 6 months. They were raising guidance when most were cutting. Today, a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087amp;sid=a44FK3mtwAAEamp;refer=home"we get news/a that earnings are going to come in on the low end of guidance, and lighter than analyst expectations.br /br /ulliMonsanto Co., the world’s biggest seed producer, said earnings this year will be at the low end of its previously announced forecast because of stronger-than- expected competition in its herbicide business./liliOngoing earnings will be about $4.40 a share, the lowest point of its forecasted range of $4.40 to $4.50, St. Louis-based Monsanto said today in a statement. The company was expected to earn $4.59 a share, the average estimate of 12 analysts in a Bloomberg survey. /liliChief Executive Officer Hugh Grant is facing increased competition from Chinese makers of glyphosate herbicide that is cheaper than the ...

Monsanto Co.(...

In the CNBC.com Video Roundup, “Volatility-Beaters: Steel and Internet Stocks”, what steel name did Timna Tanners pick?

“We like U.S. Steel (X)…They’re the biggest tubular pipe player in the U.S.  Prices are going to rise steadily with energy demand there.”

- Timna Tanners, UBS Steel & Building Materials Analyst

US Steel scores well for earnings momentum and price momentum in the models I follow.

1 word comes to mind of late - complacency. Today's medium sized sell off had me thinking of the last time the market sold off in a meaningful way. The fact I could not remember is a case in point. It looks like we had 1 day back there on April 11th but other than that since the quarter turned on April 1, it's been all good. Despite almost all bad on the economic front. No wonder everyone berates us with "it's all priced in", and "all up from here". If you review this week's postings you see 1 theme - selling and building cash. I'm back to nearly 20% in cash, and about 18% short exposure which is a very hedged exposure. I still am aghast this market does not treat $120+ crude more seriously - as I wrote ...

Lots of Israeli companies reporting earnings. Here are some highlights: Perrigo (PRGO): Tightened up 2008 guidance higher and beat revenues projections. Earnings release here. Early look at the stock is that investors aren’t impressed. See our recent commentary on PRGO’s generic nicotine gum. Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA): Earnings report here. Quarter over quarter growth looks to be 24% and profit down from CoGenesys charge. RRSat (RRST): Smacked yesterday after an earnings release. The 20% drop came after putting up pretty good top lines numbers. Margins came down quite a bit. Alvarion (ALVR): Stock popped after the wireless backhaul firm put up pretty good revenue numbers and a narrower loss. The stock jumped 15%. Earnings report here. See our analysis of the recent turbulence in the wireless market. Ness Technologies (NSTC): Revenues up 27% year-over-year and ...