According to Abdulla Salatt, chairman of the company’s fertilizer unit (QAFCO), Industries Qatar–the country’s largest firm by market cap–will increase production of urea (used as a nitrogen-release fertilizer) and related products to supply growing global demand with a specific focus on South America, and in particular, Brazil.  “We are thinking of sending more products to Brazil because it is a big agriculture country, consuming a lot of urea, and we see their appetite for urea opening up year after year,” Sowaidi told reporters.  The company is currently contemplating a proposed $610 million plant which would increase urea production to 5.6 million tons/year by 2012, up from the current rate of 3 million.  Upon completion the fertilizer unit would hold 15% of global urea production, say analysts.  Urea has the highest nitrogen content of all solid nitrogenous fertilizers in common use (46.7%).

The company overall is still reeling from recession,

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Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts!

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FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com

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DrStockPick.com Watch List!

My Picks for Friday November 6, 2009, are:

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XRA, Exeter Resource Corporation

XRA is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the discovery and development of gold and silver properties in South America.

XRA reported the discovery of a new high grade zone to the west of all previously known high grade mineralization on the Escondida vein at Cerro Moro, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina.

Results from 24 new diamond drill holes, 14 of which returned significant results, have been received from the new zone and the nearby Escondida Far West sector.

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PWRM, Power 3 Medical Products Inc, PWRM.OB

PWRM is a leading

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Two Investments to Add to Your “Green” Portfolio

by Louise Harris, Investment U Research

Green investing can be tricky.

That was evidenced after oil prices dropped last year and alternative energy companies saw their profits fall just as quickly.

Naturally, investor enthusiasm followed, as green ETFs like Claymore/Mac Global Solar Energy Index (NYSE: TAN) and Market Vectors Solar Energy (NYSE: KWT) have tumbled 45% over the past 12 months.

Similarly, the broad alternative energy portfolio PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy (NYSE: PBW), has declined by an average of 13.5% annually for the last three years.

But despite those woes, the alternative energy sector still has a few things going for it…

Popularity: The more scientists talk about climate change and how to prevent greenhouse emissions, the more popular alternative energies become. This is especially true in Europe, ...

Last week, Itron Inc. (ITRI) reported third-quarter earnings of 45 cents per share, below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 51 cents and 44% lower than the prior-year level. Earnings disappointment was primarily a result of uncertainty surrounding stimulus fund allocation and unfavorable foreign currency exchange rates. Quarterly revenue of $408.4 million was down 15.8% from $484.8 million in the third quarter of 2008. Itron North America revenue was 22% lower than that in the comparable quarter of 2008 due to the completion of a number of AMR contracts in 2008 and fewer electric meters shipped during the quarter as customers delayed orders due to uncertainty regarding the stimulus bill. International revenues fell 12% from the year-ago level. Majority of this decline was caused by the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange rates. The other factors leading to lower international revenue were the completion of a smart metering/AMI ...

Tenneco (TEN) showed an improvement in profit to $3 million or 7 cents per share for the third quarter of the year, compared to less than $1 million or 1 cent per share in profit a year ago. This is also better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 4 cents per share for the quarter. Adjusted EBIT went up 36% to $46 million from $34 million in the prior-year quarter. However, lower original equipment (OE) production volumes in Europe, North America and Australia as well as declining European aftermarket sales squeezed revenues by 16% to $1.25 billion. The decline was partially softened by stronger OE production volumes in China and South America as well as higher North American aftermarket sales. In fact, revenue increased 13% from $1.11 billion in the previously reported quarter. Gross margin of 16.8% depicted an improvement versus 13.3% a year ago despite ...

Ford Motor Company (F) returned to profitability in the third quarter of the year by posting a net income of $873 million or 26 cents per share, easily clearing the Zacks Consensus Estimate loss of 15 cents per share as well as the year-ago loss of 6 cents per share. This was, in fact, Ford's first operating profit since the first quarter of 2008. The company, which was on the verge of bankruptcy in the middle of the year, accredited its rebound to improved product line, inviolable structural cost reduction efforts and improved results at Ford Credit. Although revenue was down 2.5% to $30.9 billion, Automotive revenue rose $100 million to $27.9 billion from the year-ago level. This was attributed to favorable net pricing and higher volumes, primarily in North America, offset partially by unfavorable exchange. Total wholesale vehicles advanced 5% to 1,232,000 units....

Owens-Illinois Inc. (OI) reported third-quarter earnings per share of 95 cents, a penny above the Zacks Consensus estimate. Earnings were up about 5.6% on a year-over-year basis due to slight improvement in the economy.   Quarterly revenues declined approximately 6.7% as lower shipments and unfavorable currency translation more than offset the positive impact of improved price mix. Glass shipments were down 7% compared to last year. Revenues declined 9.6% in European markets, 2.9% in South America and 7.3% in North America. However, revenues in Asia-Pacific rose 1.4%.   Despite a significant drop in volumes, Owens is still maintaining its price-over-volume strategy. Management stated that the company is focusing on recovering cost inflation. Higher selling prices and improved product mix contributed 4% to sales, which more than offset the cost inflation in the quarter.   In addition, Owens is focused on improving operational efficiency and overall productivity to somewhat ...

America Movil (AMX) reported results for third-quarter 2009 with earnings per ADS of 86 cents edging past the Zacks Consensus Estimates of 85 cents while increasing 22.6% from the year-ago earnings per ADS of 70 cents. Net profit surged 50.6% year over year to 18.7 billion pesos (US$1.4 billion) or 0.57 pesos per share. This healthy growth was fuelled by higher revenue and lower financing costs which fell 82.5% year over year due to gains stemming from favorable exchange rate swings.  Revenue & EBITDA Latin America’s largest wireless carrier continues to register a double-digit revenue growth as evident from the 16.9% year over year increase in consolidated revenue in the quarter to 99.8 billion pesos (US$7.5 billion), driven by 19.5% growth in service revenue. Revenue growth was supported by healthy business momentum across 3G wireless and broadband Internet businesses.  Consolidated EBITDA for the quarter was 40.4 ...

Praxair Inc. (PX) reported decent third-quarter results before the opening bell today.   Net income and earnings per share were $325 million and $1.04, respectively. These results include a net after-tax benefit of $7 million, or 2 cents of earnings per share, resulting from a $306 million pre-tax charge, and $313 million of income tax benefits, related primarily to a Brazilian government tax amnesty program.   Excluding these items, net income was $318 million and earnings per share were $1.02, as compared to $355 million and $1.11 in the prior-year quarter. It was also above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1 per share.   Sales in the quarter were $2,288 million, 20% below $2,852 million in the third quarter. Excluding the negative effects of foreign currency and cost pass-through, underlying sales were 9% lower due to 11% lower volumes partially offset by 2% higher overall pricing. Sequentially, ...

Being in the right place with the right product is more than half the game when it comes to making profit. The oil commodity market is a prime example. There will be times when the price for the commodity is down and a company needs to retrench. Other times find the market flying high with profits flowing nicely. In either event, a company must be ready for the cycle to change. If a company can time there activities to match what “may” happen in the pricing cycle, large profit windfalls can occur.

Gran Tierra Energy Inc., an oil and gas exploration company, works to explore and exploit oil and gas in Columbia, Argentina and Peru. The company’s headquarters are located in Calgary, Canada. The company is currently focusing its exploration and development work on the southern basin of Columbia, South America. To date, schedules to meet 19,000 BOPD are running ahead

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