24/7 Wall St. » POT

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — Thursday: Markets Open Higher, Maintain Positive Trend Today

Paul Ausick — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:04:34 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened higher this morning following a report on U.S. unemployment that was better than analysts expected (more coverage here). There were literally hundreds of U.S. companies reporting earnings between last night’s close and today’s open, and equities were pushing the market higher most of the day as well. In Europe, the U.K. reported positive GDP growth in the first quarter (more coverage here), while Spain’s unemployment rate rose to 27.16% (more coverage here). In Asia, South Korea reported higher-than-expected GDP growth, but there was little other data. Before U.S. markets open tomorrow morning, first quarter GDP will be announced (more coverage here). The consensus estimate calls for growth of 3.1% compared with the fourth quarter of 2012.

The U.S. dollar index is trading down 0.38% today, now at 82.733. The GSCI commodity index is up 1.2% at 614.65. WTI crude oil closed up 2.4%, at $93.64 a barrel. Brent crude trades up 1.6% at $103.40 a barrel. Natural gas is up fractionally today at about $4.17 per million BTUs after an in-line storage report (more coverage here). Gold settled up 2.7% today at $1,462.00 an ounce, chalking up its largest one-day gain so far this year.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 35 points to 14,711.82 (0.24%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 23 points (0.70%) to 3,292.48, and the S&P 500 rose 0.47% or more than 6 points to 1,585.17.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) raised to ‘buy’ at Nomura; Federal-Mogul Corp. (NASDAQ: FDML) raised to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs; Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) cut to ‘neutral’ at Citigroup and J.P. Morgan; Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) raised to ‘buy’ at Hilliard Lyons; and McGraw Hill Companies Inc. (NYSE: MHP) cut to ‘hold’ at Jefferies.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading: Angie’s List Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) is up 30.1% at $26.16 after posting a new 52-week high of $26.72 earlier today; Bally Technologies Inc. (NYSE: BYI) is up 11.4% at $54.67 after posting a new 52-week high of $54.74 earlier today; Fusion-io Inc. (NYSE: FIO) is up 18.4% at $19.70; O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) is up 4.7% at $105.86 after posting a new 52-week high of $108.98 earlier today; Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) is down 5.4% at $62.42 (more coverage here); Vale SA (NYSE: VALE) is up 1.8% at $17.05; Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) is down 0.1% at $52.86 after posting a new 52-week high of $57.95 earlier today; 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) is down 2.7% at $105.00; Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) is up 1.1% at $35.92; Bunge Ltd. (NYSE: BG) is up 6.9% at $72.99; Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) is down 1.3% at $88.25 (more coverage here); Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT) is up 3.1% at $40.85 (more coverage here); Proto Labs Inc. (NASDAQ: PRLB) is down 1.3% at $48.10 (more 3D printing coverage here); and Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) is down 14.1% at $24.28 (more coverage here).

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear earnings reports from Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR), Coinstar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR), HealthSouth Corp. (NYSE: HLS), Olin Corp. (NYSE: OLN), Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC), Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX), Wynn Resorts, Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN), Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), Burger King Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: BKW), Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV), and VF Corp. (NYSE: VFC).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

MPG Office Trust Inc. (NYSE: MPG) is up 20.6% at $3.14. The office and real-estate development REIT is being acquired by Brookfield Office Properties Inc. (NYSE: BPO) for $3.15 a share..

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) is up 16.1% at $21.15. The steelmaker and iron ore miner posted better-than-expected results this morning.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is down 7.1% at $3.11. The social games company posted poor results last night and expectations are not encouraging. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Friday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – GDP
9:55 a.m. – University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters consumer sentiment index

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AAPL, ALU, AMZN, ANGI, BG, BIDU, BKW, BYI, CLWR, CSTR, CVX, FDML, FFIV, FIO, HLS, INTU, MHP, MMM, MO, NOV, OLN, ORLY, POT, PRLB, QCOM, RRC, SBUX, SWY, VALE, VFC, WDC, WYNN, XOM, ZNGA

Potash Corp. Earnings Limited by Lower Margins

Paul Ausick — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:50:49 +0000

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT) reported first-quarter 2013 results before markets opened this morning.

The fertilizer maker reported diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.63 on revenue of $2.1 billion. In the same period a year ago, Potash reported diluted EPS of $0.56 on revenue of $1.75 billion. First-quarter results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $0.59 and $1.82 billion in revenue.

Demand for the company’s potash fertilizer was high, with shipments up by nearly 1 million metric tons (tonnes) compared with the first quarter a year ago. However margins for potash slipped from $260 per tonne to $227 per tonne. Nitrogen shipments also rose, and margins improved from $160 per tonne to $187. Margins fell most sharply in the company’s phosphate sales, from $160 per tonne last year to $98 this year.

Potash reaffirmed its full-year EPS guidance of $2.75 to $3.25 a share and second-quarter guidance of $0.70 to $0.85. That second-quarter estimate is below the consensus EPS estimate of $0.89

The company’s CEO said:

We had significant growth in our potash performance as global buyers returned to the market in earnest after taking a brief pause late in 2012. This environment enabled us to deliver earnings near the top end of our guidance and laid the foundation for what we believe will be a successful year.

The company also noted that it does not intend to go ahead with its plan to acquire a larger stake in Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL), saying that “there must be receptivity to foreign investment and certainty in the rules that govern such investment.” Sounds like ICL and the government of Israel were not interested.

Potash shares are up about 0.6% in premarket trading this morning, at $39.89 in a 52-week range of $36.73 to $46.16. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $46.10 before today’s report.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Agriculture, Earnings Tagged: POT

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — April 24, 2013: Markets Mixed at Open, Mixed at Close

Paul Ausick — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:10:43 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened mixed this morning as investors and traders tried to make sense of more than 150 earnings reports that were released between last night’s closing bell and this morning’s opening. The most attention was paid to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), where results were not altogether pleasing and the stock has zigged and zagged all day today. There was relatively little economic data released today. In Germany, the IFO business climate index fell sharply (more coverage here) and retail sales were weaker than expected in Italy. In Shanghai, bargain hunters pushed the market up 1.6%. In the U.S., the report on durable goods orders was worse than expected and indicates a weak GDP report coming later this week (more coverage here).

The U.S. dollar index is trading down 0.16% today, now at 82.912. The GSCI commodity index is flat at 607.11. WTI crude oil closed up 2.5%, at $91.43 a barrel after today’s report from the EIA on petroleum inventories (more coverage here). Brent crude trades up 1.1% at $101.44 a barrel. Natural gas is down 1.4% today at about $4.18 per million BTUs. Gold settled up 1.1% today at $1,423.70 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 43 points to 14,676.30 (-0.29%), the NASDAQ rose less than 1 point (0.01%) to 3,269.65, and the S&P 500 was flat at 1,578.79.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including EBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) raised to ‘outperform’ at Wells Fargo; Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) raised to ‘buy’ at SocGen; CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) raised to ‘outperform’ with a price target of $54 at Oppenheimer; Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) raised to ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) cut to ‘equal weight’ at Morgan Stanley and ‘neutral’ at Citigroup (more coverage here).

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is up 0.4% at $407.67 (more coverage here); Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) is up 7.1% at $35.33; Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW) is down 22.4% at $64.24 after posting a new 52-week low of $63.50 earlier today; Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) is down 9.7% at $15.67; Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) is up 7.2% at $68.74; Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) is up 7.5% at $18.90 (more coverage here); Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) is up 6% at $13.91 (more coverage here); Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is down 0.1% at $13.35 (more coverage here); Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) is down 5.5% at $77.46 (more coverage here); and Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) is up 0.4% at $7.13 (more coverage here).

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear earnings reports from Angie’s List Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI), Bally Technologies Inc. (NYSE: BYI), Fusion-io Inc. (NYSE: FIO), O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY), Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), Vale SA (NYSE: VALE), Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC), Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA), 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM), Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO), Bunge Ltd. (NYSE: BG), Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), HealthSouth Corp. (NYSE: HLS), Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT), Proto Labs Inc. (NASDAQ: PRLB), and Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

SuperValu Inc. (NYSE: SVU) is up 11% at $5.95. The supermarket chain reported a wider loss this morning, but investors apparently like what the company had to say about the next few quarters.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is down 5.2% at $36.97. The telecom giant is just too big to expect growth. More coverage here.

BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) is up 4.2% at $14.93. The smartphone maker is adding Skype to its app lineup, and combined with some analysts’ concerns about Apple, that appears to be enough to boost the shares.

Stay tuned for Thursday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
11:00 a.m. – Kansas City Fed manufacturing index
1:00 p.m. – 7-year note auction
4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AAPL, ABX, ANGI, BBRY, BG, BHI, BRCM, BYI, CIT, EBAY, EW, F, FIO, GLW, HAL, HLS, JNPR, MMM, MO, ORLY, PG, POT, PRLB, QCOM, S, SVU, SWY, T, VALE, WDC, XOM, YUM, ZNGA

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — April 18, 2013: Markets Cool on Jobs, Manufacturing Data

Paul Ausick — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 20:05:32 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened slightly higher this morning following the report on U.S. jobless numbers (more coverage here). In Europe, the only data out today showed that U.K. retail sales fell 0.7%, slightly better than expected. In Asia, house prices in China gained 3.6% in March, pushing Shanghai to a higher close. In the U.S., the leading indicators came in lower than expected (more coverage here) and the Philly Fed index posted a surprisingly low number (more coverage here). The lower open this morning simply continued sliding until the last hour of trading.

The U.S. dollar index is trading down 0.14% today, now at 82.563. The GSCI commodity index is down 1.5% at 600.97. WTI crude oil closed up 1.2% today, at $XX a barrel. Brent crude trades 1.77% at $100.39 a barrel. Natural gas is up 4.8% today at about $4.40 per million BTUs, after the weekly storage report showed a smaller-than-expected build in inventories (more coverage here). Gold settled up 0.7% today at $1,392.50 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 79 points to 14,539.14 (-0.54%), the NASDAQ fell more than 38 points (-1.20%) to 3,166.36, and the S&P 500 fell -0.67% or more than 10 points to 1,541.63.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Qiagen NV (NASDAQ: QGEN) started as ‘sell’ at Citigroup; Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) started as ‘overweight’ at HSBC; HollyFrontier Corp. (NYSE: HFC) raised to ‘buy’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) started as ‘outperform’ with a price target of $50 at BMO Capital Markets; and FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) cut to ‘underperform’ at RBC Capital Markets.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading: American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) is up 1.7% at $65.20 (more coverage here); SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) is down 6.7% at $52.00 (more coverage here); eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is down 5.6% at $52.98 (more coverage here); Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) is up 0.4% at $37.95 (more coverage here); AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN) is up 1.7% at $43.22 (more coverage here); Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) is up 0.3% at $28.09; Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is down 4.7% at $20.47 (more coverage here); Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) is down 0.4% at $XX; Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) is up 8.2% at $20.58 (more coal coverage here); PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) is up 2.8% at $81.08 after posting a new 52-week high of $83.44 earlier today (more coverage here); Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) is down 2.5% at $91.65 (more coverage here); and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is up 3% at $51.01 after posting a new 52-week high of $51.67 (more coverage here).

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear earnings reports from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD), Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF), Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG), E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON), McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD), Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL), and Schlumberger NV (NYSE: SLB).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is down 12.6% at $3.13. The mobile phone maker posted weak first quarter results. There’s no mercy in the markets. More coverage here.

Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) is up 6.2% at $2.39. The drug store chain accepted the resignation of board member Jean Coutu, who has been reducing his group’s stake in the company. More coverage here.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is down 2.7% at $392.06. The tech giant’s shares will close below $400 for the first time in more than a year.

Stay tuned for Friday. Fed Governor Jeremy Stein is giving a speech. There are no other events on tomorrow’s schedule.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AAPL, AIG, AMD, AN, AXP, BTU, CMG, COF, COL, EBAY, ETFC, FCX, FDX, GE, GOOG, HFC, HON, IBM, KMI, MCD, MS, NOK, NUE, PEP, PM, POT, QGEN, RAD, SLB, SNDK, VZ

Top Analyst Upgrades and Positive Views from Wall Street

Jon C. Ogg — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:30:17 +0000

Investors are on the hunt for fresh research ideas that will lead to higher income or more profits. Each and every morning we review many fresh research calls from Wall St. and from independent research firms looking for ideas from value stocks to growth stocks to dividend stocks. We are breaking out the positive analyst calls as far as stocks to buy and positive research calls today. These are some of this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, initiations and positive analyst research calls seen from Wall St. today.

Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU) was started as Overweight at HSBC.

American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) started as Outperform along with a $50 price target at BMO Capital Markets, representing close to 30% in implied upside from the $38.56 closing price.

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML) raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank and shares are indicated up more than 3% in New York while the ADR’s local shares were up as much as almost 5% in Amsterdam trading.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) saw its price target raised to $30 from $24 at Jefferies, with the note being that business is so far tracking in-line or better than expectations.

Holly Frontier Corp. (NYSE: HFC) raised to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Johnson & Johnson Inc. (NYSE: JNJ) reiterated Buy but the price target was raised all the way up to $96 from $80 by Argus after its earnings report. Outside of the analyst calls, we expect and have projected a dividend hike yet again next week from J&J.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) was started as Overweight at HSBC.

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) is up marginally after earnings. The flash memory leader was reiterated as Outperform at Credit Suisse, but the firm raised the price target to $75 from $55 as its structural growth is expected to be better than the semiconductor sector.

Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) has one analyst defending the stock after a 13.5% drop on Wednesday. J.P. Morgan has raised its rating to Overweight from Neutral and assigned a $30 price target. Shares closed at $25.51 on Wednesday, versus $29.35 the prior day, and its 52-week range is $21.97 to $31.30.

Theravance Inc. (NASDAQ: THRX) is already up 16% or so at $32.50 after positive data on its COPD drug with GlaxoSmithKline, but BofA/Merrill Lynch reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price target to $40 from $34 along with its earnings estimates from 2013 to 2015.

The Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE: TRV) was started as Outperform with a $95 price target at BMO Capital Markets.

United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets.

Filed under: Active Trader, Analyst Calls, Value Investing Tagged: AGU, AIG, ASML, BBY, HFC, JNJ, POT, SNDK, THRX, TRV, TXT, UPS

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ALU, MT, BBRY, BIP, BG, CAT, FSLR, GOV, HPQ, HD, ISRG, MCD, MDT, RFMD, S, TASR, TNK, PAY, VVUS, WEN, XRX, AGU, CF, MOS, POT, RNF)

Jon C. Ogg — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:30:13 +0000

These are some of this Friday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from Wall St. research calls.

Alcatel-Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU) was given positive comments on its new CEO but the stock was maintained a Sell as a low value asset at Goldman Sachs.

ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) raised to Neutral at HSBC.

BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) cut to Sell from Neutral at MKM Partners.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE: BIP) named Bull of the Day at Zacks as the “high quality, diversified assets will continue to produce solid and consistent cash flows.”

Bunge Ltd. (NYSE: BG) was named by Zacks as the Bear of the Day and the firm said that bitter results for the recent quarter indicate more troubles ahead.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) raised to Outperform at Raymond James.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) cut to Underperform at Pac-Crest.

Government Properties Income Trust (NYSE: GOV) cut to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) raised to Neutral from Sell with $19 target at UBS and maintained Neutral but raised target price to $20 from $12 at Credit Suisse.

The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) raised to Outperform and target raised to $76 from $67 at Oppenheimer (full summary).

Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) reiterated Outperform and raised target $2 to $104 at Credit Suisse.

Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) reiterated Buy and raised target by $6 to $54 at Argus.

RF Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: RFMD) raised to Buy at Lazard and cut to Market Perform at Raymond James last night.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) reiterated Buy with $7.50 price target at Argus as trading falls below Softbank offer price (full report summary).

TASER International Inc. (NASDAQ: TASR) raised to Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

Teekay Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: TNK) cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

VeriFone Systems Inc. (NYSE: PAY) cut to Hold at Argus after many downgrades and implosion yesterday.

Vivus Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) maintained Buy but lowered price target to $26 from $30 at BofA/Merrill Lynch after Qsiva denied approval in Europe.

The Wendy’s Co. (NASDAQ: WEN) cut to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) reiterated Buy with $13 price target at Argus.

Dahlman Rose trimmed potash and fertilizer stock ratings: Agrium (NYSE: AGU) cut to Sell, CF Industries (NYSE: CF) cut to Sell, Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) cut to Hold, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) cut to Sell and Rentech Nitrogen Partners L.P. (NYSE: RNF) cut to Sell.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AGU, ALU, BBRY, BG, BIP, CAT, CF, FSLR, GOV, HD, HPQ, ISRG, MCD, MDT, MOS, MT, PAY, POT, RFMD, RNF, S, TASR, TNK, VVUS, WEN, XRX

Major Earnings Previews for the Week Ahead

Jon C. Ogg — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 16:45:29 +0000

Earnings season is in full swing and the coming week will have many big earnings announcements. 24/7 Wall St. has provided a brief calendar showing current and ex-DJIA stocks and other major market movers or sector movers that are due to report earnings. As this is a weekly calendar, we have not only included the earnings estimates from Thomson Reuters, but we have included some color on the most major reports coming up.

Monday: Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) was recovering but recent accounting issues from a buyout in China have added some concerns. Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) is going to be reporting what is likely the next to last quarter that Wall St. will listen to Marissa Mayer’s plan rather than pick it apart, because the stock has priced in a turnaround and the unlocking of the assets.

Tuesday: Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) is showing its important fourth quarter, its money-quarter, and Wall St. again will have to decide whether it wants to chase the low margins as Jeff Bezos builds out his empire for the years 2015 to 2020. Shares were at a new all-time high yet again on Friday. Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) recently handed a massive dividend hike out to investors, and even if shares have rallied they are still not overvalued compared to consensus price targets. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is close to its 52-week high, and it is days away from a new anticlotting drug launch.

Wednesday: Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) has to deal with its 787 Dreamliner grounding issues. The aerospace and defense giant’s stock has held above $74, but investors want a resolution at some point soon. Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) reports on Wednesday, and the stock is still holding above $31 after a huge recovery, despite the notion that many investors were disappointed about its hyped “graph search” announcement. Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) will be on edge after disappointing Apple earnings, but Samsung’s and other Android-based phones may save the day, and may save its premium valuations.

Thursday: Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) recently was shown to be abating its price war efforts, and this may help earnings, and therefore help dividends down the road. Watch for comments on the trends in e-cigarettes.

Friday: Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) and Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) are both reporting, and Wall St. mainly looks at earnings. The big focus will be on proven and probable reserves for 2013. Merck & Co Inc. (NYSE: MRK) is set to report, and its shares are not acting the same as Pfizer, with shares well off of the 52-week high even though it has a higher dividend yield.

An abbreviated calendar is below, but keep in mind that dates and estimates may change or may already have changed. Earnings per share data is from Thomson Reuters:

Monday, January 28

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) $1.70 EPS
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) $0.78
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) $0.28

Tuesday, January 29

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) $0.27
EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) $0.52
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) $0.26
International Paper Co. (NYSE: IP) $0.65
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) $0.44
Tyco International Ltd (NYSE: TYC) $0.39
United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) -$0.75
Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) $1.17

Wednesday, January 30

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) $1.19
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) $1.42
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) $0.56
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) $0.15
Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) $1.12

Thursday, January 31

Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) $0.55
Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) $1.40
Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) $0.34
MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) $4.82
Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT) $0.56

Friday, February 1

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) $3.01
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) $2.02
Merck & Co Inc. (NYSE: MRK) $0.81

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Calendar, Earnings, Economy Tagged: AMZN, BA, CAT, CL, COP, CVX, DOW, EA, EMC, F, FB, IP, MA, MO, MRK, PFE, POT, QCOM, TYC, VLO, VMW, X, XOM, YHOO

Credit Suisse Initiates Ag Sector Coverage with Top Picks for 2013 (AGU, MON, POT, MOS, CF, IPI, CMP)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 15:32:03 +0000

Analysts at Credit Suisse today have initiated coverage on what they call the North American Agricultural Sciences sector with a look a seven fertilizer makers. Some of the companies have performed well over the past couple of years and some haven’t.

The differentiating factor between the good performers and the not-so-good has been the type of fertilizer each company produces. Demand for nitrogen-based fertilizers is expected to grow throughout this year, positioning the two largest nitrogen produces at the top of Credit Suisse’s heap. Phosphate demand is also expected to be higher, but potash prices have been soft and there is little evidence of a positive change.

Credit Suisse analyst Chris Parkinson pointed to market growth in ag biotech, higher demand for potash in the second half of 2013 and continuing demand for phosphates as the drivers for 2013. Here are the firm’s seven covered stocks:

Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU) is started with an Outperform rating and a price target of $127 a share. With a current price around $108, the potential upside is 17.6%. Agrium is the largest producer of nitrogen fertilizers among this bunch and depends more on phosphates than potash for revenue and profit.

Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) is also started with an Outperform rating, as well as a price target of $120 a share. The shares are trading around $102 today, indicating upside of 17.6%. Monsanto’s strength is its market-leading seed genetics platform and its penetration into emerging markets.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT) is the third fertilizer maker started with an Outperform rating. The price target is $50, compared with today’s price of around $42, for an upside of 19%. Credit Suisse sees demand for potash fertilizer growing in the second and third quarters on demand from southeast Asia and Latin America.

The Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) is started as Neutral with a price target of $68. At today’s price of around $59, that represents upside of 15%. The much higher consensus price target for Mosaic is around $84.50.

CF Industries Holding Inc. (NYSE: CF) is started as Neutral with a price target of $245, compared with current price of around $217. The upside potential is about 13%, and the consensus price target is lower, at around $234 a share.

Intrepid Potash Inc. (NYSE: IPI) is also started as Neutral with a price target of $24 a share. The current price is around $22, for potential upside of 9%. Shares are already pretty fully valued, so not much to look for here.

Compass Minerals International Inc. (NYSE: CMP) is started as Underperform with a price target of $73, which is virtually today’s price. The company is lowering its costs, but there is always a risk that cost-cutting programs will get derailed.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Agriculture, Analyst Calls, Commodities Tagged: AGU, CF, CMP, IPI, MON, MOS, POT

Base Metals Outlook Improves Little in 2013

Paul Ausick — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 15:13:09 +0000

A shrinking global economy took a heavy toll on producers of nonprecious metals in 2012. Prices for base and industrial metals like copper, iron ore, and aluminum fell sharply as demand nearly collapsed.

Some companies tried to buy their way out of the problems by taking stakes in energy production projects. When Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) agreed to buy McMoRan Exploration Co. (NYSE: MMR) and Plains Exploration & Production Co. (NYSE: PXP) for total consideration of $20 billion, the deal was criticized from a number of standpoints. One of themwas that Freeport’s move indicated significant weakness in the copper business. And it is true that copper is off its highs in the first half of 2011, but the red metal has made a significant comeback in pricing, from a low of around $3.30 a pound in May 2012 to around $3.66 today.

Like other base metals such as aluminum and iron ore, copper is captive to a growing economy. In the past few years, the lion’s share of global economic growth has come from emerging markets, particularly China, India and Brazil. With China’s slowing growth, particularly in construction spending in 2012, it is no wonder that the base metals’ prices have been soft.

Copper pricing may have gotten a boost in mid-December, though, following a decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission to allow J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) to create an ETF backed by physical copper. Whether that fund or other funds backed by base metals will get off the ground remains to be seen, but if demand is high enough for a copper ETF, that could do nothing but raise prices for the metal.

In response to the slowing economy and the lower prices, mining companies like Freeport and BHP Billiton PLC (NYSE: BHP) have looked to boosting their investment in the one commodity that seems invariably to offer profits: oil. The other thing to remember about mining companies is that scale matters a lot, and no matter how big the firm might be, even bigger is always thought to be better. In 2008, BHP tried to acquire Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE: RIO) for $147 billion, and when that failed, BHP tried to nab Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) for $39 billion. One of the big deals was finally approved last November when Xstrata shareholders agreed to a $31 billion buyout by Glencore International.

Trying to predict which of the mining firms will try to swallow another is a fool’s game, but if China is serious about its plan to grow gross domestic product by focusing on urbanization (more construction) and domestic spending rather than exports, demand for copper, iron ore and aluminum likely will grow. Add to that the fact that China’s inventories of iron ore are quite low, and demand for the critical ingredient in steelmaking could rise sharply from near its three-year low. We noted last week that many dry bulk shipping stocks got a sharp boost on the outlook for rising demand from China for iron ore. That demand is likely to be highest in the first half of this year.

But rising costs could crimp asset prices and lead to more buyouts and takeovers as global growth continues to be sluggish. One company that does not think growth is on the table for steel in 2013 is ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT), the world’s largest steel maker. The company has idled 11 of 25 European furnaces and would have closed two permanently if the French government had not resisted. The company’s goal for 2013 is not revenue growth, according to founder and CEO Lakshmi Mittal, but “a company that is strong and adapted to economic realities.”

BHP, Rio Tinto and Brazil’s Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE), all major producers of iron ore, are getting some help from improved demand from China, but none expects a sharp and lasting rise in prices. Fitch Ratings said in November that it expects mining costs to continue rising while prices remain stagnant. Nowhere is the damage more noticeable than among aluminum producers.

Early in 2012, Rio wrote down $9 billion in aluminum assets, BHP cancelled plans to build a new aluminum smelter in Congo and Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), Norsk Hydro and BHP announced production cutbacks totaling 1.3 million metric tons in 2012. The situation is little improved since then.

Alcoa, though not a likely acquisition target, could be broken up. A report from Bloomberg in October suggested the company may be worth as much as 63% more if broken into bits and sold. Moody’s has put the company’s debt on review for a possible downgrade to junk. That says pretty much all there is to say about the aluminum business.

Growth in the developed world has stalled as nations continue to deal with a variety of financial crises and consumers continue to deleverage. Growth in emerging markets is slowing in an effort to keep inflation in check and businesses cannot expand. These conditions will make 2013 a difficult year for producers of industrial metals.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, China, Commodities & Metals, International Markets Tagged: AA, BHP, FCX, JPM, MMR, MT, POT, PXP, RIO, VALE

Canadians Sign Potash Deal with China

Paul Ausick — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 19:15:38 +0000

Canada’s potash marketing and trading company, Canpotex Ltd., said today that it has signed an agreement with a subsidiary of China’s Sinofert for 1 million tons of potash in the first half of 2013. The agreed-upon price is $70 per metric ton less than the price Sinofert paid on the previous contract.

Canpotex is owned by The Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS), Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU), and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT). The sale to Sinofert falls under a three-year agreement between Canpotex and Sinofert signed in October 2010.

The estimated price per metric ton is around $400, at the lower end of an anticipated range of $400 to $430 a ton for potash deliveries to both China and India in 2013. Potash supply has been cut both in Canada and Ukraine, the two primary global suppliers, as demand has weakened for the fertilizer.

Shares of Mosaic are up about 2.1% at $56.36 in a 52-week range of $44.43 to $61.98. Shares of Agrium are up about 2.2% at $100.12 in a 52-week range of $68.43 to $108.42. Shares of Potash Corp. are also up about 2.1% at $40.60 in a 52-week range of $36.73 to $48.00.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Commodities Tagged: AGU, MOS, POT