Food Retail

Forbes columnist, Asher Hawkins, came out with an interesting article yesterday regarding the top ten companies most reliant on customer spending. These companies are in such financial straights that, if consumers do not continue to spend, they could be forced to shut their doors. While this may...

Shares of Supervalu Inc. (NYSE: SVU) are lower on the session by 0.78%, currently trading at $10.81. The stock has been trading largely lower over the past four months, with little to no rally along the way. Options traders are selling puts on SVU today. The January $10.00 strike was sold 3,550...

As concerns about E. Coli and other food borne pathogens are increasing, investors may find comfort in Netherlands based, Qiagen (NASDAQ: QGEN). The firm, which specializes in products for pre-analytical sample preparation and molecular diagnostics, has moved into the food safety testing arena with...

Shares of Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Inc. (NYSE: GAP) are lower on the session by 3.71%, currently trading at $3.90. The stock has been moving largely markedly lower over the past nine months and is currently trading in a technical downtrend. Options traders are picking up some calls today,...

At the end of today's Fast Money show, The Fast Money traders threw out their best stock trades for Wednesday morning. Joe Terranova is bullish on large grocer Kroger (KR) as a defensive play. Tim Seymour's pick is Spanish bank Banco Santander (STD). Guy Adami advises traders to get long Jeffries (...

Standpoint Research has upgraded shares of Safeway (NYSE: SWY) from Hold to Buy today with a 2011-2012 price target of $24-$26. The firm had previously downgraded the shares from Buy to Hold on March 12. Since that time, SWY has fallen 18% and underperformed the S&P by 1500 basis points....

Analysts at William Blair & Co reiterate their "outperform" rating on The Pantry Inc (NASDAQ: PTRY). At conference with PTRY on June 17th, according to William Blair & Co, “The top priority for The Pantry is the company’s fresh initiative, as management’s long-term goal is to achieve...

Jefferies & Co. is out with an analyst note this morning, where they reiterate their Buy rating on shares of Kroger (NYSE: KR); they have a $28.50 price target on the stock. Jefferies analysts adjusted their FY 2011 numbers higher today, but left their $1.83 annual number unchanged. They said...

Below are the top 4 grocery stores stocks on the NASDAQ and the NYSE in terms of cash. Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao (NYSE: CBD) had $1 billion of cash in the latest quarter, while its debt liabilities stood at $2.5 billion. Delhaize Group (NYSE: DEG) had $792.22 million of cash and $3.42...

Scott A. Mushkin, Bakley Smith and Mike Otway, analysts at Jefferies, have given a Buy rating to Kroger (NYSE: KR). The stock has been trading around $20.38 and Jefferies has a target price of $28.50 on the shares. Analysts expect sales and earnings growth to accelerate in upcoming quarters. Risks...

At 11:09 a.m., the Dow lost 56.84, or 0.55%, to 10,352.62, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index dipped 6.19, or 0.56%, to 1,108.42 and the NASDAQ composite index moved down 9.91, or 0.43%, to 2296.02. The industries that are driving the market today are: Gold: The top gainer of the day, this...

Some of the stocks that may grab investor focus today are: Wall Street expects Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR) to post its Q1 loss at $0.03 per share. PIR’s shares gained 0.50% to $8.06 in after hours trading. Analysts are expecting Smucker (NYSE: SJM) to have earned $0.80 per share in the fourth...

If the market breaks out of its most recent range, shorts are likely to get squeezed. While it remains to be seen whether today’s strong, broad-based rally will hold into next week (after options expiration week, which favors a rising/supported market), if it does stocks with high short interest...

Shares of Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) are higher on the session by 1.77%, currently trading at $20.07. The stock has been attempting to hold the $20 level after a hard drop in May. Kroger is trading well below both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Options traders are selling upside on the name...

Long time readers will know my interest and curiosity is looking at companies from off the beaten from all sorts of investment destinations. Below is a list of companies that I have either read about before, done a little study on or otherwise checked out. Many of the names will be unfamiliar but...