Diversified Chemicals

By Tom Clancy Disastrous weather has put this year's crop report in question, and could affect fertilizer stocks, crop insurance, and more. “Soldiers of corn, lend me your ears!” --El Seed in The Tick The Ag trade consists of 4 parts: 1) Seeds Monsanto (NYSE: MON) DuPont (NYSE: DD) 2)...

Shares of Solutia Inc. (NYSE: SOA) are lower on the session by 1.93%, trading at $21.33. Overall call volume is now running at 2.83x the daily average, with 0% of all puts traded being purchases on the offer. 1,425 contracts have traded on the session so far. Solutia Inc. is a global...

According to Jefferies, Ashland (NYSE: ASH) Q3 EPS $0.02 is raised to $0.80. Jefferies said that gross profits fell 15% YoY on a 3-month rolling avg. basis on 3% higher sales. “Our $79/share 12-month price target, at 7.3x FY12E EBITDA, is supported by our peak, midcycle, and sum-of-the-parts...

According to Deutsche Bank, Eastman Chemical's (NYSE: EMN) proposed acquisition of Sterling Chemicals is a modest positive as it builds on last year's acquisition of Genovique Specialties and supports Eastman's growth strategy in non-phthalate plasticizers. Deutsche Bank said that the primary...

Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) announced today that it has been awarded a contract by The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) to provide basic engineering and design services on its propane dehydrogenation expansion project in Freeport, Texas. The undisclosed contract value will be booked in the...

One of the most prominent themes of the market's May-June swoon, the last few days not withstanding, has been the ferocity with which materials stocks have been drubbed. Concerns about global economic growth have a tendency to do that to sectors that are highly levered to the growth theme. Today's...

STERLING CHEMICALS, INC. (SCHI) announced today that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE: EMN) will acquire all of the outstanding equity of Sterling Chemicals for $100 million in cash, subject to certain adjustments as provided in the...

Penford Products Co., a division of Penford Corporation (NASDAQ: PENX), today announced the launch of a new line of cost effective, natural binder products, made with Penford's proprietary technology, which replace synthetic latex used in coated paper and paperboard applications. PEN-COTE...

Cusick's Corner Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz, - oh what a rally relief it is. The market has bubbled up and now pulled off the highs going into the Midday. The Housing data came in a little better than expected this morning but the market into the Midday hit resistance, 1291 on the S&P Continuous...

The Basic Materials Sector is the hottest area of the market in today's session, currently up 2.4% on the day. The best performing stocks in the S&P 500 Basic Materials Sector currently are: 1) International Paper (NYSE: IP): Shares of International Paper are currently trading up 4.2% from...

Below are the top small-cap general building materials stocks on the NYSE and the NASDAQ in terms of PEG ratio LSB Industries Inc (NYSE: LXU) has a PEG ratio of 1.19. LXU's trailing-twelve-month ROE is 25.88%. Amcol International Corporation (NYSE: ACO) has a PEG ratio of 1.36. ACO's trailing-...

Odds are, you've never heard of ethylene. However, the basic commodity chemical is the foundation to many more complex products such as paint, plastics and glue. What's more exciting, is the price for this basic chemical has skyrocketed about 70% over the last eight months. Overall increasing...

Ticonderoga upgraded LG Display Co Ltd (NYSE: LPL) from “sell” to “neutral.” LPL's shares closed at $13.12 on Friday. LG Display's trailing-twelve-month revenue is $23.00 billion. Analysts at Morgan Stanley upgraded BOK Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: BOKF) from “underweight” to “equal-weight.”...

Deutsche Bank is out with its report today on Ashland (NYSE: ASH), upgrading ASH from Hold to Buy. In a note to clients, Deutsche Bank writes, "Ashland shares are down 13% since May 31 due to a FQ3 preannouncement, a larger than expected base oil price increase and global growth concerns. As a...

Deutsche Bank has upgraded NetGear (NASDAQ: NTGR) and Ashland (NYSE: ASH) from Hold to Buy and has raised the price target on Netgear from $37 to $45 and maintains its $75 price target on Ashland.