Fertilizers & Agricultural Chemicals

The S&P 500 is being led in today's trading action by the Basic Materials Sector, which is currently trading up 1.9% from yesterday's close. The best stocks currently trading in that sector are: 1) Allegheny Technologies (NYSE: ATI): Currently trading up 4.7% from yesterday's close to $62.36....

1) Lorillard (NYSE: LO): Currently trading up 2.2% from yesterday's close to $99.33. The stock has lost 14.8% over the past seven trading sessions. 2) Hormel Foods (NYSE: HRL): Currently trading up 1.5% from yesterday's close to $28.83. The stock has lost 1.7% over the past seven trading sessions...

Piper Jaffray maintained its Overweight rating on Monsanto (NYSE: MON). At the same time, Piper Jaffray left its price target on the company's stock unchanged at $95. In a research report published today, Piper Jaffray states, "Monsanto's fiscal 3Q & 4Q results typically reflect seed returns...

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CF) today announced the temporary halt of production at its Port Neal nitrogen manufacturing complex in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, located near Sioux City on the Missouri River. The company is taking this step as a precautionary measure until the impact of rising...

BGB Securities reiterated its Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE: SMG) Buy rating in a research report published today. BGB Securities has previously given Scotts Miracle-Gro a $75 price target. In the report, BGB Securities states, "We continue to believe that SMG can earn $4.50 per share in FY12. At...

On CNBC's Fast Money, Tim Seymour advised investors to stay with The Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS). The Mosaic Company (MOS) gained 1.16% today, and it closed at $70.85. Guy Adami likes CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS), and wants to buy it tomorrow. CVS Caremark Corporation (CVS) fell 0.28% today...

Global X Fertilizers/Potash ETF (SOIL) began trading last Thursday (5/26/11), as the first ETF targeting fertilizer producers.  This narrow subindustry within the agricultural/commodity sector has attracted significant investor attention.  The past four years brought a boom, a bust, and then...

Analysts at Argus downgraded Medtronic Inc (NYSE: MDT) from “hold” to “sell.” MDT's shares closed at $40.31 yesterday. Medtronic 's PEG ratio is 1.42. Analysts at JP Morgan downgraded TASER International Inc (NASDAQ: TASR) from “neutral” to “underweight.” TASR's shares closed at $4.65 yesterday....

Piper Jaffray is incrementally more optimistic about Monsanto's (NYSE: MON) 3Q11 results “following a series of positive conversations with cotton growers and seed distributors across the Southern United States.” “Cotton seed sales typically peak in 3Q; growers in two key markets for Monsanto (the...

Robert W. Baird upgraded AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: AMAG) from “neutral” to “outperform.” AMAG's shares closed at $16.80 yesterday. AMAG Pharmaceuticals had $238.23 million in total cash for the latest quarter. Citigroup upgraded Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS) from “hold” to “buy.” MOS' shares...

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning after the Memorial Day holiday. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 106 points to 12,534.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index rose 12.30 points to 1,342.30. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 23.50 points to 2,356.00. A Peek...

JP Morgan has downgraded Scotts Miracle Gro Company (NYSE: SMG) from Overweight to Neutral and maintains its $59 price target.

Citigroup has upgraded the following companies: The Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS) from Hold to Buy, PT Raised from $84 to $85 Potash Corporation (NYSE: POT) from Hold to Buy, PT raised from $61 to $67 Citigroup has also raised the price target on Agrium (NYSE: USA) from $94 to $96

CNBC Fast Money's Tim Seymour said on the show that Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) is a buy. Mosaic (MOS) gained 1.72% today, and it closed at $69.15. Joe Terranova likes International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), and he thinks that investors should watch closely this stock. International Business...

Clean Diesel Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: CDTI) shares advanced 53.85% to $6.00 at 9:50 am. CDTI's Heavy Duty Diesel Systems division received around $2.0 million in orders for its verified (approved) emission reduction products. Xinyuan Real Estate Co Ltd (NYSE: XIN) climbed 15.63% to $2.22. XIN...