Fertilizers & Agricultural Chemicals

A slew of better-than-expected economic data and activity on the mergers and acquisitions front boosted investors’ confidence yesterday, sending the Dow industrials into the positive territory for the year, even as Wal-Mart Stores and Home Depot reported upbeat earnings numbers. Material stocks...

Deutsche Bank is raising its price target on shares of Potash Corp. (NYSE: POT) to $150 and has a Hold rating after the potash producer received a bid from BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) yesterday. In a note to clients Deutsche Bank writes, "We are raising our price target on PotashCorp to $150 to...

Below are the top agricultural chemical stocks on the NYSE and the NASDAQ in terms of profit margin. The trailing-twelve-month profit margin at China Green Agriculture Inc (NYSE: CGA) is 42.52%. Analysts at Maxim Group initiated coverage of CGA with a “hold” rating. The trailing-twelve-month profit...

Again, from my previous post:I will be updating this blog on about a weekly basis with market commentary, as well as articles on specific topics. I will instead also be providing daily market commentary in newsletter .pdf format. If you would like to subscribe (for free) to the Shadow Capitalism...

BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP), the world's largest mining company, may take its nearly $39 billion acquisition offer for Potasah Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) after the Canadian fertilizer maker rejected BHP's unsolicited offer on Tuesday. BHP, which appears unlikely to raise its $130 per share...

On CNBC's Fast Money, Patty Edwards said that she wants to buy Syngenta AG (ADR) (NYSE: SYT) tomorrow. Syngenta AG (ADR) (SYT) gained 3.09% today. Joe Terranova likes Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA) and Guy Adami thinks that Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) has bottomed out. Apache (APA) gained 1.75%...

Cusick’s Corner The market held up again into the After Hours. Some market watchers are attributing the rally today on improved month-over-month Housing starts numbers, but remember that June was one of the lowest in over a year, so I would not put much emphasis on those results. If the market can...

Potash Corp. (NYSE:POT) spiked about $31 higher today after the company revealed it received an unsolicited, $130-per-share offer from BHP Billiton.  The board of POT unanimously rejected this offer as “grossly inadequate.” POT closed yesterday (Monday) at $112.15. Why is the stock up so...

Today the major stock market indexes are all soaring higher by more than 1.5 percent. The BHP Billiton Ltd (NYSE: BHP) buyout offer for Potash Corp Sash Inc (NYSE: POT) has given new life into this market today. The rally is broad based as the energy and technology groups have joined the...

In July, the Producer Price Index (PPI) increased by 0.2% from June and was up 4.2% from a year ago. That increase was in line with consensus expectations. The increase comes on the heels of three straight declines and declines in four of the last five months. In June, the headline PPI fell by 0.5...

Cusick’s Corner The market made a nice move into the Midday and over the last few hours trading has turned into a complete grind. Yesterday’s late day pullback seems to have washed out the weak longs, but there has been equal pressure on the shorts today. These kinds of moves are expected when...

By 12:13 pm, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 138.32 points, or 1.34%, to 10,440.33, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index had gained 16.56 points, or 1.53%. The NASDAQ composite index rose 34.58 points, or 1.58%. Some of the narrow based indexes that are driving the market are...