Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Agricultural Stocks Take a Hit (AG; ADM: MON; MOS

Dow Jones & Co. really is an empire. Three hours ago we linked to a column from Barron's
"Agriculture Sector Still Sprouting Winners (MOO)".

Now David Gaffen is reporting via MarketBeat:

"Agricultural Stocks Take a Hit"
While stocks try to find a way back into positive territory, one sector subject to significant selling today is the agricultural industry, which is dropping off on what traders believe is largely momentum-driven trades. “They’re getting to the untouchables today,” notes Fil Zucchi, writing on Minyanville.com.

This sector has indeed been untouchable, residing among the market’s leaders for some time. Shares of Monsanto, for instance, gained a ridiculous 112% in 2007 and Mosaic rose a ludicrous 342%, the type of returns associated with the Google types. Rising commodity prices (thanks to burgeoning world demand) fueled the rally in these names, but investors are pulling back, at least for today....MORE