Friday, May 15, 2009

Smithfield: Our Pigs Are Clear (SFD)

We last visited the world's largest hog processor in May 5's "Swine Flu Called Off: Smithfield Up 42% in Two Days (SFD) "See You in September"'. Here's a follow up via Slate's The Big Money:

Late Thursday, Smithfield Foods announced that no swine flu was found among the pigs at its operations in Mexico.

Once again using what seems to be his favored mode of communication with the public—a "letter to employees"—Smithfield CEO C. Larry Pope said the Mexican government has determined that "no virus, including the human strain of AH1/N1 influenza, is present in the pig herd" at the operations Smithfield owns jointly with Granjas Carroll.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Smithfield "became the topic of rampant Internet speculation connecting the pork giant to the disease, even as the company adamantly denied any responsibility." The company also became the topic of Internet speculation-debunking, though it was less rampant....MORE

Here's the three month chart, from Yahoo Finance:

Chart for Smithfield Foods Inc. (SFD)