Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Commodities Spanked, Ag Stocks Tumble (MON; MOO; POT; MOS)

First up, MarketTalk:
Two Centuries, Citizens. Let That Sink In
Missed this item earlier, which crossed the tape while I was sleeping at 3:43 a.m. EST today, from Andrea Hotter, DJ Newswires assistant managing editor in London:
The current overall commodity markets find themselves near the most historically overvalued levels, on a short-term basis, in over 200 years, says Shawn Hackett of commodity brokerage Hackett Financial Advisors.
Adds that if history does repeat itself, “then a major correction in commodities can begin at any moment without warning.”...
From Benzinga:

Sell-Off In The Fertilizer Space (MOS, MON, POT, AGU)
All of the red-hot fertilizer names are undergoing a correction on Tuesday along with grain and soft commodity prices. CBOT wheat futures, for example, have lost 2.57%....MORE

From the Rant and Rave blog:
Agriculture Stocks take a Nosedive
Since early July 2010, the agriculture sector has lead the major stock market indexes higher. Most other sectors did not begin to rally until the Federal Reserve Bank announced its quantitative easing program in late August 2010. The leading agriculture stocks have all been steadily advancing higher until today. Is today's decline just an options expiration hiccup or is this the start of a major correction for the agriculture sector?

Potash Inc.(NYSE:POT) is the agriculture stock that most traders follow closely. This stock has soared higher by more than 50.0 points since mid-December 2010. Today the agriculture giant is declining by $6.53 to $183.39. Potash stock still remains in a strong daily chart uptrend, therefore, today's downward action could be just an options expiration shakeout.

Mosaic Co.(NYSE:MOS) is another leading agriculture stock that made a new 52 week high yesterday. This stock has rallied higher by more than 40.0 percent since mid-December. Today the stock is declining by $3.72 to $85.28 a share. Mosaic stock was getting extended and overbought on the daily chart, therefore, a pullback was in order. As long as Mosaic stock remains above the $81.25 level which is the daily chart 20 moving average the stock is still technically in a strong position and in an uptrend. At this time the decline today is nothing more than a minor pullback....MORE
One standout was John Deere, down "only" 1.2%. The company reports tomorrow.