Monsanto Company (MON)

A great way to aid in tha destruction of our environment is to support these monsters. Back in 1987, the first genetically modified organism (GMO) to be released into the environment was Pseudomonas Syringea. This tiny bacterium was responsible for frost formation on strawberry plants. Well these bright scientists produced an ice-minus version that did not induce ice formation thereby preventing frost and extending the growing season for strawberry plants. Guess what? Now in 2008 the very same bacteria that causes frost by attracting water molecules turns out to be the main engine of condensation in clouds throughut the planet as opposed to dust particles as had been previously assumed by our idiot atmospheric scientists.. Can you say MAN MADE DROUGHT ? We have all this mutant pseudomonas syringea loose counteracting condensation. This stuff LIVES in the atmosphere. Check it out if you don't believe me. Hey, you can always invest in corporations that make condensers.

Recent short-term bad news has hurt this stock, but long-term this company will be needed to maintain adequate world food production, so the recent stock retreat is a potential buying opportunity.

Internation Chain of Events:
The world needs more fuel.
People turn to biodiesel.
Food is used for fuel.
Food supply decreases.
Food prices start to climb.
Fertilizer companies (POT, MOS, IPI) help farmers get more food/acre.
and
Monsanto give farmers better seeds that produce even more food.
(not to mention help crops survive droughts, bugs, floods...etc)

MON has been in every fund manager's portfolio for good reason, but fund managers are inherently ignorant of natural market movements, so caution needs to be observed. MON has strength at the $100.11 level or slightly below...3 points below to be exact. You can take a position there with relative limited risk and large potential (the reason fund managers are ignorant is actually this risk/reward, but who am I to say). IF MON holds this level, you can easily take 30 to 40 points out of it in a few months. If $100.11 level looks good, put stop losses under your entry price by $3 when you take the position. Notice fund manager lackeys that I'm willing to risk $3 to make reasonable 10 times that. It really doesn't work the other way around.

Greater acceptance of GM seeds

A lot of bad press recently has driven the stock price down. The company is still good and makes important products. Long-term buy on a dip and hold.

The growth of Monsanto, a large corporation which provides agricultural products globally, could be severely curtailed by long emerging and restructuring trends in global social and economic development and international food policies. Here, I will address only the most immediate of these concerns that will halt Monsanto’s growth over the next 2 – 5 years. On May 19, 2009, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine’s (“AAEM”) released a public statement calling for an immediate moratorium on genetically manipulated (“GMO”) Foods.

As I understand it, the Academy is extremely worried that genetically manipulated foods pose a risk to human health. The call for the moratorium may be intended to carefully examine severity and extent of the risk of GMO’s to human health. The areas of health purportedly at risk include:
“Areas of toxicology, allergy and immune function, reproductive health, and metabolic, physiologic and genetic health.”

The American Academy is asking for the following actions:

1. A moratorium on GMO food to facilitate property testing for health, safety and to ensure appropriate identification of the affected foods.
2. Public education on the effects on human health for consumption of GMO foods
3. Time to scientifically examine the effects of GMO foods in the treatment of certain illness affecting the human population
4. Further study of GMO Foods on human health

What have you heard about this issue and its implications for companies such as Monsanto?

I just had sushi buffet today, it costed me $27 in philadelphia. Now for somereason, I really cant see that price staying that way dispite the fact that it's already expensive. Now this stock is the same, it is expensive, but it's not getting any cheaper. (I hate the 61 P/E ratio too, but man the sushi was good, lucky me that I dont eat corn)

Monsanto seeds create the most corn per acre of any seeds on the market right now and demand for agricultural products, and corn specifically, is poised to rise over the next few years.

The top bear pitch starts with "Monsanto is basically an evil company." That's exactly my bull pitch.

This is my conspiracy theory stock (hahaha). Having friends in high places isn't always necessarily a good thing. See this commentary from last spring: http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2006/commentary06032301.htm, where I made clear what I felt were risks for this company.

At any rate, I think investors should be cognizant of the controversy that surrounds genetically modified crops. (Regulators may have allowed them into the U.S. food supply here with little fanfare, but it's a different story overseas -- not to mention European consumers are extremely distrustful of them.) Meanwhile, biotech continues to evolve. Underperform.

monsanto should benefit from the 'growth' of crops for the manufacture of bio-fuels. If it doesn't - it deserves to be frozen out of the marketplace in the next ice-age or flooded out in the current bout of global warming!

Ag tech will be big as the emerging market develops and the world populatiuon continues to grow.

I like MON as best of breed.

Good global play, pulling lots of revenue from overseas.

Its a volitile hot stock, which is something I don't usually like.

That said, it has a forward PEG near one and relatively little debt. Plenty of cash on hand. That gives me confidence it can survive any bumps in the road without a major tailspin. Return on assets is OK and return on equity is good.

Genetically modified seed will become even more important as world-wide weather becomes more erratic and the world population continues to grow.

Trait pipeline is growing. Existing traits are providing solid stream of continuous income. Physical seed sales are irrelevant as traits are the true money. Also, basic ai production in chemicals provides good return as well. Able to compete against generic competition due to economy of scale. MON has proven management team that knows how to make money, despite what consumer sentiment is.

Monsanto together with its subsidiaries, is a global provider of agricultural products for farmers. Monsanto operates in two business segments: seeds and genomic being the first and the other being agricultural productivity.

Through seeds and genomics division company produces seed brands and develops biotechnology traits that assist farmers in controlling insects and weeds and agricultural productivity. Monsanto also provides other seed companies with genetic material and biotechnology traits for their seed brands. Furthermore, via its agricultural productivity segment, the Company manufactures Roundup-brand herbicides and other herbicides.

The financial performance of the company has been robust for the past few years. For the year ended August 31, 2006 the company recorded company’s revenue grew by 17% and net income by a whopping 170%. This stellar performance is primarily due to change in business mix and acquisition spree. More than 50% of company’s revenues are now garnered from seeds and genomic segment which is more profitable. As a result, margins have also improved. Going forward seeds and genomic segment is expected to drive the company’s revenues and profits in the coming year.

Monsanto has many detractors like Greenpeace who claim that genetic engineered seeds would in the long run destroy the ecology. Thus the company has found it difficult to penetrate certain markets especially in Europe. This is a significant operating risk that the company faces. The future growth trajectory of the company would depend on its ability to penetrate markets which have high resistance towards genetically modified food.

Monsanto on whole seems to have a stable business model with healthy balance-sheet and strong cash flows. Its growth outlook despite the operating challenges looks promising. Thus this type of stock might favor from portfolio investors. Thus this stock might outperform in medium-term.

As the purpose of this portfolio is to track the performance of good vs. evil companies, I can think of no better company to serve as the inagural "evil" pick than Monsanto.

Evil elements:
-Toxic chemical producer & disperser
-Invasive, virulent product
-Sues small farmers for saving their own GMO-infected seeds
-Promotes genetically identical monocultures, leaving our food supply vulnerable to disease & famine
-Adds toxins & unproven, unnatural GMO ingredients into our food supply
-Lobbies & litigates heavily to keep their misdeeds quiet

In my real portfolio, I'm still long for the long haul, BUT, 65 p/e ratio currently. This stock is expensive right now. It should correct then i can add to my position at cheaper price.

never an absurdly cheap stock, but - huge competitive advantage over distant #2 pioneer / dupont. yield advantage in crops will be sought out for years, particularly in developing countries. governemtns previously opposed to genetically enhanced seeds (stacked) are coming around to usage as emerging populations are short most ag commodities - namely Asia and South America.