Diamonds and Dogs

3/2/16

Fun fact: a gallon of water is more expensive than a gallon of gas, so do we drink oil going forward? Today's diamond, American Water Works (AWK) is up 5% today and up over 10% year to date. The water utility company has been on a steady rise since last fall up over 35% without the volatility of the broader market. The company's shares are on the rise today after the S&P 500 announced that the company will replace Consol Energy in the S&P 500 index.  At least we found one commodity stock performing well.

Today's dog is a professional at making genetically modified food, but today they can't modify red to green. Monsanto (MON) is down 8% after cutting earnings guidance again. The company cut its earnings from $5.10-$5.60 a share to $4.40-$5.10 a share due to weak commodity prices and currency fluctuations throughout 2016. On the plus side, the St. Louis-based company is hoping for a "bounce back" in growth next year with the broader launch of two key seed products, Intacta and Xtend, in North and South America. The company is also anticipating more stable currency markets going forward. Monsanto is hoping to grow their earnings by 20% between 2016-2019.