goog

Why did this happen? Berry and Rees reported that today the Agriculture Department released its report on corn plantings which forecast 87.035 million acres up from 85.982 million acres planted in 2008. More acres mean more corn and more corn means lower prices.

Minneapolis-based General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS), the largest maker of breakfast cereal in the U.S., is scheduled to discuss its fiscal 2009 fourth-quarter and full-year results tomorrow morning in a conference call at 8:00 AM ET. You can catch the live webcast of the call on the company's website.

For the quarter in which General Mills sold part of its frozen bread dough business and introduced additional gluten-free cereals, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the food maker to report earnings of $0.80 per share, which is 8.8% higher than in the same period of the previous year. Revenue for the quarter is expected to be 6.4% higher to $3.7 billion. The company, whose brands also include Pillsbury, Green Giant, and Haagen-Dazs, topped earnings estimates in four of the five past quarters, but fell short by 8 cents per share in the third quarter.

Things will be pretty quiet again on the earnings front during this holiday-shortened week, so not much chance of fireworks there.

The one report analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters seem to have the highest hopes for is that from Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL), as people look to education to better position themselves to survive the economic slump. For its fiscal third quarter, during which a new co-CEO was named, the Phoenix, Ariz.-based educational services provider is expected to report a profit of $1.12 per share, which is 24.1% higher than a year ago. Revenue is expected to be 24.3% higher to $1.0 billion. The full-year forecast is currently for $3.97 per share (+28.5%) on sales of $3.9 billion (+24.4%). Earnings have topped expectations in the past four quarters, by as much as 13 cents per share. The long-term EPS growth forecast is 15.9%, which is double the industry average, and the forward PE ratio estimate is 15.0. The First Call consensus recommendation remains to buy APOL; InvestorPlace calls it a stock you can trust. At $68.50, shares are down 10.6% since the beginning of the year, but they peeked above the 100-day moving average at the end of this week for the first time since March.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) is under fire today after the firm lowered its second-quarter earnings outlook. Late Thursday, POT said it now expects earnings per share of 70 cents, compared to its prior outlook of $1.10 to $1.50 per share.

The company chalked up its slashed guidance to "substantially lower than forecasted potash sales volumes due to deferral of purchases by customers around the world and lower realized prices for phosphate fertilizers."

POT's full second-quarter results will be reported on July 23. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for a profit of 81 cents per share, on average.

On June 23, the CEO of the world's largest dry bulk cargo shipping company warned that he actually sees a decline in shipping volumes. That's very bad news for the bullish global trade argument and a smack to the head of the Green Shoots Brigade. Dry bulk cargo is how the world ships coal, steel, and other raw materials. The Baltic Dry Index -- the daily average of prices paid to ship these materials -- has long been a key leading indicator of industrial production. And after a spectacular triple digit run, the Baltic Dry Index rolled over this week and headed steeply downwards.

The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) issued its unanimous decision. The language on interest rates and quantitative easing remained unchanged. It indicated that inflation is not a problem despite a recent rise in oil prices and sees economic stabilization although continued weakness.

This decision was designed to avoid potential landmines which could disrupt the financial markets. In other words, the FOMC wanted this statement to be a non-event and seems to have largely succeeded.

Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) pleasantly surprised the Street with a stronger-than-expected third-quarter profit. This morning, the company reported quarterly net income of $694 million, or $1.25 per share, besting analysts' expectations for a profit of $1.18 per share. Net sales arrived at $3.2 billion, down 11% from the year-ago period.

Additionally, Monsanto said it will create a separate division for its herbicides business, in order to "better align spending and working capital needs." The firm will also undergo a restructuring that will result in 900 lost jobs, or less than 4% of its global workforce. The change will translate to a fourth-quarter charge of roughly $350 million, or 41 cents to 47 cents per share.

Some trends are obvious enough and visible to all investors. Others are more subtle, but just as potent, and these often slip "under the radar."

The World Bank's recent "downgrade" -- the magnifying of its 2009 forecast for the global recession to a 2.9% contraction from the previously released 1.7% pull-back grabbed headlines, and it sparked a whole new round of selling on Wall Street.

Further, sentiment appears to be building that the much-anticipated Q3/Q4 global economic recovery may not arrive on time.

Listen to what Richard Parkus of Deutsche Bank has to say about commercial real estate. He said that "We are not only not approaching stability, we are at a period of maximum deterioration."

We have often said that after the collapse of residential real estate in the last year, the next shoe to drop would be the commercial market. What is being wrung out of the home market is now beginning to be felt big time in commercial real estate. Landlords are putting together all kinds of packages, including free rent and other perks, and still prices are falling. It is believed that values are down a whopping 50% from their peak in 2007.

This week brings a small flurry of end-of-the-calendar-quarter earnings reports. And for the most part, the expectations of the analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters aren't very high. Companies expected to report declining earnings in the most recently concluded quarter include America's Car-Mart Inc. (NASDAQ: CRMT), Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY), ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG), Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL), Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. (NYSE: JTX), Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON), and Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ: SONC).