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Wednesday, March 31, 2010 | 6:21 am GMT

Chiquita Brands (NYSE: CQB) Expects To Post Lower Q1 Results, Announces JV With Danone
By Chip Brian

Chiquita Brands International Inc. (NYSE:CQB) expects to post "substantially lower" Q1 results due to weak European banana demand, according to a Reuters report.

The company's European banana volume fell 13% and was about 11% lower year-over-year in Q1.

CEO Fernando Aguirre said, "European banana pricing was negatively impacted by the harshest winter weather in 30 years."

Separately, Chiquita said it formed a joint venture with Danone to market fruit beverages in Europe. The deal is expected to help drive improvements in its results.

The company will receive a one-time cash payment for a 51% interest in the venture and expects the transaction to immediately add to earnings.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010 | 5:55 am GMT

Morning Market Update, March 31, 2010
By Chip Brian

U.S. stock futures are trading lower Wednesday following disappointing March figures from the ADP jobs report. The ADP jobs report fell 23,000, which missed economists' expectations for a gain of 40,000 jobs in the private-sector. The report is seen as an early indicator of the Labor Department's jobs report. Also due out is the Commerce Department's report on factory orders at 10 AM ET. Economists expect that order rose 0.5% in February due to strong demand for commercial aircraft and machinery, which would be the 10th time it has risen over the past 11 months. In corporate news, SAIC (NYSE:SAI) reported Q4 EPS of $0.31, narrowly missing consensus estimates of $0.32. Revenues for the quarter rose 7% year-over-year to $2.68 billion, in line with consensus estimates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are trading 26.00 points below fair value, the S&P500 (INX) futures are trading 3.40 points below fair value, and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) futures are trading 3.50 points below fair value.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 | 11:56 am GMT

Westlake Chemical Climbs to a One-Year High on JPMorgan Upgrade
By Chip Brian

Shares of Westlake Chemical (NYSE:WLK) are trading 9% higher to $25.39, and earlier climbed 12%, the most intraday since March 2009, after the maker of vinyl and plastics upgraded to "overweight" from "neutral" at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The firm believes 2010 should start relatively strongly for the company as plant outages in the industry have led to ethylene and polyethylene being in short supply, which will help margins.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 | 10:49 am GMT

Harvest Natural Resources (NYSE: HNR) Touches 16-Month High on Possible Oil Discovery
By Chip Brian

Shares of Harvest Natural Resources (NYSE:HNR) are trading 8.7% higher to $7.90 Tuesday and rallied to $8.25 earlier, the highest intraday price since November 2008, after the oil and gas producer said results from the flow testing of the Bar F 1-20-3-2 well in Duchesne County, Utah indicate "a high likelihood" of a commercial oil discovery.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 | 10:00 am GMT

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Shares Trading 2.9% Higher On News Of Potential iPhone Availability
By Chip Brian

Verizon (NYSE:VZ) shares are trading 2.9% higher at $31.33 after a report that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is planning an iPhone that will work with its network, according to a Bloomberg report.

Factories may begin producing the new iPhones, which would work on the CDMA network used by Verizon, in September, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 | 8:40 am GMT

CBS (NYSE: CBS) Offers to Repurchase $500 Million of Notes
By Chip Brian

Shares of CBS (NYSE:CBS) are trading 0.4% lower to $14.08 Tuesday after the company offered to repurchase up to $500 million of notes that mature in May 2011 and August 2012, as the broadcaster continues its effort to repay and refinance its debt.

Standard & Poor's recently raised its outlook on the company to stable from negative, as the rating firm believes that debt payment, as well as earnings growth, will combine to reduce fully adjusted debt leverage this year and in 2011.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 | 6:40 am GMT

Morning Market Update: March 30, 2010
By Chip Brian

U.S. stock futures are trading higher Tuesday as investors become more optimistic over the global economic recovery. Economic reports due out include the Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller home price index at 9 AM ET and the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index at 10 AM ET. Economists expect that the home price index fell 0.8% in January year-over-year and that the consumer confidence index rose to 50 in March, up from 46 in February. In corporate news, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares rose 2.8% in premarket trading on news that the company is planning to produce its popular iPhone for Verizon's wireless network. Verizon (NYSE:VZ) shares rose 3.4%. Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), who is the predominant manufacturer of the style of chips used in Verizon phones, rose 2.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are trading 5.00 points above fair value, the S&P500 (INX) futures are trading 1.30 points above fair value, and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) futures are trading 6.75 points above fair value.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 | 6:14 am GMT

Sanderson Farms (NASDAQ: SAFM) Plans To Offer 2 Million Shares, Use Proceeds To Build New Plant
By Chip Brian

Sanderson Farms Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFM) plans to offer 2 million shares of its common stock and use the proceeds to build a new plant.

The plant will be located in North Carolina.

The company also plans to use other month in order to build a deboning complex in North Carolina and potentially a large-bird processing facility.

Sanderson Farms said that it may use some of the proceeds to pay down debt and make investments.

Underwriters were granted a 30-day option to buy up to 300,000 additional shares.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 | 6:09 am GMT

NASA, National Research Council To Investigate Toyota Accelerator Flaws And Electronic Controls
By Chip Brian

NASA will examine Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM) accelerator flaws and electronic vehicle controls as the U.S. continues its probe into incidents that are linked to about 51 deaths, according to a Bloomberg report.

The National Research Council will also investigate unintended acceleration and electronics in vehicles from all automakers, according to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

The results are expected to take about 18 months from the National Research Council and NASA results are expected to be out "probably sooner."

Monday, March 29, 2010 | 9:33 am GMT

Boeing (NYSE: BA) Hits New 52-Week High
By Chip Brian

Shares of Boeing (NYSE:BA) traded at a new 52-week high today of $73.88. Approximately 861,000 shares have traded hands today vs. average 30-day volume of 5 million shares.

Boeing is currently trading at $73.76, approximately 40.1% above its 50-day moving average of $64.10. SmarTrend will be monitoring shares of BA to see if this bullish momentum will continue.

SmarTrend is bullish on shares of Boeing and our subscribers were alerted to Buy on November 23, 2009 at $52.66. The stock has risen 40.1% since the alert was issued.