chirodoc - Thought this might be of interest to you. Its from the "Individual Investor Online" (www.iionline.com):
"Individual Investor started covering the genetic food engineering in 1993. We first wrote about the industry after Calgene came to our offices and had us taste their genetically manufactured tomatoes. Not only could I not tell the difference between fresh and cloned--but more miraculously, I am still alive four years later to share my thoughts on this potentially huge industry.
Earlier this year Monsanto, one of the world's leading agricultural companies, purchased Calgene for $8 a share. Since then, Monsanto has announced that it was selling off all of its other business units--foregoing, in other words, the further development of fertilizers and other agrichemicals--in order to concentrate on the genetic engineering of agricultural products. And if that doesn't validate this industry's potential, I'll take up naked skydiving. (I might do it anyhow, but that's beside the point.)
Minneapolis-based brokerage Dain Bosworth recently issued a report on the "Seed Industry," as it is known on Wall Street. I'll summarize some of its main points regarding genetic engineering and recommend stocks in this field.
Dain Bosworth analyst Bonnie Wittenburg writes that seed companies need both technology and proprietary base-breeding material to position their products effectively, so acquisitions are a big part of the game. So far DowElanco has bought majority control of Mycogen for its Bt technology; Pioneer Hi-Bred took a minority stake in Mycogen; Monsanto bought a 40% stake in DeKalb and acquired Calgene outright for its breeding material and technologies; and Monsanto bought all of Holden Foundation Seeds and Asgrow for their breeding material.
The two main camps now are Monasto-DeKalb-Holden-Asgrow-Calgene-Deltapine and Pioneer Hi-Bred-DuPont. There are many players vying outside this circle, so it will be interesting to see if a number-three player emerges, or if smaller companies join the existing camps.
In order to offer a lower price to the farmer and win the retail battle, agribusiness companies are going to "bundle" seed sales with chemical sales. This will make relationships with major chemical distributors like Terra and United AgriProducts a key battleground in the seed business.
Dain Bosworth currently has Buy ratings on DeKalb, Mycogen and AgriBioTech; Neutral ratings on Monasto and Pioneer Hi-Breed; and an Underperform rating on Delta and PineLand. I love the industry and I agree with their Buy rating on DeKalb and Mycogen. I like Monsanto too, despite the recent price surge from $34 in April to a current $41 that has caused Dain Bosworth to be neutral."
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