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Strategies & Market Trends : Roger's 1998 Short Picks -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Pancho Villa who wrote (8347)	5/5/1998 10:56:00 AM
From: Rick Slemmer	Respond to of 18691

[ZAP] Zapata (NYSE:ZAP) to expand from food products to Internet concern: From Yahoo! corporate profile: "ZAP conducts operations in two business segments: marine proteins and food services. The company produces and sells marine products and supplies food packaging products and food service supplies." And now this: biz.yahoo.com Anyone remember Diana Corp? RS

To: Pancho Villa who wrote (8347)	5/5/1998 11:00:00 AM
From: gringodoc	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18691

In March I shorted Chiquita (CQB) as a position sympathy play on the Dole news pasted at the bottom of this note. I've been underwater until now. The Cincinnati Enquirer printed a scathing 18 page expos‚ this past Sunday about Chiquita's business practices. Worth a read! enquirer.com ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Mar 12, 1998 (8:07 PM ET) - The Motley Fool Evening News Fruits, vegetables, and packaged foods producer Dole Food Co. (NYSE:DOL - news) was canned for a $6 7/8 loss to $50 1/4 after the company said its fiscal Q1 earnings would be roughly half of the $0.70 per share earned a year ago. The firm blamed the lower earnings on an oversupply of bananas caused by unusual El Nino-related weather in Central America. The street was expecting earnings of $0.80 per share for the quarter. Goldman Sachs removed the stock, one of strategist Abbey Joseph Cohen's ideas for 1998, from its "recommended list" and rated it "market perform." The company said that the banana harvest started early this year after El Nino dumped heavy rains on some areas of Central America while scorching other regions with unusually high temperatures. The current glut could lead to shortages of the fruit later on in the year, which could pose an even greater problem for Dole than the current surplus. Unlike cars, computers, and other non-perishable goods, bananas can't just be inventoried in a warehouse somewhere in New Jersey while the company waits for this literal "feast-or-famine" situation to straighten itself out. Nevertheless, most foodstuffs producers prefer shortage situations and tight pricing to bumper crops.