Below are the top 10 best-performing Leisure Services stocks for the past week. One Chinese company (LONG) is on the list.
Maui Land & Pineapple Co. (NYSE:MLP) is the 1st best-performing stock last week in this segment of the market. It was up 19.14% for the past week. Its price percentage change is -10.27% year-to-date.
Summary of MAUI LAND & PINEAPPLE CO INC | Form 8-K
Form 8-K for MAUI LAND & PINEAPPLE CO INC27-Jul-2010
Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement
Item 1.01 – Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement
Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. (the “Company”) issued senior secured convertible notes in the aggregate principal amount of $40 million in July 2008 (the “Notes”). The Notes mature on July 15, 2013, bear interest at 5.875% per annum and are currently convertible into common stock of the Company at a conversion price of $30 per share.
As previously announced, the Company entered into Convertible Note Purchase Agreements, pursuant to which the Company has agreed to repurchase the Notes, with holders of Notes who hold, in the aggregate, $32.5 million of the principal amount of the Notes, or approximately 81% of all of the Notes currently outstanding.
On July 22, 2010, the Company entered into Convertible Note Purchase Agreements with the holders of the remaining outstanding Notes on the same terms. In total, the Company has entered into Convertible Note Purchase Agreements with the holders of Notes who hold, in the aggregate, 100% of all of the Notes currently outstanding.
Maui Land & Pineapple, China Grentech: Biggest Price Decliners (MLP, GRRF) – WSJ.com
By MARKET DATA STAFF
Maui Land & Pineapple Co. Inc. topped the list of Biggest Percentage Price Decliners among common stocks on the New York Stock Exchange at the close. See the full list .
China Grentech Corp. Ltd. topped the list of Biggest Percentage Price Decliners among common stocks on the Nasdaq Stock Market. See the full list .
Maui Land & Pineapple, China Grentech: Biggest Price Decliners (MLP, GRRF) – WSJ.com
Hawaii subsidies cut for livestock feed | HonoluluAdvertiser.com | The Honolulu Advertiser
Loss of assistance from state deals another blow to shrinking industry
By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff WriterThe state has spent about $3.8 million since November 2007 on a program aimed at revitalizing Hawai’i’s struggling livestock industry and improving the state’s self-sufficiency.
Despite the cash infusion, Hawai’i’s livestock industry has continued to shrink.
Now those subsidies, which were scheduled to run through 2010, have been canceled because of the state’s budget shortfall.
That doesn’t bode well for livestock producers.
The subsidies "stopped some of the decline," said David "Buddy" Nobriga, president of Nobriga’s Ranch, which is a cattle feedlot in Waikapu Town on Maui.
Nobriga’s Ranch received $83,616 in feed subsidies, according to state records. Without the subsidies, "We’ve got to tighten up our belts and see if we can survive," Nobriga said.
Although Hawai’i’s farm sector remains relatively small compared with the $12 billion tourism industry, agriculture plays an important role in diversifying the state economy, preserving greenbelt lands and reducing the Islands’ dependence on imported food. The loss of food-producing livestock businesses makes Hawai’i more dependent on the Mainland and other sources to meet basic needs.
Monsanto Plowed Down (MON)
It’s becoming increasingly harder to figure out whether Monsanto (NYSE: MON) is a bargain or a value trap. Yesterday, the agriculture giant announced less-than-stellar guidance for its 2010 fiscal year, which started at the beginning of the month.
It’s really a tale of two product lines for Monsanto. The seed and trait business is growing and competing well against — and sometimes with — DuPont (NYSE: DD), Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW), and Syngenta (NYSE: SYT).
Its Roundup product, on the other hand, is headed in the wrong direction. Once a cash cow, Roundup now faces generic competition, and a glut of chemical herbicides in the supply chain is pushing down prices. Unlike drug companies such as Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Merck (NYSE: MRK), which can pretty much kiss off most of their sales once generic competition starts, Monsanto does expect to bring in $650 million to $750 million in gross profits from Roundup in the coming year. Still that’s a long drop from the nearly $2 billion in gross profits that the herbicide brought in during fiscal 2008.
In a couple of years, it’s not going to matter much: By 2012, the company expects that seeds and licensed traits will make up 85% of the company’s total gross profit. But in the meantime, the drop is hurting the bottom line.
Earnings per share, after adding back restructuring charges, are expected to come in between $3.10 to $3.30, a sharp decline from the $4.40 or so that’s expected from the recently completed year. Trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of more than 24, Monsanto is a little cheaper than we’ve seen in the past, but it doesn’t leave investors much breathing room, if Roundup sales continue to fall faster than expected.
Industry fights for inspectors – Starbulletin.com
Agricultural groups fear state layoffs will backlog shipments
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Sep 08, 2009
Agricultural industry executives worry that Hawaii businesses will wither on the vine and incoming food will rot on the docks if the state goes through with massive layoffs of agriculture inspectors.
Plans call for laying off 50 of the state’s 78 agriculture inspectors, 64 percent of that specialized work force.
Diminished inspection capacity could also cost hundreds of millions of dollars each year if additional invasive species get established, industry officials say.
State inspectors both certify products to be exported out of Hawaii and inspect food and plants being imported into the state.
Agricultural inspector layoffs slammed – The Maui News
KAHULUI – Environmentalists and farmers lashed out Thursday night at the announced layoffs of state agricultural inspectors, arguing that the move planned by the Lingle administration would uproot efforts to preserve the island’s agricultural industry and pristine environment.
Close to 100 people turned out at a Senate Ad Hoc Committee meeting held in the Maui Waena Intermediate School cafeteria. The crowd applauded those who spoke against the layoffs, some even attacking Gov. Linda Lingle.
Most U.S. Stocks Advance as Retail Sales Beat Forecasts – Bloomberg.com
Commodities Gain
A group of mining companies, seed producers and chemical makers increased 1 percent as raw-material prices jumped. Gold advanced to a six-month high, reaching $999.50 an ounce, while copper rose for a second day. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodities climbed 0.2 percent.
Most U.S. Stocks Advance as Retail Sales Beat Forecasts – Bloomberg.com
There’s something about Ho’opili – Honolulu Weekly
Proposed ‘Ewa development defies snap judgments
Kevin O’Leary
Sep 2, 2009Last Friday’s daylong meeting of the State Land Use Commission, to rule on a petition by mega-developer D.R. Horton-Schuler to change the current zoning on 1,500 acres of prime ‘Ewa farmland from agriculture to mixed-use residential and commercial, was anything but boring.
Here’s Kioni Dudley, intervenor in the case, whom some have called the leader of the opposition: “In the beginning, over two years ago, this was just a gut feeling I had.” Now, it is more than a feeling, as Mr. Dudley–and everyone else with a sore gut over the proposed zone change–has picked up some unexpected allies, in the form of at least three State agencies and several local politicians.
Listen to Bryan Yee of the Attorney General’s office, speaking for the State Office of Planning: “We now know that if the petition [for the zoning change] goes through, H-I will be a parking lot from Waiawa to Makakilo. And the petitioner (Schuler) isn’t proposing any solutions.”