SFD - Smithfield Foods, Inc. $32.25 -0.35 (+1.45)
Thursday's Comment:
Smithfield Foods makes its living in the rather distasteful
trade of hog rendering. The company offers fresh pork products
such as hams, hot dogs, loins and ribs. Still, investors don't
seem to be put off by this messy business. In fact, shares of
SFD have been moving higher over the past year after hitting a
low of $14.88 on 2/24/00. The stock traded to a 52-week high of
$33.30 on January 2nd after SFD lost a bidding war with Tyson
Foods (TSN) over the acquisition of IBP Inc. (IBP). Since then,
SFD has traded in the $27-$33 range. The stock is currently on
a run from a relative low of $27.85 on March 1st. With that
said, we believe that SFD could be ready to break through its
trading range, as the US pork industry benefits from the
European livestock disease crisis that has wiped out most of
the European pork products. From a technical standpoint,
support is the 5-dma at $32.02 with additional support at
Thursday's intra-day low of $31.20. Resistance is Wednesday's
intra-day high of $32.80 and then the January 1st intra-day
high of $33.30. Look for entry points on a bounce off of $32.02
or a move above $32.80 on volume greater than 130,000 shares by
noon. We plan to set stops at $29.75 to limit potential losses.
Picked on March 6th @ $32.25
Change since picked +0.00
Stop Loss @ $29.25
|
Play of the Day Index
