Driven by higher prices for the raw stuff rural America produces, the Yonder 40 stock index jumped last week while the other major stock indexes slumped.
The Yonder 40, 40 stocks that represent the rural economy, increased 1.3 percent last week. The Dow Industrials and the S&P 500 both lost more than a point.
The Yonder 40 was driven up by mining and agriculture companies. Monsanto raised its full-year earnings forecast for the third time this year, and its stock rose close to 18 percent for the week. The Wall Street Journal reported that Monsanto was reaching profit margins of nearly 54 percent, which means that “farmers are prepared to pay higher premiums for (Monsanto’s) genetically modified corn, soybean and other seeds.”
ConAgra, the Nebraska packaged food company, was also up after reporting a 60 percent rise in net income for the quarter, its stock rising over 8 percent for the week. And Alico, a Florida-based ag company, was up over 4 percent.
Coal and other energy companies also rose last week, as investors rewarded companies that produced basic commodities. Peabody rose nearly 8 percent in the week. Penn Virginia rose over 12 percent. The coal mining and oil and gas firm Walter Industries was up over 16 percent and Cimarex rose 8 percent.
Results for the full Yonder 40 for the week ending March 28 can be found on the next page:
| Yonder 40 | Ticker | Price March 21 | Price Change 3/21 to 3/28 | Percent Change 3/21 to 3/28 |
| Alico Inc. | ALCO | $44.31 | $1.82 | 4.3% |
| Andersons Inc. | ANDE | $43.12 | $0.84 | 2.0% |
| Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. | BNI | $91.99 | $0.38 | 0.4% |
| Berkshire Hathaway | BRKB | $4,452.00 | $104.12 | 2.4% |
| Bassett Furniture | BSET | $12.49 | $0.35 | 2.9% |
| Peabody Energy Corp. | BTU | $51.15 | $3.70 | 7.8% |
| Cabela’s Inc. | CAB | $14.11 | -$0.96 | -6.4% |
| ConAgra Foods Inc. | CAG | $24.09 | $1.83 | 8.2% |
| Cato Corp. Cl A | CTR | $14.82 | -$1.75 | -10.6% |
| Citizens Communications | CZN | $10.45 | -$0.37 | -3.4% |
| Deere & Co. | DE | $79.94 | $0.71 | 0.9% |
| Dean Foods Co. | DF | $20.00 | -$0.23 | -1.1% |
| DIRECTV Group | DTV | $24.64 | $0.09 | 0.4% |
| Family Dollar Stores Inc. | FDO | $19.12 | -$1.38 | -6.7% |
| Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. | FLE | $4.43 | -$0.04 | -0.9% |
| FairPoint Communications | FRP | $10.26 | $0.27 | 2.7% |
| Gaylord Entertainment Co. | GET | $29.45 | -$0.57 | -1.9% |
| Hormel Foods | HRL | $41.62 | $0.74 | 1.8% |
| International Speedway Corp. | ISCA | $40.92 | $1.00 | 2.5% |
| Lee Enterprises | LEE | $10.76 | -$0.38 | -3.4% |
| Mohawk Industries Inc. | MHK | $71.49 | -$3.57 | -4.8% |
| Monsanto Co. | MON | $114.30 | $17.17 | 17.7% |
| Mine Safety Appliances Co. | MSA | $40.71 | -$1.38 | -3.3% |
| Southwest Bancorp | OKSB | $17.21 | $0.13 | 0.8% |
| Plum Creek Timber REIT | PCL | $40.16 | -$0.97 | -2.4% |
| Penn Virginia Corp. | PVA | $43.85 | $4.86 | 12.5% |
| Ralcorp Holdings | RAH | $57.26 | -$0.74 | -1.3% |
| Regions Financial Corp. | RF | $19.65 | -$2.07 | -9.5% |
| Sturm Ruger & Co. | RGR | $8.12 | $0.21 | 2.7% |
| Smithfield Foods | SFD | $25.96 | -$0.60 | -2.3% |
| Skywest Inc. | SKYW | $21.12 | $0.21 | 1.0% |
| Southern Co. | SO | $35.37 | -$0.76 | -2.1% |
| Stage Stores Inc. | SSI | $15.87 | -$1.05 | -6.2% |
| Tractor Supply Co. | TSCO | $39.40 | -$1.82 | -4.4% |
| Tyson Foods | TSN | $16.13 | -$0.76 | -4.5% |
| UST Inc. | UST | $55.42 | -$0.05 | -0.1% |
| Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. | WDR | $31.40 | -$2.44 | -7.2% |
| Walter Industries | WLT | $62.90 | $8.80 | 16.3% |
| Wal-Mart Stores | WMT | $52.12 | -$1.11 | -2.1% |
| Cimarex Energy | XEC | $54.95 | $4.18 | 8.2% |
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
