Adm May Be A Sweet Buy

Things have gotten sticky lately for Archer Daniels Midland Co.

Since disclosure that the world’s biggest maker of high-fructose corn syrup is targeted in a federal grand jury probe into price-fixing of the sweetener, investors have turned sour on its stock, pushing the company’s shares down as much as 16 percent.

But an increasing number of antitrust lawyers and financial analysts think the stock’s drop makes it a perfect time to buy.

For starters, corn syrup and the other two Archer Daniels products under scrutiny account for only about 11 percent of Archer Daniels’s revenues.

And price inflation that costs soda drinkers about a 10th of a penny per pop isn’t going to spark consumer outrage.

Even if Archer Daniels were found guilty of illegally setting prices, it probably wouldn’t have to pay much: The largest ever criminal fine won by prosecutors in a pricefixing case was $6 million. Archer Daniels earns that much in a week.

According to company regulatory filings, court rulings, government studies and Wall Street analysts, Archer Daniels gets about $1.3 billion of its $11.4 billion of annual revenue from the three products under federal scrutiny.

Using antitrust experts’ rule of thumb that overcharging typically inflates prices by 10 percent, Archer Daniels could be liable in private lawsuits for triple damages, or 30 percent of the revenue in question.

That comes to about $390 million a year. That would be a lot of money for most companies, but for Archer Daniels it works out to less than $1 a share.

Archer Daniels’s stock, which traded at $18.88 a little more than a week ago, closed Friday at $16.50.

Smith Barney picks exceptional

Since last year, Smith Barney’s “Ten Exceptional Names” have returned 31 percent, beating the Dow and the S&P 500.

Now Smith Barney’s back, with the list expanded to 15 stocks, all worth considering: BankAmerica, Caterpillar, Cisco Systems (a repeater, up 132 percent last year), CUC International, Enserch, GTE, Hewlett-Packard, Kroger, Nextel Communications, Phelps Dodge, Pitney Bowes, South African Breweries, Stryker (the second repeater, up 47 percent), Tambrands and Wendy’s International.

Money class for college bound

The Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Spokane will hold a July 24 workshop on money management for the soon-to-be-independent.

The two-hour class, “Personal Finance 101/Preparation for the College Bound Student,” is intended for students, but would be appropriate for any young person striking out on their own for the first time.

Budgeting, checking account management, and understanding credit and credit reports will be among the topics covered.

The workshop, which begins at 6:30 p.m. will be held at the service’s N1912 Division offices.

Cost of the class is $15 per person, but parents attending with their children will not be charged.

Pre-registration closes Monday.

, DataTimes