General Dynamics profit expected to be undented by an Iraq pullout

General Dynamics, the worst-performing stock among the five largest U.S. defense companies, may outpace competitors like Raytheon and Northrop Grumman as investors gain confidence that a U.S. pullout from Iraq will not hurt profit at the company, which is the biggest supplier of combat gear to the U.S. Army.

U.S. troops in Iraq might need armored vehicles and tanks from General Dynamics for years to come, while allies are preparing to step up purchases to modernize their own militaries, said Erik Becker, co-manager of the Waddell & Reed Advisors Core Investment fund, based in Overland Park, Kansas.

"The U.S. military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan will continue for longer than people expect," Becker said.

In addition, revenue from business jets will help the stock rise 25 percent to $105 in the next 12 months, he said. General Dynamics trailed other U.S. defense companies most of the year.

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Poisoning Our Children for Corporate Profit

Study ties hyperactivity in kids to food additives

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“These findings show that adverse effects are not just seen in children with extreme hyperactivity (such as ADHD) but can also be seen in the general population and across the range of severities of hyperactivity,” the researchers wrote in their study, published in the Lancet medical journal.
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Monsanto: The Pus Filled Milk Company

Federal regulators have turned down a request from Monsanto Co. to take action against dairy companies that advertise milk as free of synthetic hormones.

The Federal Trade Commission said last week that the ads it reviewed did not make any misleading claims about the safety of recombinant bovine somatotropin, or rBST, a hormone that boosts milk production in cows.

St. Louis based-Monsanto, which markets the hormone under the brand name Posilac, had asked the FTC to investigate more than a half dozen companies that advertise milk products.

The company claims the ads mislead consumers into thinking that milk from cows not treated with rBST are healthier or safer than dairy products from cows treated with the hormone.

The hormone is banned in Canada and Europe, mainly due to concerns that it leaves cows more prone to illness. But the Food and Drug Administration and the company insist the hormone is safe and the FDA approved rBST to boost production in dairy cows in 1993.

Still, many dairy farmers concerned about possible safety risks refuse to use the product and a growing number of retailers, including grocery chains Safeway and Kroger Co., have switched to milk free of synthetic hormones.

The national milk brand Borden, for example, advertises that ``we work exclusively with farmers that supply 100 percent of our milk from cows that haven't been treated with artificial hormones. So, who do you trust when it comes to your family's milk?''

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