Symantec Upgrade; Monsanto Sees Credit for Crops; AIG’s Costly Retreat; Wells and Citi Extend Ceasefire; Pending Home Sales Climb; Crude Hits Lowest Level in 2008

The economic calendar this week isn’t particularly exciting, but coming off the pain inflicted on the markets last week, that could be a good thing. The market will have its hands full with earnings season starting up again, so a full week of reports could have been dangerous.

Monsanto Co. (MON), the world’s largest seed producer, is selling off its rights to a synthetic milk-producing hormone in order to focus its attention more closely on its core business of developing genetically modified seeds and pesticides. U.S. pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) will pay Monsanto $300 million for Posilac, the brand name for recombinant bovine somatotropin or rBST. The deal includes the global sale rights and a Georgia-based manufacturing plant.

Midwest floods might not push up corn prices as much as was feared, according to a report released by the US Department of Agriculture on the damage to crops caused by recent Midwest flooding.

According to the report, US farmers will harvest almost 9% less corn this year than last. Offsetting the flood damage is the more than 1 million additional acres of corn planted in March.

Corn futures, which were about $7.60 last week, dropped to about $7.25 yesterday on the Chicago Board of Trade.

New Home Sales Plummet; Mexico Staves off U.S. Slowdown; Monsanto Reaps Big Rewards; MasterCard Pays AmEx $1.8 Billion; Buffett Concerned About Stagflation; Reduced Damages for Exxon; Nike Strong in Asia; More Cuts for Penney’s.

For more than a decade, European policymakers have spurned genetically modified crops, but these so-called Frankenfoods are beginning to look more and more appetizing in the wake of food shortages and soaring prices.

Only 21% of Europeans are willing to eat genetically engineered food, according to a survey by the European Commission.

Some nations, such as France, have banned the planting of genetically modified crops, while others like Germany have enacted laws that allowed foods to be labeled as “GM free.”

Biotech is no longer just a drugs game.

When the leader of the United Nation’s World Food Programme warned that a “silent tsunami” of hunger is sweeping the globe because of soaring food prices, a lot of folks probably viewed it as just another clever sound bite tossed off by a bureaucrat.

The U.S. markets reversed course in afternoon trading, heading higher as commodities producers rallied and tech stocks got a boost.