Monsanto

Unocal said last week that its expected earnings be aboutbetween 90-95 cents per share, or about 20-25 cents more than itsprior estimates and 11 cents more than First Call/ThomsonFinancial’s consensus estimate of 79 cents. The updated earningsestimate can be attributed to rising natural gas and oil prices,the company said. The new estimate took into account the expectedaverage price for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil of $31.60per barrel and a Henry Hub natural gas price of $4.35 per Mcf. TheJuly 27 forecast was based on a WTI price of $29.75 per barrel anda Henry Hub price of $4.00 per Mcf. Unocal said the latest estimatedoes not include “miscellaneous special items,” such as an expected$36 million aftertax charge for what it called a derivativesaccrual. Last year Unocal posted earnings of 17 cents per share forthe third quarter.