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Tuesday, April 7, 2009

3 Reasons to Buy PotashCorp

Whatever may be going on in the market or a specific company's history, there are always reasons to consider buying shares in a business. After all, some of the best opportunities in stocks are born from historically bloody times.

Motley Fool CAPS hosts a boatload of opinions from more than 130,000 members on more than 5,300 stocks, giving good reasons to own -- or sell -- a stock.

In the case of feed and fertilizer maker PotashCorp (NYSE: POT), a total of 4,546 members have given bullish or bearish opinions on the company. Scouring the detailed information packed in pitches and other comments on the company, I've dug up three of the top reasons to buy Potash today:

1. Cash aplenty
PotashCorp has expanded free cash flow at a rapid clip over the past years, thanks to expanded demand for fertilizer in developing nations. Despite the uncertainties in potash pricing facing PotashCorp and rivals such as Agrium (NYSE: AGU) and Mosaic (NYSE: MOS), many CAPS members believe the company has enough leverage to continue to generate solid cash flow far into the future.

2. Competitive advantage
Interesting changes are afoot in the industry, including BHP Billiton's (NYSE: BHP) new potential potash mine plans, and Rio Tinto's (NYSE: RTP) potash assets sale to Vale (NYSE: RIO). But market leader PotashCorp still runs the show, with annual potential production that represents more than 20% of the world's capacity. The depth of its operations allows the company to expand capacity at its existing mines to bring a much quicker return on investment than many other competitors.

3. Rebound around the corner
Intrepid Potash (NYSE: IPI) has been increasing its production lately, and PotashCorp similarly predicts a strong rebound in potash demand in the second half of this year. It also foresees an increase in potash imports from China. Since potash is a necessary commodity, even in bad times, producers like PotashCorp hold the recipe for long-term success.. fool.com

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