Even After Pullback, Commodity Stocks Have Been This Year's Winners

The past few months have been incredibly challenging for many stocks, as few have been spared from indiscriminate selling. Despite this, there are several companies in the agricultural, mining, and energy sectors that have performed better than ever, generating impressive returns in the face of the market headwinds. Commodity-related businesses are generally seen to have strong long-term prospects as emerging markets increase their consumption, but a pullback has occurred of late after the long, steep run higher.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE: SQM - News) is a large-cap chemical company based in Chile that has been able to double its stock price in the past year by riding the global commodities boom. Specifically, the company has benefited from rising demand for fertilizer and lithium, a key component of batteries in hybrid vehicles. While only one Pro investor included SQM among its top-15, U.S.-listed, equity holdings at the end of Q1, a large number of tickerspy members are tracking it in their portfolios. Of those, many are also tracking other large agriculture plays such as Potash (NYSE: POT - News), Mosaic (NYSE: MOS - News), and Agrium (NYSE: AGU - News).

CF Industries (NYSE: CF - News) is another large agricultural play that has shown remarkable growth despite yesterday's sharp pullback. The stock price has more than doubled in the last year as growing food demands in emerging markets combined with government mandates on crop-based biofuels to create a surge in demand for fertilizers. 18 Professional investors counted CF among their top-15, U.S.-listed, equity holdings at the end of Q1, including hedge fund giant Citadel Investment Group.

Bucyrus International (Nasdaq: BUCY - News) is a construction firm that has benefited from the mining boom by providing the necessary machinery. About 73% of the company's annual revenue comes from coal mining customers, a sector that has outperformed in 2008 as rising oil prices have led to a bigger focus on coal energy. Legendary hedge fund Soros Fund Management had a large position in Bucyrus at the end of Q1. Soros' largest holding at the end of Q1 was in Brazilian miner Vale (NYSE: RIO - News). A list of Soros' top-15, U.S.-listed, equity holdings is available at tickerspy.com.

Arena Resources (NYSE: ARD - News) is an oil and gas company that has gained on rising energy demand and prices. Arena has been acquiring and developing drilling property in New Mexico and Texas, and analysts believe the company has positioned itself to benefit from global oil market fundamentals. Arena has a number of backers. Eight Pro investors counted the company as one of their top-15, U.S.-listed, equity holdings at the end of Q1, and tickerspy members who track the stock in their portfolios tend to track other energy plays like Southwestern Energy (NYSE: SWN - News).