Biofuels Stock and Financial Outlook for October 18: Stock futures mixed as banking sector weighs on Dow; more plant delays and cancellations announced by ethanol producers

Stock futures were mixed this morning as the Dow fell 35 points on news that Bank of America missed its earnings target, but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were flat as investors await more third quarter earnings reports today.

In the biofuels sector, Aventine Renewable (AVR) has delayed a total of five plants representing more than 500 Mgy in capacity, and Alternative Energy (AEC) has delayed two plants, all the result of the low price of ethanol. Ethanol futures closed at $1.62 per gallon yesterday.

The Biofuels Digest Indexâ„¢, a basket of public biofuels stocks, rose 1.47 percent yesterday to reach 104.17, just 0.05 short of a 52-week high, as larger cap stocks advanced in line with a modest rise in the broader markets.

Sector heavyweight Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) gained 1.43 percent today to close at $35.35 as Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of the clean tech sector with an “Attractive” rating. Other winners on the day included a surging VeraSun Energy (VSE) which finished up 6.71 percent at $12.40, and Aventine Renewable (AVR), up 2.41 percent to $10.18.

Winners led losers 6 to 5, but winners were concentrated in the larger cap stocks. Only Pacific Ethanol (PEIX), down 0.89 percent to $8.88 and US BioEnergy (USBE), down 1.80 percent to close at $7.10, were down for the day among larger cap stocks.

In the broader markets, the Dow close down 20.20 to end at 13892.54, while the S&P 500 rose 2.71 to close at 1541.24 and the Nasdaq was up nicely today on strong technology earnings to close at 2792.67, up 28.76 points.

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