Montreal, Canada

I love mixed nuts. They’re not only incredibly healthy, loaded with important Vitamin E, but also provide protein and a dose of “good” fat. I devour a daily mix of almonds at work every day in between meals to satiate my appetite. I probably spend close to $250 a year on nuts, maybe more.

Over the last decade alone, I think my waistline has expanded by at least three inches, mainly a result of intense flying across the United States and Europe. Though I try to maintain a healthy diet when traveling, those darn nuts are hard to resist with a glass of wine prior to a meal. I especially love heated nuts.

One sector of the commodity bull market that’s poised to start moving fast is the mixed nuts complex.

Only a handful of producer’s worldwide sell mixed nuts and prices for all sorts of nuts have risen markedly over the past decade. A few weeks ago, I bought two handfuls of mixed nuts at an airport kiosk in Montreal and was shocked by the sticker price – those little delicious buggers are expensive!

It got me thinking. What’s the supply and demand situation for nuts, who’s the biggest producer and where do we stand in terms of stock price, multiples and potential?

Several nut producers in the United States and overseas have yet to surpass their previous all-time highs in 2007. One in particular, has been the subject of insider buying recently while another producer has one of the best balance sheets in the business and remains miles away from its best levels more than three years ago. The stock charts look good and most companies in this sector are now on a solid uptrend.

I’m now bullish on mixed nuts. Prices are rising quickly over the last 12 months and margin expansion will follow for the best-managed companies. I’ll be plugging a great small-cap nut manufacturer shortly in my Commodity Trend Alert (CTA) VIP service – shortly entering its ninth year of publication.

Got nuts?