UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM N-Q QUARTERLY SCHEDULE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS OF REGISTERED MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANY Investment Company Act file number: 811-00248 --------------------------------------------- THE ADAMS EXPRESS COMPANY -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Exact name of registrant as specified in charter) 7 Saint Paul Street, Suite 1140, Baltimore, Maryland 21202 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code) Lawrence L. Hooper, Jr. The Adams Express Company 7 Saint Paul Street Suite 1140 Baltimore, Maryland 21202 Registrant's telephone number, including area code: 410-752-5900 Date of fiscal year end: December 31, 2006 Date of reporting period: September 30, 2006 Item 1: SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS. SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- September 30, 2006 (unaudited) Shares Value (A) Shares Value (A) --------- ------------ --------- ------------ Stocks and Convertible Securities -- 96.1% Health Care -- 12.9% Abbott Laboratories 320,000 $ 15,539,200 Consumer -- 17.6% Advanced Medical Optics, Consumer Discretionary -- 7.6% Inc. (B)(C) 310,000 12,260,500 BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. (B) 500,000 $ 14,590,000 Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. 345,000 8,597,400 Clear Channel Caremark Rx Inc. 245,000 13,884,150 Communications, Inc. 350,000 10,097,500 Genentech, Inc. (B) 220,000 18,194,000 Comcast Corp. (B) 365,000 13,450,250 Johnson & Johnson 255,000 16,559,700 Gannett Co., Inc. 112,500 6,393,375 Laboratory Corp. of America Harley-Davidson, Inc. 200,000 12,550,000 Holdings (B) 140,000 9,179,800 Newell Rubbermaid Inc. 400,000 11,328,000 MedImmune, Inc. (B) 225,000 6,572,250 OSI Restaurant Partners, Inc. 315,000 9,988,650 Medtronic, Inc. 310,000 14,396,400 Ryland Group Inc. (C) 50,000 2,160,500 Pfizer Inc. 1,120,000 31,763,200 Target Corp. 350,000 19,337,500 Teva Pharmaceutical Industries ------------ Ltd. ADR 20,000 681,800 99,895,775 Wyeth Co. 325,000 16,523,000 ------------ Zimmer Holdings, Inc. (B) 125,000 8,437,500 Consumer Staples -- 10.1% ------------ Avon Products, Inc. 430,000 13,183,800 172,588,900 Bunge Ltd. (C) 235,000 13,618,250 ------------ Coca-Cola Co. 200,000 8,936,000 Industrials -- 12.7% Dean Foods Co. (B) 350,000 14,707,000 Cintas Corp. 300,000 12,249,000 Del Monte Foods Co. 1,115,000 11,651,750 Curtiss-Wright Corp. 460,000 13,961,000 PepsiCo, Inc. 400,000 26,104,000 Donnelley (R.R.) & Sons Co. (C) 225,000 7,416,000 Procter & Gamble Co. 340,000 21,073,200 Emerson Electric Co. 200,000 16,772,000 Safeway Inc. 423,000 12,838,050 Essex Corp. (B) 116,500 2,027,100 Unilever plc ADR 550,000 13,645,500 General Electric Co. 1,487,700 52,515,810 ------------ Illinois Tool Works Inc. 250,000 11,225,000 135,757,550 Masco Corp. (C) 450,000 12,339,000 ------------ 3M Co. 160,000 11,907,200 Energy -- 11.0% United Parcel Service, Inc. 155,000 11,150,700 BP plc ADR 95,000 6,230,100 United Technologies Corp. 300,000 19,005,000 ConocoPhillips 345,000 20,537,850 ------------ ENSCO International, Inc. 134,150 5,879,795 170,567,810 Exxon Mobil Corp. 215,000 14,426,500 ------------ Marathon Oil Co. 120,000 9,228,000 Information Technology -- 12.9% Murphy Oil Corp. 38,500 1,830,675 Communication Equipment -- 1.9% Petroleum & Resources Avaya Inc. (B) 600,000 6,864,000 Corporation (D) 1,985,996 64,902,349 Corning Inc. (B) 500,000 12,205,000 Schlumberger Ltd. 380,000 23,571,400 Lucent Technologies Inc. (B) 2,900,000 6,786,000 ------------ ------------ 146,606,669 25,855,000 ------------ ------------ Financials -- 17.8% Computer Related -- 9.1% Banking -- 13.9% Automatic Data Processing BankAtlantic Bancorp, Inc. 880,000 12,513,600 Inc. 300,000 14,202,000 Bank of America Corp. 610,000 32,677,700 BEA Systems, Inc. (B) 800,000 12,160,000 Bank of New York Co., Inc. Cisco Systems, Inc. (B) 1,110,000 25,530,000 (The) 375,000 13,222,500 Dell Inc. (B) 565,000 12,904,600 Compass Bancshares Inc. 300,000 17,094,000 Microsoft Corp. 1,180,000 32,249,400 Fifth Third Bancorp (C) 280,000 10,662,400 Oracle Corp. (B) 1,356,001 24,055,458 Investors Financial Services ------------ Corp. (C) 382,500 16,478,100 121,101,458 Morgan Stanley 200,000 14,582,000 ------------ Wachovia Corp. 470,000 26,226,000 Electronics -- 1.9% Wells Fargo & Co. 650,000 23,517,000 Cree, Inc. (B)(C) 375,000 7,541,250 Wilmington Trust Corp. 420,000 18,711,000 Intel Corp. 550,000 11,313,500 ------------ Solectron Corp. (B) 1,850,000 6,031,000 185,684,300 ------------ ------------ 24,885,750 Insurance -- 3.9% ------------ AMBAC Financial Group, Inc. 240,000 19,860,000 American International Group, Inc. 500,000 33,130,000 ------------ 52,990,000 ------------ 8 SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- September 30, 2006 (unaudited) Prin. Shares Value (A) Amt. Value (A) ------- -------------- ----------- -------------- Materials -- 4.9% Short-Term Investments -- 3.3% Air Products and Chemicals, U.S. Government Obligations -- Inc. 250,000 $ 16,592,500 1.2% du Pont (E.I.) de Nemours U.S. Treasury Bills, and Co. 360,000 15,422,400 4.98%, due 11/16/06 $16,500,000 $ 16,395,005 Florida Rock Industries Inc. 200,000 7,742,000 -------------- Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. 83,000 7,023,460 Time Deposit -- 0.0% Rohm & Haas Co. 400,000 18,940,000 J.P. Morgan, -------------- 4.63%, due 10/2/06 224,843 65,720,360 -------------- -------------- Commercial Paper -- Telecom Services -- 3.0% 2.1% Alltel Corp. 300,000 16,650,000 American General AT&T Corp. 595,000 19,373,200 Finance, Inc., Windstream Corp. 310,178 4,091,248 5.24%, due 10/3/06 -------------- - 10/31/06 8,000,000 7,978,766 40,114,448 Chevron Funding Co., -------------- 5.19- 5.20%, due Utilities -- 3.3% 10/3/06 - 10/26/06 5,600,000 5,583,867 Aqua America, Inc. (C) 608,000 13,339,520 General Electric Duke Energy Corp. 611,560 18,469,112 Capital Corp., MDU Resources Group, Inc. 562,500 12,566,250 5.23%, due -------------- 10/10/06 - 10/17/06 7,750,000 7,735,726 44,374,882 Toyota Motor Credit -------------- Corp., 5.20- 5.23%, Total Stocks and Convertible Securities due 10/5/06 - (Cost $918,292,437) (E) $1,286,142,902 10/19/06 6,375,000 6,363,195 -------------- -------------- 27,661,554 -------------- Total Short-Term Investments (Cost $44,281,402) 44,281,402 -------------- Securities Lending Collateral -- 5.0% Brown Brothers Investment Trust, 5.25%, due 10/2/06 66,863,737 -------------- Total Securities Lending Collateral (Cost $66,863,737) 66,863,737 -------------- Total Investments -- 104.4% (Cost $1,029,437,576) 1,397,288,041 Cash, receivables, prepaid expenses and other assets, less liabilities -- (4.4)% (58,622,675) -------------- Net Assets -- 100% $1,338,665,366 ============== -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes: (A)See note 1 to financial statements. Securities are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ. (B)Presently non-dividend paying. (C)Some of the shares of this company are on loan. See note 8 to financial statements. (D)Non-controlled affiliate, a closed-end sector fund, registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. (E)The aggregate market value of stocks held in escrow at September 30, 2006 covering open call option contracts written was $21,037,760. In addition, the aggregate market value of securities segregated by the Company's custodian required to collateralize open put option contracts written was $14,884,000. 9 SCHEDULE OF OUTSTANDING OPTION CONTRACTS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- September 30, 2006 (unaudited) Contracts Contract (100 shares Strike Expiration Appreciation/ each) Security Price Date (Depreciation) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COVERED CALLS 100 Air Products and Chemicals, Inc..... $ 75 Dec 06 $ 8,700 100 AMBAC Financial Group, Inc.......... 85 Nov 06 9,439 100 AMBAC Financial Group, Inc.......... 90 Jan 07 8,699 100 AMBAC Financial Group, Inc.......... 90 Feb 07 12,199 200 American International Group, Inc... 70 Feb 07 (7,601) 100 Avon Products, Inc.................. 35 Oct 06 9,200 200 Bunge Ltd........................... 65 Jan 07 (1,601) 100 Caremark Rx Inc..................... 60 Oct 06 6,200 100 Caremark Rx Inc..................... 60 Dec 06 (1,800) 100 Caremark Rx Inc..................... 65 Jan 07 2,700 100 Dean Foods Co....................... 40 Dec 06 (20,800) 100 Harley-Davidson, Inc................ 65 Jan 07 (8,301) 250 Harley-Davidson, Inc................ 65 Feb 07 (47,626) 100 Investors Financial Services Corp... 50 Oct 06 11,450 100 Investors Financial Services Corp... 55 Oct 06 14,324 100 Investors Financial Services Corp... 50 Jan 07 12,199 200 Investors Financial Services Corp... 55 Jan 07 19,399 100 Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings 70 Nov 06 4,200 150 Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings 72.50 Nov 06 15,299 200 Marathon Oil Co..................... 100 Jan 07 24,171 80 Martin Marietta Materials, Inc...... 140 Oct 06 13,759 100 Martin Marietta Materials, Inc...... 100 Jan 07 (3,801) 100 Morgan Stanley...................... 75 Jan 07 (12,800) 100 Murphy Oil Corp..................... 55 Oct 06 12,700 200 Ryland Group Inc.................... 60 Jan 07 10,399 100 Target Corp......................... 55 Jan 07 (58,301) 100 United Technologies Corp............ 70 Jan 07 3,200 100 Zimmer Holdings, Inc................ 80 Jan 07 5,267 ----- -------- 3,480 40,873 ----- -------- COLLATERALIZED PUTS 150 Avon Products, Inc.................. 25 Jan 07 12,300 150 Cintas Corp......................... 35 Nov 06 15,299 100 ENSCO International, Inc............ 40 Oct 06 6,700 200 ENSCO International, Inc............ 45 Oct 06 (17,523) 250 ENSCO International, Inc............ 40 Dec 06 (10,751) 150 Exxon Mobil Corp.................... 52.50 Oct 06 14,550 100 Florida Rock Industries Inc......... 35 Dec 06 6,949 200 Florida Rock Industries Inc......... 30 Jan 07 10,399 250 Intel Corp.......................... 17.50 Oct 06 22,999 100 Marathon Oil Co..................... 75 Oct 06 (5,300) 100 Marathon Oil Co..................... 67.50 Jan 07 (8,800) 200 Masco Corp.......................... 25 Jan 07 2,399 250 MedImmune, Inc...................... 25 Dec 06 20,499 200 Medtronic, Inc...................... 42.50 Nov 06 9,399 100 Procter & Gamble Co................. 55 Oct 06 8,700 250 Ryland Group Inc.................... 30 Oct 06 22,999 150 Ryland Group Inc.................... 35 Oct 06 12,299 100 Ryland Group Inc.................... 37.50 Oct 06 7,200 53 Ryland Group Inc.................... 30 Jan 07 2,491 100 Target Corp......................... 42.50 Oct 06 11,200 100 Target Corp......................... 45 Oct 06 9,700 150 United Parcel Service, Inc.......... 65 Oct 06 8,549 100 Wachovia Corp....................... 50 Oct 06 12,200 200 Wachovia Corp....................... 47.50 Jan 07 11,399 75 Zimmer Holdings, Inc................ 60 Dec 06 6,200 ----- -------- 3,778 192,056 ----- -------- $232,929 ======== 11 (SELECTED) NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Unaudited) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Adams Express Company (the Company) is registered under the Investment Act of 1940 as a diversified investment company. The Company is an internally-managed fund whose investment objectives are preservation of capital, the attainment of reasonable income from investments, and an opportunity for capital appreciation. Security Valuation-Investments in securities traded on a national security exchange are valued at the last reported sale price on the day of valuation. Over-the-counter and listed securities for which a sale price is not available are valued at the last quoted bid price. Short-term investments (excluding purchased options) are valued at amortized cost. Purchased and written options are valued at the last quoted asked price. For federal income tax purposes, the identified cost of securities at September 30, 2006 was $1,028,950,325 and net unrealized appreciation aggregated $368,337,716, of which the related gross unrealized appreciation and depreciation were $444,297,240 and $75,959,524, respectively. time at such prices and amounts as the Board of Directors may deem advisable. 8. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES LOANED The Company makes loans of securities to brokers, secured by cash deposits, U.S. Government securities, or bank letters of credit. The Company accounts for securities lending transactions as secured financing and receives compensation in the form of fees or retains a portion of interest on the investment of any cash received as collateral. The Company also continues to receive interest or dividends on the securities loaned. The loans are secured at all times by collateral of at least 102% of the fair value of the securities loaned plus accrued interest. Gain or loss in the fair value of the securities loaned that may occur during the term of the loan will be for the account of the Company. At September 30, 2006, the Company had securities on loan of $65,171,190 and held collateral of $66,863,737, consisting of an investment trust fund which may invest in money market instruments, commercial paper, repurchase agreements, U.S. Treasury Bills, and U.S. agency obligations. Item 2. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES. Conclusions of principal officers concerning controls and procedures: (a) As of April 24, 2007, an evaluation was performed under the supervision and with the participation of the officers of The Adams Express Company (the "Company"), including the principal executive officer ("PEO") and principal financial officer ("PFO"), of the effectiveness of the Company's disclosure controls and procedures. Based on that evaluation, the Company's officers, including the PEO and PFO, concluded that, as of April 24, 2007, the Company's disclosure controls and procedures were reasonably designed so as to ensure: (1) that information required to be disclosed by the Company on Form N-Q is properly recorded, processed, and summarized in accordance with the rules and forms of the Securities and Exchange Commission; and (2) that material information relating to the Company is made known to the PEO and PFO as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Prior to this evaluation, the Company uncovered a weakness in its disclosure controls and procedures that caused this Form N-Q, which was due to be filed on or before November 29, 2006, not to be filed timely. This weakness was primarily attributable to human error. The 2006 Third Quarter Report to stockholders, containing the exact portfolio information called for in this Form N-Q, was timely issued and filed; however the Company failed to file this Form N-Q by the due date. To prevent similar problems in the future, the Company has modified its computer-based reminder system to issue alerts to the appropriate personnel of the need to prepare and file the Forms N-Q several times during the 60 day period for the filing. (b) There have been no significant changes in the Company's internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 30 a-3(d) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (17 CFR 270.30a-3(d)) that occurred during the Company's last fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Item 3. EXHIBITS. The certifications of the principal executive officer and principal financial officer pursuant to Rule 30a-2(a) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 are attached hereto as Form N-Q Certifications. SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized. THE ADAMS EXPRESS COMPANY BY: /s/ Douglas G. Ober ----------------------- Douglas G. Ober Chief Executive Officer Date: April 25, 2007 Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated. BY: /s/ Douglas G. Ober ----------------------- Douglas G. Ober Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) Date: April 25, 2007 BY: /s/ Maureen A. Jones ----------------------- Maureen A. Jones Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer (Principal Financial Officer) Date: April 25, 2007