BloggingStocks

Are we in for Bush vs. Carter, and what stocks would fare better under each?

Sheldon Liber — 2008-06-11T15:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Rants and raves, Cisco Systems (CSCO), Pfizer (PFE), Coca-Cola (KO), Exxon Mobil (XOM), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Adobe Systems (ADBE), Automatic Data Proc (ADP), Avon Products (AVP), Black and Decker (BDK), Chevron Corp (CVX), Costco Wholesale (COST), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Cardinal Health (CAH), Kraft Foods'A' (KFT), Politics, Suntech Power Hldgs ADS (STP), General Dynamics Corp (GD), Northrop Grumman (NOC), Raytheon Company (RTN)

For the first time Monday I heard John McCain comparing Barack Obama to Jimmy Carter. I had heard this before in other arenas, but not from McCain. I guess that despite these two presidential candidates pledging to the American people to bring change and resist politics as usual, they are both, as usual as one could get.

Obama is being shaped by the pressures of running for office and to believe otherwise is delusional. I suppose one has to have hope but the effects of the campaign are becoming clear. Obama has been painting McCain as an extension of Bush, which is nonsense, and now in a typical tit-for-tat response, McCain is filling the air with Carter references.

Both McCain and Obama are wrong in their assessments of their opponents and they are becoming commoners to resort to the bottom of the barrel campaign techniques used in every campaign for most of our nation's proud history. Obama gave up the high ground too easily and McCain has decided he can sling mud with the best of them.

Stick to the issues fellas, or neither one of you will have any credibility left to fight the inflation, sinking dollar, war, oil & food prices, federal deficit, trade imbalances, national infrastructure, health care and Social Security nightmares and a multitude of other issues one of you will be saddled with.

How will either affect stock prices. The market is full of assumptions. If McCain wins, the defense sector, energy, health care, financials and high yielding stocks are probably better bets. Some examples are:

If Obama wins, better bets might be alternative energy, high-tech, consumer staples, retail and non-dividend paying stocks (think taxes). Some examples are:

These are just a few stocks from among those that have been reviewed on BloggingStocks and not current recommendations. They are just meant to give a little flavor to what I sense as market sentiment, and to stimulate some discussion.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money.

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Now, younger adult customers are starting to call on Avon

Joseph Lazzaro — 2008-06-06T13:02:00+00:00

Filed under: Avon Products (AVP), Stocks to Buy

Readers of this space know that the investment bias is toward large-cap companies with demonstrated business models and a competitive advantage in established markets, preferably with a favorable global trend as a support. With this in mind, Avon is worth an evaluation.

For decades a door-to-door company, Avon (NYSE: AVP) has stepped into the globalization and digital ages, and the initial progress reports are positive.

Avon is the midst of a restructuring aimed at increasing efficiency and widening the company's sales venues. In its most recent quarter, Avon's North American region was a laggard, but its international business performed well, registering a 16% increase in sales, with double-digit gains from Central/Eastern Europe, and an impressive 29% rise in China. Further, in general, analysts were pleased with AVP's emerging market performance, citing brand building gains and an ability to attract much-sought, younger-adult women. As a result, AVP is on-track to meet analysts' 7-9% revenue gain for F2008.

Direct selling (5.3 million representatives) continues to be AVP's base, but catalogs, mall kiosks, a day spa, and a web site create a diverse retail presence.

All the while, Avon has also reduced its costs by initiating manufacturing operations in lower-cost regions of the world, and via sales force productivity increases. The company's expanded product base (cosmetics, fragrances, toiletries, jewelry, apparel, and home furnishings) is succeeding at widening its brand appeal across categories. The Reuters F2008/F2009 EPS consensus estimates for AVP are $2.16/$2.57.

The risks? Analysts are keeping an eye on Avon's marketing costs, and consumer reception of new products introduced.

The First Call mean rating for AVP is: Buy. [13 firms.] Mean 2008 target: $48. [high: $55, low: $44.]

Stock Analysis: Avon is a moderate-risk stock not suitable for low-risk investors. Investors with an investment horizon longer than 2 years should be rewarded from AVP's shares. Sell / Stop Loss if you were to purchase shares in this company: $28.

Disclosure: Lazzaro has no positions in stocks. In addition to private real estate holdings, he owns corporate and municipal bonds, and cash certificates of deposit.

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Avon Products (AVP): A 'beautiful report'

Steven Halpern — 2008-05-29T11:09:00+00:00

Filed under: China, Newsletters, Avon Products (AVP), Eastern Europe, Stocks to Buy

"Beauty is as beauty does, the saying goes, and Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) has delivered a beautiful earnings report," says Jack Adamo in his industry-leading Insiders Plus. Here's his latest.

"Despite a 14% increase in advertising (or perhaps, because of it) the company delivered EPS up 26%. In North America, the only underperforming region, revenues continued their slow downward slide. But active representatives increased for the first time in ages, which may brighten the future on the company's home turf.

"International sales continued to soar. Latin America was 19% higher in local currencies, and 32% higher after translation into the American Peso, also known as the U.S. Dollar. In Central & Eastern Europe, first-quarter revenue rose 17% (6% in local currency). Revenue in China grew 29% (19% local). Only Japan dragged things down a bit with its 2% gain.

"Avon took $26 million in restructuring charges this quarter, about the same as Q1 last year. The ongoing program is expected to be completed by 2012 at a total cost of $550 million, and will save the company in the neighborhood of $430 million annually. Savings this year alone should amount to $270 million.

"Avon is up 53% for us in two-and-half years. The stock is starting to again garner the kind of P/E it had when it was known as one of America's premier growth companies. At 18-times forward earnings and growth expected in the 18% range, it's still cheap for a growth stock of this caliber.

"Meanwhile, I think the market is likely to pull back in the next couple of months. Make sure you get this beauty when it's on sale again. Buy Avon Products on pullbacks below $37."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers the latest market commentary and favorite investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

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Earnings highlights: Countrywide, Visa, MasterCard, KBR, Office Depot and others

Trey Thoelcke — 2008-05-03T15:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Avon Products (AVP), Centex Corp (CTX), CIGNA Corp (CI), MasterCard Inc'A' (MA), Countrywide Financial (CFC), Office Depot (ODP)

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

Allegiant Travel Co. (NASDAQ: ALGT) beat estimates with soaring Q1 revenues, bucking the airline trend.
Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) Q1 profits doubled but fell short of expectations.
Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) posted solid Q1 results despite negative operational cash flow.
Centex Corp. (NYSE: CTX) posted a Q4 loss well below analyst estimates.
Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI) profits plunged in the first quarter on litigation charges.
Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC) posted another big loss, way off estimates of a small profit.
Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) posted its first quarterly loss since 2003 on write-downs.
Gardner Denver Inc. (NYSE: GDI) beat Q1 expectations and raised its outlook for the year.
International Paper Co. (NYSE: IP) fell short of Wall Street's Q1 earnings estimates.
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE: JEC) beat Q1 estimates and offered fully-year guidance.
KBR Inc. (NYSE: KBR) Q1 profit more than doubled on arbitration benefit.
MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) topped analysts' expectations as Q1 profits more than doubled.
Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) Q1 profits tumbled 55% but still beat analysts' estimates.

Parker Hannifin Corp. (NYSE: PH) beat Q3 expectations due to growth in key markets.
Savvis Inc. (NASDAQ: SVVS) reported narrower-than-expected losses and lowered its 2008 outlook.
Thomas Weisel Partners Group Inc. (NASDAQ: TWPG) swung to a Q1 loss on fewer M&A transactions.
Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) narrower profits beat expectations, and it lifted its outlook.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) posted unimpressive results for its first quarterly report since its IPO.
Wright Medical Group Inc. (NASDAQ: WMGI) beat Q1 estimates on growth of all major product lines.

Also, Jim Cramer lauds Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) for its success in these tough times and Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) for bouncing back after taking a hit. And Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) investors may have been looking for more than they got in the quarterly report.

Upcoming results to watch for include Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC), Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM), Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP), Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), and American International Group (NYSE: AIG).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

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Avon's Q1 earnings were fetching (except for the cash flow)

Steven Mallas — 2008-04-30T10:36:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Estee Lauder (EL), Revlon (REV), Avon Products (AVP), Procter and Gamble (PG)

Avon (NYSE: AVP) delivered not a bag of cosmetics to Wall Street, but a batch of growing earnings. Total revenues for the first quarter were up beautifully, rising 14% to $2.5 billion. Earnings per diluted share likewise did the double-digit-increase dance, rocketing 26% to $0.43.

Now, I would have liked the report a lot more if the company had indicated in its cash flow statement that everything was positive -- unfortunately, that was not to be, as operational cash flow was, in fact, negative. Avon needed to use $41 million for its operating activities during the quarter. Well, one thing I can say is that it's a lot less than the cash needed to fund last year's operations -- Avon burned through over $160 million in the comparable period. A check of the latest 10K shows that, while operational cash flow has been decreasing over the last few years, it has remained positive, so since this is the first quarter of the new fiscal year, we can wait to see how cash flow shapes up as the quarters go by.

Avon competes with companies like Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Revlon (NYSE: REV) and Estee Lauder (NYSE: EL). As I've stated in the past, Procter & Gamble is more my kind of consumer-products business, but I'll give Avon its due since it does have a good product portfolio backing its brand and a devoted base of users. The stock is not too far off from its 52-week high as of this writing, and so long as it can keep sales growing and fight inflationary pressures, it should be a decent long-term bet.

Disclosure: I don't own shares in any of the companies mentioned; positions can change at any time.

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Before the bell: MRK, BP, ADM, MA, CFC, AAPL ...

Melly Alazraki — 2008-04-29T08:25:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Apple Inc (AAPL), XM Satellite Radio (XMSR), Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI), Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), Avon Products (AVP), CBS Corp 'B' (CBS), MasterCard Inc'A' (MA), Corning Inc (GLW), Countrywide Financial (CFC), BP p.l.c. ADS (BP), Merck and Co (MRK), U.S. Steel (X), Valero Energy (VLO)

Before the bell: Street awaits Fed (V, DB, GM)

Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) shares are dropping over 8% in premarket trading after it said its cholesterol pill Cordaptive failed to win approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, less than a week after it was recommended for marketing in the European Union. While Merck intends to submit more data to the FDA, it is unclear it will succeed given even some European doctors said more research is needed on one of the drug's main components safety.

Who said higher oil prices aren't good? If you ask Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) and BP (NYSE: BP), high oil prices are fantastic as the two oil giants beat forecasts when posting quarterly earnings Tuesday, reporting that net income, excluding unrealized gains from changes in inventory values, rose 12% to a record $7.8 billion and 48% to $6.6 billion respectively. Shell shares are climbing 5.7% in premarket trading and BP's over 4.8% as it seems investors think oil above $100 a barrel is here to stay.

Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM), the world's largest grain processor, said third-quarter profit rose 42% to $517 million or 80 cents per share, topping analyst estimates of 69 cents per share, as it traded more grains and crushed more soybeans. Sales climbed 64% to $18.7 billion. Seems that being in agriculture lately is a positive and ADM shares are rising 3.75% in premarket trading.

We're still in the midst of earnings season, and today is a big day:

A day after Visa reported its first quarterly results, posting considerable growth, beating estimates but still disappointing investors, MasterCard (NYSE: MA) just reported results minutes ago. From first glance it seems that MA also handily beat expectations of earnings or $1.99 per share.

Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC) is projected to post earnings of 2 cents a share in the first quarter, Valero (NYSE: VLO) -- 29 cents a share, CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) -- 33 cents a share, Corning (NYSE: GLW) -- 42 cents a share, Avon (NYSE: AVP) -- 43 cents a share and United States Steel (NYSE: X) -- $1.84 a share.

And good news everybody. Yes, I know Canada is a small market, despite its large land mass, but it's my market and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s iPhone isn't here yet. Despite being the U.S.'s neighbor, the iPhone went to Europe first and only today it was announced by Rogers Communications (NYSE: RCI) it has reached an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada later this year. Always later ...

XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: XMSR) today announced that it has postponed its 2008 annual meeting of stockholders to a date when it has further information relating to its pending merger with SIRIUS Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI).

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Revlon's reverse split won't make the stock attractive

Steven Mallas — 2008-04-12T09:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Estee Lauder (EL), Revlon (REV), Avon Products (AVP), Procter and Gamble (PG)

Revlon (NYSE: REV) issued a press release concerning its plans for a reverse split as well as some preliminary quarterly results. The reverse split will be based on a 1-for-10 ratio. Well, the company may increase the share price via this method, but it won't make much of a difference in terms of Revlon's potential as an investment.

The stock closed on Friday at $0.99 per share. Let me repeat this -- the stock closed on Friday at $0.99. We are thus talking about a highly speculative equity. Interestingly, if you take a look at the preliminary results, you might believe that Revlon is on the right path. Revlon's management expects a slight dip in terms of net revenues -- the top line will see about $320 million in the quarter versus nearly $329 million in the year-ago period. There will be a net loss of about $5 million this time around versus a net loss of over $35 million last year. Doesn't sound so bad, I suppose, especially when you consider that operating income should come in at $30 million -- that's ten times better than 2007's first quarter. So, would I buy Revlon?

No. I actually owned Revlon stock a few years ago, and I think I essentially broke even when I decided to get the heck out. Revlon has a long way to go before proving to me that it's got a handle on all its problems and that it can get its brand equity back on track. And this reverse stock split means nothing to me, as it doesn't alter the underlying fundamentals. Revlon faces tough competition from other brands, such as Avon (NYSE: AVP), Estee Lauder (NYSE: EL), and products from Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), so the company has its work cut out for it.

Disclosure: I don't own shares in any of the companies mentioned here; positions can change at any time.

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Cramer on BloggingStocks: The charts are amazingly bad

Jim Cramer — 2008-03-05T09:20:00+00:00

Filed under: Coca-Cola (KO), Market matters, Avon Products (AVP), United Technologies (UTX), Cramer on BloggingStocks

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says investors should be negative, but they have to keep an eye out for rallies.

Have you looked at the charts lately? I still carry them around and, frankly, have been reluctant to sit down and look at one after another the way Helene Meisler has for years and years.

But I have forced myself to do so since this year began just to remind myself that this bear market is a vicious one and you better have a darned good reason to buy a stock because you are most likely going to lose money otherwise.

The charts are amazingly bad. The vast majority of stocks are simply awful. You eliminate the oils, the golds, the ags, you have nothing, I mean, really, nothing. You can see that an Avon (NYSE: AVP) (Cramer's Take) could rally or maybe a Coke (NYSE: KO) (Cramer's Take), and you can make a case for the utilities to bottom on interest rate compares but that's really about it. The banks? They all look like they have no bottom.

Yes, it is right to be bearish on pretty much everything, based on them.

One of the things that I like to do as an exercise is to look at the charts without the names of the stocks at the top to block my bias. I don't want to say "oh, yeah, of course it is a bank, it sucks, don't bother to look at it," for all I know maybe it is the one bank that's worth owning, the Hudson City Bank (NASDAQ: HCBK) (Cramer's Take), so to speak.

That is why I found it so amusing that the single worst chart I found in the book, one that I looked at and said, man, that one's going to zero, was Diebold (NYSE: DBD) (Cramer's Take)! Yep, the company that United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) (Cramer's Take) bid for over the weekend. This one looked like a perma-short, a stock with a chart of no redeeming value for a business of no redeeming value.

Now, I know what you are thinking, "Cramer's saying because DBD's chart was wrong all the charts could be wrong and it is time to buy and he is a bull."

I am so sick of people called names by everybody, that I am happy to say "sure, if that's what you want to say about me, free country." But what I do believe is that there are moments where we get too negative and even the worst charts can produce some upside.

Right now I feel like that. No, not that there are a lot of DBD's out there. Business in this country is just too horrible and the leadership is non-existent. But the stocks in the books represent now a pretty severe a recession and you better believe we are going to have one if you want to stay negative.

Alas, my takeaway is that I want stocks to reflect a recession but a severe one is avoided. That's been one of the best moments to invest and perhaps that's what could be happening soon.

If you look at the charts en masse you would never say: "Ah hah, this is the time to get real negative on everything." You would say: "Wow, what carnage away from gold, oil and ag." You would say, don't want to be so negative that I miss the possibility if a DBD. Don't want to be so negative that when oil and gas and gold give you chances to get into to them like they did yesterday, that you ignore them.

The carnage in this market is really pretty unbelievable. I am totally on board with the idea that if we do not create some sort of large floor on housing the carnage will continue. At the same time I am highly confident that we are not in the early stages of the decline. That would be too negative.

It's bad out there, and it reflects a real hard recession. If you believe that, let me ask you, what's next? An even more severe recession?

You better believe that housing will decline 20-25% across the board, not just in Florida and California. In that case just sell everything and go away.

I have hated housing for a long time, but I don't see those levels of decline other than in about one quarter of the country and we are more than half way there in those parts of the country.

Conclusion: be negative, but allow punctuations upward because we are pretty far along in the pullback and the recognition of the steepness of the decline in the economy.

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Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in stocks mentioned.

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Earnings highlights: Time Warner, Cisco, Gannett, Disney, EDS and others

Trey Thoelcke — 2008-02-09T09:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Cisco Systems (CSCO), Time Warner (TWX), Walt Disney (DIS), Avon Products (AVP), Gannett Co (GCI), Electronic Data Systems (EDS), Activision Inc (ATVI), Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL), Las Vegas Sands (LVS), Unilever ADR (UL)

The earnings crunch rolls on, and here are a few of the highlights of this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

Activision Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) earnings soared on popularity of Guitar Hero and other game franchises.
Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) beat earnings expectations and offered revised guidance.
Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) beat estimates despite lower profits due to restructuring costs.
Chattem Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTT) beat estimates and raised its guidance.
Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) met estimates but a weak forecast raised concerns.
Dionex Corp. (NASDAQ: DNEX) beat estimates on strength in petrochemical and food/beverage markets.
Electronic Data Systems Corp. (NYSE: EDS) earnings fell, helping to raise concerns about tech stocks.
Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX) beat estimates and affirmed its outlook.
Gannett Inc. (NYSE: GCI) missed fourth-quarter earnings estimates on lower ad revenue.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) missed expectations due to rising construction costs.
MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) forecast it would beat earnings expectations by as much as 10 cents a share.
Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. (NASDAQ: ODFL) beat revenue estimates and raised its guidance.
RealNetworks Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK) warned it would miss first-quarter and full-year expectations.
Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ: SLAB) beat expectations and raised its guidance.
THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) posted disappointing results that included cancelled game franchises.
Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) met estimates and announced restructuring plans (see transcript).
Unilever (NYSE: UL) fourth-quarter net income tanked on a sell-off of its European frozen food business.
Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) posted better-than-expected results on gains in TV and theme parks.

For additional earnings highlights from this past week, see Earnings highlights: PepsiCo, Toyota, News Corp., ADM, Toll Bros. and others.

Also, Doug McIntyre suspects analysts are expecting too much from earnings in the later half of the year. And Zac Bissonette is skeptical about claims of "record earnings."

Upcoming results to watch for include General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO), Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE), and Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

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Avon Products (AVP) looking pretty today

Steven Mallas — 2008-02-05T15:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Avon Products (AVP)

Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) reported Q4 earnings today, and it looks like the Avon Lady has beaten Wall Street. Revenues for the quarter jumped a nice 17% -- got to love that. Diluted earnings per share dived 27% to $0.30, however -- that's not so lovable. Blame that dreaded cliche of earnings reports -- restructuring costs.

Avon's stock is currently trading up well over 5% as of 2:40 this afternoon. The company beat expectations of $0.28 per share. Avon saw a 20% increase in its beauty sales, an 18% increase in its beauty-plus category (that includes stuff like apparel, jewelry, etc.), and a 5% increase in its home products category. The number of active representatives also trended higher. Believe it or not, I buy Avon products every month from my friendly rep -- I can't live without its Advanced Techniques shampoos and its men's body washes.

The stock is currently trading at a decent yield -- approximately 2% -- and it does have a good portfolio of women's brands backed by the iconic Avon name. I'll be honest, though, and say that, when it comes to consumer-products companies, I definitely think of companies like Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Clorox (NYSE: CLX), and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) first. At least those brands don't need representatives to push them. Still, over the long haul, Avon will probably reward patient shareholders.

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What would Buffett buy?, 25 best mutual funds & Uncle Sam tax scam - Today in Money - 2/5

Allan Halprin — 2008-02-05T09:26:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Apple Inc (AAPL), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Time Warner (TWX), Coca-Cola (KO), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Schlumberger Limited (SLB), Money and Finance Today, Altria Group (MO), Avon Products (AVP), Coach Inc (COH), News Corp'B' (NWS), QUALCOMM Inc (QCOM), UAL Corp (UAUA), Rio Tinto plc ADS (RTP), China Mobile Limited (CHL)

In the News:

· Service Sector Data Plunges to 41.9% in January; Second Weakest on Record

· Microsoft Bid Backs Yahoo Into a Corner

· Microsoft CEO Touts Benefits of Yahoo Deal

· Searching for Value at Yahoo

· Who Would Want AOL Now?

· Toyota Profit Rises 7.5% for Year

· News Corp. Earnings Rise; Murdoch Not Considering Bid for Yahoo

· Avon Profit Down on Restructuring Costs

· Whirlpool's Maytag Buy Pays Off in 4Q

· United Airlines $25 Fee for 2nd Checked Bag

· Ben & Jerry's Fights to Keep 'Hormone Free' Label

· Super Bowl 2nd Most Watch Show of All-Time Behind M*A*S*H Finale

What Would Buffett Buy?
S&P's latest screen tracking the Berkshire bigwig's investing criteria uncovers 60 attractive names. Some of the stocks include 3M, Altera, Altria, Apple, China Mobile, Cisco, Coach, Coca-Cola, IGT, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Rio Tinto and Schlumberger.
What Would Buffett Buy? List: 60 Stocks That Pass Buffett Screen

Made in the USA? The Truth Behind Labels
Labeling rules can be daunting. Here is the real truth behind labels including claims from car, home-product, and food manufacturers.
ConsumerReports.org - Made in the U.S.: The truth behind labels Product Origin

Best American Cities for Couples
With rents in many cities skyrocketing, men and women marrying later and a divorce rate for first-time marriages that hovers at about 45%, it's no wonder more American couples are deciding to shack up. But where are the best places to live? Topping the list is Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis, Denver and Austin.
Best Cities For Couples - Forbes.com

Best Mutual Funds
Looking for sure bets in a volatile market? These 25 no-load funds are Kiplinger's top picks for building a market-beating portfolio. 18 are returning favorites and 7 are brand new to the list.
The 25 Best Mutual Funds - Kiplinger.com New Funds and Drop-Offs to the List

Food Fight
Which of these items has fewer calories and less fat? 3 McDonald's Big Mac sandwiches or 1 Uno deep-dish Shroom individual pizza? If you said 3 Big Mac's you are correct. 3 Big Macs have 1,620 calories and 87g of fat while 1 Uno's individual pizza has a whooping 2,070 calories and 159g of fat. This is just one of 10 comparisons. Food from Outback, Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Kreme, Ruby Tuesday, Red Lobster, Starbucks and more are put to the test.
ConsumerReports.org - Calorie comparison

The Uncle Sam Tax Scam
Here are the three latest scams the IRS is alerting consumers about this year.
Three Tax Scams to Keep an Eye Out For | SmartMoney.com

Best Fabric Softeners
Conventional wisdom advises using fabric-softener sheets to lessen static cling, but Consumer Reports found that overall, liquids reduced the static charge in a load of synthetic clothing slightly better than sheets did. Ttests of 12 liquids, eight sheets, a dryer ball and a reusable dryer cloth revealed one excellent product, Ultra Gain Joyful Expressions liquid.
ConsumerReports.org - Fabric softeners: Tests, recommendations Ratings: Best Softeners

Secrets of a Superfruit
Last year saw the launch of more than 400 pomegranate products, from skin cream to gumdrops, and the number of Americans buying fresh pomegranates has quadrupled since 2002. Here is the real reason that pomegranate has become the "it" flavor of the fruit world.
The Truth Behind the Pomegranate Craze | SmartMoney.com

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Avon is restructuring, and it ain't pretty

Tracy Coenen — 2008-01-09T18:19:00+00:00

Filed under: Avon Products (AVP)

Forget about being in the beauty business. This overhaul at Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP) isn't going to be pretty in the least. As part of its previously announced restructuring plan, 2,400 jobs will be cut and the company plans to save about $430 million per year. The plan will cost $530 million, with $460 expensed through the end of 2007 and the remainder being charged between now and the end of 2009. Additionally, the company's going to write of $110 in inventory as it says it's simplifying product lines by getting rid of low selling products.

This turnaround plan for Avon was announced in November of 2005 and is focused on creating efficiencies in the operation, thereby cutting costs. They're also focusing on the "career opportunity" for representatives and they're trying to make it more attractive.

Avon is one of the oldest multi-level marketing (MLM) companies around. It was established in 1886, a time when door-to-door sales were a common way of purchasing items that were needed. Over time, the business model has evolved to more of home party model and one-on-one selling that doesn't necessarily involve knocking on stranger's doors.

But one often overlooked problem with companies like Avon is the fact that they live and die by how many new representatives they can recruit. While MLM companies like to focus the public's attention on selling products, the reality is that it is through the recruitment of new representatives that these companies grow. Avon's number of representatives in North America has been shrinking, so like other MLMs, the company is relying upon recruitment growth overseas.

Representative turnover is high, however, in large part due to the fact that the representatives don't make much money from selling products. There isn't much profit in the products to start with, and when you factor in the cost of catalogs, samples, supplies, shipping, and travel, the profit margins are very thin for the distributors. They can make more money if they recruit others in to the program, but again, there is often much effort and very little return for the majority of representatives.

So was the real problem with Avon the cost structure? Or is it more likely a problem with the continuous recruiting of representatives? My hope is that this outdated method of doing business is something that more and more women are avoiding. While companies like Avon and Mary Kay tout their "opportunities" as ones that allow women to be home with their children while they make an income, the fact remains that there's little income to be made by the representatives and the bulk of that must be made outside of the home (defeating the whole purpose of being a "work at home" mom).

With over 99% of distributors losing money in the MLM schemes, it's no wonder that recruiting new representatives may be harder and harder. Avon's cost-cutting will help for a while. But with their heavy reliance on constant recruiting of new representatives, long-term success with the current business model is questionable.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

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Apple adds Avon's Andrea Jung to board

Brian White — 2008-01-08T14:33:00+00:00

Filed under: Insiders, Apple Inc (AAPL), Avon Products (AVP)

Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has wooed Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP) CEO Andrea Jung to its board of directors, giving the Apple board a count of eight members as of January 2008. At this point in time, this really does make sense for Apple and the decision is a great one. Here's why.

Jung, who has been with Avon for over 11 years, is deeply entrenched into how direct sales and marketing strategies apply to women. Although Apple's iPod has been geek-lust for many teenage boys and 20-somethings (among other demographics), the marketing of the iPod has almost always involved women in some form.

When marketing to males, this is standard issue when it comes to advertising. What if you want to go after more women shoppers? Ah-ha: that will be Jung's job in terms of advising Apple's board, among other things.

Jung not only helped turn around Avon by focusing on the high end of the cosmetic arena for women, but helped Avon by cutting costs and by entering into the burgeoning field of consumer goods in China's growing wage-earning population (Jung speaks Mandarin). Can Jung bring some pretty-ness to Apple's board, which was stung by a stock options backdating scandal in 2007 and could use some body polish? She sure can -- and perhaps open up the board's eyes to a large female market out there ready to buy Apple products.

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Avon (AVP) plans to slash 2,400 jobs

Michael Fowlkes — 2008-01-08T12:38:00+00:00

Filed under: Management, Competitive strategy, Employees, Avon Products (AVP)

As part of its ongoing restructuring program, beauty products giant Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) announced plans to reduce its workforce by 2,400 jobs. The company's restructuring plan was first announced in 2005, and the company is now looking at completing the restructuring in 2011.

Previously, the restructuring was supposed to run the company $500 million, but now the estimates are pointing to a total cost closer to $530 million. Once completed, the company plans to save itself approximately $430 million annually. This is substantially higher than the original $300 million annual savings the company had initially anticipated.

While the company has been moving through its restructuring over the past two years, the stock has been trading pretty strong. Since the end of 2005, the stock has moved from $27.34 to its current price of $39.00, picking up 42.6% for its shareholders.

Of the total $530 million in charges that the company will ultimately incur from the restructuring, $460 million of this amount will have been taken by the end of 2007's fourth quarter, and the rest is expected to be completed by the end of 2009. In the fourth quarter 2007 alone, the company will incur charges of $120 million.

Analysts are liking what they are seeing. Over at Citigroup (NYSE: C), analyst Wendy Nicholson maintains her buy rating on the stock. According to Nicholson, the company is executing its restructuring perfectly, and she went on to say that she feels that in 2008 and 2009 the company is likely to have the best earnings growth in Citigroup's large cap group.

Traders seem to agree, and today the stock has moved higher, picking up $0.45 to $39.00, up 1.1%.

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer

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Avon starts to connect with homes, globally

Joseph Lazzaro — 2007-12-03T10:36:00+00:00

Filed under: Avon Products (AVP), Stocks to Buy

Don't think of Avon (NYSE: AVP) as that traditional door-to-door cosmetics company. Avon has entered the globalization and digital age.

Avon is in the midst of a restructuring aimed at increasing efficiency and widening the company's sales venues, and so far, so good.

Direct selling (5.3 million representatives) continues to be Avon's base, but catalogs, mall kiosks, a day spa, and a web site create a diverse retail presence.

Avon has also reduced its costs by moving manufacturing to lower-cost regions in the world, and via sales force productivity increases. Meanwhile, the company has amped-up its product base (cosmetics, fragrances, toiletries, jewelry, apparel, and home furnishings) as part of it plan to attract younger customers and to expand its global operations footprint.

Further, analysts are keeping an eye on marketing costs, which always increase in any brand expansion plan. Provided that expenses don't get out of hand, margins should improve in 2008 - a major reason why the stock's appeal is increasing in Wall Street circles. The Reuters F2007/F2008 EPS consensus estimates for Avon are $1.50/$2.08.

The First Call mean rating for the stock is: Buy. [16 firms.] Mean 2008 target: $46.70. [high: $55, low: $39.]

Stock Analysis: Avon is a moderate-risk stock not suitable for low-risk investors. Investors with an investment horizon longer than 1 year should be rewarded by Avon's shares. Sell / Stop Loss if you were to purchase shares in this company: $26.

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