Under activist CEO Andrea Jung, Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) has turned itself around and is posting excellent numbers across the board and around the world. Investors interested in international stocks should still take a look at Avon which, despite being an American company, now earns slightly more than half its revenues from markets abroad. The stock opened the year trading at $33.60 and closed July 12 at $39.55, up 19% thus far this year. Not only do 2007 numbers look good compared to 2006, which was admittedly horrible, but as the reorganization efforts continue to gain traction worldwide, the numbers will only get better.

Here follows a summary of Avon's recent earnings report:

1Q 2007 total revenue grew 9% to $2.2 billion, with all 6 global divisions posting profits. Net income for 1Q TRIPLED to $150 million. The number of Avon representatives rose 4% to more than five million, making Avon the world's largest direct seller. Avon is spending $15 million to provide leadership and sales training for this potent sales channel. Operating profit rose 176%, (not a typo!) to $238 million despite continuing restructuring costs of $27 million. Thus far, FY 2007 cash flow is ahead of FY 2006 cash flow and the company repurchased $130 million of its stock during 1Q 2007. FY 2006 was marked by huge restructuring costs inlcuding inventory write offs and numerous products lines being discontinued. Most of the mess is behind Avon, a fact demonstrated by around the world increases in both revenues and profits.

In what I would characterize as a desperate effort to win back market-share from Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) recently announced that it would be partnering with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT). Monday's Wall Street Journal takes a look at how Dell, once the king of the PC industry, ended up in this position (Subscription required).

HP brought in Todd Bradley in 2005 to revitalize its PC operations, and he did just that. He realized that HP could not compete with Dell on consumer-direct sales, and instead focused on strengthening its sales to traditional retail outlets. In 2006, HP passed Dell in worldwide PC sales for the first time in years, and Bradley looks like a genius.

Now, Dell is trying to get back in the fight by moving into HP's territory: sales at retail stores. What's wrong with this picture?

It looks like Dell may be making the exact same mistake HP made before it hired Todd Bradley: Rather than focusing on its strength (consumer direct), Dell is trying to directly compete with HP for sales at brick and mortar stores. HP's recent improvements in service to retailers may make it hard for Dell to compete there.

Dell may do well to borrow a line from Todd Bradley's playbook: Don't try to enter new markets in which the company has little expertise, and focus on the core strength.

Bertelsmann AG, via its DirectGroup, is buying the other 50% stake of Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Bookspan. Bookspan owns roughly 40 book clubs, including the "Book of the Month Club." Financial terms were not disclosed.

Time Warner and Bertelsmann formed the partnership in 2000. This also includes the Doubleday Book Club and Literary Guild. Bertelsmann will reel in Bookspan into its BMG Columbia House.

BMG will now be the clear leader, with no real competitors in book, music and DVD mail order clubs in North America. This is all part of Time Warner's strategic changes after it closed Life and sold off 18 magazines earlier. It appears that even if an industry is shrinking, there at least may be some perceived value in being a virtual sole-supplier.

Jon Ogg is a partner in 24/7 Wall St., LLC; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.