"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.

Continue reading Avon Products (AVP): A 'beautiful report'

Avon Products (AVP): A 'beautiful report' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 May 2008 11:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I've just returned from the World Money Show, where more than 10,000 investors gathered to learn about global investing. I had a chance to meet with many of the advisors featured at the show, and I have been highlighting some of their favorite investment ideas. To view all of the stocks featured in this special global report, click here.

"Investors in Russia had more than New Year's Eve as a reason to party as 2006 came to an end, notes Ian Wyatt. "The Russian stock market closed at an all-time high, capping a year in which the dollar-based benchmark Russian Trading System index gained 70%."

The editor-in-chief of Big Idea Investing explains, "In most developing countries, such a gain would usually be a sign of speculators gone crazy, and a stern warning to take your money and run before the inevitable collapse.

"But that doesn't necessarily apply here. The MSCI Russell index has soared almost 500% in dollar terms over the last five years. Some of these returns stem from the rise in oil and gas prices, two commodities of which Russia has enormous reserves.

"It's a long way from 1992, when almost overnight the Soviet Union imploded. Fuel was added to the fire by oil prices, which had started a long climb to record levels. From just $8.8 billion in 1998, revenues from oil exports soared to more than $58 billion by 2004.

"Ford (NYSE:F) and Toyota (NYSE:TM) already have car plants in operation, and will soon be joined by General Motors (NYSE:GM). Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) has made significant investments, and oil giant ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) said it plans to almost double its investment over the next decade to as much as $15 billion.

Continue reading Global gains: From Russia with love

Global gains: From Russia with love originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 Feb 2007 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.