Diamond Foods (DMND) acquired the Pringle brand product from Proctor & Gamble (PG) for $2.35 billion, as reported in Dealbook.

When we think of Diamond Foods we think of nuts, edible nuts. Diamond's two main brands are Diamond and Emerald. It produces all kinds of nut products for cooking and eating. Among them are almonds, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, pine nuts and peanuts. The product line also includes microwave popcorn and potato chips.

Continue reading What Will Pringles Do for Diamond Foods?

What Will Pringles Do for Diamond Foods? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There have been many lessons to learn from the "Great Recession." But while the message is often clear, we can't always muster the courage, discipline or consensus to act on these lessons.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is about to enter its second season -- the playoffs. And for a Laker fan in Los Angeles, there is much to look forward to. However, the current NBA collective bargaining agreement will end and we will have to witness another battle between the billionaires and the millionaires.

Why can't the NBA learn from other businesses that have successfully maneuvered through economic turmoil to achieve profitability?

Continue reading Chasing Value: The NBA Should Learn from Others

Chasing Value: The NBA Should Learn from Others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Our goal is helping investors grow their capital and income base from which to derive cash for their current and future needs," notes dividend expert Kelley Wright.

The editor of Investment Quality Trends explains, "To that end we believe that high-quality stocks purchased at historically low-price-to-high-yield offers the best potential for downside protection and upside appreciation. Our Timely Ten list represents our current top ideas.

Continue reading The Timely Ten: Blue Chip Dividends

The Timely Ten: Blue Chip Dividends originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Despite a weak durable goods figure this morning, despite more woes in Ireland and Portugal, and despite energy rising, the markets managed yet another gain. It is now almost back to 'international markets don't matter' in investor minds despite all of the risks and turmoil.

Here were today's closing bells:

Dow Jones 12,170.56 +84.54 (0.70%)
S&P 500 1,309.66 +12.12 (0.93%)
Nasdaq 2,736.42 +38.12 (1.41%)

Continue reading Closing Bell: The Rest of the World Doesn't Matter (AMZN, BBY, GME, MU, SFD, TEVA, PG)

Closing Bell: The Rest of the World Doesn't Matter (AMZN, BBY, GME, MU, SFD, TEVA, PG) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA - option chain) shares are rising after the company announced it has signed an agreement with Proctor & Gamble (PG) to create a partnership that will combine both companies' over-the-counter medicine divisions. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on TEVA.

TEVA opened Thursday morning at $50.13. In morning trading, the stock hit a low of $49.86 and a high of $50.59. As of 12:20, TEVA was trading at $50.58 up $1.46 (3.0%). The chart for TEVA looks bullish and S&P gives TEVA a positive 4 stars (out of 5) buy ranking.

Continue reading Teva Pharmaceuticals Enters Partnership with Procter & Gamble

Teva Pharmaceuticals Enters Partnership with Procter & Gamble originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Procter & Gamble(PG) is the largest consumer goods company in the world with sales in excess of $79 billion in 2010. It and competes with Colgate-Palmolive(CL),Unilever Group(UL), Revlon(REV) and L'Oreal. Under its current CEO, Bob McDonald, P&G set out on an ambition goal to acquire one billion new consumers by 2014/15. It should then come as no surprise that P&G has ambitious plans for one of the most populous nations in the world, India.

We value P&G with a $75.25 Trefis price estimate of its stock, which is around a 20% premium to its current market share price. A detailed analysis of P&G's game plan for India only reinforces our outlook and hints at further potential upside to our estimate.

Continue reading India is Key to P&G's Additional Billion Customer Goal

India is Key to P&G's Additional Billion Customer Goal originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 11 Mar 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Proctor & Gamble (PG) competes with Unilever Group (UN), Revlon (REV) and L'Oreal (LRLCY) in the male grooming market. P&G's share in the global grooming market has risen steadily since its acquisition of Gillette in 2005 to a whopping $57 billion in 2005. We expect this positive trend to continue, driven by growth in emerging markets like India and China, expansion of product lines, and acquisition of newer brands.

Continue reading Positive Outlook for P&G's Share of Grooming Market

Positive Outlook for P&G's Share of Grooming Market originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Dividend Aristrocrats: Four Income Favorites

Dividend Aristrocrats: Four Income Favorites originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Fortune has released its list of the world's 50 most respected companies and once again Apple Inc. (AAPL) tops the list.

This is the fourth year in a row that the Cupertino based company has grabbed the top slot. Apple's respect comes mainly due to the company's ability to release new products at an amazingly quick pace, often updating its main product lines at least once a year.

Continue reading Apple Still Fortune's Most Respected Company

Apple Still Fortune's Most Respected Company originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With over 170 years of "touching lives and improving life" across the globe, Procter & Gamble (PG) continues to provide consumers with quality beauty and personal care products. Headquartered in Cincinnati, P&G draws around 41% of its sales from North America, with Western Europe contributing another 21% to its total sales. P&G competes with companies like Unilever (UL), L'Oreal, Colgate-Palmolive (CL) and Kimberly Clark (KMB) and is one of the stocks that scores the best in our cash conversion analysis included below.

Continue reading Proctor & Gamble's Cash Flow Bests Peers, Justifies 20% Upside

Proctor & Gamble's Cash Flow Bests Peers, Justifies 20% Upside originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) is recently down 1% due to Rajat Gupta (who served on the boards of Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble (PG) both), having been charged by the SEC in an insider trading scheme.

GS March 155 and 160 puts were active. March and July put option implied volatility of 27 is near its 26-week average of 29 according to Track Data. Large put volume suggests traders hedging for downside price movement.

Staples, Inc. (SPLS) March call option implied volatility is at 37, June is at 29 according to Track Data, compared to its 26-week average of 28, suggesting larger near-term movement into Q4 results on March 2.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Options Update: Goldman Sachs Puts Active on SEC Charging Director for Insider Trading originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Medicis (MRX) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray, to outperform from market perform at Bernstein, to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital and to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Wellpoint (WLP) to buy from neutral at Davenport.
• Humana (HUM) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Frontier Oil (FTO) to equal weight from underweight and Resources Connection (RECN) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AMZN, CMCSA, FTO, HUM, MRX, PG, STX, WLP, WWW ...

Analyst Calls: AMZN, CMCSA, FTO, HUM, MRX, PG, STX, WLP, WWW ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Why Unilever Could Bid for Colgate and Why Now

Why Unilever Could Bid for Colgate and Why Now originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Let's check in on two companies that operate in the arena of consumer goods. One makes plastic storage containers; the other is responsible for delivering batteries and Pringles crisps to market. Both recently released quarterly results.

Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NWL) said it made 25 cents per share on a reported basis, as stated in this article over at Bloomberg. That was five pennies better than last year's number. On an adjusted basis, profit came out to 34 cents per share, a penny above the overall estimate.

Continue reading Two Quarterly Releases: Newell Rubbermaid and Procter & Gamble

Two Quarterly Releases: Newell Rubbermaid and Procter & Gamble originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading The Timely 10: Best Blue Chip Dividend Buys

The Timely 10: Best Blue Chip Dividend Buys originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Kimberly-Clark (KMB), a consumer products company that counts Procter & Gamble (PG) as a colleague, is a very interesting stock for two reasons. First, it's not too far away from its 52-week high. Second, it's trading with an extremely nice dividend yield attached. Those two elements can't help but make an investor take notice.

In fact, speaking about the dividend yield, according to the company's Q4 earnings results, management has increased the quarterly payout by 6% to 70 cents per share. Excellent news. Based on Tuesday's closing price of $65.61, a quote that found the stock up by 2.6% on significant volume, the yield on the shares is now roughly 4.3%.

Continue reading Should We Be Bullish on Kimberly-Clark?

Should We Be Bullish on Kimberly-Clark? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Micron (MU) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Baker Hughes (BHI) to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital.
• PDL BioPharma (PDLI) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Fluor (FLR) and Rush Enterprises (RUSHA) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Camden Property (CPT) to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Pinnacle Financial (PNFP) to buy from hold at Wunderlich.
• Linear Technology (LLTC) to neutral from reduce at Nomura.
• Hologic (HOLX) and Illumina (ILMN) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• F5 Networks (FFIV) to buy from neutral at Gleacher.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: ALTR, BHI, CL, CLX, FFIV, GS, HCBK, LLTC, PG, STT, TYC ...

Analyst Calls: ALTR, BHI, CL, CLX, FFIV, GS, HCBK, LLTC, PG, STT, TYC ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Economies go in cycles. They push to their breaking points, then move in the opposite direction. We saw it clearly in the '90s when there was no end to up (except there was and we abruptly hit it in 2000). In 2008, it felt like there was no end to down. But we now know there is. Things are picking up, and there are numbers to prove it.

Don't be the last to figure out we're in an economic recovery. Sitting on the sidelines, waiting for one more chance to buy a stock at the bargain price you saw in March of 2009 isn't going to happen. Times have changed. The U.S. economy is on the mend.

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: Can You Feel the Pendulum Swinging?

Comfort Zone Investing: Can You Feel the Pendulum Swinging? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 15 Jan 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Procter & Gamble (PG) upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Capital One (COF) upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Airgas (ARG) upgraded to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Broadcom (BRCM) upgraded to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.
• Lululemon (LULU) upgraded to hold from underperform at Jefferies.
• DryShips (DRYS) upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AVB, BRCM, COF, DRYS, IFF, LULU, NSM, OII, OSG, PG ...

Analyst Calls: AVB, BRCM, COF, DRYS, IFF, LULU, NSM, OII, OSG, PG ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 10 Dec 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Cisco Shmisco -- It's Nothing

Chasing Value: Cisco Shmisco -- It's Nothing originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.