General Mills (GIS) is buying a 50% stake in Yoplait from PAI Partners for roughly $1.1 billion, Reuters reported Thursday, citing sources close to the deal.

The deal is a nice fit for both companies. Yoplait is second to Danone (DANOY) in the yogurt market. General Mills has the industry presence to promote the Yoplait brand, something that would benefit PAI.

For General Mills, Yoplait would add an another revenue stream to an already diversified conglomerate. Some of General Mills' products include cereals, Haagen-Dazs ice cream, Green Giant vegetables and Progresso soup. The company has already been distributing Yoplait for 30 years, so the distribution network is already in place.

Continue reading General Mills Likes Yoplait So Much It's Buying 50% of the Company

General Mills Likes Yoplait So Much It's Buying 50% of the Company originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reportedly, McDonald's (MCD) is recalling 12 million of its collectible Shrek glasses thanks to cadmium. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced the voluntary recall early this morning because the painted design contains cadmium.

What a deal, cadmium poisoning and a collector's glass all for a mere $2 ... those marketing geniuses at McDonald's ... what will they think of next?

Continue reading McDonald's Recalls Collectible Shrek Glasses

McDonald's Recalls Collectible Shrek Glasses originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Consumer Prices Slip During April

Consumer Prices Slip During April originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 May 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to the Commerce Department, consumer spending increased in March by the largest amount in five months.

Consumer spending increased 0.6% in March, which matched expectations. While this is the good news, the bad news is that the gains appear to have been driven by a depletion of savings, which dropped to the lowest level in 18 months. The personal savings rate fell to 2.7% of post-tax incomes, the lowest level since September 2008. Personal incomes increased a mere 0.3%, which presents concern about minuscule income growth.

Continue reading Consumer Spending Logs Largest Increase in Months as Savings Dwindle

Consumer Spending Logs Largest Increase in Months as Savings Dwindle originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 03 May 2010 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Fourth Quarter GDP Revised Higher

Fourth Quarter GDP Revised Higher originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Consumers Find Credit Trouble in November

Consumers Find Credit Trouble in November originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Retail sales rise more than expected last month

Retail sales rise more than expected last month originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Consumer spending may be down, but its share of U.S. economic activity has increased. So, we're now more dependent than before on the average Joe's open wallet to guide us out of the recession. A year ago, consumer spending accounted for 70% of the U.S. economy. Since then, it has edged up to 71%. The long-term average is approximately 65%.

The increase in consumer spending's share of the economy indicates that other sectors fell harder. Business and construction spending on new equipment have constricted at a record rate since 2008. This isn't unusual, though, as consumer spending tends to take a larger piece of the economic pie during downturns.

Continue reading Recovery now more dependent on consumers than ever

Recovery now more dependent on consumers than ever originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Wal-Mart stocks shelves with Hard Candy cosmetics

Wal-Mart stocks shelves with Hard Candy cosmetics originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Coffee king Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) is one of the myriad companies posting earnings today, as it is slated to release its third-quarter earnings report after the closing bell this afternoon. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of 19 cents per share, excluding special items. Such results would outpace the firm's year-ago earnings by three cents per share.

The company is expected to post these earnings in the face of the recession, as cost cuts and store closures are thought to have insulated the company's profits. The results will also be closely monitored to see the impact of the company's main competitors -- which includes McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD).

Continue reading Could solid earnings help Starbucks brew some momentum?

Could solid earnings help Starbucks brew some momentum? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Consumer confidence inches higher in March

Consumer confidence inches higher in March originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple, Inc.

Continue reading Doomsday Scenario: Rotten Apple, hedge fund lies, bad case of natural gas

Doomsday Scenario: Rotten Apple, hedge fund lies, bad case of natural gas originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Do you like shopping at Target (NYSE: TGT)? Many people do. In fact, investors are hoping that so many people like buying things at the bullseye retailer that the company will beat earnings expectations for the third quarter. Target will be reporting on Monday, November 17. What should we expect?

Shareholders should expect a drop in the bottom line. Now, did we need a source to tell us this? Probably not. The consumer is starting to feel scared, there's no doubt about it. I'm sure everyone has anecdotal evidence concerning the fear that is out there. Consumers are afraid that the job cuts being reported in the papers will eventually reach their cubicle, so they're scaling back on spending. So, if Target merely meets the expectation for $0.49 per share next Monday, I'm sure many shareholders will breathe a sigh of relief, even though that will represent about a 12% drop in per-share profit.

I'm not so sure Target will beat, though. For one thing, Brent Archer recently reported on Target's lousy October sales data. They missed Wall Street's mark. Since Target beat the last two quarters; I figure we're due for a miss considering everything that's been going on. We shall see. I'll be interested to see how the margins are doing and what kind of position the company may be in going into Black Friday. And I'll be looking at the comps, of course.

Continue reading Earnings preview: How will Target do in Q3?

Earnings preview: How will Target do in Q3? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

What's with Steve & Barry's and why should we care? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Today's Wall Street Journal has an article about the cost-cutting measures going on retailer, JC Penney (NYSE: JCP). The article, essentially an interview with CEO and Chairman, Myron "Mike" Ullman III, details Ullman's changing of gears, from aggressive store expansion and online growth to scaling back in the face of a looming recession.

The CEO is expected to announce today plans to merge the buying and marketing operations for store and online sales, cutting as many as 200 jobs.

In the article, Ullman says he may scale back store expansion over the next two years.

Getting more of the consumer's wallet

Ullman says, "Half of the families in the U.S. shopped with us at least once last year. But we only get 7% of their spending. So, our biggest opportunity in the downturn is to make every visit they make to our store, Internet or catalog more productive by offering more innovation."

Continue reading Pinching pennies at Penney's

Pinching pennies at Penney's originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Is it just about time to buy into the dollar? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Consumer credit numbers prove we're not scared yet

Consumer credit numbers prove we're not scared yet originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Jan 2008 15:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) instituted a new customer slogan this year: "Save Money. Live Better." Although it was intended to reinforce the retailer's position that it helps families in an age of increasing prices and general inflationary pressure, much of the public didn't get the memo, apparently.

Keep in mind that it's hard to completely trust anything by either the retailer or its watchdog groups like Wal-Mart Watch, the latter released a survey that concluded only 4% of people believe that Wal-Mart saves the average American family $2,500 annually. The same report says that customers may indeed be paying less, but Wal-Mart is not the only company that can help them pad those wallets and fill those purses.

Of course, Wal-Mart Watch says that the study that backs Wal-Mart's "$2,500" claim credits just the retailer's existence with saving the customer that much. Perhaps that's through pricing competition in the area and inflation control more than Wal-Mart customers specifically saving that much by shopping at Wal-Mart? That could certainly be inferred here.

Regardless, does the mere existence of Wal-Mart control the complete, surrounding retail ecosystem, causing prices to remain ultra-competitive? Probably so -- and Wal-Mart's "Save Money. Live Better" might just be a statement of fact rather than a corporate pitch. Either way, there's probably some good truth in there.

Continue reading Does Wal-Mart really save families $2,500 each year?

Does Wal-Mart really save families $2,500 each year? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 Nov 2007 15:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Why isn't the economy being driven into a recession? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 04 Sep 2007 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Most of the day, the Dow Jones industrial average was in a steady, but slow decline -- the kind of drop where traders figure it's going to be a negative day, but nothing to worry too much about.

But after the much-anticipated minutes of the Federal Reserve Board's Aug. 7 meeting went public around 2 P.M. and investors didn't see the signs they were hoping for that the central bank would be willing to cut interest rates, the selling picked up. The Dow closed down about 250 points. That's less than 2% -- hardly the stuff of panic -- but more indication that a lot of professional investors are counting on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, and do it soon.

A decline in consumer confidence reported earlier in the day didn't help. It's becoming increasingly clear that the real danger with the meltdown in the sub-prime mortgage market is not with the financial sector. Sure, hedge funds will shut down, big banks' earnings will suffer. But the really big worry now is that the U.S. consumer could roll over.

That's the view of Robert Loest, senior portfolio manager of Integrity Mutual Funds, who visited AOL's offices today. The housing market is not going to rebound quickly or easily -- especially with so many adjustable rate mortgages still due to reset to higher rates in 2008, he warns. And he suggests investors avoid all consumer plays; not just the luxury goods stocks, but even discounters, like Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT).

Loest further recommends picking up some counter-cyclical stocks -- like bankruptcy software maker Epiq Systems (NYSE: EPIQ) or collection agency Portfolio Recovery Associates (NYSE: PRAA), both of which he owns. "Those are the kind of stocks that should do well when the economy does poorly and could make a real difference to your portfolio," he says.

Dow sheds another 280 points -- What should you do now? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 28 Aug 2007 16:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.