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.

Late last week, analyst Douglas Lane at Jeffries & Co. told investors that "direct selling companies" were going to be a good investment in the coming year. His rationale? The industry's ability to penetrate new consumer markets with disposable income, particularly in countries like China, Russia and India.

The news report explained that the "direct selling" industry distributes products by demonstrating them in homes and with product parties.

What the news story left out is the fact that "direct selling" is really a misleading term for what is now more commonly known as multi-level marketing (MLM), or network marketing.

Here's the problem with MLM from a consumer standpoint: The MLM industry has been around for decades, and still fails to be a real player in the retail marketplace. The economy functions by real retail sales from real retailers online and in brick-and-mortar stores. MLM could completely go away and almost no retail consumers would even notice.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: 012Smile.com, Lifecell and Genoptix were today's noteworthy initiations:

• 012Smile.com (NASDAQ: SMLC) was initiated with an Outperform rating and a $16 target at CIBC World Markets and RBC Capital and with an Overweight rating and $14.75 target at Thomas Weisel. CIBC believes the company is one of the least expensive smart-build competitive carriers in the world. The firm believes the company is poised to gain market share in newly opened local and wireless markets, and sees room for the company to expand its customer base in Israel. Cowen, which started shares with an Outperform rating, believes SMLC backing by Eurocom provides the company with significant clout and financial backing. The firm sees upside from new voice over broadband and wireless services.
  
• Banc of America resumed coverage of Lifecell (NASDAQ: LIFC) with a Neutral rating and $48 target and prefers to wait for a better entry point or evidence of better than expected Strattice uptake.
  
• The firm also started Genoptix (NASDAQ: GXDX) with a Buy rating and $36 target, as they believe the funds raised in the company's IPO will help drive annual EPS growth of 35% on a long-term basis, leading to higher valuation levels.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• JP Morgan initiated Fred's Inc. (NASDAQ: FRED) with a Neutral rating.
  
• UBS started Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE: VMC) with a Sell rating and $85 target and Martin Marietta (NYSE: MLM) with a Neutral rating and $137 target.

Back in July, I wrote about network marketing giant Amway/Quixtar's self-imposed 120-day moratorium on recruiting in the United Kingdom, a response to a Department of Trade and Industry complaint against the company. Many critics charge that Amway is operating a thinly-veiled pyramid scheme, based on the same principles as the chain letter.

Well earlier in November, Amway blogged about its plans to return to the region, posting a memo that had been sent to directors and employees, and also forwarded to many of the company's United Kingdom distributors.

Here's where it gets interesting. Many people, myself included, have charged that the FTC is not doing enough to crack down on multi-level marketing companies using false and misleading recruiting tactics. based on the text of the memo, Amway seems to agree:

"The fact is, in the wake of this sobering experience, every one of us -- employees, IBOs, and others -- should renew our commitment to hold ourselves to the highest standards of behavior. The marketplace -- and in the UK, the government -- has made it clear that they expect no less. And when falling short of those standards exposes our company to such grave risk, there can no longer be any such thing as 'business as usual.'" (emphasis added)

In other words, the government of United Kingdom has made it clear that it will hold Amway to the highest standards of behavior -- but the United States has not followed the lead.

Perhaps Amway's massive political contributions have had something to do with that. it's a shame that our elected officials are putting the interests of special interest groups ahead of those of consumers. That's just business as usual in the land of the free, home of the brave.

This article is part of a 20 article special report on "Metals, miners and money".

"Roadways and bridges around the U.S. are in terrible shape," notes Neil George, who looks at a rather unexpected "resource." The senior editor of Personal Finance explains, "We are recommending Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE: MLM), the leading company in bedrock, a little discussed, but highly important "hard asset."

He notes, "Bedrock is literally the rock that gets laid down before any concrete or asphalt is poured or any pylon is set. Aggregate forms the base of every project -- roadways and bridges as well as airport, rail system, or seaport improvements.

"Martin Marietta Materials, which was spun off from the aeronautical engineering company Martin Marietta Corp, is the best in the business. The firm is now one of the top two players in its space; it's working on projects in 31 states.

"Federal, state, and local authorities are starting to come to the table because they know we need major work to keep the economy moving. Congress is forming legislation for roadway and bridge spending. And state governments are coming up with new, overdue transportation spending plans.

"The company sells more than 200 million tons of aggregate each year, and that number is rising at a steady rate of nearly 13% annually. That's before we ramp up to catch up on our current mess.

"Margins are running at more than 18% and are increasing by more than 11%. The more Martin Marietta Materials sells, the more its profits climb. And it's cheap: The shares have yet to catch up to the value of its book of business."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com website features the latest investment commentary and favorite stock picks of the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

According to a recent report from CBS News, "Direct-marketing firm Quixtar Inc., a sister company of Amway Corp., has sued 30 people who anonymously posted what it considers disparaging remarks about Quixtar in blogs and online forums and in YouTube.com videos."

The company is seeking subpoenas to compel internet sites, including Google (NASDAQ: GOOG)'s YouTube, to give the company information it needs to find out who is making the videos that it believes are defamatory. Amway/Quixtar believes some of the videos were made by former distributors who unsuccessfully sued the company and are under court order not to disparage the company.

For years, Amway has been battling allegations that the company is a pyramid scheme. In 1979, the FTC ruled that Amway was not a pyramid scheme, but ordered the company to change many of its sales and marketing practices.

Unfortunately, the media as a whole lacks a strong understanding of how Amway and other multi-level marketing companies work. For instance, take this line from the CBS piece:

Quixtar develops and manufactures nutrition, beauty and cleaning products that are marketed in the United States and Canada through a tiered selling system, hiring entrepreneurs to sell its products.

This is not even close to how Quixtar really works. Quixtar does not "hire entrepreneurs." "Independent business owners," as Amway euphemistically calls them, must buy products in order to qualify for commissions, and can earn by recruiting others to buy products as well. Sites like Pyramid Scheme Alert have documented how little "selling of products" actually happens.

In 1979, the FTC ruled that multi-level marketing giant Amway is not a pyramid scheme, after years of controversy surrounding the company. While Amway still has a shady reputation in many circles, it's managed to avoid that level of government scrutiny in the United States since the FTC ruling.

But things are not going so well in England. The country's Department of Trade and Industry has filed a sealed complaint against the company, but has declined to specify any details. Amway responded by announcing that it is conducting a review of its business practices, and posted on its corporate blog some of the things its doing to shape up. The company is placing a 120-day moratorium on recruiting in Britain has banned sales of motivational tapes and literature not produced by the company. The sale of motivational materials has been a hot-button issue among Amway's critics, who charge that high-level Amway distributors get rich by selling motivational materials to naive recruits.

It will be interesting to see what happens here. An unfavorable outcome for the company in England could re-open the issue stateside.

Amway was also recently sued in California, with former distributors charging that the company is operating a pyramid scheme.