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Will Citi fall victim to the stadium-naming curse?

The New York Times reports that Citigroup (NYSE: C) plans to commit $400 million to its naming rights deal for the stadium of the New York Mets. I say stop this deal!

Why? There are so many examples of companies that got into trouble after they named stadiums after themselves. In Boston, the stadium where the New England Patriots play was named after Gillette -- but Gillette doesn't exist anymore -- Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) bought it in 2005. And we had the Fleet Center, where the Boston Celtics play -- but Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) bought Fleet in 2003. And we also had the Tweeter Center, a concert venue -- named after Tweeter Home Enterprises which filed for bankruptcy last June. Fortunately, Boston's other world championship team, the Red Sox, has the good sense to deny naming rights to any company for its Fenway Park.

Now for Citi. According to the Times, it made its 20-year deal for the Mets naming rights back in November 2006 under previous CEO, Chuck Prince, after netting $5.3 billion in 2006's third quarter. But in the past three quarters, it has lost $17 billion - including a $2.5 billion loss reported on Friday.

Continue reading Will Citi fall victim to the stadium-naming curse?

Laundry detergent concentrate: Manufacturers, retailers get all the benefits

Laundry detergent manufacturers have done it again; doubling the potency of detergent while cutting the bottle size in half. The Wall Street Journal talks about the marketing challenge that Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG), Unilever (NYSE: UL) and their competitors are about to face. The impetus for this move is not a greener earth or a more useful product, but instead, pressure from retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) to squeeze more product into the same shelf space. You will be able to do just as many loads with half as much detergent, and the price will be the same per bottle. The problem is getting people to realize that and, more importantly, convince them that they aren't somehow getting ripped off.

As the Journal says, "Retailers are pushing the big shrink in detergent bottles because when their shelves are full with smaller bottles, they lose fewer sales to products being out of stock and less employee time is spent replenishing product. Retailers also save on transportation costs because more of the smaller bottles can fit on a truck. Meanwhile, manufacturers, which over the past two years have been hit hard by high oil prices, save on the petroleum-based plastic packaging as well as the costs of shipping to retailers."

Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott's strategy of promoting the products as green-friendly makes sense, given how in vogue that is right now -- less plastic, less transportation -- it actually is environmentally friendly. But there's still the emotional, less rational problem: How do you convince someone to pay the same amount for 50 ounces as they used to pay for 100? And what's more, why do the retailers and manufacturers get all the benefits?

Continue reading Laundry detergent concentrate: Manufacturers, retailers get all the benefits

The best part of waking up is Folgers in your Wendy's coffee cup

In addition to Wendy's (NYSE: WEN) management's recent hiring of JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) and Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) to help review strategic options for the company, the fast-food restaurant has decided to throw its hat into the breakfast ring by signing an exclusive deal with Proctor & Gamble (NYSE: PG). The deal allows Wendy's to be the only major fast-food restaurant chain to offer a proprietary blend of Folgers Gourmet Selections coffee and will become part of Wendy's new breakfast menu.

What's that you say, "Breakfast menu?"

Yes folks, Wendy's just isn't for lunch or dinner anymore (or dessert – mmmm Frosty's). You can now eat Wendy's for every meal of the day. By the end 2007, Wendy's expects to have 20-30% of its North American restaurants serve breakfast along with premium Folgers coffee.

Wendy's is definitely throwing its hat into a very crowded ring. The fast-food breakfast market is growing at almost three times the rate of the overall market, with Burger King (NYSE: BKC), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Arby's, a unit of Triarc Co. (NYSE: TRY), Carl's Jr and Hardee's, both owned by CKE Restaurants (NYSE: CKR) and even Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) offering similar on-the-go breakfasts to consumers. Papa John's (NASDAQ: PZZA), Dunkin Donuts and Chick-fil-A are planning new breakfast products as well. What's going to be so different to make me go to Wendy's?

When looking at the coffee aspect, one has to recall last year's Canadian Business magazine taste test between McDonald's "Café Roast" and Starbucks coffees. I'm sure all the companies I mentioned above serve some brand of coffee. Wendy's is really walking into a competitively caffeinated situation. We also can't forget about Seattle 's "Sexpresso" baristas, but that's competition on a different level.

Where do you go to get your morning cup o' joe? And would the chance to have Folgers Gourmet change your mind?

Analyst upgrades 3-15-07: Continental Airlines gets off the ground

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Some of today's more notable upgrades include Continental Airlines, Inc (CAL), Procter & Gamble (PG), H&R Block, Inc (HRB) and Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co (WWY):

  • JP Morgan upgraded shares of Continental Airlines Inc (NYSE: CAL) to Neutral from Underweight based on valuation and improved fundamentals; shares were also removed from the JP Morgan Short Focus List.
  • CIBC upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE: PG) to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer as they believe fears of a slow-down in top-line growth are unwarranted and views core business as healthy with growth drivers intact.
  • Morgan Stanley upgraded H&R Block Inc (NYSE: HRB) to Equal Weight from Underweight based on valuation.
  • JP Morgan upgraded Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co (NYSE: WWY )to Neutral from Underweight.

OTHER UPGRADES:

  • Wachovia upgraded CompuCredit Corp (NASDAQ: CCRT) to Market Perform from Underperform.
  • Stifel upgraded Amerigroup Corp (NYSE: AGP) to Hold from Sell citing valuations and visibility on qui tam damages of $334 million, following the District Court ruling.
  • Bank of America upgraded Kohl's Corp (NYSE: KSS) to Buy from Neutral based on a number of product and system initiatives that will positively impact top line and margins over the next several years. The firm said these initiatives will outweigh their previous concerns regarding store closure compares.
  • Credit Suisse upgraded H.J. Heinz Co (NYSE: HNZ) to Outperform from Neutral.
  • Goldman Sachs upgraded Marathon Oil Corp (NYSE: MRO) to Buy from Sell and Frontier Oil Corp (NYSE: FTO) to Neutral from Sell.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+44.2910,291.26
NASDAQ+15.822,166.90
S&P 500+5.501,098.51

Last updated: November 11, 2009: 05:09 PM

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