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?

Will Citi fall victim to the stadium-naming curse? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 20 Jul 2008 09:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

Laundry detergent concentrate: Manufacturers, retailers get all the benefits originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 May 2007 14:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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.

The best part of waking up is Folgers in your Wendy's coffee cup originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 May 2007 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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).

Analyst upgrades 3-15-07: Continental Airlines gets off the ground originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 15 Mar 2007 10:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.