Coach, Family Dollar and Staples among the Most Competitive Retailers; Coca-Cola and Wrigley among the Most Competitive CG Companies. Companies overall are better meeting consumer expectations in 2008 than in 2007, yet pricing power is difficult to find.

Dividend stocks offer the best option, but you need to start now.

Clorox (CLX) was covered in a Bloomberg Video Report today and the stock is now at $59.50, down $0.22 (-0.37%) on volume of 135,142 shares traded. To see the video report go to http://www.marketintelligencecenter.com/VideoNews . Over the last 52 weeks the stock has ranged from a low of $50.48 to a high of $66.90. Clorox stock has been showing support around $57.31...(Click the story link or go to http://www.marketintelligencecenter.com for the full story)

Clorox (NYSE: CLX) opened at $55.86. So far today, the stock has hit a low of $55.76 and a high of $56.50. CLX is now trading at $55.99, up $0.52 (0.94%). Over the last 52 weeks the stock has ranged from a low of $50.48 to a high of $66.90. CLX shares are rising this morning with other consumer-staple stocks after competitor Procter & Gamble (PG) posted a fourth-quarter adjusted profit of 80 cents per...(Click the story link or go to http://www.marketintelligencecenter.com for the full story)

Clorox Co. (CLX)

F4Q08 (Qtr End 06/30/08) Earnings call

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Clorox (CLX) slightly reduced its 2009 earnings estimates when the company reported its earnings this morning. Management now expects earnings to come in between $3.60 and $3.75, below May’s guidance of $3.75 and $3.90. Analysts’ estimates stand at $3.71.

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Filed under: Market matters, Walt Disney (DIS), Clorox Co (CLX), General Mills (GIS), News Corp'B' (NWS), Freep't McMoRan Copper (FCX), Unilever ADR (UL), Stocks to Buy, Cramer on BloggingStocks

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says this consumer-products titan has weathered the storm and should enjoy lower inputs.

General Mills (NYSE: GIS) (Cramer's Take) hits another 52-week high. This company has been one of the great standout performers this year, just a juggernaut, even though it is a gigantic buyer of grains and a huge user of cardboard boxes and plastic wrapping. Plus, it needs gasoline to deliver product. Some of this move has to be attributed to projections of huge declines in raw costs. Those are going to happen, as we know from the commodities.

But perhaps it is worth noting that few packaged goods companies -- perhaps Heinz (NYSE: HNZ) (Cramer's Take) is an exception -- dominate and innovate as well as GIS does. It has always been one of the great brand producers and acquirers, and also a company that can take out costs better than anyone. When I compare how a Unilever (NYSE: UN) (Cramer's Take) or a Clorox (NYSE: CLX) (Cramer's Take) has handled the raw costs to how General Mills has performed, it is almost as if GIS is a pharmaceutical with no raw cost exposure whatsoever.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: General Mills will kill with lower costs

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Filed under: Earnings reports, Clorox Co (CLX), Colgate-Palmolive (CL), Procter and Gamble (PG), Kimberly-Clark (KMB), Unilever ADR (UL)

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) reported its Q4 and full-year results on Tuesday. The numbers looked very good to me (save for one, which I'll get to). P&G was up over 3% on Tuesday. Granted, the Dow saw one heck of a rally yesterday, but even so, P&G deserved a bid just due to its blue-chip corporate performance.

Revenues for the quarter increased 10%, and adjusted earnings per diluted share jumped over 19% to $0.80. For the year, revenues increased 9% and adjusted earnings per diluted share rose 15% to $3.50. As I stated in my earnings preview from the other day, Wall Street was looking for adjusted earnings to be around $0.78 per share. So P&G beat by two pennies.

Of course, the earnings beat is nice, but cash flow is even nicer. In fact, management likes to evaluate itself by comparing its free cash flow to net earnings. P&G would like the so-called "free cash flow productivity" metric to equal at least 90%. Well, shareholders need not worry, since productivity in these terms was 96% for the quarter and 106% for the fiscal year. Free cash flow for the year expanded by 21%, and it was more than enough to power P&G's great dividend.

Now, the one fly in the ointment is the company's gross margin. That declined 160 basis points during the quarter and 70 basis points during the year. Can't get around inflation. The company was able to keep the operating and net margins at healthier levels, however. Price increases helped to offset input costs. And given that organic volume increased 4% during the quarter and 5% during the year, P&G seems to be managing things as well as can be expected. Another positive is that management seems satisfied that the Gillette integration is working out as planned.

Continue reading Procter & Gamble: Great quarter, even greater cash flow

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WITH RESPECT TO THE US’ GDP GROWTH, THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH SEES A SIGNIFICANT DECLINE IN ECONOMIC ACTITIVY SPREAD ACROSS THE ECONOMY, WHICH WILL LAST MORE THAN A FEW MONTHS - WSJ - According to Robert Hall, economist at Stanford University, US economic data that has been reported provide (...) [More...]

Joseph Hargett takes a look back at news that drove the major market indices today.