Retire Rich: Best Stocks to Retire On FORTUNE's trademark long-term portfolio can help put you on the road to a secure future. They include Abbott Labs, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Cisco, 3M, Walgreen, Cascade, Novaratis and Vodafone to name a few of the 40 stocks on FORTUNE's list. Fortune 40: Best stocks to retire on - FORTUNE Shoppers Beware: Products Shrink, But Prices Remain the Same There's a reason why the tub of ice cream you bought last week looks a tad smaller than ones you bought last summer. It is. Many major ice cream makers, hit by higher dairy costs, have shrunk their standard containers to 1.5 quarts from 1.75 quarts, about 1 cup less. As packaged goods makers' costs rise, they eventually have just two choices: raise prices or put less stuff in the package. While most are trying a price boost first, a growing number are shrinking the contents of their packages -- from Frito Lay's chips to Dial soap to Dreyer's ice cream. Other shrinking products include Hellmann's mayo down to 30 oz. from 32 oz., Cheerios & Wheaties have shrunk 1.5oz., Bounty papertowels down to 60 from 52 towels and more. Shoppers beware: Products shrink but prices stay the same - USATODAY.com
Today was yet another day where Joe Public felt like he spent a round in the ring with Joe Lewis. It's getting that way again, and now the only real positive is that contrarians may start to get happy.
Oil jumped back up another $5.00 per barrel on inventory numbers reported this morning. The continued weak environment sent financials and airlines into the dirt again. PIMCO's McCulley said he believes that the Fed is understating inflation and the Fed's Beige Book hinted that some higher costs are beginning to be passed down to consumers.
Here are the unofficial closes of major US index levels: DJIA 12082.14 (-207.62) S&P500 1335.56 (-22.88) NASDAQ 2394.01 (-54.93) 10YR T-NOTE 4.07% (-0.026%) Top 10 Analyst Calls Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. (NYSE: BUD) saw another big pickup in its call options activity today and then CNBC's David Faber said that InBev in Europe may be close to making an unsolicited bid for the company. Shares were up about 2.3% at $58.45 in the final minutes of the day.
Bad news out of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NASDAQ: MSO) today: CEO Susan Lyne has stepped down after four years as the company's CEO. President of Media Wenda Harris Millard and President of Merchandising Robin Marino will become co-CEOs.
Oh, how quickly things change. Back in April, Martha Stewart Living announced that it was acquiring the Emeril brand for $50 million, with an optimistic Lyne saying, "This acquisition is strategically important to our company as we continue to expand and diversify our business and represents a significant opportunity for us going forward." The company said it expected the acquisition to add $8 million of EBITDA in its first year of operation. Now Lyne is gone without explanation, and the press release didn't even mention the "strategically important" Emeril deal, which has a value of more than 10% of the company's market cap.
10 Things Your Tax Preparer Doesn't Want You to Know Complaints about tax preparers, including allegations of inaccuracies and returns that weren't filed on time, are up 80% in the past five years. Here are ten ways to make sure your return doesn't get turbo-trashed. 10 Things Your Tax Preparer Won't Tell You - SmartMoney.com
Does This Bag Make Me Look Fat? Watch out, 100-calorie snack packs - there's a new magic number in portion-control land: 90. Also 80. And 70. Or even 60. Packaged-food giants from Quaker to Kraft (KFT) have discovered that calorie-conscious snackers who turned 100-calorie packs into a $200 million annual gold mine are getting bored with 100. So the bar is falling.
In a diversification move, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc (NYSE: MSO) will reportedly acquire the media and licensed properties of well-known TV chef Emeril Lagasse for $45M in cash and $5M in stock, according to the Wall Street Journal.
According to the Wall Street Journal's "Heard on the Street," the current quarter for Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (NYSE: LEH) will not be good and it also has a sizable amount of commercial real estate loans which could lead to bigger write-downs. The latest estimates are of an approximate $1.3B write-down, above recent estimates, and higher than the $830M in the fourth quarter.
Motorola Inc (NYSE: MOT) is suing Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) claiming the company violated seven U.S. patents covering mobile-communications technology, Bloomberg reported. Research in Motion also filed a suit against Motorola claiming the company infringed on Research in Motion patents.
With its stock sitting in a toilet that would make the housekeeping goddess cringe, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO) is looking for something to boost its operations.
Fortunereports it has learned that the company "has held recent talks with two prominent tastemakers, the fashion designer Cynthia Rowley and Jonathan Adler, known for his home décor, with the aim of building multifaceted brands around these personalities that span television, publishing and the internet."
The talks have reportedly broken off, but CEO Susan Lyne has said that she is on the prowl for acquisitions. Acquisitions have a bad habit of failing to generate value for the acquirer, and Fortune notes that "The pressure to do a deal will intensify this year, as MSO prepares to take a hit on several fronts." And therein lies the problem.
The company has historically been unable to generate a profit, and that's not going to get any better in the near future. An acquisition driven by what amounts to desperation is unlikely to change that. And signing a big star will cost a lot money, and the value of that star's brand will tend to aggregate to them, not MSO -- that's the nature of licensing deals.
Bottom line: If you want to buy shares of MSO, it should be because you're bullish on the future of the company as it is now, not because you're hoping that a management team that has failed to generate value can make a killer acquisition that will restore the company to its once high-flying status.
Dollar cost averaging may not guarantee you better returns than lump-sum investing, but it has other advantages that might bring a better yield over the long run.
It's one of life's ironies that retailers try to lure you into their stores with low prices, only to do everything in their power to make sure you spend more than you intended once you're inside. It's important to understand these methods so you don't fall for them. Fight back and save money by following a few simple tips.
If anything could be blamed for the just-announced shuttering of Blueprint magazine, it could be the current issue's cover, in which a pink (!!) tree is out-sparkled only by the sequined frothiness of the bleached blonde holding a gigantic bauble alongside. Inside we see 20-something editor-in-chief Sarah Humphreys, who writes, "... if Blueprint's taught me anything, it's that there's plenty of room for spiced sugar bomboloni at the Thanksgiving table."
Umm. OK, Sarah. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO) strayed a little too far from the company's audience of blue-bloods and those who aspire to craft like them with Blueprint, a magazine unfortunately titled (evoking architecture of the blue-collar sort, not "where to find candles made of pink glitter"). It was meant to target the young single urbanite; but what newly-married aspirational New Englander wants a magazine full of recycled Martha Stewart Living projects, mixed with lipstick and gilded fashion advice? Evidently, not many.
Gallery: Blueprint and House & Garden Magazines shuttered
The "brand" will be re-envisioned as a way to extend the audience of Martha Stewart Weddings past her nuptials, with occasional "special interest format" magazines (think Martha Stewart Baby), and the Bluelines blog will continue. The January/February 2008 magazine (probably already on the way to newsstands) will be the final standalone issue.
She's done cookware, linens, a magazine ... time ... but Martha Stewart, domestic goddess, is now foraying into the world of adult beverages. Early next year, wine connoisseurs willing to plop down $15 a pop will be able to ease open a bottle of what's currently being called Martha Stewart Vintage. The vintage, produced and distributed by E&J Gallo Winery, will use grapes grown primarily in Sonoma County, California, and will come in three varietals -- chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, and merlot. Still on the drawing board is a possible rose version.
In its first year, the Martha Stewart Vintage will be in limited release, with just 15,000 cases being shipped to a small number of cities. Boston, Phoenix, Charlotte, and other cities where Ms. Stewart is especially popular will be among the locations lucky enough to stock the new wine.
While time will tell how successful this new vintage will be, Ms. Stewart is definitely hopping aboard the vino bandwagon at the right time. The availability of low-priced wine such as Charles Shaw (aka "Two Buck Chuck") has cultivated interest in the wine business in general, introducing the practice of wine appreciation to a broader demographic. While the $15 Martha Stewart Vintage doesn't exactly cater to the Two-Buck-Chuck crowd, it may benefit from the expected volume growth rate of 11% over the next 5 years.
But Martha's massive empire overall may not see a noticeable benefit from this new undertaking, no matter how successful. The wine venture is not expected to have a material impact on the fortunes of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's (NYSE: MSO).
This post is part of our Money Face-Offs feature. Let us know who you think comes out ahead in this head-to-head match-up, and check out our other Money Face-Off posts.
Celebrities -- they're more than superior human beings, they're money-making machines. If these celebrities were stocks, which would be the shrewd buy?
One sure sign of celebrity is first-name recognition, and today's contestants have certainly reached that pinnacle. Oprah and Martha are brands known worldwide, Oprah for compassion and wisdom, Martha for style and elegance.
Martha Stewart's brand is still tainted by her 2004 insider trading conviction and her stretch in Camp Cupcake. Before then, her growth from model and stockbroker to America's favorite lifestyle celebrity was impressive. After authoring the bestselling book Entertaining in 1979, she transitioned to television with her hit show Martha Stewart Living, for which she gathered several Emmys. In 1987, she inked a lucrative deal with déclassé retailer Kmart as a lifestyle consultant, to help it break into higher price-point retailing. In 1990, with Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) she launched Martha Stewart Living Magazine. The zenith of her career came in 1997 when she took herself public. The IPO for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO) made her a billionaire.
After reporting a disappointing decline in second-quarter earnings and sales last week, Macy's (NYSE: M) is pulling out the big guns. Donald Trump and Martha Stewart are just two among a coterie of celebrities being employed in the department-store company's $100 million advertising blitz.
New television spots for Macy's - one of which will debut on September's Emmy-Award broadcast - will also feature R&B singer Usher, Tim Gunn from Project Runway, chef Emeril Lagasse, and hip-hop mogul Sean "Puff Daddy" "P. Diddy" "Diddy" Combs.
Also on the roster as a celebrity endorser for the Cincinnati-based retailer is Jessica Simpson. Seems like a bit of a slap in the face to hometown boy (and erstwhile Simpson paramour) Nick Lachey.
Stewart, figurehead of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO), also is working with Macy's on an exclusive line of Stewart-branded home products, which will launch this fall only in Macy's stores.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Kroger (NYSE: KR) announced last week that it would stop selling milk that carried synthetic hormones that are made by Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON), despite the FDA saying the hormones are safe.
A group of financial experts predicted that the U.S. will enter a recession soon, due to inflation, the economic prescriptions of a Democratic president, and the housing market meltdown, reported Barron's Magazine.
OTHER PAPERS:
According to insiders, Martha Stewart is not happy with Lampert's Kmart chain as she feels the company is not doing enough to sell her Martha Stewart products in its stores, which in turn is causing a "drag" on Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc's (NYSE: MSO) earnings, reported the New York Post.
Qatari investment firm Delta Two may have to provide more than GBP1B in additional equity in order to win backing from J Sainsbury's (OTC: JSAIY) board for its offer for Sainsbury, reported the U.K. Times.
Paul Tudor Jones runs some of the best managed hedge funds anywhere, averaging over a 24% annual return over the last 20 years, but last month they reported heavy losses, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is speaking with wireless operators , such as T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, as well as phone manufacturers about carrying their products.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is expected to fine Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) a total of $6.1M for alleged overcharging of customers on bond sales totaling $59M, reported the Wall Street Journal.
Barron's "Inside Scoop" section reported that Andrew J. McKelvey, who stepped down as Monster Worldwide Inc's (NASDAQ: MNST) chairman and CEO last October, has sold 1.27M shares for $48.6M on the open market since Friday, according to SEC data.
OTHER PAPERS:
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO) is reportedly joining with private-equity partner GTCR Golder Rauner to buy food-crafting company Wilton Industries and paint-by-number specialist Dimension Holdings, reported the New York Post.
WEBSITES:
According to DigiTimes.com, Taiwan component suppliers for the iPhone have said they are not seeing any reduction in orders from Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL).
First the numbers. The company reported a net loss of $6.37 million, or 13 cents per share, compared with a loss of $1.17 million, or 2 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose 7.7% to $73.4 million. Excluding one-time items, the company's loss was 9 cents. Wall Street was expecting a loss of 9 cents on sales of $71 million, according to Thomson Financial.
Chief Executive Susan Lyne, who has done a better job running Martha Stewart Living than Stewart herself, expects the New York-based company to return to profitability this year. The company maintained guidance for revenue this year of $333 million to $340 million and for $68 million to $75 million in the quarter.
Investors, though, are clearly expecting more from the domestic diva. Shares of the company have plunged more than 38% this year. The few Wall Street analysts who cover the company seem lukewarm on the stock at best and there is little chance that sentiment will change.
Though Martha Stewart is a formidable brand, the company remains a tiny fish in the vast media ocean. Sooner or later, it will get swallowed up by a bigger fish or even a shark like News Corp.
Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ) expects to reach an agreement to sell itself to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), ending a months-long soap opera that's tried the patience of media nerds like myself, according to CNBC's David Faber. No word on the final terms.
Looks like all of the chest pounding and teeth gnashing by Murdoch's many detractors, including members of the Bancroft family which owns Dow Jones, failed to stop the Australian media mogul just as I expected. The Bancrofts had no other choice. Saying "yes" to Murdoch, was much more lucrative and less potentially litigious than saying "no." There is no doubt that minority shareholders would have sued the Bancrofts for turning down Murdoch's $5 billion offer since the stock would have beeen sent into a tailspin from which it would never recover.
Worries about Murdoch are justified. You can expect the complaints about the tycoon's meddling in the Journal's editorial practices to surface in about six months to a year, perhaps sooner. It will be subtle and difficult for most readers to notice but it will happen. Though many Dow Jones journalists are cringing at the thought of working for Murdoch, they have little choice but to put up with him. Dow Jones pays well in an industry famous for paying poorly. Plus, most media companies aren't doing much hiring because of the current business conditions.
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