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Gabriel Kaplan submits:It has been brought to my attention that the Top 50 list of Household & Personal Care Product Companies is out there (click here). The interesting part is that for over 30 years P&G (PG) has topped that list. In this industry, you might expect new companies to form and challenge the old ones since fashion changes rather quickly, but that is not how things work in this part of the business world. Contenders are soon gobbled up into a bigger company that has the resources to distribute that product in a global manner. This is similar to how the beer industry works. I always thought Corona (a beer I drink) and Arm & Hammer (a toothpaste I use) had something in common.Complete Story »

eChristian Investing submits:The Dow Jones index has disappointed many investors by dipping 2.6% in 2010. Of course, that is much better than the 34% drop we saw in 2008, but not nearly the 19% rally that investors experienced last year. Complete Story »

Jesse Felder submits: The 10-Year Treasury Note currently yields just under 3%. The 15 Dow components above all sport dividend yields greater -- with a hypothetical portfolio yield nearly a full percentage point higher. Which would you rather own over the next decade? Disclosure: NoneComplete Story »

Hickey and Walters (Bespoke) submit:
Below we highlight the performance of S&P 500 sectors from the market's 2010 high (4/23) to its July 2nd low as well as since July 2nd. As shown, the Financial sector is up the most since July 2nd with a gain of 10%, followed by Materials (9.5%), Technology (7.8%), and Energy (7.6%). The Financial sector was also down the most during the correction. The four defensive sectors -- Utilities, Consumer Staples, Health Care, and Telecom -- have all underperformed the S&P 500 since July 2nd.click to enlargeComplete Story »

Tony Abbate submits:I think Robert Shiller is hands down one of the best academics around. There is an old saying of, “Those who can’t do, teach.’ In the case of Robert Shiller nothing could be further from the truth. He called the stock market bubble and real estate bubble with almost pinpoint precision. Not only is he one of the best academics around, he is one of the best investment analysts around. Despite my praises for Mr. Shiller, I find the usefulness of his P/E ratio, which uses 10 year average earnings, to be extremely lacking. I think there is a significant flaw in using average 10 year average earnings as the denominator in the P/E ratio. To give you an idea, I took the P/E ratio at the end of each calendar year from 1899 to 2000 and ran a simple regression of the P/E against subsequent 10 year returns. I got an r-squared of 1%. (100% would be perfect correlation.) What this means is that 1% of returns over a 10 year period is a function of stock market valuation. My opinion is that given the low r-squared, using 10 years average earnings is the improper time period to measure earnings.Complete Story »

Luckless Hero submits: Happy Fourth of July weekend! The Fourth of July is a time where we reflect on one of the most important moments in history, a moment and a revolution that created the longest running democracy in the history of the world. Now, let’s put all negative feelings aside, all politics should be put to rest for a day, all spears and spite lowered because this weekend is a weekend of history, family, fireworks and BBQ. I figured that I would put together an A-Z list of companies to invest in that will invest in America.

1. American Tower (AMT) – American Tower – Massachusetts based company builds cell phone towers. Look for movement in the company with the expansion of 4G networks to urbanized and suburban areas and the expansion of 3G coverage to more rural areas.
2. Berkshire Hathaway – (BRK.A) – If there is anyone who believes in America and buys American it is Warren Buffet. He believes in rail cars, brick and mortar companies, insurance and good advice.
3. Caterpillar (CAT) – Somber moment, the infrastructure of America is in disrepair. Highways, bridges, dams and toll roads are all in need of a major overhaul and CAT will be part of that government and private spending boon.
4. Disney (DIS) – It has become a small world after all. Theme park turned entertainment and advertising super star. Disney has great brand recognition and brand control. The company has been able to effectively lobby to have copyright law changed numerous times. It is a force to be reckoned with.
5. EMC (EMC) – Is the parent company of VMWare. The company will make computers more efficient, protect data and maintain data integrity. EMC is a major IT solution provider and as computers expand even further in use and become more prevalent in all aspects of life the company will be well positioned to profit.
6. FORD - (F) – Ford is a company that did not take any bailout money from the government. It is a company that seems to be listening to consumers and adapting its products with a forward looking view. The recent problems at Toyota have opened a window of opportunity even wider for this American auto giant to forge a return to prevalence and continued automotive relevance.
7. Google – (GOOG) – Infrastructure, Infrastructure, Infrastructure. Not roads to drive on but certainly information high ways and a commuter cloud! Talk about the best and the brightest, move over NASA. Google continues to innovate and enter new product markets. They are a currently unparalleled search engine that has managed to stay disentangled from more moneyed interests. Finally, Google continues to invest in new VC and PC ideas fostering more American growth and innovation.
8. Hewlett Packard – (HPQ) – With Dell’s recent woes and looming legal problems, HP, like Ford, has a great opportunity to completely dominate and revolutionize the computing market. HP has moved from a printer company to a PC company to a flat screen TV maker to a maker of high quality digital devices across many spectrums. As well HP, is like our next candidate, Intel, and the engineers at HP have been pushing the limit on computer chip design.
9. Intel – (INTC) – Intel has and will be a driving tech force. The corporate culture is the value.
10. Johnson and Johnson – (JNJ) – that’s right folks the people that make your baby shampoo, they love America. But really this behemoth of a company is a medical device maker. With the passage of the new health care reform bill JNJ stands to profit and prosper as more people will have access to surgeries and procedures that will be able to take advantage of the products that JNJ puts out for medical device purposes.
11. Coca-Cola (KO) -- So I cheated a little on this one by listing Coca-Cola by their ticker KO. But this is a company that has been getting beaten up a little bit in the market lately. Make no mistake Coca-Cola is still king. There is still a strong grown potential in the global scheme.
12. Lowes (LOW) – Much like their Home Depot counter part, Lowes is in a tricky position of being in a place where the recession and housing slow down will defiantly affect the company short term. But as the infrastructure projects pick up to rebuild and revive America I think that Lowes will be well positioned to be in a highly profitable area of the market.
13. McDonald’s – (MCD) - McDonald’s… need I say more? They pay dividends, they grow domestically and globally, they have almost unparalleled brand recognition. McDonald’s has started serving good coffee at a low price and is rumored to be testing out low fat breakfast options with even an oatmeal offering, showing that they are still looking to innovate their product offering. If the price is right I can see customers leaving Starbucks and other higher end stores for the lower cost McDonalds option.
14. Northrop Grumman Corporation – (NOC) – If you are a news junkie like me then you saw that Israel is still blockading Palestine. Iran has threatened to try to bust the blockade by force and is sending ships to aid in the effort. The US is sending cruisers up the Suez now for the potential show down. The Koreas have tensions running high. The United States has armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Until the world returns to a more sane mind frame I am a strong believer that weapon makers are a good buy now.
15. Oracle – (ORCL) – Essentially the database king, ORCL stands alone atop a computing mountain. With software that runs most corporate enterprises and even mom and pop shops Oracle is a stock to own. More and more Oracle is trying to offer the complete business solution and be the hardware and software provider. The growth potential for this company is every expansive because it has a corporate culture to be acquisitive and pick up good ideas and bring them into the Oracle fold.
16. Pfizer – (PFE) – With the pick up of Wyeth, Pfizer has breathed new life into its company. Wyeth had a good pipeline and also has some strong brands with good market recognition. PFE is still hunting out its next block buster drug. But with Merck (MRK) flagging recently PFE looks like the stronger of the pharma giants.
17. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated – (DGX) – Just like (JNJ), I believe that Quest stands to profit from the new health care overhaul. As medicine shits to a preventative focus Quest will be well positioned as more of the tests are done for people as medicine attempts to catch and treat illness before it becomes catastrophic.
18. Raytheon – (RTN) – Push to far and you see a strong backlash. I support and believe in the current administration, but when cuts on spending or defense are pushed to far I believe that there is an inevitable backlash. I also like this pick now because as spending has been cut the stock may be able to be picked up on the cheap. I see tensions in the geopolitical sphere also creating additional demand for RTN’s products.
19. Starbucks – (SBUX) – Good corporate culture, great corporate governance, creates a fantastic product. Starbucks is still the number one premium beverage provider. The company pays well, has a good health insurance plan, offers tuition reimbursement for barristas, these programs create good will and put investors mind at ease. If other companies acted like Starbucks acted then I do not even think many of the government programs that we have would be necessary. Want a smaller government? Get better corporations.
20. ATT - (T) – has a killer iPhone, has moved away from unlimited data plans and has better customer service. Verizon (VZ) is terrible for customer service. VZ representatives are horrible to work with in the stores, brutal. T – gets my vote for a long term investing prospect as they have had the iPhone for longer and have had to deal with a much higher volume of data being transmitted over their system.
21. United Technologies Corporation - (UTX) – This is a conglomerate company that has some great bread and butter brands that will continue to churn out profits along with a little more high flying division that deals with aerospace engineering and getting humans from point A Earth to point B outer space. While NASA is on the ropes the destiny of human space flight seems to be solidly set as a long term goal and vision. The private sector will have to take the reigns on this project and make the magic and the money happen as we reach for the stars.
22. Visa – (V) – It’s everywhere you want to be! Visa and the other big card companies are potentially in for a hit as the new FinReg law looms large. I would wait till the dust settles on the new rule and see if the market looks attractive. As the recession begins to end consumer and corporate spending will increase and V will be a good long term selection.
23. WTR – Aqua America - (WTR) – Spending on America will require that the utilities update their lines. WTR is a specialist at finding distressed water utility companies and making them into turn around stars. As the infrastructure of the USA ages I believe that this company will be a strong selection in the consolidated water delivery market.
24. Exxon Mobil - (XOM) – Big oil just got bigger. With the pick up of XTO XOM is well positioned for the near future. I worry about the lack of spending on alternative forms of energy that I am seeing from this decided oil company. I want XOM to look forward a little more and become an energy company. One cannot argue with their results, the dividend and the fact that they are relatively cheap now due to the oil prices lagging across the globe due to the current recession.
25. Yahoo – (YHOO) – the company may symbolize America. We do not always get it right, we try hard. We are willing to make deals. We want to give access and choice and deep down we think that we are making the right and good decision. Here is a company that is trying to transform itself into a media portal. Why do I think this company has upside? The baby boomers. Yahoo makes the internet easy. It is a good portal for games, news, email and search. iGoogle is 1 step to complicated and Bing might not have enough on their splash page besides a nice picture. Yahoo is the happy medium and has room for regrowth.
26. Zoll - (ZOLL) – Medical device maker and soft way maker!

Now set off the fireworks! Again Happy Fourth! If I goofed up on a company actually being an American Company mea culpa. My disclaimer is that I was going quick before the holiday weekend as I too can’t wait for some good ole fashioned Americana.Complete Story »

Dividends4Life submits: A stock with a high yield doesn’t mean much if the dividend is cut or eliminated, and the stock price declines significantly. Sometimes it is desirable to accept higher risk for a higher yield. Other times we may be accepting higher risk and are not being adequately compensated for the additional risk. What can we do to help gauge the risk of an individual stock?Complete Story »

The Burrill Report submits: By Marie DaghlianThere is never enough of a good thing and certainly this week, several life science companies ranging from Big Pharma to industrial biotech seemed to feel that one deal was not enough. Big pharma players Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) and J&J’s (JNJ) Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, biotech company Metabolex, and renewable fuels and chemicals developer Amyris (AMRS) each struck two or more agreements to strengthen their positions. Sanofi-Aventis entered into a global strategic alliance to discover, develop, and commercialize microRNA therapeutics. The alliance is the largest microRNA partnership to date, worth potentially $750 million to Regulus, including $25 million upfront, $10 million in a future equity investment, and annual research support for three years with the option to extend the partnership for two additional years. The companies will collaborate on up to four microRNA targets, including Regulus’ lead fibrosis program targeting microRNA-21. Sanofi will also have a three-year option for a broader technology alliance which will be worth an additional $50 million to Regulus if exercised. Regulus is equally owned by Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) and Isis Pharmaceuticals (ISIS), which formed the company in 2007. [See story.] “MicroRNAs are believed to be extremely important in human development and physiology,” says Marc Cluzel, Executive Vice-President of R&D at Sanofi. “Together with Regulus we will develop therapeutics which could potentially open a new paradigm in the treatment of major diseases and could offer an attractive new therapeutic approach for patients.” Sanofi also inked a global licensing and development deal with privately-held Metabolex potentially worth $375 million to research, develop, and commercialize small molecules that modulate the G-protein coupled receptor 119, a receptor in the gut and pancreas that interacts with bioactive lipids to stimulate glucose-dependent incretin and insulin secretion. Agonists of GPR119 represent a first-in-class oral treatment for type 2 diabetes that function through a unique dual mechanism of action that may offer improved glucose homeostasis over existing diabetes therapies, with the potential for weight loss and improved islet health. They have been the basis of several recent deals including a deal struck a week earlier between Boehringer Ingelheim and Neurocrine Biosciences (NBIX) to discover new GPR119 agonists. The Sanofi-Metabolex agreement includes MBX-2982, a potent selective orally active GPR119 agonist discovered by Metabolex that, along with a candidate from GSK, is at the head of a class of candidates in earlier stage development. MBX-2982 is currently in a multi-national 28-day phase 2 clinical study in patients with type 2 diabetes. As part of their agreement, Metabolex will receive an upfront payment and will be eligible to receive development, regulatory, and specified commercial milestones that total as much as $375 million. Metabolex is also eligible to receive royalties on worldwide sales of marketed products. A few days before striking the deal with Sanofi, Metabolix partnered its pre-clinical type 2 diabetes programs with Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals for an upfront payment and up to $330 million in development, regulatory, and commercial milestones. The global development and exclusive license agreement with Ortho-McNeil-Janssen will further develop and discover the compounds for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and other disorders. Metabolex is also eligible to receive royalties on worldwide sales of marketed products. Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals also struck a deal with Swedish biotech Diamyd Medical to develop and commercialize its type 1 diabetes therapy for an upfront fee of $45 million and potential milestones of $580 million, as well as tiered royalties on future sales. The companies will equally share costs for the development of Diamyd’s GAD65 antigen-based therapy for the treatment and prevention of type 1 diabetes and associated conditions, until results from the ongoing EU phase 3 study, expected in the first half of 2011. At that time, Ortho-McNeil-Janssen will have the right to fully assume responsibility for the development program upon reviewing the results. Diamyd has kept exclusive rights for commercialization in the Nordic countries and retains the rights to the therapeutic use of the GAD65 gene and derivatives, fragments and variants of the GAD65 protein. Emeryville, California-based Amyris aimed to beef up its position ahead of its IPO with the addition of six agreements. Amyris uses the tools of synthetic biology to engineer microbes, primarily years, to serve as living factories to convert plant-based sugars into renewable fuels and chemicals. The company largest deal is with French oil company Total that included a $133.2 million investment in its series D financing. Their strategic partnership will develop new products and build biological pathways to produce and commercialize renewable fuels and chemicals. Other agreements include a joint venture with Brazilian ethanol producer Cosan (CZZ) to produce and commercialize cane-based renewable chemicals; a multi-year collaboration with Proctor and Gamble (PG) and Amyris to use its renewable chemical Biofene in certain specialty chemical applications within P&G’s products; a deal with Italian chemical company M&G to use Biofene in its plastics production and to explore the combined use of their technologies; a partnering deal with French renewable cosmetic ingredients producer Soliance for its renewable chemicals in cosmetic ingredients; and an undisclosed deal with Shell Western Trading & Supply, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) that is active in crude oil and products trading in South America. Two large M&A deals also made the headlines. In a deal valued at $3.2 billion, Canadian specialty pharma Biovail (BVF) will reverse merge with Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX), with the new company retaining the Valeant name. Valeant stockholders will receive a one-time special cash dividend of $16.77 per share immediately prior to closing of the merger and 1.7809 shares of Biovail common stock upon closing of the merger in exchange for each share of Valeant common stock they own. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the year at which time the combined company is expected to pay shareholders a one-time additional $1-a-share dividend. At that time, Biovail stockholders will own approximately 50.5 percent and Valeant stockholders will own approximately 49.5 percent of the shares of the combined company on a fully diluted basis. The combined company will have a significantly expanded presence in North America and operations in eight other countries, working across four growth platforms: specialty central nervous system therapeutics, dermatology, Canada and emerging markets/branded generics. J. Michael Pearson, currently chairman and CEO of Valeant, will serve as the new Valeant’s CEO, and Bill Wells, currently CEO of Biovail, will be the non-executive Chairman. The new Valeant will retain Biovail’s corporate structure and related financial efficiencies, and expects to generate at least $175 million in annual cost synergies in the second year. It will be headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario and will remain a Canadian domiciled corporation, listed on both the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. The location of the combined company’s U.S. headquarters will be determined after the close of the transaction. The deal caps a long campaign by Biovail to beef up its CNS treatments, one of Valeant’s strengths with its drugs for epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and migrains. In 2009 Biovail bought the rights to GSK’s antidepressant Wellbutrin, and in February it acquired the rights to commercialize Alexza’s treatment for schizophrenic or bipolar agitation. Finally, German industrial and ag chemicals producer BASF will acquire specialty chemicals company Cognis Holding Luxembourg in a deal valued at $3.8 billion. Cognis is a worldwide supplier of innovative solutions and products based on renewable raw materials for the health and nutrition market, as well as the cosmetics, detergents and cleaners industries. The company is controlled by Permira Funds, GS Capital Partners and SV Life Sciences. The transaction is expected to close in November.Complete Story »

The Burrill Report submits: By Michael FitzhughJohnson & Johnson (JNJ) subsidiary Ortho-McNeil-Janssen has tied up new diabetes drug development deals with Diamyd and Metabolex worth a potential $1 billion combined, adding therapies for both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes to its pipeline. Complete Story »

Scott's Investments submits: In a continued effort to expand the focus of my site's screens and hypothetical portfolios, this article is a second follow-up to an article written in early April focusing on the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats. The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats index measures the performance of large cap, blue chip companies within the S&P 500 that have followed a policy of increasing dividends every year for at least 25 consecutive years. The current list has 43 constituents and the entire list is available from S&P or on my site. If an investor's portfolio was large enough he or she could consider purchasing the entire list.Alternatively, an investor could invest in the [[SDY]], the SPDR Dividend ETF, which is a variation of the Aristocrats - it seeks to replicate the “High Yield” Dividend Aristocrats Index. A third alternative is to start with the Aristocrat list and then reduce the list of candidates through screens and/or fundamental analysis. I screened for Aristocrats which had a sustainable payout ratio, a high dividend yield, relatively low debt/equity ratio, and positive return on assets and equity. Using Finviz, which has some of the better screeners and charts available, I screened the Aristocrat list for:

• Payout Ratio < 80%,
• Dividend Yield > 3%

• Return on Assets > 10%

• Return on Equity > 10%
• Total Debt/Equity < 1

Below is a list of 6 Aristocrats which are worthy of further consideration, especially if one is seeking yield or seeking to reduce exposure to non-dividend paying companies. All of the companies on the list are familiar names and they were also all on last month's list with the exception of [[JNJ]]. Ticker Company Free Trend Analysis Dividend Yield Payout Ratio Performance (Half Year) Price [[LLY]] Eli Lilly & Co. Here 5.65% 52.87% 0.55% 34.66 [[JNJ]] Johnson & Johnson Here 3.65% 40.66% -6.74% 59.13 [[ABT]] Abbott Laboratories Here 3.64% 47.77% -8.44% 48.3 [[KO]] The Coca-Cola Company Here 3.35% 54.40% -6.35% 52.48 [[MCD]] McDonald's Corp. Here 3.15% 48.79% 14.83% 69.92 [[MHP]] The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.Disclosure: No positionsComplete Story »