Colgate Palmolive Company (CL) reported results for the third quarter of 2009 with earnings of $1.12 per share, which was a penny above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.11. Earnings were up 13.1% year-over-year, driven by effective price implementation and ongoing aggressive cost savings program. Net sales for the quarter were flat year-over-year declining marginally by 0.3% to $3.9 billion as unit volume increased 1.5% and pricing contributed 5.0%. This was partially offset by negative foreign exchange translation of 6.5%. Organic sales (excluding foreign exchange, acquisitions and divestitures) increased 7.0% in the quarter. North American sales increased 3.0% driven by 1.5% pricing and 5.0% unit volume growth, partially offset by 0.5% negative currency translations. In Latin America, sales grew 5.0% as unit volume increased 3.0% driven by solid gains in Venezuela which were partially offset by an 11.0% negative foreign exchange impact. In Europe/South Pacific, ...

eDoorways Corp. today discussed the “LEARN” doorway and demoed its eC Device at the Ibero-American Science and Technology Education Center’s (ISTEC) XVIIth Annual General Assembly on the Campus of the University of New Mexico (UNM) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. The presentation made earlier this week was so popular that the 200 people in attendance from various parts of Latin America, Spain, Portugal and the US requested a second demonstration.

The theme of this year’s General Assembly is “Using Technology to Enable Collaboration, and Collaboration to Advance Science and Technology.” Speakers included Founder and Executive Vice President of ISTEC, Dr. Ramiro Jordan, Dr. David J. Schmidly (President of UNM), Martin J. Chavez (Albuquerque, NM Mayor) and Dr. Mauro Miskulin (ISTEC President), amongst other esteemed educational, political and corporate guests. Also included was eDoorways’ lead consultant Ajene Watson, Managing Member of Ajene Watson

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This analysis is from John Derrick, U.S. Global Investors Director of Research. The market has rallied dramatically since the March 9 low, with the biggest beneficiary of this rally being low-quality companies. This intuitively makes sense, given that companies with the most troubled outlooks are the ones most likely to have a strong recovery when the dire outcomes predicted at the bottom of the crisis failed to transpire. Quality may have different meanings to different investors, but in a recent research piece, Citigroup ranked performance based on multiple definitions of quality. Samp;P earnings quality ranking, debt-to-capitalization ratio and return on equity were used as proxies for quality. The research universe was the small-cap Russell 2000 Index, but I believe broader market conclusions can be drawn as well. Based on Samp;P earnings quality rankings, companies with C or D (the two lowest categories) ratings returned about 55 percent over the past six months, while the ...

Earlier today, cigarette manufacturer and marketer Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) reported better-than-expected third-quarter results, benefiting from price increases in some markets. Earnings per share came in at 93 cents, 3 cents above the Zacks Consensus Estimate. On a year-over-year basis, Philip Morris’ earnings per share was flat (excluding a tax benefit of 8 cents in 2008), while net revenues declined 4.6% to $16.6 billion, attributable to unfavorable currency translations and weak results in the European Union (EU), Eastern Europe and Middle East & Africa (EEMA) markets. Revenue, Volumes & Margins On an organic basis (excluding currency and acquisitions), revenues increased 4.1% driven by favorable pricing. Cigarette volume was down almost 3% year-over-year to 219.3 billion units, mainly because of declines in EU, EEMA and Asia. The first two regions were adversely affected by the economic crisis (especially in Spain and Ukraine) and unfavorable comparisons ...

Two Sagging Economies… Two Laid-Back Banks

by Martin Denholm, Senior Editor

Anemic. Stagnant. Plodding.

Pick your favorite… it doesn’t matter. They all describe the state of the British and Eurozone economies.

Two weeks before the official third quarter U.K. GDP figure is released, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) delivered a somber verdict. The group says it actually didn’t grow at all, confounding those who said the economy started growing again.

Cue a fresh round of some good, old-fashioned British grumbling.

The culprit: a 2.5% fall in industrial production in August, as oil demand dropped. Still, neutral is better than reverse – a gear that Britain had driven in for 2009 up to that point, posting a 2.4% first-quarter slump and 0.6% second-quarter decline.

It’s not alone either. Its European neighbors are also backpedaling. The latest quarterly figure from Eurostat shows that the

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The following is an option strategy brought forth by IVolatility.com. I actually use their site to look at IV charts for options. The strategy they are suggesting is a Bullish Call Ratio Backspread and a Short Put on SLW, a silver mining company. The Silver Story In IVolatility Trading Digest™ Volume 9, Issue 32, The Season for Gold, dated August 17, 2009 and then again, in IVolatility Trading Digest™ Volume 9, Issue 33, Seasonal Gold 2.0, dated August 24, 2009 we suggested new positions in the precious metals sector using silver and gold. Since they have both quickly moved up to their previous resistance highs we offer some additional background information and another idea for a potential upside breakout. Gold (cash) at 994.40 is within 12.03 of testing the previous high at 1006.43 made on February 20, ...

Axial Vector Energy Corp. announced this morning that its JV Company PETRO-AVEC is currently negotiating licenses that would secure rights for its oil refining technology across the entire country of India. According to the press release, government agencies for India and large multi-billion dollar privately owned refineries are all competing for the issuance of this important license.

In June of this year, PETRO-AVEC officials originally presented its technical due diligence to interested parties in India. They have now been invited back to India by a number of interested parties to finalize license negotiations.

The viability of removing sulphur from oil allows for cleaner air and substantial savings on both capital outlay and per barrel cost of processing. Sulphur continues to be the number one problem facing the oil industry and PETRO AVEC believes it has the best solution to address this

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Following the announcement of the acquisition of the failed Guaranty Bank by BBVA Compass, Moody’s has affirmed its current downgraded ratings on the company. BBVA Compass is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBV). Though the rating agency reaffirmed its negative outlook, it said that the acquisition of $12 billion in Guaranty Bank assets will significantly strengthen the bank’s presence in Texas, which housed 105 Guaranty bank branches. The acquisition would take the bank deeper into Texas and California, accelerating the company’s strategy to become a regional U.S. bank. BBVA Compass will receive an additional investment of $440 million from its parent in the form of common stock as a result of the transaction. Currently, the company’s long-term issuer credit rating is Aa3, and its financial strength rating is B-. The overall outlook on the company is negative. The negative outlook mirrors ...

Axial Vector Energy Corp. announced this morning that its revolutionary Axial Vector Engine will be featured on the Global News Group Program “Special Edition TV.” The program provides a platform for companies and organizations to discuss and present their solutions. Select companies are also given international exposure via customized news reports reaching industry leaders and people through various news and media outlets.

Last month, Host and Managing Editor of “Special Edition TV”, Ileana Bravo interviewed representatives from AVEC at their first United States-based live demonstration of the “axial flux” and GENSET technology power generating system. The video taken from these interviews, demonstrations, and other sources has been compiled to help deliver Axial Vector’s story.

Ms. Bravo commented, “The fact that this engine runs on bio-based oil as fuel is significant in several ways. Palm oils that are totally renewable fuel sources can be

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Government budget hits all-time insanity… record monthly, year-to-date deficits… “Cash for clunkers” helps GM, but not economy… July retail sales stage surprise fall… Fed plans exit strategy, ends bond buys… why the FOMC is still not helping you… Byron King’s crude reality: How Canada could be the next Saudi Arabia…

It’s official: Our government ran a record $180.7 billion over budget in July, the Treasury Department said today. That’s just a bit over Wall Street expectations and just under the Congressional Budget Office estimate we reported Monday. Thus the government tab so far this fiscal year is a record $1.27 trillion, not the record $1.3 trillion the CBO guessed earlier this week. Phew… what a relief.

A few more scary details:

The budget deficit is still on track to exceed $1.8 trillion by October, the end of the fiscal year. That would be four times last year’s record budget July spending rose to over ...