Procter & Gamble Co. (PG), which offers an outstanding record of positive surprises on earnings, outperformed the Dow ($DJI), S&P 500 (SPX) and NASDAQ (COMP) in 2008.

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Procter & Gamble Company is a major household products and cosmetics company, which manufactures and markets over 300 brand name products in more than 160 countries. The company is well known for impressive product development capabilities, marketing prowess, and a strong global distribution network. Procter & Gamble s products enjoy strong brand name recognition.

In fiscal 2008, the company derived 44% of total revenue from North America, 30% from developing markets, 22% from Western Europe, and 4% from Northeast Asia.

Strong Results Reflect Quarterly Growth

On October 29, 2008, Procter & Gamble reported results for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 ending September 30, 2008. Quarterly earnings (excluding one-time items) were $1.03 per share, increasing 14.4% year-over-year from

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strong/stronga href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SVFAWkhXc8I/AAAAAAAAL3k/ueQYKIgYSc0/s1600-h/hrvynia.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283074594387227586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 159px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SVFAWkhXc8I/AAAAAAAAL3k/ueQYKIgYSc0/s320/hrvynia.png" border="0" //abr /br /blockquotep“In Ukraine, the evidence is still that policymakers do not quite understand the seriousness of the challenges they face,”. Timothy Ash, analyst at the Royal Bank of Scotland. /pp“There is a burgeoning economic crisis in the European periphery,” Krugman said on the ABC network Dec. 14. “The money has dried up. That’s the new center, the center of this crisis has moved from the U.S. housing market to the European periphery.” /p/blockquoteMake no mistake about it. What is taking place right now in Ukraine is extraordinarily serious. The IMF have recently agreed a support loan to the country, but the politicians themselves still can't agree on whether or not they are actually going to abide by the conditions attached to it. Meantime, as we can all see on ...

The markets are looking over the worst spending slump in 60 years…that planet’s first Worldwide Bailout… And look at that - we’re back to the ‘deficits don’t matter’ stance…the more the Fed tries to fix the problem, the worse it gets… Savers are losing a couple of percent per year to inflation…investors are losing money in every asset class…and more!

The rally seems to be continuing. The Dow rose 70 points yesterday. Oil slid up to $44. Commodities went up too. And gold shot up $34 - to $808.

The markets must be “looking ahead”…right over the worst economic news in 60 years.

It’s the “worst spending slump since ‘42,” says a headline at Bloomberg. In ‘42, the United States was at war with Japan and Germany. And it looked for a while as though we might lose! No wonder spending collapsed…the economy was shifting to a ‘war footing.’

And now spending is collapsing

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An interesting piece from The New York Times last month touches upon a theme explored a few months ago. Namely, Montenegro, and specifically its Adriatic coastal towns (e.g., Tivat, Budva), is becoming the next Monaco.  Montenegro receives more foreign investment per capita than any other country on the Continent, and it’s mostly thanks to wealthy Russians.  Needless to say, the country’s tax base and development is also improving.  The price of land in Budva, for example, where Russians are building a $310 million hotel and condominium complex on a rocky peninsula, is already more expensive than in the French-speaking tax haven.  And huge investments have also been made in the country’s industrial sector. Moreover, the Russian Bear also has its paws extended nearby: In neighboring Serbia, Gazprom, the Russian state energy monopoly, recently bought a majority stake in ...

Hungarian manufacturing continued to contract in October following a shocking performance in September, while exports drop sharply in the midst of a looming global manufacturing recession. All of which indicates that the real economy impacts of the recent financial turbulence is now about to make its presence felt. I think we are in for a real shocker in Hungary. October PMI Down Hungary's manufacturing industry contracted sharply in October, according to the latest PMI reading, which fell 5.2 points to hit 44.7 in October - a historic low, and 0.8 points below the previous worst reading registered in October 1998, according to the latest data from the Hungarian Association of Logistics, Purchasing and Inventory Management (HALPIM). Sharp Industrial Output Contraction In September Hungarian industrial production dropped the most in more than 16 years in September as the global financial crisis hit the economy and slowing growth in western Europe curbed demand for exports. Production ...

In advance report of third-quarter U.S. GDP showed a decline of 0.3%. That’s awfully pathetic, right? But not quite as pathetic as the 0.5% that was anticipated … Still, there’s no denying that a GDP contraction of any amount is unappealing. And when it comes to many of the recent U.S. economic indicators, most everything’s been unappealing … if not downright ugly. But across the pond we’re finding that Europe’s economy is uglier yet. The U.S. Economy Stinks, But Currency Traders Don’t Smell a Thing … Investors who haven’t let up on the doomsday scenario and still believe that the buck is going to hell in a hand basket are getting their heads handed to them. Because even though the U.S. economy stinks right now, the U.S. dollar smells like roses. And ...

In Argentina - where Contrarian Profits is based - falling commodity prices threaten to open a deep hole in the government’s budget. Martin Hutchinson says the county, and other ‘rebel’ states like Russia and Venezuela, has shown little regard for economic laws in recent years. That’s why all three will find it much harder to recover from this crisis.

More from Money Morning:

Four months ago, it appeared that three economic “bad actors” were triumphant in their disregard of economic laws and contempt for the United States: Russia, Venezuela and Argentina. Today, while the iron laws of economics have taken a bite out of all of us, they have taken an especially big chunk out of the economies of these bad actors. Unlike most of us, they will not be quick to recover.

That is good news – for U.S. foreign policy, and for those of us who hope that the

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The credit virus just keeps spreading, and with each new outbreak of disease, various government agencies are forced to respond. The government is now talking about allowing insurance companies to get their hands on billions in bailout money. Here's an excerpt from the Washington Post:"The Treasury Department is working on ways to broaden its $700 billion bank rescue program to help insurance companies that are a critical backstop to a wide range of deals, bond issues and leasing arrangements, sources familiar with the matter said."Treasury is worried that insurance companies, many of which report earnings next week, could face similar fates as American International Group as the credit crisis worsens, triggering a new wave of problems for the financial markets. AIG nearly collapsed last month when it was overwhelmed by losses from real estate investments and derivatives, requiring massive government loans of more than $123

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Currency expert Jack Crooks says this crisis is creating great trading opportunities in emerging markets. The Czech koruna soared 250% against the US dollar in the last seven years. But the greenback has found a bottom. And Jack says the reverse trend will be just as “earth shattering”. This is why shorting the koruna is a sure way to bag huge profits.

This from the Sovereign Society:

Again, it’s a problem of dependence. The Czech Republic is highly dependent on growth and financial market stability across the Eurozone. The major countries of Europe represent the key export markets and the financial institutions funneling foreign direct investment into central European countries. But now, both growth and financial stability in the Eurozone are being turned upside down, shaken, and dropped on their heads.

The needier countries of central Europe have benefited mightily from cross-border investment. As big players in Europe carried the region

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by Edward Hugh: Barcelona"The Kazakh government is ready to step in,'' Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Karim Masimov said this morning in a telephone interview with Bloomberg "The Kazakh banking system with the support of the government and central bank will fulfill all obligations to international investors.....We have our own specific plan to survive without any external support....I don't think we need support from the International Monetary Fund or overseas.'' Well that is good news, so at least we know that one of the CIS and CEE economies won't be looking to the IMF for bail-out support in this crisis which is presently growing by the day. So Kazakstan, that country which is reputedly host to reserves of approximately 95% of the elements in the periodic table, with a population of around 15 million housed on a surface area greater than the whole of Western Europe, is going to be able to look after itself. But hang on a minute, just where is Kazakhstan, and just what have they been getting up to over there, and why the hell should I take Karim Masimov's word for it, when just about all the other Iceland Look-alike show contestants seem to be saying the same? After all, didn't those extermely bright and able young people over at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto say in a report only last week that, along with Latvia, the country's $100 billion oil-led economy is among the most vulnerable to the present global credit crisis and the skid-row economic trajectories that go with it simply because of its excessive reliance on short-term foreign borrowing. And isn't it the case that the cost of protecting Kazakhstan government debt against default has more than doubled this month - to over 1,000 basis points (or 10%), the level for borrowers that investors term ``distressed,'' according to CMA Datavision credit-default swap prices. Only Ukraine, which as we know is already seeking IMF support, is classified as being a bigger risk among European emerging-market governments. Surely all those highly dedicated, bright, and extremely able young people who are doing all that trading know what they are about, don't they?