Who is the best value (price vs. growth of sales and earnings) for consumer noncyclicals, in your opinion?
I’m assuming you’re talking about consumer staples. Rather than single out one stock among our favorites, let me mention some of the ones we particularly like in that group. These include Procter & Gamble (PG ), Alberto-Culver (ACV ), and Constellation Brands (STZ ). In addition, we earlier mentioned some of our other consumer staples favorites such as PepsiCo and Kraft Foods. Q: What is S&P’s definition of the difference between consumer discretionary and consumer staples? A: Consumer staples tends to represent industries and stocks that provide basic goods to consumers, ones for which demand is not likely to vary dramatically during different points in the economic cycle. On the other hand, consumer discretionary stocks tend to be in industries that are likely to be affected more by macroeconomic conditions such as interest rates and energy costs. Q: Do you see any prospects for innovation that could ignite more consumer buying? I suspect the corporate hold-down on spending and on R&
