P&G's product push to weigh on profit, shares fall

By Jessica Wohl

(Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Co said on Wednesday that profit would fall more than Wall Street anticipated this quarter as it increases spending to promote several new products.

The news spooked investors who do not want to wait until 2014 for better sales increases. Shares of the world's largest household products maker fell as much as 6 percent after closing at an all-time high of $82.54 on Tuesday.

"There's a lot of frustration that they've been talking about a lot of actions they've been taking but we haven't really seen an acceleration in the sales growth," said David Blount, co-portfolio manager of the Growth & Income Fund at Eagle Asset Management, which includes P&G shares.

The company, maker of Pampers diapers, Gillette razors and many other products, has been under greater scrutiny to improve after cutting profit expectations in the past and learning that activist investor Bill Ackman invested in the stock.

Cincinnati-based P&G also posted a fiscal third-quarter profit on Wednesday that topped estimates despite sales that were weaker than both the company and analysts had anticipated.

Chief Executive Bob McDonald was roasted by analysts on a conference call a year ago when P&G gave a profit warning. While Wednesday's call was not as tense, analysts wanted to know why the company has not yet posted better sales growth more than a year into its turnaround.

P&G, which announced a $10 billion restructuring in February 2012, said that its push for more innovation means that several products such as new Iams pet foods and Olay skin creams will soon hit stores. After cutting billions of dollars in costs, along with eliminating hundreds of more jobs than anticipated, it will now spend more to promote those new goods and even to build the plants to produce them around the world.

FOURTH-QUARTER FORECAST

For the current fourth quarter ending in June, P&G said profit should fall to 69 cents to 77 cents per share, while analysts expected it to earn 81 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. P&G earned 82 cents per share in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012.

The company cited factors including weak market growth, higher marketing and other costs and volatility in Venezuela, Argentina, Egypt, Syria and South Korea.

Wednesday's fiscal third-quarter results were a sharp departure from the fiscal second quarter, when P&G raised its annual profit forecast and its shares jumped. On Wednesday, on the heels of the better-than-expected third quarter profit, it raised only the bottom end of its annual forecast range by 2 cents per share.

"They're still making progress, they're still on the right track, it is just going to be a little more slowly than what people expected," said Edward Jones analyst Jack Russo.

P&G insists that its forecast is "realistic, not conservative," especially given the headwinds it faces such as volatility in Venezuela and elsewhere, Chief Financial Officer Jon Moeller told analysts.

Along with spending on marketing to promote its new products, P&G is dealing with what it calls a "choppy" economic recovery, and sees a 1 to 2 percent impact on its sales this year from foreign exchange rates.

Its shares slid as low as $77.48 on Wednesday and were last trading down 4.7 percent at $78.05, wiping out nearly all of this month's gains. Shares of rivals such as Colgate-Palmolive Co and Kimberly-Clark Corp were down less than 2 percent.

JOB CUTS EXCEED GOAL

While products such as single-dose Tide Pods laundry detergent have boosted U.S. sales, P&G said it still needs to figure out the formula for getting products such as Pantene shampoo and Olay skin creams to stand out among competitors. Net sales decreased in the hair care and skin care business in the latest quarter.

P&G is taking the right steps by cutting costs, bringing out new products and growing in developing markets, but it is important for it to show progress in the beauty unit in the next quarter or two, said Russo.

P&G said it earned 99 cents per share on a core basis in the quarter ended in March, topping analysts' target of 96 cents. Core earnings exclude items such as restructuring charges.

Overall sales rose 2 percent to $20.598 billion while analysts were looking for sales of $20.73 billion. The company had forecast 3 to 4 percent in sales growth.

P&G's organic sales, which strip out the impact of divestitures and foreign exchange changes, grew 3 percent - at the low end of its forecast of 3 to 4 percent.

On a net basis, the company earned $2.57 billion, or 88 cents per share, in the fiscal third quarter. That was up from $2.41 billion, or 82 cents per share, a year earlier.

McDonald declined to comment on any discussions he may have been having with Ackman, who is known to push for change at companies in which he invests. Ackman's Pershing Square had a 1.02 percent stake in P&G, or 27.95 million shares, as of December, making it P&G's eighth-largest shareholder, according to Thomson Reuters data.

P&G said it now plans to repurchase $6 billion of its stock this year, at the high end of its prior forecast for $5 billion to $6 billion in buybacks. Last June, P&G decided to hold off on buybacks, but in August quickly reverted back to its usual plan.

P&G also said it had cut 6,250 jobs as of March 31, ahead of its goal to cut 5,700 jobs by the end of June.

(Reporting by Jessica Wohl; in Chicago; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Matthew Lewis)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/procter-gamble-posts-higher-quarterly-profit-111022545--finance.html

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WWDC tickets go on sale, sell out in two minutes

The tickets for this WWDC 2013 have come and gone in record time, with passes for this year?s event selling out in an astounding two minutes, after going on sale at 10 AM Pacific. The speed at which the tickets sold out can at least be partially attributed to the fact that Apple pre-announced when they woud go on sale, something that they haven?t done in past years.

The time that it has taken for WWDC tickets to sell out every year has decreased steadily for a number of years. Last year's tickets sold out in two hours, and while many expected them to move even faster this year, it?s doubtful that anyone expected them to go quite this quickly.

Did you plan on buying a ticket? Did you manage to get one, or did you just miss it?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/ByULHW3Tfes/story01.htm

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iPhone 5 vs. Samsung Galaxy S4: Which should you buy?

Apple's iPhone 5 has been around going on 6 months now, but Samsung's Galaxy S4 has only just now hit the streets, and already we're being asked the question -- which one should you buy?

Never mind the iPhone 5 is last year's model, until Apple announces a new one this is the phone that's sitting on the shelves next to the Galaxy S4 and that makes the question a real one for real people. And luckily, it's a fairly easy one to answer, because both phones are different enough -- philosophical opposites in many cases -- they'll likely appeal to different audiences.

I attended the Samsung Galaxy S4 event in NYC with Phil Nickinson, and had a chance to try out the phone then. I've also had a chance to use it this week while Alex Dobie was working on his comprehensive Samsung Galaxy S4 review. So while I haven't gone as in-depth as those guys, I've had the chance to form some opinions.

The Galaxy S4 has a 5-inch SAMOLED screen compared to the iPhone 5's 4-inch LED IPS in-cell display. On size and size alone, the Galaxy S4 wins. If all you want is as much screen real estate possible this side of a phablet, the Galaxy S4 takes it hands down. If you want a smaller display that's easier to fit on tight hipster pockets or use one-handed, the iPhone 5 will be more to your liking. Samsung also cleans Apple's Retina clock with a 1920x1080 (1080p) display, compared to Apple's 1136x640.

When it comes to display technology, however, the iPhone 5 cremes the Galaxy S4. Not only does Apple use in-cell display to make the pixels look like they're part of the glass. It's also LED. Samung sticks with SAMOLED, which, like OLED in general, just isn't great for displays. It does save on power and produce nice blacks, but it remains overly saturated, subject to an annoying blue-shift, and just doesn't hold up as well under direct sunlight. Also, Samsung has stuck with an odd sub-pixel arrangement and while it's very difficult to see at that resolution, it's still not as good as the traditional RGB layout.

Samsung has also stuck with plastic for their casing, which not only doesn't feel as good as the plastics used by HTC and Nokia, it feels downright cheap compared to the aluminum and glass casing of the iPhone 5, and the aluminum used in the new HTC One. Samsung's plastic does make it easier for them to include a door for a removable battery and SD card, but I'm happy enough to recharge my phone when I need to, and I'd rather not have a cheap-feeling experience all day, every day, when I'm using it.

The software is a mixed bag as well. I love that Samsung is trying so many things and experimenting with so many things. Sure, some of them are beyond wacky, but some of them might just be wonderful as well. Companies that throw things against the wall do sometimes find what sticks, and that's how we get the future faster.

I just wish they'd hire some really good designers to give the icons and interface a once-over because it still comes off as an afterthought, inconsistent and utilitarian.

Overall, it's a good improvement over last year's Galaxy S3. Some are calling it a Galaxy S3S, similar to Apple's S-class iPhone updates, but the screen size increase and some of the other hardware features make it more than that. Just not a lot more.

However, it remains a largely uninspired and un-opinionated phone. The beige box of mobile. It'll be a best seller, no doubt about it. Maybe even the best seller this year. But If you don't want an iPhone 5 -- and there are some valid reasons for not wanting an iPhone 5 -- I wouldn't recommend a Galaxy S4. If you love phones and you love Android, I'd recommend an HTC One far, far more.

But don't take my word for it, read Alex's review, and then come back and let me know what you think.

• Samsung Galaxy S 4 review

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/0pb9VvkKCfg/story01.htm

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Emma Stone in Talks for Woody Allen's Next Movie

Having just finished his latest film, ?Woody Allen is already in the process of casting his next one. ?While we know nothing about that particular project?s title or plot, we do know that Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider-Man) is in talks to play a leading lady role. ?While Allen?s schedule may be clear ? except for press for?Blue Jasmine, starring Cate Blanchett and Alec Baldwin and opening July 26th ? Stone is filming both?Alejandro Gonz?lez I??rritu?s?Birdman?and Marc Webb?s The Amazing Spider-Man 2. ?She?s also been attached to the untitled Cameron Crowe project and Guillermo del Toro?s next picture, the Gothic horror story Crimson Peak. ?The success of DreamWorks Animation?s The Croods will also presumably land Stone back in the recording studio so that she may lend her voice to the announced sequel. ?Deadline reports that Allen?s next picture may now also be on her schedule.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1927324/news/1927324/

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George W. Bush - Legacy Watch (The Note) (ABC News)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

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substance abuse in adolescence articles | Mental health articles

There is increasing evidence of a rise in substance abuse among British adolescents. A survey of British 15- to 16-year-olds found that almost half had tried illicit drugs at some time. While most children who experiment with illicit drugs do not go on to habitual abuse of drugs, the earlier the onset, the more persistent the habit becomes and some will become substance dependent as adults. While a proportion of illicit drug-abusing children go on to adult dependence, there are significant differences in the pattern of abuse among adolescents and adults.

Children with conduct disorders are more likely to misuse drugs. The risk is increased in children with conduct disorder and hyperactivity. Adult role models and peer group drug use have a strong influence on adolescent drug abuse. Inhaling organic solvents is particularly associated with adolescent abuse and social adversity. There is some evidence to suggest that multiple drug use is more common among adolescents than adults with an irregular pattern of abuse rather than chronic use. As a result, dependence among adolescents in relatively uncommon.

While substance misuse is more likely to respond to early treatment in adolescence, motivation in accepting treatment can be poor. It is often the concern of others which leads to referral. There is an increased risk of suicidal ideation and attempted suicide with children, not uncommonly first presenting following an episode of deliberate self-harm. Drug use is a major risk in completed suicide. Among adolescent females involved in drug misuse, affective symptoms are likely to be more common while, in males, conduct disorders predominate. As adolescent drug abusers do not readily present themselves for treatment, an assertive approach needs to be adopted usually involving other agencies such as probation, social services and education. Although alcohol dependence is uncommon, in cases where dependence has developed, detoxification is required. Detoxification for dependence on other illicit drugs follows the same programme as in adults. Individual counselling in primary care settings using the brief intervention techniques have shown significant reduction in alcohol misuse.

Family influences play a significant role in the onset and progression of drug misuse; and family therapy approaches using techniques such as the multi-dimensional family therapy have been shown to be beneficial. Group therapy involving peers based on the Alcoholics Anonymous model helps in providing support and relapse prevention.

Related Posts

Tags: abuse, Adolescence, substance, substance abuse

Source: http://www.mentalhealthmy.com/articles/substance-abuse-in-adolescence-articles.html

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A century after WWI, a dead soldier unites

BULLECOURT, France (AP) ? When Didier Guerle fulfilled his grandfather's dying wish and had the fields of his farm searched, he set off a chain of events that brought people together across continents, and one family across generations.

The farmer called in his friend Moise Dilly, an expert in metal detection. Soon enough, Dilly came across something hidden underneath the lush grassland. "I took a spade and some time later I hit a shoe. There still was a bone in it."

As his grandfather had predicted, beneath the brutal World War I battleground, the remains and possessions of dead soldiers were found, including the silver identity bracelet for British Lt. John Harold Pritchard. Dilly's metal detector had been set off by a gun or other piece of metal on a body.

On Tuesday, almost a century after his death in the trenches, Pritchard finally found a proper grave and a ceremonial reburial in neighboring Ecoust-St. Mein, attended by his family and England's Prince Michael of Kent. Finally, he was no longer among the ranks of soldiers whose bodies were never found in the carnage of the Great War.

Pvt. Christopher Douglas Elphick and two unidentified men were buried in the same ceremony, which comes as nations prepare to mark World War I centenary commemorations next year.

Family members of Pritchard, a soldier chorister who performed as a child at the enthronement of British King Edward VII, sang for him at the white gravestone that now marks his memory. Among them was a great niece who used musical scores from his own choir days to study to become a professional singer. The grave is one of tens of thousands dotting the fertile fields in northern France which were scene to some of humanity's worst bloodshed.

"Lost for many years. Your battle is won," the etching on the stone says.

Among the crowd at the war cemetery stood Mark Cain, an American collector who came into possession of Pritchard's ceremonial sword about a dozen years ago. He became interested in the object and got in touch with the British armed forces archives about it. When he learned from the archives that Pritchard's remains had been found, he knew there was only one thing to do: give the sword back to the family.

"The sword has been traveling between continents for 100 years perhaps," Cain said. "I have been very honored to return it."

Pritchard's family was profoundly moved by the generosity. "I persuaded him to come to the burial because I cannot thank him enough," said Janet Shell, Pritchard's great-niece.

The value of the sword? "They will tell you it is priceless," Cain said after Pritchard's family was handed the sword by Prince Michael.

For Shell, it was music that reunited the family across a century. As a chorister of St. Paul's Cathedral, Pritchard has been on a remembrance plaque of the cathedral since 1921. Pritchard left for the war in the first wave of 1914 but came back to England after he was injured twice. "He was given the option of staying but John said 'no,' he wanted to get back to his men," she said.

The night before he left for France for the final time in 1916, he was stationed at the Tower of London. He played the piano for his mother and sister Ida and sang to a verse of poet Lord Tennyson's "Crossing the Bar" ? a metaphor about impending death which ends: "I hope to see my Pilot face to face/When I have crost the bar."

And the day's leaden clouds broke for Janet and three other professional singers in the family, as they brought the ceremony to an end with a moving a cappella rendition of the same song.

"It was sort of fitting in some way," said Shell. "It could not have been a better moment."

"Now this is bringing together four generations and we will never forget."

Pritchard was killed on May 15, 1917, in a nighttime battle which stopped his watch at midnight. He died in the second battle of Bullecourt on the Hindenburg Line, a fight that instead of saving the village fully razed it. Thousands of dead were scattered on both sides. Australians who fought there called it the "blood tub" and the two-week battle had little impact on the Great War itself.

The impact on the locals, though, was deep. Bullecourt literally had to be rebuilt from the mud up. Some people had no idea where their house once stood.

When Guerle's grandfather, Jean-Baptiste Savary, returned from the war, he wanted to forget, even though he knew bodies were strewn on his land.

"He told us that when I'm dead, you have to get all the soldiers out," said Guerle.

Out of respect, the land behind the farm was never ploughed, and only lightweight sheep were allowed to graze. "We did not want to trample the dead," Guerle said.

Neither he nor anyone else knows how many soldiers are still buried in his fields.

But Dilly said: "I guarantee you that there are still a lot of them there."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/century-wwi-dead-soldier-unites-162923299.html

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