Linda Bolton Weiser, Water Tower Research Managing Director explains how Procter & Gamble (PG), e.l.f. Beauty (ELF), and Estée Lauder (EL) leverage brand equity, product innovation, and the "lipstick effect" to maintain strong pricing power and stay inflation-proof.
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Pre-Market Stock Futures: Futures are trading higher this morning after a brutal day across Wall Street on Wednesday. The combination of the Iran war renewing, oil surging higher, and the continued semiconductor stock sell-off and rotation was just the catalyst needed to launch the selling. As expected, the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady. Still, ... Here Are Wednesday’s Top Wall Street Analyst Research Calls: Bloom Energy, Dave, Fiverr, Humana, Las Vegas Sands, Lemonade, Procter & Ga
A quarter-points rate hike has been bandied about as a possibility today.
Stock Market Today: The Dow Jones index dropped Wednesday ahead of the Fed decision and Fed Chair Warsh's comments. SK Hynix sold off.
The consumer-products giants is working “harder than we’ve had to in a long time” to win over shoppers, its CFO says.
Today Federal Reserve meeting: Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET, following the FOMC interest-rate decision at 2 p.m. Earnings (a.m): Procter & Gamble, Humana, L3Harris, Biogen, General Dynamics, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Airbus Earnings (p.
Today Earnings (a.m.): Coca-Cola, UPS, Boeing, Sherwin-Williams, Hilton, Centene, PayPal, S&P Global Earnings (p.m.): Visa, Ford Motor, Mondelez International, Waste Management, PPG Industries, Bloom Energy, Avis Budget, Seagate Technology Economic data: Consumer confidence index, Johnson Redbook retail sales index, U.
This is a huge earnings week, with nearly a third of S&P 500 companies reporting. The Fed is expected to hold rates steady after its confab ends Wednesday, and we’ll see key inflation data on Thursday.
PG heads toward Q4 results with sales growth expected, while cost pressures, tariffs and margins remain key factors.
Seventy companies have raised their dividends through every recession and rate shock for at least a quarter century, but a bruising few quarters for some of NOBL's most-watched names put that unbroken record under real pressure heading into mid-2026.
Walmart and Procter & Gamble both navigated the same tariff storm in their latest quarters, but one leaned into aggressive reinvestment while the other quietly played defense with pricing and productivity. Which strategy is actually winning, and what the next six months will reveal, changes the calculus for investors on both sides.
A portfolio paying $55,000 this year feels useful today, but inflation has a way of quietly making that same paycheck feel smaller every year you spend it. The yield you choose right now could either protect your retirement income or slowly hollow it out.
The typical American household spent $78,535 in 2024. Headline PCE inflation was running at 4.1% year over year in May 2026, which means the same lifestyle can become thousands of dollars more expensive in a single year. Social Security benefits are rising 2.8% in 2026, but that adjustment may not fully offset the higher cost ... The Portfolio That Lets You Ignore Inflation
Every new tariff headline, rate decision, and earnings miss seems to demand a financial response, and that constant pressure is exhausting. There is a way to build a portfolio so sturdy that the daily news cycle loses its grip on your nerves.
A long-term care policy does not just protect against a future care bill. It also creates a premium bill that may have to be paid for decades. A healthy 55-year-old buying meaningful inflation protection can face annual premiums in the low-to-mid thousands, and a 55-year-old couple can easily cross $5,000 combined. The planning question is: ... What Would It Take to Permanently Cover Long-Term Care Insurance Premiums?
A 12% yield looks unbeatable on day one. A retiree who wants $60,000 a year needs only about $500,000 at that yield, compared with roughly $1.7 million at a 3.5% yield. But retirement income is not a one-year problem. The better question is which income stream can hold up after inflation, market cycles, and years ... The Dividend Growth Snowball: How Modest Income Today Can Become Serious Income Later
A retiree who starts with a 10% dividend yield can collect far more income on day one than someone earning 3.5%. Twenty years later, the tables may have turned. One income stream stayed flat while inflation chipped away at its buying power. The other kept growing year after year until it was paying dramatically more. ... Double Your Retirement Income in a Decade. Here’s How.
The Vanguard Value ETF (NYSEARCA:VTV) has turned into one of the best large-cap stories of 2026, trading near $218 with a 16% year-to-date gain and a 27% advance over the past year. That run rests on a narrow set of legs: a healthcare snapback led by UnitedHealth, a financial-sector grind led by JPMorgan, and energy ... VTV’s Next 12 Months Hinge on One Fed Inflation Signal: Here’s What to Watch
Most drivers replace their vehicles the same way: make payments for a few years, trade the car in, then start the cycle over again. A portfolio can break that cycle by generating enough income to fund future replacements. With the average new vehicle now costing roughly $48,000 to $49,000 and inflation continuing to push prices ... The Portfolio That Buys You A New Car Every Three Years
The Fed’s pivot toward a rate-hike bias changes the math for a 67-year-old with $1.5 million in a 401k. Bond reinvestment risk just got more interesting, but equity duration got more dangerous. My answer is three Dividend Kings whose payouts have survived every rate regime since the Eisenhower administration. Here is the safety case for ... 67 With $1.5 Million. Here Are My 3 Defensive Anchors
A $1 million portfolio is often discussed as though the balance itself answers the retirement question. It does not. What matters is the amount of income that ultimately reaches your bank account after taxes. The yield displayed on a brokerage statement is only the starting point. Federal taxes, state taxes, and the type of income ... The $1 Million Retirement Mistake: Counting Income You’ll Never Get to Spend
Consumer confidence is softening into the back half of spring, and the rotation out of growth and into recession-resistant cash flow is picking up speed. For investors looking to add ballast before the summer, three blue-chip staples stand out: Each delivered a top-and-bottom-line beat in its most recent quarter, each carries a multi-decade dividend track ... 3 Consumer Staples Stocks to Buy Before the End of June