Top 5 Consumer Companies To Invest In Right Now

Women aren’t taking enough risk with their investments or their careers, say two prominent women in financial services.

Sallie Krawcheck, the former head of Merrill Lynch and Smith Barney who now heads the global women’s professional network 85 Broads, included women’s resistance to investment risk in her list posted Tuesday of the top 10 financial mistakes women make.

Krawcheck listed women’s aversion to investing risk at No. 7, noting that while it may sound “counterintuitive” for women to gamble since they tend to live longer than men and retire with less in savings, women still “need to push themselves” to take “somewhat greater (but still prudent)”risks to get a higher return.

But Eleanor Blaney, consumer advocate for the CFP Board, told ThinkAdvisor that women’s risk aversion is actually “the most common, as well as the most detrimental” financial mistake that she’s seen women make.

Hot International Stocks To Own Right Now: Bunge Limited(BG)

Bunge Limited, through its subsidiaries, engages in the agriculture and food businesses worldwide. Its Agribusiness segment is involved in purchasing, storing, transporting, processing, and selling agricultural commodities and commodity products, such as oilseeds and grains, primarily comprising soybeans, rapeseed or canola, sunflower seed, wheat, and corn. This segment serves animal feed manufacturers, wheat and corn millers, third party edible oil processing companies, and other oilseed processors, as well as livestock, poultry, and aquaculture producers. The company?s Sugar and Bioenergy segment produces and sells sugar and ethanol; generates electricity from burning sugarcane bagasse; and trades and merchandises sugar. As of December 31, 2011, this segment had a total installed capacity of approximately 144 megawatts; and sugarcane plantations of approximately 183,000 hectares under cultivation. Its Edible Oil Products segment offers packaged vegetable, including pack aged and bulk oils, shortenings, margarines, mayonnaise, and other products to baked goods companies, snack food producers, restaurant chains, foodservice distributors, and other food manufacturers. The company?s Milling Products segment produces and sells various wheat flours and bakery mixes; corn-based products; corn milling products primarily comprising dry milled corn meals, flours, and grits, as well as soy-fortified corn meal and corn-soy blend; and packaged milled rice. This segment serves industrial, bakery, and foodservice companies; and companies in food processing sector. Its Fertilizer segment produces, blends, and distributes nitrogen, phosphate, and potash formulations used for the cultivation of soybeans, corn, sugarcane, cotton, wheat, and coffee. This segment also produces single super phosphate; and ammonia, urea, and liquid fertilizers for the agriculture industry. Bunge Limited was founded in 1818 and is headquartered in White Plains, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Rivals such as Bunge (NYSE: BG  ) already have a larger presence already in the region, with Bunge generating 18% of its $62.9 billion in revenues from Asia. It derives less than a third from the U.S., thus spreading out its geographic risk better.

• [By Rich Smith]

  Bunge (NYSE: BG  ) has named�Todd Bastean, currently CFO of its North American division, to lead the division when Bunge North America CEO Soren Schroder takes over the whole company as CEO of Bunge Limited on June 1.

Top 5 Consumer Companies To Invest In Right Now: Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation(PVH)

PVH Corp. designs and markets branded dress shirts, neckwear, sportswear, footwear, and other related products worldwide. The company?s Calvin Klein Licensing segment licenses Calvin Klein Collection, ck Calvin Klein, and Calvin Klein brands for sportswear, jeanswear, underwear, fragrances, eyewear, men?s tailored clothing, women?s suits and dresses, hosiery, socks, footwear, swimwear, jewelry, watches, outerwear, handbags, leather goods, home furnishings, and accessories; and to operate retail stores. Its Wholesale Dress Furnishings segment markets dress shirts and neckwear principally under the ARROW, Calvin Klein, ck Calvin Klein, Calvin Klein Collection, IZOD, Eagle, Sean John, Donald J. Trump Signature Collection, Kenneth Cole New York, Kenneth Cole Reaction, JOE Joseph Abboud, DKNY, Tommy Hilfiger, Elie Tahari, J. Garcia, and MICHAEL Michael Kors brands. The company?s Wholesale Sportswear and Related Products segment offers sportswear, including men?s knit and w oven sport shirts, sweaters, bottoms, swimwear, boxers, and outerwear principally under the IZOD, Van Heusen, ARROW, Geoffrey Beene, Timberland, and Calvin Klein brands; and women?s sportswear, including knit and woven sport shirts, sweaters, bottoms, and outerwear under the IZOD brand. Its Retail Apparel and Related Products segment provides men?s dress shirts; neckwear and underwear; men?s and women?s suit separates; men?s and women?s sportswear, including woven and knit shirts, sweaters, bottoms, and outerwear; men?s and women?s accessories; sportswear; and men?s fragrance. The company?s Retail Footwear and Related Products segment offers casual and dress shoes for men, women, and children; and apparel and accessories. The company was formerly known as Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation and changed its name to PVH Corp. in June, 2011. The company was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marshall Hargrave]

  GIII continues to see strong performance in its Calvin Klein licensed products. The segment of the Calvin Klein division that GIII is most excited about is the sportswear segment. In 2Q, sales rose 50% compared to last year. The company has been very successful in increasing the brand's penetration and exposure. Calvin Klein sportswear is now sold at 890 doors compared to 662 doors last year. In addition to sportswear, the following performed well during 2Q:

  The Calvin Klein dress business continues to perform well in department stores. The dresses are sold at over 1,200 doors.Calvin's Klein's women's suits and separates grew by 70% over last year. The company was able to grow door count to 1,100 compared to only 800 last year.Calvin Klein handbag sales rose 40% over last year with improved margins.Calvin Klein Performance wholesale business grew 20% over last year. The door count is up to 1,100 compared to 1,000 last year.GIII continues to grow its partnership with the owner of the Calvin Klein brand - PVH (PVH).

  Worth noting is that the average remaining tenure for the Calvin Klein licenses is eight to nine years. Other tailwinds for GIII include:

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Shares of PVH (NYSE: PVH  ) climbed better than 8% after the branded apparel giant behind Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein dressed up a blowout quarterly report.

Top 5 Consumer Companies To Invest In Right Now: Cott Corp (COT)

Cott Corporation (Cott), incorporated on December 31, 2006, is a producers of beverages on behalf of retailers, brand owners and distributors. The Company�� product lines include carbonated soft drinks (CSDs), 100% shelf stable juice and juice-based products, clear, still and sparkling flavored waters, energy products, sports products, new age beverages, and ready-to-drink teas, as well as alcoholic beverages for brand owners. The Company operates in five segments: North America (which includes the United States operating segment and Canada operating segment), the United Kingdom (which includes its United Kingdom reporting unit and its Continental European reporting unit), Mexico, Royal Crown International (RCI) and All Other. The Company markets or supplies over 500 retailer, licensed and Company-owned brands in its four core geographic segments. In March of 2012, its U.K. reporting segment acquired a beverage and wholesale business based in Scotland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Cott Corp. (NYSE: COT) stock has pulled back some 30% from its 52-week high of $11.25 after second-quarter market conditions were presented as “challenging.” However, the dividend was reinstated after a ten-year hiatus, and the company bought back $6 million worth of shares in the second quarter. The company mainly does business in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Mexico, but it also sells beverage concentrate to 50 other countries. Deutsche Bank rates Cott as a stock to buy and has an $11 price target. The consensus is posted at $10. Investors are paid a decent 2.9% dividend. The Friday close for Cott was $7.87.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  But SodaStream is continuing to pull out all stops in order to improve its results. SodaStream's recent partnership with Samsung to incorporate carbonation technology into high-end refrigerators could help drive growth for consumers who don't want to deal with a separate appliance in their kitchens. Moreover, SodaStream's deal in March with bottler Cott (NYSE: COT  ) to produce soda syrup within the U.S. should help it boost its efficiency in getting flavors to domestic customers.

Top 5 Consumer Companies To Invest In Right Now: Griffin Land & Nurseries Inc.(GRIF)

Griffin Land & Nurseries, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in real estate and landscape nursery businesses in the United States. The company?s real estate business consists of the ownership, construction, leasing, and management of commercial and industrial properties, as well as the development of residential subdivisions on real estate owned by it in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. Its landscape nursery business comprises the growing of containerized plants for sale principally to independent retail garden centers, rewholesalers, mass merchandisers, home centers, and landscape contractors. Griffin Land & Nurseries, Inc. was founded in 1970 and is based in New York City, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dividends4Life]

  Memberships and Peers: ADM is a member of the S&P 500, a Dividend Aristocrat, a member of the Broad Dividend Achievers��Index and a Dividend Champion. The company's peer group includes: Bunge Limited (BG) with a 1.6% yield, Ingredion Incorporated (INGR) with a 2.4% yield and Griffin Land & Nurseries Inc. (GRIF) with a 0.7% yield.