Top Consumer Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Nam Y. Huh/AP WASHINGTON -- Americans' confidence in the economy fell this month to the lowest level since April, as many worried about the impact of a 16-day partial government shutdown. The decline could weigh on spending and economic growth. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its index of consumer confidence dropped to 71.2 in October, down from 80.2 the previous month. September's figure was revised slightly higher. Consumers became particularly pessimistic in their outlook on the economy six months from now, while their assessment of current economic conditions declined by much less. They also expect less hiring in the months ahead. Consumer confidence is closely watched because their spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity. Americans became more confident in the spring as job gains were healthy and economic growth improved. The Conference Board's measure reached 82.1 in June, the highest in 5½ years. That's still below the reading of 90 that is consistent with a healthy economy. Confidence has dropped in three of the four months since June. The shutdown already caused a drop this month in the University of Michigan's measure of consumer sentiment. Americans made more negative references to the federal government's impact on the economy in October than at any time in the 50-year history of the survey, the university said. Falling confidence can cause Americans to spend less, which would slow the economic growth. But sometimes consumers spend more, even when they say they are less confident. Weaker job growth is also weighing on consumers' outlook. Employers added an average of just 143,000 jobs a month from July through September. That's down from 182,000 a month in April through June and 207,000 in the first three months of the year. Sluggish spending is likely to weigh on economic growth. Most economists predict growth slowed in the July-September quarter to an annual rate of about 1.5 percent to 2 percent, down from a 2.5 percent rate in the April-June quarter. And the shutdown is likely to keep growth at a tepid pace for the final three months of the year.

Hot China Companies To Watch For 2015: BRF SA (BRFS)

BRF - Brasil Foods S.A. (BRF), incorporated on August 18, 1934, is a food company, which focuses on the production and sale of poultry, pork, beef cuts, milk, dairy products and processed food products under several brands. The Company�� processed products include marinated, frozen, whole and cut Chester rooster and turkey meats, specialty meats, frozen processed meats, frozen prepared entrees, portioned products and sliced products. It also sells margarine, juices, soy products, animal feed, fresh pasta, sweet specialties and sandwiches. During the year ended December 31, 2010, it launched 333 new products, including Meu Menu (My Menu) portfolio, which is targeted at single people.

Poultry

The Company produces frozen whole and cut poultries, partridges and quail. During 2010, it sold 1,895 thousand tons of frozen chicken and other poultry products. During 2010, it produced 1,694 million day-old chicks, including chickens, Chester roosters, turkeys, partridge and quail. It hatches these eggs in its 25 hatcheries. As of December 31, 2010, it had a fully automated slaughtering capacity of 31.2 million heads of poultry per week.

Pork and Beef

The Company produces frozen pork and beef cuts, such as loins and ribs, and whole carcasses. During 2010, it sold 427 thousand tons of pork and beef cuts. Iits sales of pork cuts are to its export markets. As of December 31, 2010, it had a beef slaughtering capacity of 1,797 heads per week.

Milk

The Company produces pasteurized and ultra-high temperature (UHT) milk, which it sells in its domestic market. During 2010, it sold 873 thousand tons of pasteurized and UHT milk. It produces dairy products in 15 plants. It receives milk from a network of over 11,000 milk producers in more than 553 cities.

Processed Food Products

The Company produces processed foods, such as marinated, frozen chicken, Chester rooster and turkey meat, specialty meats, frozen processed foo! ds, frozen prepared entrees, dairy products, portioned products and sliced products. During 2010, it sold 2,472 thousand tons of processed foods. It processes pork to produce specialty meats, such as sausages, ham products, bologna, frankfurters, salamis, bacon and cold meats. It also processes chicken and other poultry to produce specialty meats, such as chicken sausages, chicken hot dogs and chicken bologna. It produces a range of frozen processed poultry, beef and pork products, including hamburgers, steaks, breaded meat products, kibes, meatballs and ready-to-eat snacks. It also produces soy-based vegetarian products, such as hamburgers and breaded products. It produces marinated and seasoned chickens, roosters and turkeys.

The Company produces several varieties of lasagna and pizza. It produces the meat used in these products and buys other raw materials in the domestic market, except for the durum flour used to make the noodles for the lasagna, which it imports. It sells a range of frozen vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, peas, French beans, French fries and cassava fries, through its Escolha Saudavel line of products. It produces a range of pies and pastries, such as chicken and heart-of-palm pies and lime pies. It produces the meat, sauces and toppings used in its pies and pastries, and it purchases other raw materials, such as heart-of-palm, lime and other fillings from third parties.

Other

The Company produces animal feed mainly to feed poultry and hogs raised by it. It also sells a portion of its animal feed production to its integrated outgrowers or to unaffiliated customers. It produces a range of soy-based products, including soy meal and refined soy flour.

The Company competes with Sadia, Aurora, Marfig, Danone, Nestle, Paulista, Frangosul, Plamplona and Aurora.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  And with very quick gains of 9% in BRF SA (NYSE ADR: BRFS), 5.2% in South American agricultural play Adecoagro SA (NYSE: AGRO) and 1.6% in high-tech agribusiness player Neogen Corp. (Nasdaq: NEOG), we're doing well with our plays on (pockets of) accelerating U.S. inflation.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  BRF S.A. (NYSE: BRFS) should be safe on the surface as a meat-producing and dairy giant. Apparently being defensive doesn’t help either. At $18.50, its 52-week range is $18.34 to $26.35. This ADR is down just over 10% so far in 2014.

Top Consumer Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd (STBFY)

Suntory Beverage & Food Limited is principally engaged in the manufacture and sale of beverages and food. The Company operates in two geographical segments. The Domestic segment is engaged in the manufacture and sale of various soft drinks within Japan, such as coffee drinks, mineral water, green tea drinks, tea drinks, carbonated drinks, fruit juice drinks, functional beverages, milk beverages, and food for specified health use, as well as syrup for general and business usage. The International segment is engaged in the manufacture and sale of carbonated drinks, fruit juice drinks, health food, seasoning, tea-based beverages and others, with operations in Europe, Oceania, Asia and the Americas. As of May 29, 2013, the Company had 80 subsidiaries and 10 associated companies. On October 15, 2013, the Company acquired Lucozade Ribena Suntory Limited. On December 12, 2013, the Company acquired Suntory Beverage & Food Europe Limited. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Whiskey has become increasingly cool and popular thanks to the whole cocktail movement, something that�� good for big whiskey stocks like Suntory Beverage & Food Limited (OTCMKTS: STBFY), Diageo plc (NYSE: DEO) and Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE: BF.B) who�also produce a wide variety of�liquors and beverages. In fact,�a recent episode of the�Daily Ticker�cited these stats from a USA Today article:

• [By Charles Sizemore]

  Let�� start with Suntory Beverage & Food Limited (STBFY),which recently completed its acquisition of�Beam Inc., formerly the purest play on bourbon. Beam was the owner of the eponymous Jim Beam brand, as well as the higher-end Maker�� Mark and Knob Creek and the lower-end Old Crow.�Suntory is Japan�� leading spirits company, though most Americans will be unfamiliar with its Japanese whisky brands, such as Yamazaki and Hakushu. (Note for booze snobs: Japanese whisky��ike Scotch and Canadian whisky��s correctly spelled ��hisky.��American bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and Irish whiskey are correctly spelled ��hiskey.��

Top Consumer Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc.(PEET)

Peet?s Coffee & Tea, Inc. operates as a specialty coffee roaster and marketer of fresh roasted whole bean coffee and tea in the United States. It offers whole bean coffee and related products consisting of products for home brewing, tea, and packaged foods; and beverages and pastries. The company also provides brewing equipment for coffee and tea; paper filters and brewing accessories; and branded and non-branded cups, saucers, travel mugs, and serve ware. Peet?s sells its products through various channels of distribution, including grocery stores; home delivery, office, restaurant, and foodservice accounts; and company-owned and operated stores. As of January 2, 2011, it operated 192 retail stores in California, Colorado, Illinois, Oregon, Massachusetts, and Washington. The company was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Emeryville, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chris Hill]

  In 2012, the Germany-based�Benckiser Group�spent $1.3B to buy Peet's Coffee & Tea, as well as Caribou Coffee. On Friday, Benckiser announced that it's buying European coffee maker Master Blenders for�around�$10 billion. In the United States, Benckiser is closing 15% of Caribou locations, and�converting 20% of the stores into Peet's (NASDAQ: PEET  ) . In this installment of Motley Fool Money, our analysts discuss whether Benckiser's big bet on coffee poses a threat to Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX  ) .

Top Consumer Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Ralcorp Holdings Inc.(RAH)

Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. engages in manufacturing, distributing, and marketing private-brand food products, ready-to-eat cereal products, and other regional and value-brand food products. Its products include ready-to-eat and hot cereals; nutritional and cereal bars; snack mixes, corn-based chips, and extruded corn snack products; crackers and cookies; snack nuts; chocolate candy; salad dressings; mayonnaise; peanut butter; jams and jellies; syrups; sauces; frozen griddle products, including pancakes, waffles, and French toast; frozen biscuits and other frozen pre-baked products, such as breads and rolls; frozen and refrigerated doughs; and dry pasta. The company offers its products under various brands, including Post, Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles, Post Selects, Great Grains, Spoon Size, Grape-Nuts, Honeycomb, 3 Minute Brand, Ralston, Parco, Lofthouse, Krusteaz, Panne Provincio, Major Peters?, Medallion, Ry Krisp, Champagne, Monet, Rippin? Good, Hoody?s, Linette, JERO, Flavor House, Nutcracker, Pennsylvania Dutch, Heartland, Golden Grain, Anthony?s, Pasta Lensi, Ronco, and Mueller?s. It also develops, manufactures, and markets emulations of various types of branded food products to retailers, mass merchandisers, and drug stores to sell under their own store brands or under value-brands. Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. sells its products to retail chains, mass merchandisers, grocery wholesalers, warehouse club stores, drugstores, restaurant chains, and foodservice distributors in the United States, as well as in Canada, Europe, and southeast Asia. It offers its products through a broker network, internal sales staff, independent sales agency, a network of third party warehouses, and independent truck lines. The company was founded in 1995 and is based in St. Louis, Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Will Ashworth]

  Post’s debt has risen substantially since its separation from Ralcorp (RAH) in February 2012. Including its $370 million acquisition of the Dakota Growers Pasta Company announced Sept. 16, Post has spent $717 million moving into other areas of the food industry beyond cereal.

Top Consumer Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Fuwei Films(Holdings)

Fuwei Films (Holdings) Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and export of plastic film using the biaxially-oriented stretch technique in China. The company offers its biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BOPET) film under the ?Fuwei Films? brand name primarily for use in flexible packaging, printing, laminating, and aluminum-plating applications, as well as in electrical and electronic uses. Its products include printing base film used in printing and lamination applications; stamping foil base film and transfer base films used for the packaging of luxury items, such as cigarettes and alcohol; metallization film or aluminum plating base film used for vacuum aluminum plating for flexible plastic lamination; high-gloss film used for aesthetically enhanced packaging purposes; and heat-sealable film used for construction, printing, and heat sealable bags making. The company?s products also comprise laser holographic base film used as anti-counterfeit film for food, medicine, cosmetics, cigarettes, and alcohol packaging; dry film used in circuit boards production, and for nameplate and crafts etching; and heat shrinkage film used for special-shaped packaging for alcohol, cans, mineral water, and cleaning products. It exports its products to packaging customers and distributors primarily in Europe, Asia, and North America. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Weifang, China. As of May 1, 2011, Fuwei Films (Holdings) Co., Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of Weifang State-owned Assets Operation Administration Company.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Adam Haigh]

  Among stocks that fell, Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) Ltd. (551), a supplier of shoes to Nike Inc. and Adidas AG, sank 12 percent to HK$23.80. The company said its first-quarter results showed a ��ignificant downturn��compared with a year earlier and this could adversely affect interim performance.

Top Consumer Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Suedzucker Mannheim Ochsenfurt AG (SZU)

Suedzucker Mannheim Ochsenfurt AG is a Germany-based company engaged in the processing of agricultural raw materials. The Company is organized, along with its subsidiaries, into four segments: the Sugar segment comprises sugar production and the agricultural division; the Special Products segment includes the activities of four divisions: BENEO, which produces and sells ingredients made from natural raw materials for food products and animal feed; the Freiberger Group is a producer of chilled and frozen pizzas, frozen pasta dishes and snacks; the PortionPack Europe group specializes in portion packs, and the starch division comprises starch companies in Hungary and Romania, bio-ethanol production in Austria and Hungary, as well as starch production facilities in Austria; the CropEnergies segment includes the bio-ethanol activities of the Company in Germany, Belgium and France, and the Fruit segment comprises the fruit juice preparations and fruit juice concentrates divisions. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonathan Morgan]

  Volkswagen AG (VOW), Europe�� biggest automaker, climbed 3.7 percent as data showed European car sales increased for the first time in 19 months in April. Suedzucker AG (SZU) dropped to an eight-month low as J&E Davy Holdings Ltd. downgraded the shares.

Top Consumer Stocks To Invest In Right Now: PureSafe Water Systems Inc (PSWS)

PureSafe Water Systems, Inc., incorporated on March 9, 1987, is engaged in the design and development of its technology to be used in the manufacture and sale of water purification systems both in and outside the United States. The Company�� PureSafe First Response Water System (PureSafe FRWS) is self-contained and purifies most types of contaminated fresh or service water, including seawater that may be found at a first response emergency site. This system is mobile, by helicopter or transported by truck.

The PureSafe FRWS utilizes its technology which consists of water extraction boom that extracts water from the ocean, streams, ponds, pools of floodwater or a failed municipal distribution system. The extracted water is then treated by the application of advanced water treatment technologies which employ multiple stage filtration, multiple stage sanitation (including ozone, chlorine and ultraviolet purification techniques), reverse osmosis membranes, mineralization and final polishing to meet the standard drinking water requirements of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA). Its 2nd prototype (FRWS unit) unit can produce EPA compliant drinking from contaminated fresh or surface water at the rate of 30,000 gallons per day, to provide drinking water to 45,000 people. The unit has a built in generator and water bagging capability at the rate of 30,000 and a half liters bags of water per day

The Company competes with GE, Siemens, Severn Trent, Ecospheres Technology, Lenntech, Testa/Viwa, Lifekeeper, Mobile MaxPure, Bi Pure Water, Rodi, Global Water Group, Nirosoft, LifeStream, and Aquapura Tempest.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap Sodastream International Ltd (NASDAQ: SODA), an Israeli based developer, manufacturer and marketer of�home beverage carbonation systems, has attracted its share of hype over both its products and its stock, but could other small cap water stocks like Primo Water Corporation (NASDAQ: PRMW), Puresafe Water Systems Inc (OTCMKTS: PSWS) and Alkaline Water Company Inc (OTCBB: WTER) attract a similar following? After all, Sodastream International has managed to create a significant amount of buzz from consumers, investors and even short sellers because it�� the�world's largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of home carbonation systems as its�brands are sold in over 60,000 retail stores in 45 countries. Sodastream International is also up 45.7% since the start of the year, up 70.2% over the past year and up 99.3% since November 2010, but shares did spike up to the $75 level in the middle of 2011 and now trade at the $63 level.