Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: McDonald's, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive

Business Wire, June 17, 2009

http://www.profit.zacks.com/

CHICAGO -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL). Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=4579

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

BRIC Nations Discuss the Dollar

China and India have sizable labor resources, while Russia and Brazil are rich in natural resources. China is the main importer of natural resources, while Russia and Brazil are the main exporters. While China and India benefit from lower oil prices, Russia and Brazil seek higher oil prices. There is also a huge competition among the BRIC [Brazil, Russia, India, China] nations for foreign capital and investment.

Further, even taken together, BRIC economies are smaller than the US economy and as such their influence is rather limited as of now -- though it is rising rapidly. Also, the reality remains that there is no immediate alternative to the US Dollar, as no other markets in the world have the depth and liquidity of those in the US.

Emergence of an alternative reserve currency or a basket of currencies could take many years. So, there is no immediate threat to the US Dollar’s role as the world reserve currency, and any outcome of the meeting will be more symbolic at present.

However, if there are significant negative comments on the dollar or signals of shifting the reserves composition away from the dollar (which seems to be a less likely outcome in the present circumstances), it could weigh on the US currency. Companies that derive a significant portion of their revenue from their overseas operations, like McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) benefit from any weakness in the US Dollar.

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