Playing Doctor: Consumerist Readers Explain How To Cure Anything With Just About Everything

honeybearboobooEarlier this week we turned to you, our wise and experienced Consumerist readers, to tell us which home remedies you've had success with in treating various bodily ailments. Or maybe the treatment wasn't so successful but you learned an important life lesson on the process. We've combed through your highly entertaining and definitely useful comments [...]

Source: http://consumerist.com/2012/08/playing-doctor-consumerist-readers-explain-how-to-cure-anything-with-just-about-everything.html

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Potential Take-out Candidate with Earning Upside

Ashish is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.

On its earnings call on 9th August, Hillshire Brands (NYSE:HSH) only reported results down to the operating segment profit level. No 4Q12 results were given for corporate costs, discontinued operations, interest expense, tax rate or EPS. This absence of data was attributed to the ongoing investigation into accounting irregularities in the Brazilian operations of D.E. Master Blenders. The company expects this investigation to be completed by the end of August, such that Hillshire Brands can release its FY12 10-K. Although sales and EPS guidance was provided for FY13, quarterly results remain very hard to predict due to the absence of quarterly pro forma information at present. The company lowered its FY13 guidance to $1.40-$1.55 as compared to consensus estimates of $1.62.

We believe there is nothing wrong with lowering guidance in a tough environment like this. We believe Hillshire has the potential to beat what we see as conservative guidance for next year. We like the turnaround story, and we continue to see Hillshire as a legitimate potential takeout candidate. Moreover, Hillshire is not a commodity-oriented protein company. The company has good brands, so it can take pricing without either waiting for competitors to cut supply, or suffering excessive volume losses. We admit there are some near-term risks but we would rather be long the stock than the opposite. The following are some notable positives that make us bullish on the stock.

Investments are working

Innovation and marketing investments are going to be the key drivers of volume growth. 4Q results indicate that a lot of the investments are working. The Ball Park brand grew 4% and gained share behind the successful launch of a new pre-grilled hamburger. Jimmy Dean grew 12% behind the new line of "Meat Lovers" breakfast bowls. Hillshire lunchmeats also stabilized its market share declines.

Compelling margin expansion story

Despite the slow start, management maintained its guidance for 10% operating margins by FY15. The management has already identified $60 million of cost savings for FY13 and expects another $40 million to come. Moreover, the return to positive volume this fiscal year will improve gross margins through better capacity utilization.

Beatable FY13 Guidance

Investors are concerned about lowering FY13 guidance. However, we believe, the loss in management?s credibility could be regained quickly if they start beating and raising numbers. We believe there is good upside potential given FY13 as a whole is going to be a deflationary year for the company even if hog futures stay high in the second half.

Potential Take-out Candidate

It seems likely that several of the U.S. and Brazilian meat companies could be interested in acquiring Hillshire Brands. We believe, this will be a transformational deal with substantial cost synergies for whoever makes it.

  • Substantial Cost synergies

Expected cost synergies from recent food and HPC acquisitions have averaged more than 8% of the target's sales over the past decade. Recently, Kraft Foods Inc

indicated that its cost synergies from both the Cadbury and Nabisco acquisitions came in higher than expected. Given $20 million in overhead reduction and potential for another $100 million in cost savings over the next three years, we believe the cost synergies from the acquisition of Hillshire Brands will amount to $300-400 million.
  • An attractive sizeable downstream business

The downstream, branded end of the meat value chain is much more attractive than the upstream, more commoditized activity of meat-packing. This downstream segment is able to command consumer loyalty to brands especially in meats where the consumer is concerned about food safety and thus it offers higher margins than the upstream segment. Hillshire Brands and Oscar Mayer are the only two sizable downstream businesses in the U.S. meats category, and the Oscar Mayer business is still a part of Kraft North America Grocery business and is therefore not as easily available as a publicly-traded Hillshire Brands.

Hillshire Brands, with a market cap of $2.95 billion, is less than half the size of the others.

Of these companies, we suspect that Tyson Foods Inc (NYSE: TSN)

and Hormel Foods Corp (NYSE: HRL) are the most obvious acquirers. Since Hillshire owns the strong Jimmy Dean brands, this acquisition will help Tyson to move from commodity lines to higher margin products. Tyson has the balance sheet strength to do it. Tyson only has 1.0x EBITDA in net debt. So, it would be able to finance a deal of this size almost entirely through debt financing without breaching 4.0x EBITDA in leverage.  Strategically, Hormel is the most similar to Hillshire Brands with brands such as Hormel, Spam and Jennie-O Turkey Store and given its low leverage (-0.4x EBITDA in net debt), Hormel is likely to be interested in this acquisition.

Thus, we see the firm as a potential takeout candidate which will help the company attain a premium valuation. Although the company may face a stiffer cost headwind than initially expected, the firm is investing in itself in a way that will eventually lead to outsized EBITDA and EPS growth. Thus, despite lower than expected guidance we remain bullish on this stock.

Note: The article was originally published on TheAnalystHub.com. For more in-depth research articles please visit our site today.

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Source: http://beta.fool.com/theanalystblog/2012/08/18/hillshire-brands-potential-take-out-candidate-earn/9571/

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Facebook Now Great Value After IPO Flop, Flood Of Insider Selling

What is a fair value for Facebook? The answer can range between $30 or $55 a share. It depends on whether FB gains a measly 2% share of the global ads spend­ of $600 billion per year, or a more reasonable 5% share.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2012/08/16/facebook-now-great-value-after-ipo-flop-flood-of-insider-selling/

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Joining Together Credit Card Bills The Correct Way

Bringing together consumer debt comes into play a new range of shapes and forms. Absolute confidence the things your overall pacificdebt.com|pacificdebt consolidation|pacificdebt|pacificdebt loansoverall credit score is therefore how very good involving credit debt you have, you’ll be able to obtain a lending product which can suit your specifications. The following are some frequent strategies that [...]

The post Joining Together Credit Card Bills The Correct Way appeared first on legal debt help online.

Source: http://www.legaldebthelponline.com/2012/06/27/joining-together-credit-card-bills-the-correct-way/

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Trading Facebook and Waiting for the Want Button

Gotta love the way Wall Street is celebrating the three-month anniversary of the Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) IPO: “Facebook: The Worst IPO Ever?” …  Facebook Investors Cash Out …  and my personal favorite,  Is Mark Zuckerberg in over his hoodie as Facebook CEO?   The catalyst for the overwhelming selling pressure that has taken shares of Facebook to [...]

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2012/08/17/trading-facebook-and-waiting-for-the-want-button/

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Here's How Apple's Patent Suit Of The Century Against Samsung Will End

Apple and Samsung

Arguments in the patent battle of the century between Apple and Samsung will come to an end next week after a judge strongly urged the tech titans to make "peace" and settle the case.

With both sides so heavily invested in the case, neither company is likely to give in at this point, experts say.

Now the case will likely by decided by a jury of Apple and Samsung's "peers," but it's impossible to predict exactly how a jury will decide such a complex case.

Apple is accusing Samsung of infringing design patents for iPhone, iPad, and its operating system – basically patents on how the products look. It's also accusing Samsung of infringing three patents on the way its products are used.

In these types of complicated patent disputes, juries often just side with whichever party they might "buy a used car from," one expert told Business Insider.

But several experts said they would predict one winner if they had to.

 

During the trial, Apple produced some "damning" evidence against Samsung.

Apple's lawyers presented this memo during the trial in which a Samsung executive said the difference between its products and Apple's was like that between "heaven and earth."

"It's a crisis of design," the memo stated.

Tech blog BGR also reported earlier this month that a 132-slide report internally assembled by Samsung repeatedly said its products should be more like Apple's.

The internal memos make it pretty tough for Samsung to argue that it "innocently" designed products that "looked so much like Apple's," intellectual property, analyst Florian Mueller told Business Insider.

"I think that's pretty damning evidence," Mueller said. "They [Samsung] just don't have a credible excuse that similarities between their product and Apple's were unintended."

For better or worse, the public doesn't like copycats.

University of Virginia law professor Chris Sprigman doesn't think Apple should necessarily win the patent case, in part because it never should have been allowed to patent some of the design features it did.

One of those design patents was for a "rectangular electronic device," and Sprigman contended Apple shouldn't have been able to patent a shape. "Why should Apple own the rectangle?"

But, he said, "If I had to predict, I think, at least in the district court, I'd rather have Apple's case than Samsung's."

When companies mimic one another's designs, they generally improve those designs and make better products, Sprigman said.

He pointed out that Apple itself has become prominent by "tweaking" other people's designs, noting Steve Jobs himself previously said the company was "shameless" about stealing other's ideas.

But the jurors might not view Samsung's alleged imitation that way, he added.

"In our culture, we just kind of have a dim view of people who copy," Sprigman said.

But Apple can't knock Samsung out of the market completely.

Apple's ultimate goal is likely to expose Samsung as a "willful infringer," or a company that copied another's work on purpose, according to Mueller, the patent expert.

But even if Apple wins the case, and Samsung is enjoined from using the patents, the South Korean company could simply switch to different designs, Mueller said.

"Apple wants to draw a line in the sand, but [an injunction] is not a strategic nuclear weapon in which you can force somebody out of the market,"  he said.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/ngA0uyaH1Cs/whats-going-to-happen-with-apple-versus-samsung-2012-8

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RENO RESIDENT: 'I Feel Like It Is Ground Zero For Collapse'

RenoWhat do you do when the city where you live is dying?  All over the United States formerly great cities are crumbling, but some are definitely in worse shape than others.  One reader recently wrote to me about what she sees happening all around her in Reno, Nevada.

The unemployment rate in Reno is now up to 11.7 percent, which is well above the national average of 8.3 percent.  But that doesn't tell the whole story. The recent recession hit Nevada particularly hard and people have been moving out of the state in waves  In fact, the labor force in Nevada has shrunk by close to 20 percent over the past year as workers have moved elsewhere in search of work.  But even though the labor force is now nearly 20 percent smaller, the unemployment rate is still well above 11 percent. 

There simply are not enough jobs in large Nevada cities such as Reno and Las Vegas.  Unfortunately for Reno, it does not have the same kind of big corporate money pouring into it that Las Vegas does.

The good news is that you can buy a house very, very cheaply in Reno because homes were foreclosed on in droves during the housing crash.  Even today, some housing developments that were put up near the end of the boom times look like virtual ghost towns.

The main industry in Reno is "entertainment", but many of Reno's strip clubs and gambling establishments have aged so badly at this point that they just look kind of depressing.  I guess that is kind of fitting, because Nevada has the fifth highest suicide rate in the nation, and Reno has been ranked as one of the top 10 depressed cities in the entire country.

As the city has declined, gangs have moved in and the drug trade is flourishing. Reno has been called the meth capital of America, and crime is on the rise.  Despite being surrounded by tremendous natural beauty, Reno has become a very unpleasant place in which to live.  But what is happening in Reno is also happening in hundreds of other communities across the United States.  Our economy is collapsing and our cities are crumbling right in front of our eyes, and it is only going to get worse from here.

A reader of my site named Heather who has been unemployed since November of last year recently shared the following with me....

I am living in Reno/Sparks Nevada and I feel like it is ground zero for collapse. There are a lot of people who are in denial right now and cannot see the larger picture. I keep also saying we are the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the country.  It is quite depressing driving around seeing empty office buildings with vacancies and retail areas just empty. Went to the stores and retail seems pretty slow also. I am volunteering at ProNet locally and it helps unemployed people finds jobs and skills. It has been depressing there too with very little jobs out there for many people who need one.

She said that I should share what is happening in Reno with my readers.  She wanted people to know what those living in Reno are going through.

You might think that since Reno is so sunny, so warm and surrounded by such natural beauty that it would be one of the happiest places in America.

Unfortunately it turns out that the opposite is true.

Reno is actually a very sad place.

In fact, last year Men's Health ranked Reno as the ninth saddest city in the United States.

In response to this ranking, one resident of Reno wrote the following....

In light of this disheartening list-making, it is, of course, important for Nevadans to look on the bright side. Rather than allowing these statistics to depress us further, we can consider them a series of challenges that make living in places like Reno and Las Vegas all the more impressive. You don’t just live in Reno. You survive Reno! To dwell in Reno, you must triumph over the odds that are stacked against you—one of the things we’re supposed to do best here.

If we can withstand all of the emotional curveballs thrown at us because we have selected such a turbulent location in which to reside, we can probably survive anything.

As a lifelong Renoite, I am inclined to respond to these lists with defiance. Yeah, things can look pretty grim sometimes when no one can find a job, and there seems to be no way out.

And that is how many Americans are feeling these days.  They are broke, unemployed, depressed and out of options.

How can you pick up and start a new life somewhere else when you have no job and no money?

Sadly, a lot of younger Americans are turning to drugs in an attempt to escape the pain of their daily lives.

One article that I found attempted to find humor in the raging meth epidemic that is happening in Reno....

Reno has been affectionately called the meth capital of the nation. Some foolishly think mass drug usage can ravage a city as swiftly as it can ruin a user’s clear complexion. In all reality, drug addiction is no more than an endearing quirk, certainly not a cause for concern. Babies and adolescents with addiction-addled parents should stop being coddled and learn how to take care of themselves. I’ve been doing my own laundry since I was six months old­ — I’m sure they can do the same. If there is anything disturbing about the meth problem in Reno, it’s that it shows the lack of variety in this town. Why don’t you try some uppers like MDMA? Your teeth will thank me.

Unfortunately, Reno is far from alone.  In the past I have written about how formerly great cities such as Detroit, Cleveland and Baltimore are completely falling apart as well.  This kind of thing is literally happening from coast to coast.

There is a very serious lack of decent jobs in America right now.  At this point only 24.6 percent of all jobs in the United States are good jobs.

This has made it increasingly difficult for Americans to be able to take care of themselves.

If you can believe it, more than 100 million Americans are on welfare at this point.

And that number does not even include the tens of millions of people that are on Social Security and Medicare.

What in the world has happened to us?

These days most Americans work really hard all of their lives but never end up reaching their dreams.

In fact, one recent study found that 46 percent of all Americans die with less than $10,000 worth of financial assets.

Talk about depressing.

But instead of having us focus on how bad the economic numbers are, the Federal Reserve wants to start measuring how "happy" everyone is.  The following is from a recent ABC News article....

Ben Bernanke wants to know if you are happy.

The Federal Reserve chairman said Monday that gauging happiness can be as important for measuring economic progress as determining whether inflation is low or unemployment high. Economics isn't just about money and material benefits, Bernanke said. It is also about understanding and promoting "the enhancement of well-being."

So what would you say if the Federal Reserve contacted you and asked if you are happy?

Please feel free to post a comment with your thoughts below....

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/EMLF22wReJ0/reno-resident-i-feel-like-it-is-ground-zero-for-collpase-2012-8

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The Army Has Issued Anti-Suicide Nasal Spray To Keep Troops From Taking The 'Easy Out'

Nasal Spray Air Force

The military suicide rate doubled in July. That's one of our troops, almost every day.

To come up with an answer, the Army recently gave 3 million dollars to a university of Indiana research center, and those researchers came back with this: Anti-Suicide Nasal Spray.

Katie Drummond of The Daily reports researchers found a naturally occuring neurochemical called thyrotropin-releasing hormone, or TRH, that has euphoric, calming, anti-depressant effects. News of the nasal spray comes as a relief to some, who had to endure spinal taps for injections of the medicine.

The Pentagon, which tracks military suicides, reported that troops have committed the act at an 18 percent increase over the same period last year. Now, more troops die by their own hands that by the hands of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The spray is only possible because of advances in "nanotechnology delivery systems." Researchers plan to run a full battery of trials over the next few years, and hopefully put the spray not only in the hands of soldiers, but civilians as well.

The scientists say that applications go beyond anti-depression medications.

Now: See The Face Of Salvation In The A10-Warthog

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/n0qNN3m6Zhw/suicide-rates-double-in-july-army-issues-nasal-spray-2012-8

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AT&T Won't Let You Use FaceTime Over 3G On iPhone Unless You Sign Up For Mobile Share Plans (T)

FaceTime

As expected, AT&T has officially announced it's limiting how iPhone users can use FaceTime over 3G/4G when Apple's new iOS 6 software launches.

You won't be able to use FaceTime over 3G unless you sign up for one of its data sharing plans that lets you buy data and share it across all your connected devices.

If you have an individual data plan with AT&T, you will only be able to use FaceTime over Wi-Fi.

Sprint has already committed to letting users use FaceTime over a cellular connection regardless of the plan customers choose.

Verizon has not said how it'll handle FaceTime over 3G yet.

Here's the statement from AT&T:

AT&T will offer FaceTime over Cellular as an added benefit of our new Mobile Share data plans, which were created to meet customers’ growing data needs at a great value. With Mobile Share, the more data you use, the more you save. FaceTime will continue to be available over Wi-Fi for all our customers.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/CSYvdtI9JQQ/att-wont-let-you-use-facetime-over-3g-on-iphone-unless-you-sign-up-for-mobile-share-plans-2012-8

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