Why P&G Should Save Max Factor

It takes years to build a brand like Max Factor. Ninety-seven years, to be exact. No one cares any longer who Max Factor was. But the company he founded gave us a brand that became "makeup to the stars." Hollywood embraced the brand. With tons of advertising, people actually believed they were using the same brand as the stars of the Silver Screen and, later, the small screen. The brand fell on hard times long before Procter & Gamble bought it. Since then, women have come to realize that most of the stars use expensive niche brands formulated by special make-up artists. And other premium brands have pushed it aside in the mass market. So Max Factor, which reportedly had $170 million in sales last year, has lost market share in face and eye makeup and lipstick and found its way onto the shelfs of low end marketers like Wal-Mart. But a reformulation and smart marketing could still save this brand. It has a great heritage. It just needs to deliver on the promise that it's still the "makeup to the stars" -- for stars that today's young generation wants to emulate. Who can save this brand?

Why I have trouble getting to sleep at night....

Am I the only seeing this? Delphi declares bankruptcy and asks the judge to break its contracts with the U.A.W. by lowering hourly wages. ....The U.A.W. says if the judge approves (and he must-- the company is losing billions this year) they will go out on strike....The strike will force General Motors into bankruptcy....That, to my reckoning, is enough of a trigger to cause the Market if not to crash then to take one helluva correction. Down from low 11,000s to high 9,000s...That might sharpen the pin to the Real Estate Bubble....By this time, will any of us want to be in the Market. ....Or am I being a silly pessimist and forgetting to take into account the underlying strength of the American economy?