Fisher Investments on Consumer Staples

MICHAEL CANNIVET is a Consumer Staples Research Analyst at Fisher Investments. He is also a contributing columnist for MarketMinder.com. Michael is a graduate of Georgetown University. Originally from Chicago, he currently resides in the Bay Area with his wife, Jennifer. ANDREW S. TEUFEL has been with Fisher Investments since 1995 where he currently serves as a Co-President and the Director of Research. Prior to joining Fisher Investments, he worked at Bear Stearns as a corporate finance analyst in its Global Technology Group. Andrew also instructs at many seminars and educational workshops throughout the United States and United Kingdom, and lectures at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. He is also the Editor in Chief of MarketMinder.com. Andrew is a graduate of UC Berkeley.

• Foreword ixPreface xiAcknowledgments xvPart I Getting Started in Consumer Staples 1Chapter 1 Consumer Staples Basics 3Overview 4Staples’ Distant Cousin—Consumer Discretionary 7The Business Cycle’s Winds of Change 10Boring Can Be Beautiful 15Chapter 2 History of Consumerism in America 21Colonial America and Consumerism 22Mass Production in the Late Nineteenth Century 26The Roaring Twenties and the Consumer Economy (1921–1929) 28Mass Marketing and Modern Consumer Products 35The Modern Landscape 37Chapter 3 Consumer Staples Sector Drivers 39Economic Drivers 39Political Drivers 52Sentiment Drivers 55Part II Next Steps: Consumer Staples Details 59Chapter 4 Consumer Staples Sector Breakdown 61Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) 62Global Consumer Staples Benchmarks 63Food, Beverage & Tobacco 65Household & Personal Products 86Food & Staples Retailers 90Chapter 5 Challenges in the Consumer Staples Sector 101Challenge 1: Growing in Mature Industries 101Challenge 2: Dealing With Volatile Input Costs 113Chapter 6 Consumer Staples in Emerging Markets 123Opportunity Knocks 123Emerging Markets and Consumer Products 125Investment Idiosyncrasies 135Part III Thinking Like a Portfolio Manager 139Chapter 7 The Top-Down Method 141Investing Is a Science 141The Top-Down Method 145Top-Down Deconstructed 150Managing Against a Consumer Staples Benchmark 158Chapter 8 Security Analysis 163Make Your Selection 164A Five-Step Process 165Important Questions to Ask 173Chapter 9 Consumerize Your Portfolio—Investing Strategies 181Strategy 1: Playing the Market Cycle 182Strategy 2: Playing Style Shifts 186Strategy 3: Develop New Categorizations 189Implementing Your Strategy 191Appendix: Consumer Staples Sector Resources 195Notes 199About the Authors 209Index 211