• Wall Street Journal, Reuters, MarketWatch, Thursday, October 29, 2009 10:39 AM

Procter & Gamble CEO Robert McDonald has put the leaders of poor-performing brands such as Braun small appliances, Iams pet food, Duracell batteries and Pringles potato snacks on notice that they face a sale if things don't improve, Jeffrey McCracken and Ellen Byron report.

At the same time, P&G is getting closer to a deal to acquire Sara Lee's international household-products unit. It's also looking at the consumer-products portfolio of Schering-Plough, which is merging with Merck, as well as that of Wyeth, which was just acquired by Pfizer. It may be interested in Alberto-Culver, too, although no one's saying that any of those companies is ready to sell.

McDonald aims to "get more aggressive and do deals that will enhance what the company has," according to a person familiar with the matter. A more aggressive deal-making stance from P&G could shake up the entire consumer-products segment, McCracken and Byron point out.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports this morning that P&G's quarterly profit of $1.06 per share is about 7 cents above expectations. Net sales fell 6% to $19.8 billion, with declines in every category ranging from beauty to snacks and pet care, but organic sales, which exclude the impact of currency fluctuations, acquisitions and divestitures, rose 2%. P&G had predicted such sales would be flat to down 3%, Jessica Wohl reports.

In other promising news this morning, MarketWatch reports that the GDP rose 3.5% in the third quarter, meaning "the Great Recession is likely over in a technical sense, even as further job losses occur."

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