Lehman Downgrades P&G Late

Procter & Gamble (PG) was downgraded to equal-weight from overweight at Lehman Brothers, which said it will be "tough" for the Dow industrials component to deliver above-average returns. "As we see it, P&G's business is healthy, but without much upside to fiscal 2008 margins versus our estimates nor likelihood of sustained re-acceleration in revenue growth," the broker said. On Monday

I posted the very same sentiment is less esoteric terms. It is simple, huge discounts are a sign of slowing sales. If the discounting produces the sales, it does so at the expense of margins. Either scenario mean profits will come under pressure..

And yes that makes it "tough", although I did not know it is usually "easy"