This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

As far as toothpaste goes, I was raised on Crest. My entire childhood, it was always Crest. Except when I spent the night at Grandma's and Grandpa's. They had Colgate. What a treat! Here are some facts about both...

Colgate toothpaste is the flagship product of Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL), an international operation in more than 200 countries. Total sales were almost $13.8 billion in 2007, the highest ever for the company, and it's notable that 75% of the sales were made outside the United States. Net income was up 28% to $1.7 billion for the year. Toothpaste is one of many personal care products that the company makes, including toothbrushes, soaps, and deodorants. The oral care products accounted for 40% of Colgate's sales in 2007.

Crest is a product of Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG), a far bigger company than Colgate, with annual sales of $76 billion. Net earnings were up 19% to $10.3 billion. Health care sales, which include oral products, account for 12% of the company's revenue. P&G boasts that 23 of their brands have revenues in excess of $1 billion per year. Crest is touted as the number one brand of toothpaste in the United States, with an estimated 37% of market share.

In my adult life I use neither Crest nor Colgate. But if I had to choose between the two, I'd become a Crest girl all over again. Which toothpaste do you prefer?

Vote in our poll for Crest or Colgate as your preferred brand, and let us know in the comments why you love it.

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Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) reported its fifth straight quarterly loss and lowered its outlook.
• Anadigics Inc. (NASDAQ: ANAD) beat Q1 expectations and raised its Q2 guidance.
• AuthenTec Inc. (NASDAQ: AUTH) Q1 revenues jumped 67% on new product offerings.
• CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) posted better-than-expected Q1 results and raised its dividend.
• Cognex Corp. (NASDAQ: CGNX) beat Q1 expectations and lifted its outlook.
• Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) posted soild Q1 results on high-speed internet/digital phone strength.
• DreamWorks Animation Inc. (NYSE: DWA) earnings and revenues soared in the first quarter.
• Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) narrowed its Q1 loss but missed earnings estimates.
• IAC/InterActivCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) Q1 profits fell but met analsts' expectations.
• LSI Corp. (NYSE: LSI) beat Q1 expectations and raised its guidance for the next quarter.
• NetSuite Inc. (NASDAQ: N) narrowed its loss on a surge in Q1 revenue.
• Omniture Inc. (NASDAQ: OMTR) Q1 revenue jumped 136% on acquisitions.
• RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) just beat low Q1 expectations on lower demand and narrower margins.
• SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) earnings for the first quarter fell short of analysts' expectations.

• Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU) Q1 profits rose 156%, easily beating analysts' estimates.
• Sun Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) reported a Q3 loss and announced layoffs.
• Teledyne Technologies Inc. (NYSE: TDY) posted its 25th consecutive quarterly earnings growth.
• Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) posted solid Q1 profits in line with expectations.
• Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA) posted solid Q1 profits despite weakness in movie business.
• Virtual Radiologic Corp. (NASDAQ: VRAD) solid Q1 results failed to impress investors.

Also, Jim Cramer lauds Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) for its success in these tough times and Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) for bouncing back after taking a hit. And Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) investors may have been looking for more than they got in the quarterly report.

Upcoming results to watch for include Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC), Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM), Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP), Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), and American International Group (NYSE: AIG).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

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Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) Q3 profits soared, beating analysts' expectations.
• Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) strong Q1 results met analysts' expectations.
• Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC) reported solid Q3 results that beat Wall Street estimates.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) beat expectations for the first quarter, sending shares up.
• Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) posted better-than-expected Q1 results on the weak dollar.
• Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) beat earnings expectations and raised its guidance.
• Corn Products International (NYSE: CPO) posted record sales for the ninth consecutive quarter.
• Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) Q1 profits met expectations but revenues beat them.
• ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) missed Q1 expectations due to narrower margins.
• Garmin Ltd. (NYSE: GRMN) reported lower-than-expected earnings due to slowed demand.
• General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) posted a smaller-than-expected loss for the first quarter.
• Herbalife Ltd. (NASDAQ: HLF) posted Q1 results and announced the resignation of the president and COO.
• Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) beat Q1 expectations and announced a 10% dividend increase.
• Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) Q1 profits declined but beat analysts' expectations.
• Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) reported better-than-expected Q1 results and raised its 2008 outlook.

• Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) posted weak Q2 earnings in line with Wall Street expectations.
• Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) beat Q1 expectations and reaffirmed its guidance.
• Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) posted solid Q1 results and announced a spin-off of TWC.
• Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) beat Q1 expectations but lowered its full-year outlook.
• Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) blew past Q1 EPS expectations despite despite profits plunging 77%.

Also, Jim Cramer lauds Procter & Gamble for its success in these tough times and Colgate-Palmolive for bouncing back after taking a hit. And Time Warner investors may have been looking for more than they got in the quarterly report.

Upcoming results to watch for include Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC), Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM), Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP), Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), and American International Group (NYSE: AIG).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

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Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) reported Q1 results on Wednesday. By now, you know the drill when it comes to consumer-products companies -- weak-dollar-helped-and-commodity-costs-did-not-help. I gotta say, though, that Colgate-Palmolive showed that vigilance in terms of costs can have a positive impact, and that a business does not have to be defined by inflation.

Net sales exploded to the upside by more than 15% (again, currency effects). Net income likewise charged higher, rising 17% to 90 cents per share on an adjusted basis. I know -- superlatives such as "exploded" and "charged higher" might seem a bit hyper here, but it's always cool when a consumer-products company hits those double-digit increases. Colgate-Palmolive, like Clorox (NYSE: CLX) and Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), leverages its stable of brands to drive growth in cash flows (Procter & Gamble, by the way, also recently reported quarterly results). This worked like a charm, since cash flow from operations during the past three-month period increased 17%. Way to go, management. Margins, however, were pressured, as can be expected, and they will continue to be pressured in the near future.

The earnings release mentioned the flagship Colgate toothpaste product -- I am a user of the brand, and in fact, I bought a new variety earlier this week. I've said it before and I'll say it again -- the supermarket is full of investing ideas, and Colgate-Palmolive is one of them. The company had a great quarter, it beat expectations according to Briefing.com -- albeit by the usual suspect, namely the "proverbial penny" -- and it seems solid enough. A potential core holding, Colgate-Palmolive should do well over the coming year. Yesterday's 6.7% drop in the price of the shares could have been seen as a buying opportunity for patient, long-term investors, but I'll concede that the stock could languish for a little while.

Disclosure: I don't own shares in any of the companies mentioned; positions can change at any time.

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Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) reported for the first quarter today. Net sales increased almost 10% to $4.8 billion. Adjusted earnings per share increased 5% to $1.08. That's a rather small jump, granted, but you know something, it was enough to keep the stock in the green (at the time of this writing, at least) instead of in the red on a day when the major market averages -- and just about all of the stocks in my personal portfolios -- are bathing in the evil crimson color of doom. And according to Briefing.com, Kimberly-Clark played the beat-the-expectations game and won by the proverbial penny! Shareholders should be pleased.

A non-pleasing item to be found in the release centers on cash from operations -- it decreased by about $100 million to $426 million due to changes in working capital. That doesn't concern me so much right now, though, since Kimberly-Clark will probably do well over the coming years in terms of cash generation. The company, by the way, has been repurchasing stock, so management seems pleased with the shares as a potential investment idea.

Kimberly-Clark, which is a consumer-products business in the league of entities such as Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Energizer (NYSE: ENR), Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL), and Unilever (NYSE: UL), could be a value right now based on its P/E ratio and dividend yield. Out of the stocks mentioned here, I like P&G the best, but I do respect Kimberly-Clark -- in fact, it was mentioned recently in an article by Steven Halpern that centered on an analyst's picks for quality and yield.

Disclosure: I don't own shares in any of the companies mentioned; positions can change at any time.

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WD-40 (NASDAQ: WDFC) issued its Q2 earnings report yesterday after the close of the market trading session -- and it wasn't full of great news. The top line was essentially flat as net sales dipped 0.5% to almost $79 million. Earnings came in at $0.51 per diluted share versus $0.52 per diluted share in the year-ago time frame.

Another negative aspect to the report was the statement of cash flows. WD-40 took in a lot less in terms of net cash from operations this time around, as changes in working capital and other items affected the flow. There's also a lot less cash on the balance sheet. And, sorry to say shareholders, but WD-40 missed analyst expectations by the proverbial penny. Investors shouldn't always be concerned with Wall Street expectations, but here's something that shareholders will be concerned with: the company lowered its earnings outlook. Management says that revenue growth will probably be somewhere between 4% and 8% as opposed to the originally expected range of between 7% and 10% -- any hopes for double-digit appreciation are now history. Net income per share is now expected to fall in a range between $1.80 and $1.90 versus a previous range of $1.83 and $1.93.

Well, now, what do we make of all this? It was a disappointing report, no question. But WD-40 has some decent brands in its portfolio, including the flagship lubricant, although its brand collection isn't necessarily on par with others, such as Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL), and Clorox (NYSE: CLX). WD-40 isn't the current best play in the consumer-goods department at the moment, in my humble opinion. Some will point out that the stock's yield is attractive right now at 3%, but its dividend history isn't as good as others in terms of quarterly hikes. I'm not very bullish on WD-40; maybe I will be at a later date.

Disclosure: I don't own shares in any of the companies mentioned; positions can change at any time.

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Ted Allrich is the founder of The Online Investor and author of the just released book: Comfort Zone Investing: Build Wealth And Sleep Well At Night. In this weekly column, he'll offer advice to investors who are just getting started.

By definition, no. Stocks carry risk. If you don't want risk, put your money in treasury bills or under the mattress. But don't expect much of a return, if any. Having said that, certain stocks do have attributes that make them relatively, and I emphasize this word, relatively, safer investments than others.

First and foremost, they have solid earnings. The best ones increase earnings every year for several years, no matter what the economy does. Examples: Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO), Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG), Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL). If you've watched these stocks during the last 6 months, they've gone down but nowhere near the depths of most others. They have solid earnings investors can count on. Investors pay for that.

They have a high return on equity or ROE. That's the return an investor receives for owning a stock. This is not what the price of the stock returns. Rather it's the amount the company makes and retains in earnings which become equity. Since stockholders own the earnings and equity, the higher this return is, the better the value of the company will be. It's not necessarily reflected in the stock price, especially in times of anxiety (like now), but in the long run, ROE is what matters. Examples of high ROE stocks: Coca-Cola, PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), Deluxe Corp. (NYSE: DLX), Dun & Bradstreet Corp. (NYSE: DNB), Colgate-Palmolive.

Relatively safe stocks have good and solid dividends. Notice this doesn't say great dividends. Great dividends, meaning much higher than average, usually don't stay great. And they don't go to good from being great. They go to none. Stocks with dividends that are at or a little above the average for all stocks paying dividends tend to be the ones that keep paying. The way to tell if the dividend is safe is to see how much of earnings it takes to pay the dividend. If the company earns $1 a share and pays a dividend of 25 cents a share, then it pays out 25% of earnings. Anything below 40% is almost always a dividend that will continue being paid. Examples: 3M Corp. (NYSE: MMM), Cooper Industries (NYSE: CBE), PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG)

If you can find stocks that rate high in each category, you've got the odds much more in your favor. Of course, there are many other factors that influence the relative safety of your investment. Maybe most important is the management. It has the day to day responsibility of making and implementing decisions that affect earnings. But it's impossible to quantify management so don't look for that in the numbers, except for the fact that good management always makes profits, in good times and bad.

Remember, these guidelines will help you find stocks that are relatively more safe than others. It doesn't mean you can't lose money once you find these stocks. It does, however, give you the comfort that you're buying stocks that most sane investors will want to own in very difficult and volatile times.

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• Top Rocket Stocks for Week of Feb. 4

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Colgate Palmolive (NYSE: CL) (Cramer's Take) is menacing. That's right, its action is downright menacing, because it is one of my absolute favorites when I need an indicator of what the market is thinking.

And this stock's action is screaming "Recession." Can one stock be so important? Indeed, if anything, this is the "perfect" security, the also-ran to Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) (Cramer's Take) that, without a recession, would be too dicey and marginal to make a bet on.

When the also-ran has a 24 multiple with 11% growth, that's extraordinary. This is multiple expansion like you wouldn't believe. The higher this one goes, the more worried I get about this economy.

Put CL on your screen. Like in 2000, the more this stock goes up, the more likely everything else other than the highest-growth stocks and the medical/health care cost containers gets slammed.

Bad sign.

Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. At the time of publication, Cramer was long Altria.

• Top Rocket Stocks for Week of Dec. 17
• Big Three Face Uncertain Drive Overseas

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MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Montgomery initiated Ariba (NASDAQ: ARBA) with a Buy rating and $14 target and said ARBA's SaaS transition is essentially completed and that the benefits of higher cash flow, new sales hires, product releases, and new markets should be seen in FY08.
  
• Jefferies resumed coverage of Meredith Corp (NYSE: MDP) with a Hold rating and $59-$61 target and expects ad growth to slow given the current economic backdrop.
  
• Citigroup initiated Time Warner Telecom (NASDAQ: TWTC) with a Buy rating and $29 target. The named TWTC its top pick in the emerging telco sub-sector based on its differentiated niche position, strong fiber assets and sustainable revenue growth.

• JP Morgan started Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) and Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT) with Overweight ratings.
  
• Lehman started Transocean (NYSE: RIG) with an Overweight rating.
  
• Bear Stearns initiated StatoilHydro (NYSE: STO) with an Outperform rating.
  
• Credit Suisse initiated Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) with an Outperform rating and $87 target.

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A look at 52-week highs often shows where the market is pointing for its leadership when it moves up, or safety when it sells off. A few notable companies that hit highs last week:

Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN): Shares in the online travel company have almost tripled from their one-year low and now trade just shy of $110. Given the carnage in the airline industry, this may seem odd. But being an online middle man is very different from having to fuel the planes and maintain the hotels. The company's gross travel booking rose 54% in the third quarter, pushed by strength in its Europe business. Total revenue rose from $313 million in the quarter last year to $417 million this year. E-commerce can be a pretty good business, even if the industries the company serves are not doing well.

Charles Schwab Corp. (NASDAQ: SCHW): Financial services looks like a train wreck of an industry. But, with retail trading running strong, full-service and discount brokers are doing well, as long as they don't have assets in the mortgage-backed securities area. Schwab seems smart enough to have dodged that bullet. It hit a 52-week high of over $24 this last week. Daily trades by clients hit almost 319,000 in October, up 29% from the same month last year.

Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL): Selling bleach and toothpaste is a sleepy business. But Wall Street likes sleepy and consistent when the markets are volatile. In the past quarter, the company's business improved in every region around the world. Total worldwide sales grew 12.0% to $3.53 billion. Toothpaste and tooth brush sales got a lot of the credit. When the investors are worried about recession, a company that sells inexpensive necessities seems like a good bet.

Pepsico Inc. (NYSE: PEP): Pepsi is another company that sells things that are cheap and used by almost everyone. The company traded near $75 last week. The company has a 2% yield. It also recently affirmed that it would hit its numbers for 2007. Credit Suisse picked up coverage of the company with an "outperform" rating. Slow and steady wins the race.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Lots more quarterly reports rolled out this past week, and here are some highlights of earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) reported more losses and more job cuts.
• Alvarion Ltd.'s (NASDAQ: ALVR) record quarter fuels speculation of a Cisco (NYSE: CSCO) buyout.
• Avon Products Inc.'s (NYSE: AVP) profit rose 61%, buoyed by strength in emerging markets.
• Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) fell short of expectations due to tighter margins.
• CIGNA Corp. (NYSE: CI) had a solid quarter but warned about 2008 earnings.
• Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) blamed profit loss on materals costs, and announced acquistion of Burt's Bees.
• Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) beat estimates by a penny and had strong sales overseas.
• Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) beat earnings estimates and revised its full-year forecast.
• Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) announced it would restate revenues, ahead of its November quarterly report.
• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) missed expectations, also due to tighter margins.
• Given Imaging Ltd. (NASDAQ: GIVN) cited FDA approval delays for disappointing results.
• Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) posted record revenues and appointed a new CFO.
• Humana Inc.'s (NYSE: HUM) positive surprise lifted the share price to a new all-time high.

• IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) fell short of expectations, dragged down by the housing slump.
• International Paper Co.'s (NYSE: IP) revenue beat estimates, while earnings were in line with them.
• Jones Apparel Group Inc.'s (NYSE: JNY) earnings soared on one-time gains.
• KBR Inc. (NYSE: KBR) beat expectations due to one-time gains.
• Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) beat expectations, in part on the strength of international sales.
• Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) citeed dairy costs and investments in its profit decline.
• MasterCard Inc.'s (NYSE: MA) profit soared 63% on cardholder spending in international markets.
• Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) easily beat estimates, sending the share price to a 52-week high.
• Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) beat estimates by a penny and had strong sales overseas.
• Radio Shack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) beat expectations on earnings but not revenue.
• R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. (NYSE: RRD) beat estimates and revised its guidance.
• Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) reported a smaller-than-expected loss, strong subscriber growth.
• Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) stumbled in Q3 on management and merger issues.
• TEVA Pharmaceutical's (NASDAQ: TEVA) strong margins helped it beat expectations by a penny.
• Toshiba Corp.'s (OTC: TOSBF) profit soared due to increased sales of flash memory chips.
• Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. (NASDAQ: TRMP) announced higher profit on lower costs.
• Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) beat expectations and offered revised guidance.
• U.S. Steel Corp, (NYSE: X) blamed its poor results on acquisitions costs and Chinese imports.
• Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) reported a profit loss, based on tax-related charges.

Jim Cramer isn't buying the excuses that Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) offered in their recent quarterly reports. One expert is more impressed with Intel Corp.'s (NASDAQ: INTC) results than with Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ: MSFT). And Zac Bissonnette points to the importance of questioning too-good-to-be-true results.

Upcoming results to watch for include: Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS), Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC), and Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM).

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Net income at Procter & Gamble rose 14% to $3.08 billion, or 92 cents a share, compared with $2.7 million, or 79 cents, a year earlier. Revenue surged 7.5% to $20.5 billion. Excluding a tax-benefit, profit was 90 cents. Analysts had expected profit of 89 cents on revenue of $20.23 billion. P&G expects profit for the current quarter of between 95 to 97 cents; Wall Street expectations are for 97 cents. The company raised its full year outlook by 2 cents to $3.46 to $3.49 to reflect a one-time tax benefit.

"The fiscal year is off to a good start," said A.G. Lafley, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, in the earnings release. "P&G continues to deliver broad-based top and bottom-line growth across its portfolio of businesses and geographies. This momentum, along with a robust initiative pipeline for the year, gives us confidence that P&G will deliver another strong year of growth."

Shares of P&G, which are up about 12% this year, fell in pre-market action.

Colgate-Palmolive results were similar. Profit rose 22% to $420.1 million, or 77 cents per share, as revenue jumped 12% to $3.53 billion. Excluding one-time events, profit was 86 cents, one penny better than the 85 cents expected by Wall Street. The revenue figure also beat analysts' expectations of $3.47 billion. Shares of the consumer products maker were up in pre-market trading.

"Colgate's market shares are strong and getting stronger in key markets around the world," said Chief Executive Ian King in the earnings release.