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...Everyone has their own standards," says Greg Carlson, an analyst at investment tracker Morningstar. "There's no clear line between what's socially responsible and what's not." That's how two respected socially responsible benchmarks--Calvert Social Index and Domini 400 Social Index--wind up holding different groups of companies. While Calvert doesn't hold McDonald's because it fails the index's labor-practices screen, Domini does. And though Domini rejects Pfizer partly on the basis of its environmental record and product-safety issues, Calvert includes the drug giant. "You have a lot of companies where reasonable people...
...companies, of course, have long seen this coming. Mattel attempted to get into educational software in the late 1990s, spending $3.6 billion to buy the Learning Company. But "Mattel just didn't understand the software business," says analyst Gikas. The blunder led to more than $400 million in losses and cost then CEO Jill Barad, who had revived Barbie, her job. Under CEO Robert Eckert, Mattel got back to building basic brands like Barbie and Hot Wheels. But Barbie's sales slump--domestically down 21% this year through September--may also be a victim of kids growing older at younger...
...action figures, for instance, used to be considered healthy for boys up to age 12. Now, the items are mainly marketed to boys 4 to 6, says Chris Byrne, an independent toy-industry consultant. And "boys 9 and up have pretty much gravitated away from traditional toys," says NDP analyst Anita Frazier. A recent study by her firm found that nearly half of U.S. children start on video games at 4 to 5 years old--and 20% at age 3 or younger...
...messaging, cell-phone games and iPods angling for kids' minds and allowances, the digital revolution is making life miserable for the $20 billion toy industry. "Kids are playing on computers at earlier ages; they're picking up Game Boys and PlayStations younger than they were five years ago," says analyst Anthony Gikas of Piper Jaffray. "These are good, sexy products. They're cannibalizing the traditional toy market...
...regardless of how sales go this season, age compression is here to stay. Some analysts think the worst of it may be over and that toymakers have figured out how to adapt. Kids "expect a bit more electronic sizzle from their toys, but they are still kids at heart, and kids love toys," analyst McGowan recently wrote in an industry report...