Top 10 Consumer Stocks For 2014

A surprise jump in the Producer Price Index, and a combined decline in consumer sentiment, sent the S&P 500 Index (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC  ) down Friday, as stocks ended lower for the week, as well. Ending at depressed levels for the third time in four weeks, the index fell 9 points, or 0.6%, to end at 1,626. But it wasn't dim macroeconomic data that drove down shares in three of today's worst-performing S&P stocks -- all of them had their own disappointments to deal with.

Leading off the list is a familiar name: Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF  ) , which mines for coal, iron ore, and other resources. The company saw shares slump 5.1% today after it held up the environmental assessment of a chromite project in Ontario earlier this week. Citing certain "unresolved issues,"�the company is delaying the launch of the operation until it ensures its compliance with Canada's laws -- probably a good call, but not great for the stock.

Shares of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ: MNST  ) shed 4.4% Friday, as the American Medical Association prepares to discuss the endorsement of a ban on energy drinks to children. The group of physicians has an understandably large influence on health policy in the United States, and a move to suggest an age requirement for the high-caffeine beverages that are Monster's specialty poses a serious threat to its business.

Best Telecom Stocks To Watch For 2015: Kellogg Co (K)

Kellogg Company (Kellogg), incorporated in 1922, is engaged in the manufacture and marketing of ready-to-eat cereal and convenience foods. Kellogg�� principal products are ready-to-eat cereals and convenience foods, such as cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, fruit-flavored snacks, frozen waffles and veggie foods. As of February 28, 2012, these products were, manufactured by the Company in 17 countries and marketed in more than 180 countries. It also markets cookies, crackers, and other convenience foods, under brands, such as Kellogg��, Keebler, Cheez-It, Murray, Austin and Famous Amos, to supermarkets in the United States. Its cereal products are generally marketed under the Kellogg�� name and are sold principally to the grocery trade through direct sales forces for resale to consumers. Effective June 1, 2012, Procter & Gamble Co announced that it has completed the sale of its Pringles business to Kellogg.

As of February 28, 2012, Kellogg operated manufacturing plants and distribution and warehousing facilities totaling more than 30 million square feet of building area in the United States and other countries. Its manufacturing facilities in the United States include four cereal plants and warehouses located in Battle Creek, Michigan; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Memphis, Tennessee; Omaha, Nebraska and other plants or facilities in San Jose, California; Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, and Rome, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Seelyville, Indiana; Kansas City, Kansas; Florence, Louisville, and Pikeville, Kentucky; Grand Rapids and Wyoming, Michigan; Blue Anchor, New Jersey; Cary and Charlotte, North Carolina; Cincinnati, West Jefferson, and Zanesville, Ohio; Muncy, Pennsylvania; Rossville, Tennessee; Clearfield, Utah; and Allyn, Washington. As of February 28, 2012, outside the United States, the Company had, additional manufacturing locations, some with warehousing facilities, in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Germany, Great Britain, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, S! outh Africa, South Korea, Spain, Thailand and Venezuela.

The Company�� trademarks include Kellogg�� for cereals, convenience foods and its other products, and the brand names of certain ready-to-eat cereals, including All-Bran, Apple Jacks, Bran Buds, Cinnamon Crunch Crispix, Choco Zucaritas, Cocoa Krispies, Complete, Kellogg�� Corn Flakes, Corn Pops, Cracklin��Oat Bran, Crispix, Cruncheroos, Crunchmania, Crunchy Nut, Eggo, Kellogg�� FiberPlus, Froot Loops, Kellogg�� Frosted Flakes, Kellogg�� Krave, Frosted Krispies, Frosted Mini-Wheats, Fruit Harvest, Just Right, Kellogg�� Low Fat Granola, Mueslix, Pops, Product 19, Kellogg�� Raisin Bran, Raisin Bran Crunch, Rice Krispies, Rice Krispies Treats, Smacks/Honey Smacks, Smart Start, Kellogg�� Smorz, Special K, Special K Red Berries and Zucaritas in the United States and elsewhere; Crusli, Sucrilhos, Vector, Musli, NutriDia, and Choco Krispis for cereals in Latin America. Vive and Vector are brands in Canada; Coco Pops, Chocos, Frosties, Fruit�� Fibre, Kellogg�� Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes, Honey Loops, Kellogg�� Extra, Sustain, Muslix, Country Store, Ricicles, Smacks, Start, Pops, Optima and Tresor for cereals in Europe; and Cerola, Sultana Bran, Chex, Frosties, Goldies, Rice Bubbles, Nutri-Grain, Kellogg�� Iron Man Food, and BeBig for cereals in Asia and Australia. In additional, the Company trademarks are the names of certain combinations of ready-to-eat Kellogg�� cereals, including Fun Pak, Jumbo, and Variety.

Other Company brand names include Kellogg�� Corn Flake Crumbs; All-Bran, Choco Krispis, Froot Loops, Special K, NutriDia, Kuadri-Krispis, Zucaritas and Crusli for cereal bars, Komplete for biscuits; and Kaos for snacks in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America; Pop-Tarts and Pop-Tarts Ice Cream Shoppe for toaster pastries; Pop-Tarts Mini Crisps for crackers; Eggo, Eggo FiberPlus and Nutri-Grain for frozen waffles and pancakes; Rice Krispies Treats for baked snacks and convenience foods; Special K! and Spec! ial K2O for flavored protein water mixes and protein shakes, and Nutri-Grain cereal bars, Nutri-Grain yogurt bars, for convenience foods in the United States and elsewhere. Brands like K-Time, Rice Bubbles, Day Dawn, Be Natural, Sunibrite and LCMs for convenience foods in Asia and Australia; Nutri-Grain Squares, Nutri-Grain Elevenses, and Rice Krispies Squares for convenience foods in Europe; Kashi and GoLean for certain cereals, nutrition bars, and mixes; TLC for granola and cereal bars, crackers and cookies; Special K and Vector for meal replacement products; Bear Naked for granola cereal, bars and trail mix and Morningstar Farms, Loma Linda, Natural Touch, Gardenburger and Worthington for certain meat and egg alternatives. It also markets convenience foods under trademarks and trade names, which include Keebler, Austin, Keebler Baker�� Treasures, Cheez-It, Chips Deluxe, Club, E. L. Fudge, Famous Amos, Fudge Shoppe, Kellogg�� FiberPlus, Gripz, Jack��, Jackson��, Krispy, Mother��, Murray, Murray Sugar Free, Ready Crust, Right Bites, Sandies, Special K, Soft Batch, Stretch Island, Sunshine, Toasteds, Town House, Vienna Creams, Vienna Fingers, Wheatables and Zesta.

The Company�� trademarks also include logos and depictions of certain animated characters in conjunction with its products, including Snap!Crackle!Pop! for Cocoa Krispies and Rice Krispies cereals and Rice Krispies Treats convenience foods; Tony the Tiger for Kellogg�� Frosted Flakes, Zucaritas, Sucrilhos and Frosties cereals and convenience foods, and Ernie Keebler for cookies, convenience foods and other products. It also includes the Hollow Tree logo for certain convenience foods; Toucan Sam for Froot Loops cereal; Dig ��m for Smacks/Honey Smacks cereal; Sunny for Kellogg�� Raisin Bran and Raisin Bran Crunch cereals, Coco the Monkey for Coco Pops cereal; Cornelius for Kellogg�� Corn Flakes; Melvin the Elephant for certain cereal and convenience foods, and Chocos the Bear, Sammy the Seal (aka Smaxey the Seal! ) for cer! tain cereal products.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Kellogg (NYSE: K  ) reported earnings on May 2. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended March 30 (Q1), Kellogg missed estimates on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

Top 10 Consumer Stocks For 2014: Columbia Sportswear Company(COLM)

Columbia Sportswear Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, sourcing, marketing, and distribution of outdoor apparel, footwear, accessories, and equipment in the United States, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Canada. It provides apparel, accessories, and equipment for men, women, and youth under Columbia and Mountain Hardwear brands used during outdoor activities, such as skiing, snowboarding, hiking, climbing, mountaineering, camping, hunting, fishing, trail running, water sports, and adventure travel. The company also offers footwear products, including lightweight hiking boots, trail running shoes, rugged cold weather boots, sandals, and casual shoes for men and women under Columbia, Sorel, and Montrail brands, as well as for youth under the Columbia and Sorel brands. Columbia Sportswear Company sells its products through wholesale distribution channels, independent distributors, direct-to-consum er channels, and licensees, as well as online to independent distributors and consumers. As of December 31, 2011, it operated 43 outlet retail stores and 8 branded retail stores in the United States; 7 outlet retail stores and 3 branded retail stores in various locations in western Europe; and 2 outlet retail stores in Canada, as well as 111 and 236 dealer-operated, branded, outlet, and shop-in-shop locations in Japan and Korea. Columbia Sportswear Company was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Andrew Marder]

  Can VF scale the peak?
  The bar is high, and VF is now committed to hitting its impressive goal. Competitors are certainly not going to back down, and VF is going to be under pressure for the next five years. On its main front, expect VF to see a siege from rival brand Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ: COLM  ) and sporting champion Under Armour (NYSE: UA  ) .

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Columbia Sportswear (COLM) is engaged in the design, develop, market and distribute active outdoor apparel, footwear, accessories and equipment under four brands namely Columbia, Mountain Hardwear, Sorel and Montrail. This stock closed up 1% to $65.29 in Monday's trading session.

  Monday's Volume: 126,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 75,362
  
  Volume % Change: 50%

  From a technical perspective, COLM trended modestly higher here right above its 50-day moving average of $62.08 with above-average volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last five months, with shares pushing higher from its low of $54.66 to its recent high of $66.69. During that move, shares of COLM have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move is now pushing shares of COLM within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if COLM manages to take out some key near-term overhead resistance levels at $65.90 to its 52-week high at $66.69 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in COLM as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $62.08 or above more support at $61.75 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 75,362 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then COLM will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $70 to $75.

• [By John Kell]

  Columbia Sportswear Co.'s(COLM) fourth-quarter profit slipped 7% as an asset impairment charge weighed on the active outdoor apparel maker’s bottom line, masking a rise in revenue. Shares rose 6.4% to $83.70 premarket.

Top 10 Consumer Stocks For 2014: China Automotive Systems Inc.(CAAS)

China Automotive Systems, Inc., through its interests in Sino-foreign joint ventures, engages in the manufacture and sale of power steering systems and other component parts for the automotive industry in the People?s Republic of China. It offers a range of steering system parts for passenger automobiles and commercial vehicles. The company provides 4 separate series, 307 models of power steering, including rack and pinion power steering, integral power steering, electronic power steering and manual steering, steering columns, steering oil pumps, and steering hoses. China Automotive Systems, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Jing Zhou City, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Richard Schmidt]

  We admittedly bought into China Automotive Systems (CAAS) too soon. The stock is still down from our original recommendation price, but the future looks very bright.

Top 10 Consumer Stocks For 2014: Tootsie Roll Industries Inc.(TR)

Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products primarily in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company sells its products under the TOOTSIE ROLL, TOOTSIE ROLL POPS, CHILD?S PLAY, CARAMEL APPLE POPS, CHARMS, BLOW-POP, BLUE RAZZ, ZIP-A-DEE POPS, CELLA?S, MASON DOTS, MASON CROWS, JUNIOR MINT, CHARLESTON CHEW, SUGAR DADDY, SUGAR BABIES, ANDES, FLUFFY STUFF, DUBBLE BUBBLE, RAZZLES, CRY BABY, and NIK-L-NIP. It distributes its products through candy and grocery brokers to the wholesale distributors of candy and groceries, supermarkets, variety stores, dollar stores, chain grocers, drug chains, discount chains, cooperative grocery associations, warehouse and membership club stores, vending machine operators, and the U. S. military and fund-raising charitable organizations. The company was founded in 1896 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Leave the wrapper on
  The returns on confectioner Tootsie Roll Industries (NYSE: TR  ) have certainly been sweet for investors over the past year. You have to go back to the summer of 2010 to find sugar prices that were as low as they are now,�which has played a good part in helping Tootsie Roll keep that aspect of its costs down. But taking a bigger view of what's going on with Tootsie Roll and comparing that to its current valuation creates a sour taste in my mouth.

• [By Rich Smith]

  At the same time, tiny Tootsie Roll (NYSE: TR  ) may see its sales grow as little as 13% through 2016. Could it be that in the candy industry, bigger is better? Does Hershey lack the scale to compete effectively against mammoth Mondelez?

Top 10 Consumer Stocks For 2014: Kandi Technolgies Corp.(KNDI)

Kandi Technologies Corp., through its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, manufacture, and commercialization of off-road vehicles, motorcycles, mini-cars, and special automobile related products. Its off-road vehicles include all-terrain vehicles, specialized utility vehicles, and go-karts. The company sells its products through third-party and independent distributors in the People?s Republic of China, Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Kandi Technologies Corp. is based in Jinhua, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  The latest green or electric car news is naturally dominated by the latest earnings report from Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA), but there is actually plenty of other industry news to consider along with news from small cap electric�vehicle stocks like�Kandi Technologies Group Inc (NASDAQ: KNDI) and Green Automotive Co (OTCMKTS: GACR) to hit the newswires in the first few days of this week to also consider:

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Shares of Kandi Technolgies Group (NASDAQ: KNDI) got a boost, shooting up 10.45 percent to $16.26 on report of a 238% rise in EV sales.

  URS (NYSE: URS) shares were also up, gaining 9.60 percent to $57.01 after Aecom Technology (NYSE: ACM) announced its plans to buy URS for $4 billion in cash and stock.

Top 10 Consumer Stocks For 2014: Monsanto Co (MON)

Monsanto Company (Monsanto), incorporated on February 9, 2000, along with its subsidiaries, is a provider of agricultural products for farmers. The Company's seeds, biotechnology trait products, and herbicides provide farmers with solutions that improve productivity, reduce the costs of farming, and produce better foods for consumers and better feed for animals. It manages business in two segments: Seeds and Genomics, and Agricultural Productivity. In April 2010, the Company completed the acquisition of a corn and soybean processing plant located in Paine, Chile from Anasac, a company that provides seed processing services. In October 2009, the Company completed the acquisition of Seminium, S.A. (Seminium), a corn seed company. In February 2011, the Company acquired Divergence, Inc. In September 2011, the Company acquired Beeologics. In June 2012, the Company purchased a planting technology developer, Precision Planting, Inc. In January 2013, it purchased select assets of Agradis, Inc. In June 2013, Monsanto Company acquired GrassRoots Biotechnology Inc. In November 2013, the Company announced that it has completed the acquisition of The Climate Corporation.

Seeds and Genomics Segment

Through the Company's Seeds and Genomics segment, it produces seed brands, including DEKALB, Asgrow, Deltapine, Seminis and De Ruiter, and it develops biotechnology traits that assist farmers in controlling insects and weeds. It also provides other seed companies with genetic material and biotechnology traits for their seed brands. It has a global distribution and sales and marketing organization for its seeds and traits. It sells products under Monsanto brands and license technology and genetic material to others for sale under their own brands. Through distributors, independent retailers and dealers, agricultural cooperatives, plant raisers, and agents, it markets DEKALB, Asgrow and Deltapine branded germplasm to farmers globally. In the United States, it markets regional seed brands under it! s American Seeds, LLC and Channel Bio, LLC businesses to farmers directly, as well as through dealers, agricultural cooperatives and agents. It markets and sells trait technologies with branded germplasm, pursuant to license agreements with its farmer customers. In Brazil and Paraguay, its has implemented a point-of-delivery, grain-based payment system. It contracts with grain handlers to collect applicable trait fees when farmers deliver their grain. In addition to selling its products under its own brands, the Company licenses a range of germplasm and trait technologies to large and small seed companies in the United States and certain international markets. Those seed companies in turn market its trait technologies in their branded germplasm; they may also market its germplasm under its own brand name. Its vegetable seeds are marketed in more than 100 countries through distributors, independent retailers and dealers, agricultural cooperatives, plant raisers and agents, as well as directly to farmers.

The Company�� row crop seeds brands include DEKALB, Channel Bio, Asgrow and Deltapine. Its DEKALB and Channel Bio are corn hybrids and foundation seed. Its Asgrow are soybean varieties and foundation seed. Its Deltapine are cotton varieties, hybrids and foundation seed. Canola is its row crop variety and hybrid. Its vegetable seed brands are Seminis and De Ruiter. These are open field and protected-culture seed for tomato, pepper, eggplant, melon, cucumber, pumpkin, squash, beans, broccoli, onions, and lettuce, among others. Its Biotechnology traits include SmartStax, YieldGard, YieldGard VT Triple, VT Triple PRO, VT Double PRO, Roundup Ready and Roundup Ready 2 Yield and Genuity. Its SmartStax, YieldGard, YieldGard VT Triple, VT Triple PRO and VT Double PRO have applications for corn, and Bollgard and Bollgard II have application for cotton. It enables crops to protect themselves from borers and rootworm in corn and leaf- and boll-feeding worms in cotton, reducing the need for application! s of inse! cticides. Its Roundup Ready and Roundup Ready 2 Yield have application for soybeans. The Company�� Genuity is a global umbrella trait brand. It enables crops, such as corn, soybeans, cotton, and canola to be tolerant of Roundup and other glyphosate-based herbicides. Monsanto also offers farmers stacked-trait products, which are single-seed products in which two or more traits are combined.

Agricultural Productivity Segment

Through the Company's Agricultural Productivity segment, it manufactures Roundup brand herbicides and other herbicides and provide lawn-and-garden herbicide products for the residential market. Its products include Glyphosate-based herbicides, Selective herbicides and Lawn-and-garden herbicides. Its Glyphosate-based herbicides have applications in nonselective agricultural, industrial, ornamental and turf applications for weed control. Its Selective herbicides control preemergent annual grass and small seeded broadleaf weeds in corn and other crops. Its residential lawn-and-garden has applications for weed control. It uses the same distribution and sales and marketing organization for its crop protection products as for its seeds and traits. It also has separate distribution and sales and marketing organizations for its crop protection products. It sells crop protection products through distributors, independent retailers and dealers and agricultural cooperatives. In some cases outside the United States, it sells such products directly to farmers. It also sells certain of the chemical intermediates of its crop protection products to other agricultural chemical producers, who then market their own branded products to farmers. The Company markets its lawn-and-garden herbicide products through The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Reuters]

  Danny Johnston/AP General Mills said it has stopped using genetically modified ingredients in the popular breakfast cereal Cheerios as the U.S. branded foods manufacturer hopes the move will firm up customer loyalty in the face of growing opposition to such additives. Many activists and critics have cited studies showing that genetically modified crops aren't safe for people and animals who consume them. Some activist groups opposing genetically modified food also say the crops create environmental problems by encouraging more use of certain agro chemicals, and consumers should have the right to know what they are buying. However, General Mills (GIS), which also makes Betty Crocker dessert mixes and Yoplait yoghurt, said in a company blog post Thursday that its decision on ingredients wasn't driven by safety concerns or pressure from critics. "It's not about safety. Biotech seeds, also known as genetically modified seeds, have been approved by global food safety agencies and widely used by farmers in global food crops for almost 20 years," the General Mills blog said. The Minneapolis-based company said it has begun using non-genetically modified cornstarch and non-genetically modified sugar in Cheerios, adding that oats, the primary ingredient, is a crop that is not grown from genetically modified seeds. The company hopes that "consumers may embrace" its decision to move away from genetically modified ingredients. In November, a Washington state ballot measure that would have required labeling of foods containing genetically modified crops didn't win wide approval. A consortium including General Mills, Nestle USA, PepsiCo (PEP), Monsanto (MON), DuPont (DD) and other corporate giants, were key contributors to the roughly $22 million raised to campaign against the bill. Pre-made soups can contain a large number of ingredients containing GMOs. For instance, Campbell's (CPB) popular condensed Tomato Soup lists high fructose corn syrup as its second bi

• [By Grace L. Williams]

  We��e saved Monsanto (MON) for last. The sometimes controversial, often inflammatory maker of agriculture ��tuff��was downgraded by JPMorgan today after reporting a quarterly profit of $368 million, or 69 cents a share on revenue of $3.14 billion, beating analysts��expectations of 64 cents a share on revenue of $3.08 a share.

• [By Stephen Leeb]

  The two largest holdings in the MOO portfolio are Monsanto (MON) and Swiss-based Syngenta (SYT). Both of these companies are leaders in the biotech aspect of agriculture and produce pesticides as well as pesticide-resistant seeds.

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  Ismagilov/Shutterstock There aren't many companies that consumers generally love, but whether it's controversial operating practices, notorious executives or unpopular business models, there are plenty of companies that aren't doing right by consumer perceptions. Every year, Consumerist offers up 32 candidates to see determine the business that is the most despised. Companies are paired up in tournament fashion, and readers vote. Let's take a look at the final four contenders in Consumerist's 2014 Worst Company in America tourney. 4. Walmart (WMT) The world's largest retailer may be a haven of cheap prices, but it's also a popular target for the low wages it pays out and its skimpy benefits. Activists are calling for Walmart to provide living wages to all of its hires, asking it to boost its starting wage to $15 an hour. Walmart counters that it's already doing its part. It employees 2.2 million associates globally, with 1.3 million of those in the United States. Every Walmart Supercenter creates 300 jobs. Yes, the front-line pay stinks, but 75 percent of its store managers -- earning between $50,000 and $170,000 a year -- started out as hourly associates. Consumers don't see it in the same positive light, however: Walmart has posted five consecutive quarters of declining comparable store sales. 3. SeaWorld (SEAS) The marine life theme park operator came under fire after last year's "Blackfish" documentary called out SeaWorld's problems with having killer whales in captivity. SeaWorld countered by arguing that "Blackfish" was more propaganda than documentary, pointing out fallacies that were presented as facts in the film. The public isn't buying it. SeaWorld's attendance declined 4 percent last year when the rest of the theme park industry posted gains in turnstile clicks. Attendance fell even harder during the first three months of this year, but the timing of the Easter holiday and iffy weather helped keep patrons away. 2. Monsanto (MON) For better

Top 10 Consumer Stocks For 2014: Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd (STBFY)

Suntory Beverage & Food Limited is principally engaged in the manufacture and sale of beverages and food. The Company operates in two geographical segments. The Domestic segment is engaged in the manufacture and sale of various soft drinks within Japan, such as coffee drinks, mineral water, green tea drinks, tea drinks, carbonated drinks, fruit juice drinks, functional beverages, milk beverages, and food for specified health use, as well as syrup for general and business usage. The International segment is engaged in the manufacture and sale of carbonated drinks, fruit juice drinks, health food, seasoning, tea-based beverages and others, with operations in Europe, Oceania, Asia and the Americas. As of May 29, 2013, the Company had 80 subsidiaries and 10 associated companies. On October 15, 2013, the Company acquired Lucozade Ribena Suntory Limited. On December 12, 2013, the Company acquired Suntory Beverage & Food Europe Limited. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Charles Sizemore]

  Let�� start with Suntory Beverage & Food Limited (STBFY),which recently completed its acquisition of�Beam Inc., formerly the purest play on bourbon. Beam was the owner of the eponymous Jim Beam brand, as well as the higher-end Maker�� Mark and Knob Creek and the lower-end Old Crow.�Suntory is Japan�� leading spirits company, though most Americans will be unfamiliar with its Japanese whisky brands, such as Yamazaki and Hakushu. (Note for booze snobs: Japanese whisky��ike Scotch and Canadian whisky��s correctly spelled ��hisky.��American bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and Irish whiskey are correctly spelled ��hiskey.��