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Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that they have raised its rating on Tupperware Brands(NYSE: TUP).

The rating, including its corporate credit rating went from BB to BB+ which basically means that financial security is adequate, but capacity to meet long-term policies might still be vulnerable. vulnerable. The added plus means that Tupperware is on the upside of the rating and that the outlook for the future performance of the company is good.

Tupperware has continued to improve its operating performance over the last two quarters and the company has continued to make an effort to reduce their debt, this led S&P to remove the issue level rating from Credit watch as it expects the company will continue on an upward path.

While S&P feels that Tupperware has made significant improvement, they still feel that it will be necessary to keep a close eye on the company. Tupperware has continued to steadily improve, however the direct sales industry continues to be highly competitive and at times volatile. The outlook for the company is good and will remain stable for the foreseeable future.

‘The ratings on Tupperware continue to reflect the risks of direct-sales distribution and the company’s participation in the highly competitive cosmetics industry,’ said Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Christopher Johnson. But, he said, ‘the company’s moderate financial policies, improving credit protection measures, its product and geographic diversity, along with its well-known brand name and premium product position in the mature molded-plastic storage category, offset these factors.’

Tupperware’s stock has actually had a pretty good run giving the economy and the performance isnt too bad. The stock is up about 20% over the past 52 weeks and continues to have some decent support as well.

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NBTY- a global wellness and nutritional supplement company based out of Bohemia, NY - saw its stock take a sharp fall last Friday after announcing that shares of NBTY Inc missed Wall Street’s expectations.

NBTY operates both with the network marketing platform and through retail sales. The company operates under NBTY and is also marketed other third party brands, including Vitamin World and Natures Bounty. The global company offers offer 22,000 products and nutritional supplements.

Late last week, NBTY reported that their earning for the period ending March 31st fell 23 percent to $44.2 million, compared with $57.4 million from a year earlier.

While many industry experts feel that the decline in earning and shares is most likely a timing issue, the company blamed increasing costs of advertising, as well as selling, general and administrative costs as the cause of the decline in earnings.

In the next few weeks, many of the larger Network Marketing Companies will be reporting their earnings. So far, the news has not been as stellar as either the industry or Wall Street has predicted with the exception of Avon. Generally speaking Network Marketing companies do well in tough economic times as people need extra income. Many companies see a large rise in the number of distributors. We will see in the next few weeks whether the increase in distributors translates into dollars for the companies.

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In news that we have been anticipating, Avon’s First-Quarter Beauty Sales Grew 17%; Active Representatives Increased 14%.

The company reported today that first-quarter 2008 total revenue grew 14% year over year (6% in local currency) to $2.5 billion. Sales of Beauty products rose 17%. Active Representatives increased 14%. Units sold were up 3% versus the prior-year quarter.

The company’s 17% growth in Beauty sales included increases in all categories: Fragrance grew 20%, Color was up 15%, Personal Care rose 15% and Skin Care increased 13%.

This is really great news for both Avon and for the sector as a whole. We reported that USANA had some hiccups in the first quarter but companies like Avon, Nu Skin and Herbalife were also bell-weather stocks for the industry and this is very positive news.

Andrea Jung, chairman and CEO, commented, “Again this quarter we produced solid results on the momentum of our turnaround plan and the strength of our well-balanced geographic portfolio. Active Representative growth accelerated to one of the highest growth levels in many years, 14%.”

Some other highlights:

Latin America’s first-quarter revenue rose 32% year over year (19% in local currency)

Brazil’s revenue increased nearly 60%, and the markets of Colombia and Venezuela each posted revenue growth of over 20%.

Revenue in China grew 29%

The only negative was the decline in sales in North America (6%) over the period of the previous year. The company attributed the loss to the weakening economy and “service-related problems in filling Representatives’ orders.” - We were a bit curious about this one because we hadn’t heard of such problems but seemed a bit odd. The company did offer guidance that they expect the second quarter to be healthier.

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Jim Cramer, of CNBC’s MAD MONEY, celebrated the Third Anniversary of his show, last week with an in-depth look at stocks, especially stock to choose during what many expect to be the worst recession since the end of World War II. Cramer chose three stocks from the Direct Selling World, Avon (AVP), Herbalife (HLF), Tupperware (TUP), as some of his favorites.

Cramer explained that during a recession companies like those, and other involved in the direct sales world generally tend to do better. The reason? During recession when many companies downsize, people who are out of work, or who have taken a pay-cut, are looking for other means of income. These 3 companies have global exposure and are the most well known.

When people are choosing a second source of income, the 3 companies Cramer suggested, immediately come to mind due to their longevity, good reputation and availability worldwide. These companies and others like them generally profit from a weak dollar.

Cramer is especially fond of Tupperware because 85% of its sales come from overseas and the stock has gone up 6% since January. Cramer thinks this is a good buy because the stock has recently pulled back a bit, giving people a good entry point to purchase the stock. Cramer also likes Herbalife, the nutricutical company, whose stock has gone up $10 a share since November, but he warns against purchasing now and instead recommends waiting for a dip in the stock. Avon is also a good buy because like Tupperware a large portion of its sales come from overseas. 75% of Avon’s Sales come from international sales and the company will soon be expanding into Brazil and China.

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