Dollar duds: Surging dollar may hurt consumer multinationals

``The firm downgraded staples brands Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble from neutral to sell ratings in two reports Monday, and shares of both fell about 1 percent during the trading session. A stronger U.S. dollar was a principal concern in its downgrade of Coca-Cola. For Procter & Gamble, its price-to-earnings ratio of 21.6 times earnings was deemed too rich. A strengthening U.S. dollar means that sales in foreign currencies translates into less domestic revenue.''