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Hershey (HSY) is an odd sort of company. Its governance is not in the hands of its board of directors. A charity called the Hershey Trust, established in 1894, effectively decides how the confectionery company is run and who will run it. Hershey has its own board, but in some ways it is close to a symbolic body set up to satisfy U.S. Securities and Exchange regulations.

The trust is starting to push the maker of Hershey's Kisses and Reese's peanut butter cups to make a bid for United Kingdom-based candy and chocolates giant Cadbury (CBY). Kraft (KFT) has already made an offer of $16.5 billion, which Cadbury says is inadequate. According to an exclusive report in The Wall Street Journal, "The charitable trust that controls Hershey Co. is pushing the chocolate giant to launch a rival, $17 billion bid for Cadbury PLC that would be bigger...

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D-Day for Harry Reid: Can he wrangle 60 votes for Senate health reform bill?

By Joseph Lazzaro | Nov 20th 2009, 7:05PM EST Filed Under: Economy

Perhaps Ringo Starr should attend Saturday night's start to the debate over the health care reform bill in the Senate. After all, it was Starr who first uttered the malapropism that later became a hit song (and movie) by The Beatles -- A Hard Day's Night. Saturday evening may shape up to be just that in the upper house of Congress.

For clues regarding the bill's destiny, look for key, early maneuvering. Bill author Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, has to retain all 60 members of the Democratic Conference (58 Democrats, two Independents) to pass a procedural vote. If even one conference member strays -- and can't be persuaded to change the vote -- the health care reform bill won't even make it to the Senate floor for debate.

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Why is Oprah going to cable? Hint: It's nothing to get teary about

By Peter Cohan | Nov 21st 2009, 12:11PM EST Filed Under: General Electric , Walt Disney

Oprah Winfrey is a smart cookie. I am guessing she knows all too well that you can make more money in cable than you can on a TV network. If it's like other cable networks, her new Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), which she co-owns with Discovery Communications (DISCA), will be much more profitable than the TV networks.

And her departure from her popular show will cost those TV networks big money. How much? Show broadcaster, Walt Disney's (DIS) ABC, will lose millions in ad revenues, according to the New York Times. CBS Corp. (CBS), which owns Oprah's syndication rights, will similarly lose millions.

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The SEC can't let up in its newly invigorated battle against insider trading

By Peter Cohan | Nov 21st 2009, 9:00AM EST Filed Under: Investing, General Electric , Microsoft, Morgan Stanley

Recent revelations about alleged insider trading at hedge funds make me wonder if the average investor has a fair shot at investing in stocks. The most recent story pertains to a $15 billion hedge fund that closed back in May. And last month, the $3.7 billion Galleon hedge fund was shuttered in the wake of the arrest of its founder and many others.

I think it's great that the SEC is starting to focus on this problem, and I hope that the fear of getting caught will stop the practice of insider trading by hedge funds altogether.

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When chefs become rock stars, they take their pots and pans on tour

By Jonathan Berr | Nov 21st 2009, 11:00AM EST Filed Under: Economy, Media, McDonald's

Guy Fieri looks like a rock star and talks like one. Now, the chef is touring like one too.

The Food Network star, who burst on the scene in 2006 when he won the Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. (SNI) cable channel's competition for new culinary talent, is taking his pots and pans on the road. He even has an "opening act" Australian flair bartender Hayden Wood.

"I can do demos standing on my head," Fieri told DailyFinance in an interview, insisting that he is not acting either on TV or the stage. "I don't know whether I would be such a good actor...I am always having a good time."

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Majority of states see unemployment rates move higher in October

By David Schepp | Nov 20th 2009, 5:00PM EST Filed Under: Economy, People

Given that the nation's overall unemployment rate rose to its highest level in decades in October, it's perhaps not surprising that a majority of states reported higher numbers of joblessness last month compared to September, according to fresh data released Friday from the U.S. Department of Labor. In 13 states the rate topped the national average of 10.2%, leaving many to wonder when the economic recovery that is reportedly underway will finally result in more jobs.

Overall joblessness rose in 29 states and the District of Columbia last month, while the rate fell in 13 states, according to the survey. In September, 23 states and Washington D.C. reported that their unemployment rates increased, and 14 states had jobless rates above the national average.

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Fed stalls on Chinese bank deal, costs taxpayers $1.7 billion

By Tim Catts | Nov 20th 2009, 4:40PM EST Filed Under: Economy

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With regulators having seized 123 banks so far this year, one might think the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. would be looking everywhere to find potential buyers for failed financial institutions' deposits and assets. But there's one place to which they're apparently not quite ready to turn: China.

When San Francisco-based United Commercial Bank failed on Nov. 9, the Fed was weighing an application by Chinese bank Minsheng to step in and take it over. But while it considered whether Chinese regulators were prepared to oversee a bank with operations on both sides of the Pacific, time ran out and UCB was shut down.

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With a name like Smucker, the stock's got to be good

By Dan Burrows | Nov 20th 2009, 4:20PM EST Filed Under: Company News, Investing, Earnings, Stock Picks

Cash-strapped consumers are eating more meals at home and that's slathering J.M. Smucker's (SJM) bottom line in sweet, sticky profits.

The packaged-food maker said Friday that fiscal second-quarter earnings boomed more than 170%, blowing past Wall Street's estimates by 18 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters. Even more impressive, revenue leaped by 52%.

Smucker may be best known for its eponymous jams and jellies -- other brands include Jif, Hungry Jack, Crisco and Pillsbury -- but it's the Folgers coffee business the company acquired from Procter & Gamble (PG) last year that's jolting growth.

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Massucci's Take: Twitter CEO says Murdoch's Google plan is doomed

By Anthony Massucci | Nov 20th 2009, 4:00PM EST Filed Under: Company News, Technology, People, Media, Google , Apple, News Corp.

Twitter co-founder and CEO Biz Stone said Thursday that Rupert Murdoch's potential plan to block Google from searching New Corp.'s (NWS) websites is doomed to fail. Murdoch has accused Google (GOOG) of stealing content from his publications, which include The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post in the U.S., and The Times and The Sun in the United Kingdom. The cantankerous tycoon said last week that blocking Google could be part of his strategy to get more people to pay for content online.

Here's a young man, all of 35, who runs a company that makes no money, telling an old man, 78, who runs companies that have made billions, that he is wrong. But while it's easy to dismiss Stone's comments as youthful bravado, I think he's giving Murdoch some valuable advice.

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Green Turismo: To save the Earth and save gas, turn cars into video games

By Alex Salkever | Nov 20th 2009, 3:40PM EST Filed Under: Energy, Technology, Economy, Green

My friend has a Tesla Roadster. For those who are unfamiliar with Tesla Motors, the Roadster is the Ferrari of the electric-vehicle world, a high-performance two-seater with more sex appeal than Mae West. How ironic, then, that my friend pines for her old Honda Insight, a dinky little hybrid that has been a commercial failure but remains a cult favorite among the green car set. Why would any sane, hedonistic California resident wish their Ferrari were a Chevy Chevette?

Because the Insight had a wonderful feature that told her how efficiently she was driving. That feature was a light on her dash that glowed green when she was driving smoothly, braking gradually, and accelerating at a moderate piece. It glowed red when she drove like a bat out of hell, braked hard, and turned sharply. While driving her clunky little Insight, her focus was on how to make that light stay green.

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Philip Morris gets snuffed on a $300 million verdict for a former smoker

By Melly Alazraki | Nov 20th 2009, 3:00PM EST Filed Under: Company News, Altria Group

A Florida woman on Thursday won a $300 million judgment against Altria Group's (MO) unit Philip Morris USA -- the largest award yet among 8,000 lawsuits filed in the state against tobacco companies. Jurors took three hours to return the award to Cindy Naugle, 61, of Ft. Lauderdale, a former smoker who was given $56.6 million in compensatory damages and $244 million in punitive damages. Philip Morris is responsible for all of the punitive damages and for 90% of the compensatory ones. The jury found Naugle 10% at fault.

Naugle says she started smoking at 20 in 1968 and made repeated attempts to quit, finally succeeding in 1993. Today, she has emphysema, requires a 24-hour oxygen and must travel in a wheelchair.

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