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Democratic leaders secured the last two votes to move ahead on historic health care legislation, clearing the way for a Saturday night showdown on President Barack Obama's top domestic initiative. In long-awaited speeches, centrist Sens. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana said they would stand with their party and vote "yes" on the crucial test vote despite deep reservations with elements of the 2,074-page bill to remake the nation's health care system.

"The truth is this issue is very complex. There is no easy fix and it's imperative that we build on what's already working in health care in America," Lincoln told her Senate colleagues. Hours earlier, Landrieu had delivered her news. The two represent votes 59 and 60 for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. (pictured), who needs that many in the 100-member Senate to go forward. The Senate's 40 Republicans are unanimously opposed.

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Kisses from Hershey: Candymaker may court Cadbury with $17 billion bid

By Douglas McIntyre | Nov 21st 2009, 12:08PM EST Filed Under: Company News, Kraft Foods, Hershey

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 and include more cash than what Kraft Foods Inc. has offered."

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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 after its founder was arrested with many others. I think it's great the SEC is starting to focus on the problem. I hope the fear of getting caught will stop insider trading by hedge funds altogether.

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Seven reasons to expect a slow-growth U.S. economy ahead

By Joseph Lazzaro | Nov 22nd 2009, 3:00PM EST Filed Under: Economy

Is the United States headed for a "new normal" -- a slow-growth economy that lasts perhaps for as long as a decade? The evidence supporting the "new normal" argument, predicting a future in which the U.S. GDP grows at no more than 2.0% to 2.5% per year, is compelling. That low growth rate would constrain corporate revenue and earnings growth, and stock prices, among other consequences.

The U.S. has already registered below-trend GDP growth at this recovery's start - just 3.5% in Q3, as opposed to the more than 6% GDP growth typically registered in an expansion's initial stage. Here's why the slow-growth conditions might continue:

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FDIC Chair Sheila Bair has it right: It's time to change bankers' incentives

By Peter Cohan | Nov 22nd 2009, 2:00PM EST Filed Under: Economy, Investing

fdic-chair-sheila-bair-has-it-right-its-time-to-change-bankers-incentives I have to hand it to FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair -- the former UMass economics professor gets it right on key policy issues. She is right about ending the doctrine of too-big-to-fail, and now she is proposing an idea that I've been pushing with no effect for years. That idea is to align the interests of the banks that bundle assets and sell them as securities -- so-called asset-backed securities -- with those of ABS investors.

Before getting into the details of her proposal, I should disclose that I am not entirely objective in analyzing it. I worked with the FDIC back in the early 1980s to help build a system to manage the liquidation of the assets the FDIC gets when it helps find partners to absorb failed banks. And I have posted repeatedly about the idea of putting bankers' pay in escrow as a way to align the interests of those who create investments with those who buy them.

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In movie theaters everywhere: 'Attack of the Artery-Clogging Popcorn'

By Sarah Gilbert | Nov 21st 2009, 4:00PM EST Filed Under: Company News, Healthcare

The biggest horror show in movie theaters right now is not on screens but in the tubs of popcorn resting in audience members' laps, if you ask one consumer advocate. Snacking on a medium popcorn and soda at one of Regal Entertainment Group's (RGC) cinemas is the nutritional equivalent of eating three McDonald's (MCD) Quarter Pounders slathered with 12 pats of butter, says the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

The twist in the plot? Both Regal and AMC -- the nation's No. 1 and No. 2 theater chains -- understate the calories in their popcorn servings by big amounts, according to laboratory analyses commissioned by the nonprofit. Regal, for example, indicates its medium popcorn is 720 calories, while its large is 960 calories, the center says. But both medium and large sizes end up containing about 1,200 calories, the Washington, D.C. outfit says. And because the kernels are popped in coconut oil, they contain 60 grams of saturated fat -- three times the daily recommended allowance, the group adds. "You might think you're getting Bambi, but you're really getting Godzilla," says Jayne Hurley, the center's senior nutritionist.

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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

fed-stalls-on-chinese-bank-deal-costs-taxpayers-billions

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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