Mark Fightmaster
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So, on Friday I took a look at the potential of some Super Bowl advertisements, which leaves today to digest the commercials and say who we thought had the best commercial.

First things first, congratulations New Orleans -- what a win. Second of all, I need to make an editorial comment before I reveal my thoughts on the best commercial: what's up with all the guys in their underwear? I saw enough tighty whities in the span of two minutes during the first half to last the rest of my life. I know one thing, I am not going to go to CareerBuilder.com or wear Dockers thanks to the visage of pasty white men in their underwear standing at the water cooler or singing about pants.

Who's ready for some football? The Super Bowl is this weekend, and you know what that means -- commercials that we will all be talking about on Monday morning. In fact, we all know someone who says they watch the game for the commercials.

CBS announced earlier this week that it sold out all the in-game spots, but a few pre- and post-game spots remained. How much money did this make for CBS (CBS)? Roughly $200 million, and that is a low-end estimate. We all know why advertisers flock to the Super Bowl, as more than 98.7 million viewers tuned in last year. No matter who is in the Super Bowl, people watch the game and the commercials -- and eventually they may buy the products from the ads.

Well, this was a nice surprise ... the unemployment rate fell to 9.7% in January from 10% in December, according to the Labor Department. This is good news, as expectations were for the unemployment rate to hold at 10% -- so some people are finding some jobs somewhere.

That said, the number of nonfarm payrolls dropped by 20,000 while expectations called for a gain of 25,000. With stock futures limiting some of their early morning losses, it looks as if investors and analysts are holding on to the unemployment rate news rather than the news that more jobs were lost than expected.

Internet search behemoth Google (GOOG) is looking for ways to help ward off cyberattacks, and it appears that they have turned to the National Security Agency (NSA).

According to the Washington Post, an agreement between the two is being finalized. The agreement would help Google with its recent "corporate espionage attack" that it believes originated in China. This attack targeted the company's computer networks. The alliance would help Google, and its users, from any future attacks.

Goldman Sachs has elevated McDonald's (MCD) to conviction buy from buy and upped its 12-month price target to $75 from $73.

According to the brokerage, McDonald's is weathering the current economic crisis thanks to a combination of positive same-store sales and accelerating margin gains. Goldman added that consensus estimates underappreciate this fact, which should bring about some upward earnings revisions during 2010.

Yesterday was a good day for Baidu (BIDU), the Chinese Internet search portal, after some Wall Street analysts noted that the departure of Google (GOOG) from China could "benefit Baidu tremendously."

BIDU has traded well in the United States, hovering in the upper reaches of the $380 region -- but GOOG's decision to operate in China without censoring local search results after recent cyber attacks pushed BIDU as high as $470 before the stock settled into the lower $400s.

Just when you have had enough of hearing about Apple's (AAPL) iPad, I have something else for you. It seems Steve Jobs may have issued a bit of a surprise at yesterday's iPad unveiling. The surprise? The price. According to the ValleyWag blog, some Apple bigwigs were told that the price of the iPad was pegged at $399 -- not the $499 that Steve Jobs revealed.

Is this true? It wouldn't be the first time that a rumor like this circulated. The first comment brings up the rumor that the Macintosh was set to carry a price tag of $999, but that Steve Jobs pulled a fast one -- doubling the price thanks to the marketing of the computer. Is this a substantiated story? No, it ranks up in the pantheon of lore like the cocaine in Coca-Cola.