"While stocks have moved up and down sharply in recent months, minibonds have just kept bobbling along, still paying their big dividends and accruing cash to keep paying those dividends," says income advisor Neil George.

The editor of The Pay Me Strategy explains, "You might be surprised to learn how large the universe of minibonds is; there are always new opportunities to add to your minibond collection. Take a peek at what I've found and perhaps take a nibble or two.

For example, media companies CBS (RBV) and Viacom (VNV) have both had to deal with cost containment challenges while trying to bolster revenues from their audiences and advertisers.

Shareholders of Disney (DIS) are looking forward to a little boost this

Sunday. The television series Lost is coming to an end, and there is a lot of celebratory buzz surrounding the send-off. I've never really sat down to watch the show (at least, not an entire episode all the way through), but I actually may watch the last moments of the final episode in the quizzical universe. Yes, the buzz has apparently sucked me in, too.

Yet, I have a thought to propose to the media industry: Should Disney charge viewers to see the finale?

Walt Disney company (DIS), the media giant that competes with CBS (CBS), General Electric's (GE) NBC Universal, and News Corp. (NWS), reported Q2 earnings after the bell on Tuesday. After reviewing them, I think it's safe to say management did a good job of delivering a solid quarter. But . . . what about the stock?

That's the big question mark. During yesterday's after-hours session, the stock was down 3.5%, or over a buck at one point. Obviously we'll have to wait and see where the shares end on Wednesday after the regular session to get a better feel for what the traders think, but there's no question that the Mouse has had a slightly rough time in the last several sessions.

Disney (DIS) purchased Marvel Entertainment last year, and the first release since that corporate marriage was consummated, Iron Man 2, opened this past weekend at domestic theaters. The project dominated the screens, as it was expected to do. According to estimates at Box Office Mojo, the movie, which is distributed by Viacom (VIA), brought in about $133 million.

The rest of the weekend's features all made less than $10 million; talk about an unfair fight. Time Warner's (TWX) A Nightmare on Elm Street came in second with $9 million. DreamWorks Animation's (DWA) How to Train Your Dragon, also distributed by Viacom, was third, grossing over $6 million. News Corp.'s (NWS) Date Night took up the fourth spot, while CBS (CBS) Films and The Back-Up Plan did enough business to secure position number five.

CBS (CBS), the famous broadcaster whose competitors include Disney (DIS), General Electric's (GE) NBC Universal, and News Corp. (NWS), reported Q1 earnings after the bell on Wednesday. This afternoon, the stock is firmly in the red: at the time of this writing, shares were down over 4% to $14.93. Below $15, can you believe it? Volume is very strong with more than two hours to go before the close of regular activities, so by the time this is published, volume might end up being quite impressive.

The 52-week high on the stock is $16.98. The market has been discounting better times ahead for the company, as the following one-year chart seems to indicate.

News Corp. (NWS), a media conglomerate whose colleagues include CBS (CBS), Disney (DIS), General Electric's (GE) NBC Universal, Time Warner (TWX), and Viacom (VIA), issued its Q3 report Tuesday after the bell. I thought things looked pretty good.

Net sales increased 19%, and net income calculated out to 32 cents per share; Bloomberg Businessweek says the expectation was for around 23 cents per share of profit. Very cool. If you reference the actual press release, you'll see that just about all the operating segments performed extremely well on a year-over-year basis.

Time Warner (TWX) had a nice weekend. According to Box Office Mojo, the studio's Clash of the Titans spectacle retained its number-one position, bringing in $26.6 million at domestic theaters. At first, it seemed as if News Corp.'s (NWS) Date Night was going to be the top picture, but it ended up settling for second place after the final numbers came in (it was eventually credited with $25.2 million).

Besides that, the other news story this week is the apparent deal between Time Warner's TBS and Conan O'Brien; he'll create a new talk show for that network to debut sometime this November. This got me thinking about Time Warner and its stock: is it a buy right now?

The FOMC not only kept rates at near-zero, the FOMC promised again that an "extended period" was left in the statement with a 9-1 vote to leave rates unchanged. Today was one of those days where overseas markets were up on Greece debt hopes, and the negative DJIA in the morning reversed itself for gains most of the day.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,685.98 +43.83 (0.41%) S&P 500 1,159.46 +8.95 (0.78%) Nasdaq 2,378.01 +15.80 (0.67%)

Top Analyst Calls
Top Stock Rumors
Top Day Trader Alerts

I haven't been bullish on Disney's (DIS) stock for quite a while. I own a long-term position, but I haven't added to it for years (I do, however, allow the annual dividend payout, too small that it is, to be reinvested). I'm waiting for the day when the shares finally break through $40. Disney hasn't seen $40 since, well, I don't even want to think how far back that price level goes.

This past week has been fascinating for the Mouse's investors. The media business was upgraded. There's been interesting activity going on in the company's options, as Schaeffer's Investment Research indicates. And the stock hit a fresh 52-week high of $33.22 on Friday; in fact, it closed at the 52-week high, right before the weekend, no less.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

• Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) second quarter EPS guidance fell short of analysts' estimates, sending shares lower.
• CBS Corp. (CBS) higher Q4 earnings were in line with analysts' expectations but free cash flow declined.
• Deere & Co. (DE) posted higher Q1 earnings that easily topped expectations, sending shares sharply higher.
• Gap Inc. (GPS) received a downgrade from an analyst that foresees contracting earnings, returns and margins.
• Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) better-than-expected Q1 results were accompanied by a better-than-expected outlook.

CBS (CBS) posted Q4 figures Thursday after the bell. The broadcaster, which competes with Disney's (DIS) ABC, General Electric's (GE) NBC, and News Corp.'s (NWS) Fox, said it made 25 cents per share on an adjusted basis. The growth rate wasn't bad at 19%, but unfortunately, expectations were only met. I know, meeting expectations isn't necessarily the worst thing in the world, but let's remember how the analyst game operates: beating estimates is all that matters.

But meeting expectations wasn't the most disappointing part of the story -- far from it. Instead, the flat top line and the decline in cash flow were more relevant elements. Net cash from operations for all of 2009 was a little under $940 million. There was over $2.1 billion generated from operations in 2008.

Disney (DIS), a major media company that competes with CBS (CBS), General Electric's (GE) NBC Universal, News Corp. (NWS), Sony (SNE), Time Warner (TWX), and Viacom (VIA), offered up fiscal Q1 data after the bell on Tuesday. From the looks of things, the Mouse had a good quarter.

According to my earnings preview, the call was for net income to come in at 39 cents per share on an adjusted basis. Disney actually made 47 cents per share. Not only was that a more than acceptable beat, but it represents growth of 15%.

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.

This morning, Jefferies & Co. upgraded television network CBS Corp. (CBS), elevating the media company to buy from hold. Jefferies also upped CBS's price target to $16 from $12. According to the broker, CBS's recent strength in ad pricing indicates that more advertisers are likely to pay upfront for advertising time. This likelihood means that the company should not face uncertainty and need to resort to higher prices due to the scatter market.

The brokerage cited the fact that the third quarter of 2009 saw companies purchasing ads mere days away from the commercial's air time. This time window is now closer to four weeks. Jefferies stated, "We further note that CBS has one of the only good stories to tell advertisers with ratings up at the network."

Despite the media slump that's been running alongside the worldwide recession, CBS (CBS) isn't having any trouble moving ad space for the Super Bowl.

The event is still more than a month from now, but the network reports having only a few commercial slots left for the big game. In fact, 95% of its 62 slots have moved, even with two of the most committed Super Bowl advertisers -- Pepsi (PEP) and General Motors (GRM) -- bowing out of the action. The first half is already sold out completely.