Monday morning, Coca-Cola (KO) announced that it will distribute some drinks that are made by Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS). Coca-Cola will now distribute Dr Pepper and Canada Dry ginger ale in the United States and will distribute some drinks in Canada.

These beverages were distributed by Coca-Cola Enterprises, but that company is being acquired by Coca-Cola. The new agreement replaces Coca-Cola Enterprise's original deal with Dr Pepper.

Today's economics were dominated more by an extension of TARP and on creative ways of getting after cash bonuses for bankers than anything of real substance from government reporting agencies. Healthcare enjoyed a solid day in insurers as the public option seems to be out of the healthcare, ergo health insurance reform.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell figures:

Dow 10,337.13 +51.16 (0.50%)
S&P 500 1,095.79 +3.85 (0.35%)
Nasdaq 2,183.73 +10.74 (0.49%)

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Cadbury Schweppes Plc (NYSE: CSG) will be spinning off its U.S. beverage unit soon after failing to find a buyer for the division, according to the company. Included in the spinoff will be popular brands Dr. Pepper and 7-UP, which will join other brands. The spinoff has been decided after seven months of fruitless searching by the British-based food giant to find a buyer for the unit.

Cadbury will soon be listing its U.S. drinks unit on the NYSE under a different ticker after finding that U.S. consumers are not choosing its products, opting apparently for competitive beverages from Coca-Cola, Inc. (NYSE: KO) and Pepsico, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) among other drinks. Investment analyst Martin Deboo said from London that "They (Cadbury) wouldn't refuse any sensible offer, but the uncertainty around credit markets has to clear before bidders will come forward." In other words, the credit crisis that has semi-gripped parts of the U.S. economy made potential buyers cinch up those purse strings. As a result, no serious bidders ever emerged over the summer, much to the chagrin of Cadbury's management.

At this time, Cadbury's U.S. drinks division is pegged at a $14 billion value, and although a spin-off is not exciting to anyone, it's required lest Cadbury continue to allow the suboptimal U.S. performance drag its overall financials down. The spinoff won't be completed before the second calendar quarter of 2008, according to Cadbury CEO Todd Stitzer. Earlier this year, Cadbury rejected an offer of about $13 billion from a private equity group comprised of the usual suspects: Blackstone Group LP, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Lion Capital LLP. Oh well -- it missed the boat and now has no buyers, so off to the NYSE it goes.

Dr. Pepper's (Cadbury-Schweppes PLC, NYSE:CSG) longtime 10-2-4 slogan might become 24-7 as they launch a new promotion, Dr. Pepper Band in a Bubble, in cooperation with MTV. Beginning May 24th, the pop band Cartel will live around the clock for 20 days in a transparent domicile on Pier 54 in New York while they put together a new CD. MTV will compile the best of the video captured by cameras placed throughout the edifice into four half-hour broadcasts. The full feeds will also be available throughout the session via the internet.

The idea of packing a house with incandescent personalities and recording their meltdowns is tired fare for television, the most notable being CBS' Big Brother. Rock stars are well-mined too, as witnessed by Kiss frontman Gene Simmon's Family Jewels and Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne's The Osbournes. What we haven't seen before is a group of artists working in harmony to produce sterling music. That's probably the Doctor's biggest worry, though -- harmony makes poor television. There's a reason Anna Nicole Smith had her own TV show and Jamie Lee Curtis didn't.

The concept comes from the Mediaedge:cia agency. The five-person group is from Atlanta, and best known for their song "Honestly" (see below). I'd give you odds of 10 to 4 that it's no coincidence that their guitarist's name is Joseph Pepper.