Kraft Foods (KFT) didn't exactly report an exciting quarter. Nevertheless, it is the type of stock that many hold for the long term; it doesn't necessarily force one to put a lot of weight on any single three-month period. It's a story of brands, a thesis based on consumers and supermarket shelves. The future cash flows derived from these elements is what drives an investor to buy this company.

There's nothing wrong with keeping tabs on the business, though. According to the Associated Press, Kraft made, on an adjusted basis (the Cadbury purchase was involved in the adjustment process), 46 cents per share in the fourth quarter. This was a penny less than a year ago. The consensus estimate was for net income to come in at 46 cents per share. Yes, management failed to rise above the projection.

Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) reported first-quarter numbers on Thursday. Judging by the market's reaction today, Wall Street is behind them. Wall Street might be behind them for a very specific reason: when it comes to defensive stocks, Kraft is right up there with dividend-paying companies such as The Coca-Cola Company (KO) and The Procter & Gamble Company (PG).

I'll tell you, the current price action is pretty cool right now. With about 90 minutes to go before the closing bell (which is the time I'm writing this), shares of the food manufacturer are up $1.06, or 3.6%, to $30.27. Volume is strong. The 52-week high on the stock is $31.09.

Today felt like a road to nowhere all day. The DJIA went into negative territory six times or more today after trying to hold gains in the early hours. And there was no solid economic news to run the markets one way or another. News out of the National Association for Business Economics calling for a rate hike and a deficit watch had no real impact.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

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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.

Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) issued its fourth-quarter report earlier today. Sales increased over 3%, but organic net revenues were flat. Restructuring initiatives helped to drive a very significant jump in operating income, as well as a nice expansion of the operating margin. Net income from continuing businesses came in at 48 cents per share. Not only did this represent robust growth, but it beat estimates by three pennies, according to our earnings preview.

Management promoted an awesome fact in the release: free cash flow was up over 30% for the full fiscal year. Changes in working capital aided the increase. I like it.

This was one of those days where many of the same concerns over sovereign debt risk and international issues were there, but the market rallied as the fears were not broadcast at every media report. Commodities saw large gains as fears about Greece were not as predominant.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,267.83 +168.69 (1.67%)
S&P 500 1,094.86 +19.35 (1.80%)
Nasdaq 2,214.19 +30.66 (1.40%)

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Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT), which is acquiring Cadbury for more than $19 billion, is scheduled to discuss its fourth-quarter financial results in a presentation to the Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 10:30 AM (ET), by CEO Irene Rosenfeld and CFO Tim McLevish. A live webcast of the presentation can be accessed at the company's website.

During the three months that ended in December, Kraft made investments in Russia, saw new board members and declared a quarterly dividend. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for earnings for that period of $0.45 per share. That compares with $0.55 per share in the previous quarter and $0.42 per share a year ago. Revenue for the fourth quarter is expected to be 2.8% higher than a year ago to $11.1 billion.

Option traders pushed up call option prices in the general entertainment industry and pushed up put option prices in the diversified utilities industry today.

Bullish Volatility Skews

• World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (WWE) -- part of the general entertainment industry -- came in at the top with a volatility skew of 1.18. This may come as a surprise as WWE is down 1.53% for the past month.

Kraft Foods (KFT) agreed a deal to buy Cadbury (CBY) for around 11.9 billion pounds ($19.6 billion), creating the world's top confectioner. Kraft had to increase its offer, injecting more cash into the bid to win over the 186-year-old Cadbury, which has finally surrendered its independence and accepted the sweetened offer.

Kraft's offer is 840 pence per Cadbury share, with shareholders also getting a 10 pence special dividend, bringing the offer to a total of 850 pence per share. The new bid has won unanimous recommendation from the Cadbury board. Cadbury shares hit a record high of 838 pence in early trade in London and jumped over 5% to $54.63 in premarket trading.

Shares of Cadbury (CBY) are moving slightly higher today, on news that Hershey (HSY) could be announcing a solo bid for the company as early as next week.

It was just a couple days ago that Cadbury rejected another bid, for $16.91 billion from Kraft Foods (KFT).

Today was a day which could have gone either way. The data was light and the market is on hold for earnings. But Congressional inquiries today with top bank executives did not have an angry nor threatening tone as you have seen in other unrelated hearings of the past. This helped the financial sector and the market. The Fed's Beige Book also gave no end in sight for near-zero rates.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,680.77 +53.51 (0.50%)
S&P 500 1,145.68 +9.46 (0.83%)
Nasdaq 2,307.90 +25.59 (1.12%)

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In the massive cross-border hostile takeover battle, Cadbury (CBY) again said "no" to Kraft's (KFT) $16.91 billion offer. Although, in buyout-speak, the response was in a press release that called the deal "fundamentally unattractive" and even "derisory" (yes, the attorneys have spent time at the thesaurus).

Why the rebuff? Cadbury reported a healthy 2009 and expects the good times to continue into 2010. In other words, a buyout is not necessarily evil -- that is, so long if the price is right.

Early Tuesday morning, Kraft Foods (KFT) announced that it is going to sell its North American pizza business for $3.7 billion. And of course, the natural purchaser of the pizza business is Nestle -- wait a sec ...

What does Nestle want with KFT's frozen pizza business? Well, in case you didn't know it, Nestle already holds the Stouffer's, Lean Cuisine, Buitoni, Hot Pockets, and Lean Pockets brands. The Swiss company will now add DiGiorno, Tombstone, California Pizza Kitchen, Jack's, and Delissio brands to its prepared dishes lineup. This addition is a major coup for Nestle, as its presence in the prepared-food world was already substantial -- and is now downright formidable. I would have to say that this is $3.7 billion well spent by Nestle.

This morning, Cadbury (CBY) lifted its sales and margin forecasts. Some believe this is a move to stop a hostile takeover from Kraft (KFT). Cadbury upped its sales and margin forecasts to reflect organic revenue growth of 5% to 7% a year during the next four years. This forecast is up from its previously forecast range of 4% to 6%. Cadbury also believes it will have improved margins of 16% to 18% by 2013.

Cadbury chairman Roger Carr told shareholders, "Kraft is trying to buy Cadbury on the cheap to provide much-needed growth to their unattractive low-growth conglomerate business model. Don't let Kraft steal your company with it derisory offer."

Kraft (KFT) had hoped to win Wall Street's attention by pursuing Cadbury, but instead it has come across as wishy-washy in a bid that may never come to fruition.

And rather than growing, Kraft may actually be shrinking now that rumors are circulating that the company is shopping around its Maxwell House coffee brand. Obviously, a good company should be growing and not shrinking.

Next: Dog of the Dow #10: McDonald's (MCD)