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.

Procter & Gamble (PG) isn't in the green. At the time of this writing, shares of the consumer concern were flat. They were off by a mere nine pennies to $60.31. Perhaps they'll end up in the green by the end of the day, who knows, but one thing's for sure: if you own shares of this one, you're having one heck of a boring Monday.

And you might be bored by something else. According to TheFly, guidance for the full fiscal year hasn't been changed. Management continues to expect the bottom line to come in somewhere between $3.91 per share and $4.01 per share.

It's tough to buy stocks these days. No one knows when the next drop in the major indexes is going to happen. As many have said, it probably will be a tough summer.

Over the weekend, I was looking through some media articles discussing World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) YouTube strategy (you can check out the corporate press release to get more information about the subject). It made me want to examine WWE's current investment potential.

ConAgra Foods (CAG), a company that produces packaged edibles for supermarkets and whose colleagues include Campbell Soup (CPB) and Kraft (KFT), didn't have the kind of quarter you look at and say, "Way to go, management!" It was a boring, steady kind of reporting period.

For the fiscal third quarter, total sales were kind of flat, down a minuscule 0.9%. Earnings from continuing operations on an adjusted basis rose 10% to 44 cents per diluted share. Compared to estimates, that 44-cent stat came in as expected, nothing more, nothing less.

General Mills (GIS), whose colleagues at the food markets include Kellogg (K), Kraft Foods (KFT), and Campbell Soup (CPB), performed well in the fiscal third quarter. On an adjusted basis, net income increased 23% to 97 cents per diluted share. This beat estimates by four pennies.

General Mills was able to expand the gross margin by keeping an eye on efficiency opportunities and optimizing the overall quality of the inventory mix. Of course, there was a little luck involved, too, as commodity costs weren't as expensive as they previously had been. It's always good when that happens.

Besides owning a long-term position, I tried trading the company during the economic crisis. I didn't succeed; I eventually sold the short-term position at a loss, as I mentioned in this piece. But I still hold my long-term shares. And if you haven't been reading the financial news lately, you've missed all the articles about the industrial conglomerate. Looks like everyone is talking about GE, specifically about its potential to come back in the next year or so.

World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) story hasn't changed too much, in my opinion. It's holding up pretty well with its business model, but as far as unambiguous growth is concerned, management remains in a challenged position.

WWE released Q4 earnings to the market on Thursday, and the results were rather mediocre for the most part. Per-share profit dropped three pennies to 15 cents. Revenues saw a modest decline. Excluding items, adjusted operating income increased 9% on a dollar basis.

3M Company (MMM) delivered a fourth quarter that its shareholders can look upon with enthusiasm. Sales increased 11%. On an adjusted basis (taking into account special items seen in last year's comparable reporting period), earnings per share went up over 30% to $1.30. Earnings.com indicates that $1.21 per share was on the market's radar.

Good show. And let's not forget about the cash flow, because that's an important component of this company's success. Free cash flow jumped 16% in Q4. It was better by more than 30% over the full fiscal year.

General Mills, Inc. (GIS), a food company that competes in the cereal aisles with Kellogg Company (K), performed well in the second quarter. The top line didn't budge too much, but the bottom line moved up 13% to $1.54 on an adjusted basis. Cash from operations really stood out. For the six-month period, over $980 million was generated from business activities. In the comparable frame, over $360 million was booked.

According to our earnings preview, the market was expecting $1.44 per share in net income. What drove the very positive results? I think you can definitely allocate a fair amount of praise to execution. But you can also credit brand power and a more favorable commodity environment as fiscal drivers.

On an adjusted basis, Deere posted a profit of 23 cents per share. This number easily beat the analysts, as they believed Q4 was only worth about 3 cents per share, according to our earnings preview.

World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE)'s stock jumped Thursday after the market took a look at the company's Q3 data. Overall revenues didn't see much of an increase, but earnings per share rose over 70% to 12 cents. Driving this incredible growth rate was a cut in gross costs. Analysts were betting on 10 cents in per-share profit, according to Earnings.com.

Did WWE deserve a pop of 7% during yesterday's trading session? Some of the excitement was certainly justified. It's obviously a positive thing to see management acting so diligently when it comes to costs. Of course, there was an increase in selling, general, and administrative expenses during the quarter, so there is still room for improvement (the nine-month table did show a decrease in this line, to be fair).

Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) didn't need a hearty breakfast to get its stock going today (although I'm sure it had one anyway). All it needed was a reasonably healthy earnings report. Judging by how the stock is performing, I think the company got one.

For the third quarter, Kellogg saw flat sales growth. However, take out currency effects and acquisitions, and you've got a 3% expansion rate on the top line. Well, that isn't so robust, either, but let's head to the bottom line. Earnings per share came in at 94 cents, representative of a 6% increase. Not so bad, and according to Mark Fightmaster's preview, that was a dime better than what analysts wanted to see.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) issued Q3 data on Monday. According to the press release, the telecommunications entity made, on an adjusted basis, 60 cents per share. Disappointing, since that's six pennies less than last year's comparable number. However, it was a penny ahead of analyst expectations, according to Reuters.

Of course, when discussing Verizon, what tends to receive focus is cash flow. As we all know, the company is a famous dividend play. Many investors consider this angle to be not only valuable, but an added safety element as well.