General Mills (GIS - option chain) shares are rising slightly today after the company announced a two-for-one stock split after the close of trading yesterday. The split will be effected in the form of a 100% stock dividend payable on June 8 to shareholders as of May 28. With the rest of the market in the red by more than 2% today, GIS up half a percent on this news is essentially a big upward move, and stock splits often spur positive interest in a company. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on GIS.

GIS opened this morning at $71.90. So far today the stock has hit a low of $71.11 and a high of $71.90. As of 1:30, GIS is trading at $71.76 up 0.29 (0.4%). The chart for GIS looks bullish and S&P gives GIS a positive 5 STARS (out of 5) strong buy ranking.

I'm going to take a quick look at two companies that released earnings on Thursday. First up is Eastman Kodak (EK), but I'll tell you this: EK was anything but up. The stock closed off 16.9% by the end of the session. Volume was exceptionally high. But does this mean Kodak is a buy or a sell?

Back in January, Kodak rallied on its Q4 numbers; at that time, analysts and their projections were destroyed by the strong report. I, however, remained bearish on the company because of its turnaround status, preferring to focus on the risk of the situation instead of the forward-looking potential.

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.

The coming week will bring late-season earnings reports from Best Buy Inc. (BBY), ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG), Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Walgreen Co. (WAG), all of which are expected to post earnings and revenue growth, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. Below is a closer look at a few other companies reporting this week for which expectations are high.

In the three months that ended in January, Williams-Sonoma (WSM) saw strong holiday sales, declared a quarterly dividend, and announced the retirement of its CEO. Analysts expect the San Francisco-based home products retailer to report that fiscal fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled from the same period of last year to $0.74 per share. Revenue for the period is expected to be 6.2% higher to $1.1 billion. For the full year, the forecast calls for earnings of $0.81 per share (+56.8%) on $3.1 billion in revenue (-8.3%). Williams-Sonoma earnings results have been better than expected in recent quarters -- beating consensus estimates by more than 200% in the third quarter.

This afternoon, I'm going to take a look at earnings releases from two companies in the food industry. One is a maker of a very famous ketchup product, and the other is instrumental in supplying consumers with the tools they need to put together a delicious peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich.

Let's start with the company responsible for the crimson condiment. H.J. Heinz Company (HNZ) delivered one heck of a report. The summary (of continuing operations), proudly trumpeted at the top of the Q3 release, is indicative of a business hitting on many, if not all, cylinders. Sales grew nearly 13%. Emerging markets were robust. Earnings came in at 83 cents per share, which was 9% higher than the comparable period's bottom line.

Campbell Soup's (CPB) second-quarter earnings weren't met with enthusiasm. At the time of this writing, shares of the food concern, which operates in the same industry as General Mills (GIS) and Kraft (KFT), were down 1.6% in afternoon trading. Although growth was achieved during the reporting period, it apparently wasn't enough to satisfy investors.

According to the press release, Campbell made 74 cents per share. This number is a penny ahead of estimates. It is also representative of a growth rate of 16%. The top line, however, was exciting not in the least. It increased 1%. Worse, the all-important U.S. soup sales category contracted by 8%.

Campbell Soup (CPB) will be telling investors how well it did in the fiscal second quarter on Monday, Feb. 22. According to estimates at Earnings.com, the soup expert should serve up somewhere around 73 cents per share on the bottom line. This would be 8 cents higher than the comparable period, for a growth rate of 12%.

Campbell is a brand-name food distributor with a top priority to operate as efficiently as possible while utilizing its valuable trademarks to extract the highest monetary value from the consumer. It's not always easy, as consumers are always searching for the best deals at the supermarket. Investors will be watching for clues in the upcoming report pertaining to management's ability to execute optimal pricing strategies.

With American budgets pinched by the recession, eating out is "out," and eating in is "in," which is good news for General Mills (GIS), and that's a major reason I'm reiterating my buy rating for the company's shares, first recommended on April 8, 2009, at a price of $50.81. If you bought GIS in April, you're up more than 40%.

More U.S. consumers will continue to eat an increasing number of meals at home in 2010.

This post is part of a special report, Top Picks for 2010, the 27th annual survey in which TheStockAdvisors.com asks the nation's leading advisors for their single favorite stock for the new year. See all 80 stocks listed here.

"General Mills (GIS) looks especially tasty for total returns in 2010," says Chuck Carlson, a leading expert on dividend reinvestment plans -- a low-cost strategy for long-term investors to accumulate shares of a particular stock directly from the company.

On his The DRIP Investor, he explains, "There is a transition taking place in the stock market toward high-quality, dividend-paying stocks. General Mills plays into this trend very nicely.

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

• Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) shares rose after lower Q4 earnings and revenue beat analysts' expectations.
• Best Buy Inc. (BBY) shares sold off despite better-than-expected Q3 results due to the lower gross margin.
• Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) warned that Q4 earnings would come in lower than the Street view
• Discover Financial Services (DFS) shares were up after it reported better-than-expected Q4 earnings.
• First Solar Inc. (FSLR) offered a solid 2010 outlook but the consensus EPS estimate is high in the range.
• General Mills Inc. (GIS) strong Q2 results included better-than-expected earnings and a rosy outlook.

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.

Best Buy Inc. (BBY), which was a favorite on Black Friday, announced a partnership with Netflix (NFLX) and another one with Google (GOOG), as well as declared a quarterly dividend, during its fiscal third quarter. For the three months that ended in November, Best Buy is expected to report that earnings rose 18.6% from a year ago to $0.43 per share. Revenue is expected to total $11.9 billion, or 4.2% higher than a year ago. The full-year forecast is for a profit of $2.95 per share (+2.4%) on $48.6 billion (+7.8%) in sales. This Richfield, Minn.-based company has topped earnings estimates in three of the past four quarters, by as much as 21 cents per share.

Best Buy's long-term EPS growth forecast of 12.5% is better than that of Walmart (WMT). Best Buy's earnings multiple is 14x. Analysts, on average, recommend buying BBY and have for more than 90 days; two analysts recently raised their earnings estimates. The mean price target is $44.77. Shares have risen 11.5% in the past three months and recently reached a new 52-week high of $44.50.

Trix are for kids ... but they are getting a little less sweet. General Mills (NYSE: GIS) has announced plans to reduce the amount of sugar in the cereal brands it markets to cereal. This includes Lucky Charms, Trix, and Cocoa Puffs, the latter of which could see its sugar content drop up to 25% from its original level (and 18% from its current 11 grams per serving).

Fans of Franken Berry and Boo Berry can rest assured - these cereals will still contain their 12 grams of sugar, as they are not actively marketed to children. Though with their cartoon characters and marshmallows, I find it hard to believe that these are meant for an adults-only demographic.

The Minneapolis-based company says the move is responding to consumer demand for less sugar. It also failed to disclose how it would cut the sugar content, but did pledge not to use artificial sweeteners.

This is the third screening to find value among Fortune's 25 corporate world leaders that have demonstrated an ability to regenerate themselves from within. The list has been cut to 18 and will be cut further here.

The methodology of using basic stock data points to identify potential value investments only sets the stage for success -- it assures nothing. While it is true that paying less is better than paying more and getting a higher yield is better than less, this gives you a scant picture of what is in people's hearts and minds, and that is harder to judge. Like the weather, no matter the predictions, you may not find out it is raining until you are standing in it. Regardless, it should be advantageous to start with good stock (pun intended) before you take to whittlin', and that we have.

Yesterday I started a review of 25 companies that Fortune deemed most successful according to their peers in developing quality leadership. Today I review the remaining 20, searching to find the ones that might be worth investing in.

Price-to-book (from 11/27/09) was used as the first value screen. The theory being from a value investor's perspective that buying for a price at or near the break-up value of the company provides downside protection. Of course that is easier said than done.