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.

One of my wonderful friends, Ms. P, asked me for some guidance on how she might allocate $50,000 currently earning peanuts in a money market account. Though she is decades from becoming a grandmother, after a brief discussion about her financial parameters, it became clear to me that she was looking for a "granny fund."

In reality, my recommendations would be suitable, and perhaps desirable, for many passive investors as well.

The $50,000 is a portion of money Ms. P has set aside to purchase a home, which might happen in six months, but could also be pushed out further, depending on the economy and her situation. Basically, she wants to cover all her bases because she might need the money at any time and does not want to be caught short, while at the same time she would like to generate some revenue without taking any big risks.

Analyst upgrades:

• UBS upgraded Corning (NYSE: GLW) to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $19 from $18.50, citing the improved LCD supply-demand outlook and improved sell-through ahead of the holiday season in China.
• Credit Suisse upgraded Newfield Exploration (NYSE: NFX) to Outperform from Neutral and raised its target to $48 from $44 citing valuation and improved asset quality.
• Stifel upgraded Newfield Exploration and Ultra Petroleum (NYSE: UPL) shares to Buy from Hold based on strong fundamentals and a long-term positive view for the E&P sector. The firm has a $50 target on Newfield and a $58 target on Ultra Petroleum.
• TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) was upgraded to Conviction Buy from Buy at Goldman.
• General Mills (NYSE: GIS) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Coca-Cola Femsa (NYSE: KOF) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) shares rose after it reaffirmed its full-year earnings and sales outlook.
• Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASDAQ: ADP) will have low double-digit EPS growth, predicts one analyst.
• AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) posted a decline in earnings but a small rise in sales, sending shares lower.
• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) posted better-than-expected Q2 earnings and higher revenue.
• CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) rallied to a new 52-week high after topping analysts' Q2 earnings expectations.
• Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) reported better-than-expected Q3 results and raised its full-year guidance.

Those Cheerios commercials must be working. General Mills (NYSE: GIS) reported on Wednesday that its profit for the first quarter of its fiscal year spiked 51%, thanks to a hefty dose of product demand and lower costs for ingredients. Of course, this beat the hell out of analyst expectations. And, it caused General Mills to boost its outlook for the year.

For the quarter, General Mills posted $420.6 million in earnings ($1.25 per share). For the same quarter a year ago, earnings reached only $278.5 million ($0.79 a share). The company's profit was a tad higher when an expense related to commodity positions is excluded, pushing earnings per share up to $1.28. Analysts had expected earnings of $1.03 a share.

This morning food maker General Mills, Inc. (NYSE: GIS) reported its fiscal first numbers. The company posted better than expected earnings and lifted its forward guidance.

As I noted yesterday in the earnings preview, analysts had been expecting General Mills to post earnings of $1.03 per share, but the company surprised to the upside by reporting $1.25 per share. Excluding certain items, the company would have seen earnings of $1.28 per share.

Minneapolis based General Mills, Inc. (NYSE: GIS) will be reporting its fiscal first quarter results Wednesday morning before the market opens.

The last time that General Mills reported earnings was on July 1 when the company outpaced analyst estimates of 81 cents per share by posting actual earnings of 86 cents for its fiscal fourth quarter. This time analysts are expecting to see the company show earnings of $1.03 per share.

Much of the focus this week will no doubt be on the FOMC meeting on interest rates and the subsequent decision, as well as on the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh, were the agenda will include bonuses for bank executives among other things.

Things will be fairly quiet again on the earnings front as the next earnings season has yet to ramp up. However, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters do have high hopes for a handful of companies that will release results this week.

Analyst upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) to Hold from Sell as it believes the company's second half of 2009 is tracking better than expected due to retailer restocking. Deutsche raised its target on shares to $33 from $15 but thinks Garmin's long-term trends remain unfavorable.
• Goldman upgraded Fortune Brands (NYSE: FO) to Buy from Neutral citing potential EPS improvement driven by the Home division. Fortune Brands price target to $49 from $45. Note that the firm downgraded General Mills to Neutral from Buy.
• Oppenheimer upgraded FPIC Insurance (NASDAQ: FPIC) to Outperform from Perform to reflect the company's acquisition of Advocate MD and management's commitment to share repurchases. The firm set a $49 price target on the stock.
• PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG) and Olin Corp. (NYSE: OLN) were upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
• Synovus (NYSE: SNV) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Take-Two (NASDAQ: TTWO) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

"Few investments have a proven track record of defying a sinking economy and stock market, but General Mills (NYSE: GIS) is among them," says Martin Weiss in his Safe Money Report.

He explains, "You probably have some of General Mills' products in your pantry or freezer. The Minneapolis-based food firm makes everything from Cheerios and Chex cereals to Fruit Roll-Ups, Bisquick pancake mix, and Haagen-Dazs ice cream.

"This broad consumer product line has helped it deliver solid single-digit earnings growth not only in good times, but also the worst quarters of the recession. Now, in its fiscal fourth quarter ended May 31, General Mills knocked the cover off the ball.

Kellogg (NYSE: K), the famous cereal concern that competes with General Mills (NYSE: GIS), distributed a box of Q2 earnings to the market yesterday. Were they as nutritious as one of the company's breakfast foods?

Everything turned out all right for shareholders. Sales weren't so hot: the top line decreased 3% on dollar pressures. Earnings per share saved the day, coming in at 92 cents, good for a 12% increase. The income amount also beat expectations by a very significant margin. Analysts wanted to see at least 83 cents for per-share profit, according to Earnings.com.

Despite what you here from almost all quarters about the market dropping ten percent or so, in what is deemed a bear market correction of our recent bear market rally, I will continue to buy into this market. Of course I will be selective, and as always be thinking long term. This has helped me substantially over the past ten months beating the market by a huge margin.

Keeping this in mind I examined my watch list for candidates that have been long term winners, and consistently beat the overall market using the Standard & Poors 500 index for comparison. The volatility in the market is certain to produce more buying opportunities.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) posted better-than-expected Q3 earnings due to higher enrollments.
• Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL) expected earnings growth resulted in an upgrade from one analyst.
• Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) shares soared after Q1 earnings topped analysts' expectations.
• General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) profit doubled in Q4, beating estimates, and annual sales also rose.
• H&R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB) reported earnings growth for the fiscal year but essentially flat revenues.
• Schnitzer Steel industries Inc. (NASDAQ: SCHN) surprised analysts with a Q3 loss, sending shares lower.
• Sealy Corp. (NYSE: ZZ) Q2 earnings fell short of expectations and revenues declined due to the recession.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says there's good in this market -- remember that.

Does unemployment trump everything? Does it trump Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) (Cramer's Take) sales? Does it trump 3G and 4G? How about Chinese orders? How about General Mills' (NYSE: GIS) (Cramer's Take) numbers? Yum!'s (NYSE: YUM) (Cramer's Take) business? Does unemployment trump pending home sales? Or order pick-ups in autos and a subsequent bottom?

That's what you have to ask yourself when you sell. You have to ask yourself whether 40,000 or 60,000 jobs trumps everything good that has happened. You have to ask yourself if the government were to take 100,000 of those people and give them jobs taking care of federal lands and parks or working at the post office or having them go into a conservation corps, whether we would be up and not down.

Food manufacturer General Mills, Inc. (NYSE: GIS) recently reported a 5% jump in fourth-quarter net sales. This resulted in a net income jump of almost 10%, from $185.2 million to $358.8 million. This translated into a leap from 53 cents to $1.07 per share, or an adjusted earnings increase from 73 cents to 86 cents per share. In the same period, sales increased from $3.47 billion to $3.65 billion.

Although most famous for its breakfast cereals, General Mills actually provides a wide array of home cooking products, ranging from the old-fashioned to the organic and from raw ingredients to fully-prepared meals. As such, it is positioned to experience massive growth as recession-plagued former restaurant customers start cooking at home and economizing home chefs move away from pricey prepared dishes.

The company is predicting that its 2010 adjusted net will increase by as much as 7%, a move that will yield a jump of up to 27 cents per share, from $3.98 to $4.25. For General Mills, at least, the recession looks like a fantastic growth opportunity.