If we told you that the largest pharmacies chains in the U.S., CVS Caremark (CVS) and Walgreens (WAG), planned to sell more groceries and produce, would you believe us? If so, you would be right. CVS Caremark plans to double the size of its food section and revamp about 20% of its 7,000 stores to better cater to groceries and quick check outs, and Walgreens started to satiate its appetite for the nation's trillion-dollar food budget by announcing last year that it would add up to 500 food items including salads, sandwiches, frozen meats, soups, juices, yogurts and even sushi to its offering.

How Do Consumers Benefit?

OPEC oil ministers want to see a stable U.S. dollar and higher oil prices before they start to increase investment. OPEC maintains that because oil is priced in U.S. dollars it wants the U.S. to keep the dollar stable.

But these are secondary problems. The main thorn in OPEC's side is Russia. Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia as the world's biggest oil exporter.

Unlike OPEC that is trying to keep a lid on production, Russia has increased production to a record 10 million barrels per day. Russia and other non OPEC countries were not invited to attend the OPEC meeting.

Stocks are set for a mixed start as investors keep watching -- and waiting for more details -- the different government plans to bailout the financial market, stimulate the economy and aid homeowners. More here: Before the bell: Stocks set for a mixed start as investors watch government's plans

PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) -- Can the Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) rival follow in its competitor's footsteps as it reports earnings today and post results the market is happy with?
Pepsico reported that fourth-quarter profit fell partly on restructuring and impairment charges, but adjusted results were $1.39 billion, or 88 cents per share, inline with analysts' expectations. PEP shares traded nearly 1% higher in premarket trade, despite saying it forecasts pressure from a stronger dollar. PEP shares were some 2.5% higher by 11 am.

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) will freeze wages, cut pay for factory executives, eliminate bonuses for all salaried employees and offer voluntary redundancy to plant workers in North America for the first time as it widens output cuts to adjust for slumping vehicle demand. TM shares traded lower in premarket action. TM shares declined some about 1.9% by 11 am.

Finally, some good news for the holidays, but as always these day, with grain of salt. Foreclosure filings dropped 7% in November from the previous month according to RealtyTrac. That's one in every 488 households nationwide. It's up from last November's number by 28%. Most of the reduction in the number of foreclosures can be credited to the moratoriums on foreclosures by Fannie (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie (NYSE: FRE), as well as by some of the banks the FDIC took over.

Still, 78,179 families lost their home to foreclosure in November. That is down by 8% from the number of families that lost their homes in October - 84,868. A total of 1,014,618 homes have been lost because of foreclosure since this crisis started in August 2007.

You'll probably see more good news in December as the foreclosure moratoriums continue, but January will likely be another story. The idea behind these moratoriums is that people find a way to avoid foreclosure through mortgage modification or refinance. That may be true and possible when the economy isn't in the sorry state it is.

Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) will now be offering about 2,500 movies from the Starz movie channel as streaming video from its website. As Netflix continues to dabble heavily into internet-delivered content to complement its DVD rental business, the company really has taken the lead on ensuring it builds its brand to deliver content through whatever means. Once the DVD becomes obsolete (and it will), Netflix's positioning will put it in front once again to give its customer base content through whatever means.

Netflix's "Watch Now" selection of immediate content has grown in recent months, but regular customer complaints about lack of selection have streamed in at the same time. This partnership with Starz should change that a bit. Right off the bat, Starz's "Starz Play" lineup will contain hits like No Country for Old Men, Superbad and other recent hits. Can Netflix convince studios to release movies at the start of or during theatrical release? That would be a major coup -- but that's quite a paradigm shift for the movie studio industry as well.

All the new Starz content will be available at no cost to current Netflix subscribers as well -- which is a major selling point if I've ever seen one. The more partnerships Netflix can forge with device manufacturers, gaming console leaders and content providers, the better. And, it may just keep giving Blockbuster executives fits as well, while Netflix CEO Reed Hastings sighs in relief.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) shares are trading higher after the company said in a blog post last night that it bid in the recent government spectrum auction in an effort to open up the airwaves to outside Internet devices. The company also said it planned on bidding in the next wireless spectrum auction in an effort to improve its own wireless business. GOOG is currently developing a mobile phone software platform, and hopes to "make the wireless world look much more like the open platform of the Internet," according to a company statement. 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 GOOG.

After hitting a one-year high of $747.24 in November, the stock hit a one-year low of $412.11 in March. GOOG opened this morning at $457.01. So far today the stock has hit a low of $456.20 and a high of $471.99. As of 12:45, GOOG is trading at $470.01, up $14.89 (3.2%). The chart for GOOG looks bearish but improving slightly, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.