Halloween, though not the blockbuster holiday that Christmas is, still results in some additional spending on the part of consumers as they stock up on candy and costumes, and maybe take in a scary movie or two. With those treats in mind here are some stocks that may give investors sweet dreams -- and hopefully not nightmares.

As is well known, candy is all the rage at Halloween, and among the largest candy stocks are Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) and Cadbury PLC (NYSE: CBY). Last week, Hershey reported third-quarter earnings rose 30% despite weaker volumes affected by higher prices for its sweets. Last year's numbers also included special charges. Still the company said it expects full-year earnings to be ahead of Wall Street forecasts. In 2010, the Pennsylvania company said it expects earnings excluding items to rise 6% to 8%. The stock has a forward-looking price-to-earnings ratio of 16 and a current dividend yield of 3.1%.

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.

Over the past year, M&A has been on a starvation diet. Then again, with a terrible recession and credit crunch, what do you expect?

Yet, while it is still toot soon to tell, there are signs that things are beginning to improve. Just look at what's cooking between Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) and Cadbury (NYSE: CBY). Both global giants are involved in, well, an M&A food fight.

Coffee is set to be "one of the most promising commodities of 2009," according to a leading Swiss commodities analyst, who predicts coffee prices will rise, likely squeezing the already-decaffeinated profits at Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) and Kraft (NYSE: KFT), maker of Maxwell House, among other major coffee retailers. Current prices are $1.1305 a pound, only up a 0.9% on the year, but experts predict greatly increasing costs due to declining production in Brazil and Colombia. Coffee futures are currently at $1.20 per pound for December 2009 contracts, and $1.227 per pound for March 2010 contracts.

How much price runup are we talking? It could be increasing a whopping 50% to $1.70 per pound by June 30, according to former Merrill Lynch analyst Judith Ganes-Chase, who runs a consulting firm in Katonah, New York.

If one is honest with oneself, she will recognize that the most exotic ingredients in her Italian-themed frozen foods are likely the plastic trays they're packaged in. A new recall for Lean Cuisine frozen chicken meals ("approximately" 879,565 pounds of them) offers the addition of one more exotic ingredient: "foreign matter," namely bits of hard plastic of unknown origin that caused at least one injury.

The company which packaged the products, Nestle Prepared Foods Company of Springville, Utah, is voluntarily recalling the products after several consumer complaints and the lone injury. The three meals that are part of the recall are the 10.5-ounce "chicken mediterranean" pictured here; 9.5-ounce "pesto chicken with bow-tie pasta" and 12.5-ounce "chicken tuscan." Further information about specific bar codes and sell-by dates can be found at the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.

While this is in no way a serious health risk, the enormous size of the recall and the timing -- coming in an environment in which budget-conscious consumers are beginning to question the true "convenience," nutritional value and safety of packaged food -- will be somewhat harmful for the convenience food industry as a whole. As someone who is taking a more cautious eye toward the food she is feeding her family, I have been asking questions such as, "if pieces of hard plastic weren't even recognized until consumers complained, what invisible ingredients have been slipping through without reparation or admittance?" In food, that what you can't see; and don't recognize for many years; is the most harmful of all.

This post is part of a series on celebrity spokespeople who ended up doing serious harm to the brands they were hired to promote, or vice versa. See how we rank the 20 top spokesperson fiascos.

Okay, to begin with, I should be completely honest: I'm a definite Kirstie Alley fan. I've watched her since the beginning, since she walked into Shelly Long's shoes on Cheers and took the show to a whole other level. I watched as she began to mature gracefully in Summer School and the Look Who's Talking movies, and even stayed with Veronica's Closet for way longer than I should have. Over the years, I watched her bloom, blossom, expand her horizons, umm...

Okay, yes, I also watched her gain a lot of weight. Somewhere between the overripe evil of Gladys Leeman in Drop Dead Gorgeous and the impressive avoirdupois of Fat Actress, Kirstie Alley definitely put on some serious pounds. When they started shooting her in low light with dark clothes, I had my suspicions; when Fat Actress debuted, there was no longer any doubt.

Still, I was rooting for Kirstie, and I was happy when she got a gig working for Jenny Craig (a division of Nestle, VTX:NESN). While I'm not sure that weight loss is for everyone, I have no doubt that, for Kirstie Alley, it meant the difference between being gainfully employed and using her royalties from syndicated TV shows to buy herself an island and a bunch of muumuus. I hoped that the marriage between Kirstie and Jennie would thrive and be, if not fruitful, at least healthy.

Just announced this morning, global drug manufacturer Novartis (NYSE: NVS) is offering to buy a minority stake in the world's largest eye-care firm, Alcon (NYSE: ACL), by buying the stake from food conglomerate Nestle (OTC: NSRGY).

Essentially, the deal is to happen in two parts. The first stage appears to be a purchase of a 25% stake in Alcon for around $11 billion. This purchase comes with an option to purchase an additional 52% stake for about $28 billion.

Novartis will pay $143.18 a share for the purchase of the 25% stake. The option to purchase the 52% stake will come at a fixed share price of $181 and can come between 2010 and 2011.

From a statement on Nestle's website, the food maker plans to use the proceeds to reduce debt and the cash will also "support opportunities for profitable growth in line with the group's nutrition, health and wellness orientation.''

Zack Miller is the managing editor of IsraelNewsletter.com and a former equity analyst for a leading multinational hedge fund.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: World Wrestling, Novo Nordisk and Nestle were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• B. Riley downgraded shares of World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) to Neutral from Buy on valuation with the stock only 1% below their target price. However, B. Riley admits shares may move higher during the next 30-35 days, due to the upcoming WrestleMania event in Orlando, FL.
  
• Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill on valuation and a lack of near-term catalysts; shares were also lowered to Peer Perform from Outperform at Bear Stearns.
  
• ING lowered Nestle (OTC: NSRGY) to Hold from Buy as they expect organic growth to slow in 2008.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Banc of America downgraded Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• HSBC downgraded Repsol SA (NYSE: REP) to Neutral from Overweight.
  
• Del Monte Foods (NYSE: DLM) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wachovia.

Jay Winthrop of Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC, a $250 million (assets under management) New York registered investment advisory firm, likes to buy stocks whose prices are so low that the odds of them benefiting from a positive surprise exceed those of losing from a negative one. Douglass Winthrop is ahead of the S&P year-to-date and has delivered "positive, tax-efficient results since inception in 2002." Through its 10% to 15% stock turnover, it offers investors lower expenses and taxes than its higher turnover "fast money" peers. As Winthrop summed it up: "Good things happen to cheap stocks."

Four stocks that he mentioned particularly caught my attention:

• Nestle S A (OTC: NSRGY). Nestle has benefited from its investment in emerging markets -- giving it a strong brand and distribution presences in countries experiencing rapid growth. A significant share of its profits are generated in developing markets. And its core food business is cheap when its strategic investments are backed out. Nestle trades at a mere 13x to 14 x operating earnings -- which is lower than the value of stocks in its peer group. Finally, Nestle is capitalizing on the profitable and growing health and wellness trend.
• Legg Mason (NYSE: LM). Legg Mason is a pre-eminent asset manager with $1 trillion under management. But its stock has declined due to temporary problems. Its Value Trust fund -- which had long outperformed the market under its manager Bill Miller -- has had two sub-par performing years in a row. And it's had troubles integrating a merger with Citigroup Inc.'s (NYSE: C) mutual fund unit. Winthrop also thinks Legg Mason has been hit by the overall decline in financials. However, he argues, Legg Mason trades at 1% of assets under management which is far below the 2% industry average. And its valuation is much less than that of newly public alternative investment managers.

Jamba Juice (NASDAQ: JMBA) has been an extremely disappointing performer since it went public through its acquisition by a special purpose acquisition vehicle.

Shares closed at $3.39 on Monday, down from a 52-week high of $11.25 on this day of last year -- A spread of 365 days between the current price and the 52-week high is usually a sign of a difficult stretch.

Perhaps things are getting better: Jamba Juice has reached a deal with Nestle to sell its products at groceries stores in eight states in the western United States. The plan is to eventually expand the program nationally, perhaps internationally, and also target convenience stores and other possible outlets. Nestle (OTC: NSRGY) will manufacture and distribute the beverages.

With its stock in the toilet in light of operational underperformance, this may be just what Jamba needs. But as anyone who witnessed the Krispy Kreme (NASDAQ: KKD) saga can attest, rapid expansion by a premium stand-alone specialty food retailer into mass market distribution can lead to bad results: big losses and irreparable damage to the brand.

Savvy marketing and responsible stewardship of the Jamba franchise on the part of management could make this a big success. But if the company's performance as a public company is any indication, that's not something investors should bet on.

Some people are disinterested in chocolate, while others of us would drive through a hurricane to feed our Godiva jones. According to the UK Telegraph, a new study in the Journal of Proteome Research suggests that the culprits may live in our stomach.

According to the findings of scientists at the Nestle Research Centre and others, the type of bacteria busy aiding in digestion in the guts of chocolate lovers may be different than those of people who don't crave the brown bliss. Since 90% of the cells making up a human being are actually bacteria and other symbiotic partners along for the ride, how could we expect to be able to fight off the urgings of such a throng?

While the findings are only suggestive of a link, I wonder if any chocolate company executives are already fantasizing about the effects on sales of adding the sweet-craving bacteria to their products.

I can't decide if this is good or bad news for the Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) and other chocolatiers. If you could eliminate your desire for chocolate, would you?

I continue to be impressed with the way Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) addresses the different tastes of the world's various cultures. One example is a new product from their cooperative venture with Nestlé, Beverage Partners Worldwide (BPW). The partners have teamed up with L'Oréal (OTC: LRLCY) to create a new beauty beverage, Lumaé, due to hit the market in 2008. While details are sketchy, the product is supposed to contain skin-care ingredients and appeal to the active yet image-conscious women over 25. According to Brandweek, the product will bypass the usual Coke distribution network in favor of Saks Fifth Avenue.

This is not Coke's first foray into beauty drinks. In Japan, they sell "The Wellness," a beauty drink in flavors such as Almond Yogurt. Other health-related drinks available overseas include the Tea with dietary fiber drink Love Body Tea (Japan), Fanta Lactic, a fermented milk and grape yogurt drink available in Hong Kong, and Maaza, a soda with added calcium for the Indian market.

With the diversity of their products worldwide, whenever public tastes evolve in any particular country, chances are Coke already has a tried and true product somewhere in their product line ready to bottle and ship.

According to a new survey by GfK Custom Research, the dominance of U.S. brands in the world market is on the wane, while European and Asian companies grow in brand power. GfK surveyed 30,000 consumers in 25 countries to compile their GfK Roper Reports Worldwide Power Brands study. Respondents rated 33 companies on familiarly, appeal, and worthiness to recommend.

U.S. companies losing traction included Coca-Cola (from 1st to 2nd), Colgate (3rd to 6th), McDonald's (6th to 7th), Kodak (NYSE: EK) (8th to out of the top 15). Pepsi (7th to 5th) and Nike (9th to 8th) ran counter to the trend, advancing their brands.

Phillips took the biggest tumble of all ranked companies.

The top ten most powerful brands in the world market, 2007:

1. Sony (NYSE: SNE)
2. Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO)
3. Nokia (NYSE: NOK)
4. Nestle
5. Pepsi (NYSE: PEP)
6. Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL)
7. McDonald's (NYSE: MCD)
8. Nike (NYSE: NKE)
9. BMW
10. Samsung

The Wall Street Journal's Heard on the Street [subscription] column reported today that PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) approached Nestle about the possibility of a merger in the spring, but nothing came of it. According to the Journal, the deal fizzled in part because Nestle wanted to focus on healthier products, and didn't feel like Pepsi would be a part of that strategy.

Since nothing came of the deal, it's tempting to dismiss this as a non-story. After all, who cares about an overture made by Pepsi a few months ago that didn't amount to anything?

This report is pretty bullish for Nestle shareholders, and those shares rose about 2% on the news of a merger that didn't happen. It's a great display of the company's strength and optimism about its current strategy that it rejected out of hand an overture from Pepsi, which has such strong brands as Frito Lay, Tropicana and Gatorade.

Apparently Nestle thinks that the future is in healthier foods and beverages. Coca Cola (NYSE: KO) appears to agree, as evidenced by its recent acquisition of Glaceau, the maker of Vitamin Water.

Is PepsiCo behind the times, missing out on the bull market in premium beverages and healthier snacks?

More Vitamin Water news

Beth Gaston Moon: High school vending machines getting more eclectic
Zac Bissonnette: PepsiCo plans a lower-calorie Gatorade
Jonathan Berr: Coke, Pepsi thirst for profits from bottled water
Zac Bissonnette: Experts doubt Snapple will satisfy Coke
Zac Bissonnette: Will Coca-Cola gulp down Snapple?
Joseph Lazzaro: Coke's catching up in the health drink segment
Zac Bissonnette: Coke swallows Vitaminwater
Zac Bissonnette: Coke wants vitamin water
Zac Bissonnette: Coke Zero is no zero, it's a big hit
Sarah Gilbert: Fuze acquisition pits Coke v. Pepsi in ritzy juice war

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) and PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP), which are betting that people's thirst for bottled water will continue to grow, would probably prefer that the public ignore an experiment that Penn and Teller did on their Showtime series a few years ago.

Using hidden cameras, the magicians videotaped unsuspecting people at a restaurant who were being served glasses of what they thought were expensive bottled water by a steward. What they didn't know was that their beverage came from a hose. The program is called "Penn and Teller [explicative deleted]," which is exactly how I feel about the bottled water business.

The hype around popular brands, including Vitaminwater, whose corporate parent Glaceau Coke recently agreed to buy for $4.2 billion, fizzes upon closer inspection.

While there are people with bad water and unsafe water, most Americans have perfectly fine water coming out of their taps. In fact, as FastCompany points out, the two leading brands, Pepsi's Aquafina and Coke's Dasani, are purified municipal water. The Natural Resources Defense Council and other experts have repeatedly pointed out that bottled water isn't as strictly regulated as tap water. An NRDC study actually found that 33% of the waters it tested "violated an enforceable state standard or exceeded microbiological-purity guidelines, or both, in at least one sample."

"There are very few differences between the health benefits of bottled and tap water except in isolated circumstances," said Greg Kail, a spokesman for the American Water Works Association, a trade group representing operators of water systems, in an interview. "In North America, we all enjoy some of the safest drinking water in the world."