If you've been watching earnings this past week, or if you read last week's Week in Preview, then this coming week may leave you feeling a bit like Bill Murray in Groundhog's Day. That is, again analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect earnings declines to be more frequent and deeper than earnings gains.

Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT), Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC), IAC Interactivecorp (NASDAQ: IACI), Moody's Corp. (NYSE: MCO), Elizabeth Arden Inc. (NASDAQ: RDEN), Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN), Diebold Inc. (NYSE: DBD), Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC), United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL), ITT Corp. (NYSE: ITT), and Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) are scheduled to report quarterly results this week, and they're all expected to report double-digit declines in earnings.

But again this week, let's take a look who Wall Street feels may have done well in the past quarter.

This post is part of a series on some of the most memorable companies that have disappeared.

The history of General Foods can be traced back to the Postum Cereal Company, founded by Charles William Post, inventor of Postum and Grape Nuts, in 1895. Wall Street player E.F. Hutton in time became the chairman, and he initiated a series of acquisitions beginning in 1925: Jell-O, Minute Tapioca, Log Cabin, Hellmann, Calumet Baking Powder, and Birdseye. It was after the Birdseye acquisition in 1929 that the food conglomerate became General Foods.

Among General Foods' many product offerings were Sanka decaffinated coffee and the astronaut's favorite, Tang. General Foods also continued to make acquisitions, including the makers of Kool-Aid in 1953, the Burger Chef restaurant chain in 1968, and Oscar Mayer in 1981.

But late in 1985, General Foods was itself acquired by Philip Morris Cos., which later became Altria Group (NYSE: MO), in the largest non-oil acquisition to date. When Philip Morris acquired Kraft in 1988, the two food companies were merged. In 2007, Altria spun off Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT), which now owns such former General Foods brands as Jell-O, Kool-Aid, and Maxwell House coffee. And it was announced in late 2007 that Post Cereals, including Grape Nuts, would be sold to Ralcorp Holdings (NYSE: RAH).

Where can you find the "Wall Street of the West?" In Colorado, of course -- specifically, Denver's 17th Street financial district.

Colorado's economy has come a long way from its foundation on trapping and mining. Denver's location, equidistant between Los Angeles and Chicago, between Seattle and New Orleans, has helped the Centennial State become the economic center of Rocky Mountain states -- even Denver's time zone and elevation help it keep in touch with the rest of the world. It's no wonder there's a large federal government presence in the state (U.S. Air Force Academy, NORAD, NOAA, Denver Mint, U.S. Geological Survey).

Companies such as Lockheed-Martin (NYSE: LMT), Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q), Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP), and Crocs (NASDAQ: CROX) offer a sense of the diversity of the state's economy. And so do the three companies examined here: Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN), Dynamic Materials Corp. (NASDAQ: BOOM), and Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM).

Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) announced a definitive agreement to merge its Post cereals business into Ralcorp Holdings (NYSE: RAH). The transaction is tax-efficient and worth approximately $2.6 billion to Kraft and its shareholders. For purposes of comparison, to have achieved an equivalent amount in a taxable transaction, Kraft would have needed to receive approximately $4.0 billion in cash for the business.

The Post cereals business had net revenues of about $1.1 billion in 2006, and includes such popular cereals as Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles, Shredded Wheat, Selects, Grape Nuts and Honeycomb. The brands in this transaction are distributed primarily in North America.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• In a setback for U.S. foreign policy, General Musharraf of Pakistan has imposed emergency rule amidst a political crisis, tightly controlling the courts, and media outlets, in addition to holding about 500 government opponents and changing several Supreme Court justices, according to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
• For the first time in 20 years, the Writers Guild of America, whose members total 12,000, has failed to reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers, and a strike is expected to take effect today, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) may sell its Post cereals to Ralcorp Holdings (NYSE: RAH) for about $2.8B, according to the Wall Street Journal.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The U.K. Times reported that Vodafone Group (NYSE: VOD) is the frontrunner to acquire a 25% stake in Telekom International, a division of state-controlled Telekom Malaysia.
• Shares of British supermarket chain J Sainsbury (OTC: JSAIY) plunged 18% in London today after Qatar Investment Authority abandoned its GBP10.6B bid for Sainsbury, reported the U.K. Times.
• Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is expected to hold a press conference today to unveil a suite of software for mobile phones that will be based on open-source technology and will be backed by some of the largest wireless industry companies in the world, reported CNet.com.

With raider Nelson Peltz taking a position in Kraft (NYSE: KFT), it was clear that he wanted more than his share of certificates. He began to push for improving shareholder value through things like higher dividends and stock buy-backs. Part of his argument was that Kraft had some units that performed poorly. Why, he asked, should the company keep them?

Why indeed? Kraft is close to a deal to sell Post cereals to Ralcorp for $2.8 billion.

According to The Wall Street Journal [subscription required], "Kraft and Ralcorp are discussing a stock-based transaction that would free both parties from tax liability. That would be done by first spinning off the Post business and then merging it with Ralcorp, leaving Kraft holders with equity in the merged entity." The deal may help Ralcorp compete with cereal giants like Kellogg (NYSE: K).

There is a problem with the plan. It has only been about a year since Kraft was spun out from Altria (NYSE: MO). Kraft's stock is down about 5% over the last year. The new management now has a chance to prove that it can improve operations rather than sell them.

A division sold is often an opportunity lost. Post is an old and well-established franchise. Shares of rival Kellogg are up 20% over the last two years, which means that the cereal business does not have to be a loser. Ralcorp clearly thinks it can improve the Post returns. So, why sell now?

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: General Motors Corp (GM), DaimlerChrysler (DCX), Mattel, Inc (MAT), Nvidia Corp (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Lehman upgraded shares of General Motors (NYSE: GM) to Equal-Weight from Underweight with a $30 target following the Chrysler sale as the firm believes GM will now take a tougher stance on its labor negotiations.

• UBS upgraded shares of DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE: DCX) to Buy from Neutral on the Chrysler sale and valuation. The broker believes the core Daimler unit looks inexpensive.

• Mattel Inc (NYSE: MAT) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Matrix USA to reflect increasing sales growth.

• ThinkEquity upgraded shares of Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) to Buy from Sell as the firm believes AMD could beat expectations for the next several quarters, likely affecting NVDA's chipset business and driving shares higher.

• ThinkEquity upgraded shares of Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) to Buy from Sell citing strong Dell Inc (DELL) orders. Following Nvidia's comments on its quarterly report and channel checks, the firm now believes AMD is poised to beat expectations for the next several quarters and is truly a going concern...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Citigroup upgraded EnCana Corp (NYSE: ECA) to Hold from Sell.

• BMO Upgraded Las Vegas Sands Corp (NYSE: LVS) to Outperform from Market Perform.

• Banc Of America raised Marathon Oil Corp (NYSE: MRO) to Buy from Neutral with a $125 target.

• Newfield Exploration Co (NYSE: NFX) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein.

• Credit Suisse upgraded Ralcorp Holdings, Inc (NYSE: RAH) to Outperform from Neutral.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).