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PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) today reported strong second quarter results as the maker of soft drinks and salty snacks such as Cheetos weathered rising commodity prices and continued to benefit from the weak dollar.

Net income rose more than 9% to $1.7 billion, or $1.05 per share, as revenue soared 14% to $10.9 billion, the Purchase, NY-based company said in a statement. The results surpassed the $1.01 profit forecast and $10.6 billion sale forecast of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

"PepsiCo continued to drive growth across its worldwide snacks and beverage businesses primarily through strong product innovation, well-executed pricing actions and focus on expense control and productivity." said Chief Executive Indra Nooyi, "We are proud of our first-half performance and confident that we are well-positioned to deliver on our outlook amidst a challenging macroeconomic environment."

In the quarter, PepsiCo International showed over 20% revenue growth and over 30% profit growth from prior year. A weak spot was PepsiCo Americas Beverages. The economic slowdown has hurt the business, pushing down volumes by 1%. Mountain Dew and Sierra Mist both grew in the single-digits while Pepsi fell in the mid single digits. Energy drinks were a bright spot lead by a triple-digit volume growth in AMP Energy and a 50% gain in SoBe Life Water. Gatorade also showed gains in the quarter.

Investors reacted cautiously to the earnings report because the company said it could not provide "guidance on the 2008 projected EPS growth including the impact of the mark-to-market gains or losses on commodity hedges due to the unpredictability of future changes in commodity prices." The shares are up only fractionally in mid-morning trading.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) shares fell after the second-largest commercial plane maker reported disappointing second quarter earnings.

Net income dropped 19% to $852 million, or $1.16 a share, from $1.05 billion, or $1.35 a share, a year earlier, the Chicago-based company said in a statement. Revenue was flat at $17 billion. The results fell short of the $1.22 profit estimate and the $17.3 billion revenue estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Boeing reaffirmed its 2008 earnings per share guidance of between $5.70 and $5.85 as well as its 2009 earnings per share guidance of between $6.80 and $7.00.

"While we faced some challenges this quarter that affected our results, we remain confident in our outlook for the remainder of this year and 2009," said Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney in the earnings release. "Strong global demand for our products and services, a record backlog, and a sustained focus on productivity improvement and execution will continue to drive growth and profitability for this company."

A government bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would cost U.S. taxpayers $25 billion over the next two years under a plan being proposed by the Bush administration, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office.

The July 14th proposal by the administration would grant the Secretary of the Treasury temporary authority to purchase obligations and other securities issued by Fannie, Freddie and the Federal Home Loan Banks. Congress is expected to vote on the proposal soon.

CBO used historical data to estimate expected losses on the different types of credit risk the GSE's (government-sponsored enterprises) have in their portfolios.

Republicans and my colleague Aaron Katsman are trying to blame Democrat Barack Obama for rising gas prices. This is election-year politics at its worst.

For one thing, as the Washington Post and other independent observers note, drilling for more oil will do little to alleviate the pain U.S. drivers are feeling at the pump. The available supplies are probably not going to make much of a dent in our never-ending thirst for the black gold. Remember, the oil may not be as easy to get or cheap to process.

"Drilling off the coasts would increase U.S. oil production but have no short-term impact on gas prices," the Post says. "While some analysts disagree, an Energy Department report last year said production would not start until 2017 and have no 'significant' effect on prices or supplies until 2030."

An even more ridiculous idea floated by Republican John McCain is the so-called gas tax holiday, which has been roundly denounced by economists and Obama as a dangerous economic gimmick. Experts estimate that it would save the average consumer a whopping $30.

Shares of UAL Corp. (NYSE: UAUA), the parent company of United Airlines, soared today after the Chicago-based company announced it had enhanced its liquidity by $1.2 billion. The company also posted second quarter results that were not as dismal as Wall Street had expected

The company will receive a payment of $600 million from JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) related to the advance purchase of frequent flier miles. In addition, the level of reserves that United is required to maintain under its credit card processing agreement with Chase Paymentech has been reduced to $25 million, a move which will free up about $350 million in previously restricted cash. UAL expects the frequent flier payment to improve cash flow by about $200 million over the next two years.

"Combined with the previously announced approximately $550 million raised from new transactions in the second and third quarters, the company will have increased its total cash balance by $1.7 billion and continues to have more than $3 billion in unencumbered hard assets," UAL said in a press release.

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.

When I was growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, I remember watching O.J. Simpson in Hertz (NYSE:HTZ) ads dash through the airport on my television screen as a spunky old woman yelled "go, O.J., go." It seems like these spots were always featured during breaks of favorite ABC TV shows "Charlie's Angels", "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island." I even imitated O.J. when I went to the airport, much to the horror of my parents. I thought that, next to TV private eye Jim Rockford, Simpson was the coolest guy in the world.

Of course, no one realized at the time that Simpson's nice-guy image was an act. When he led police on his infamous low-speed chase through the freeways of Southern California, people saw O.J. running again -- this time from the law, under suspicion for the murder of his wife and waiter Ron Goldman. Again, people thought about Hertz. When he was acquitted, people thought about Hertz. For people my age (40), O.J. and Hertz will be forever linked. That's the power of branding.

About the only thing O.J, is endorsing these days is plastic football helmets and old pictures of himself, which is the root of his current legal troubles in Las Vegas. People are less interested in him in that world. At least one sports memorabilia dealer has his O.J. Simpson-autographed merchandise on sale.

To be fair, Hertz severed its ties to Simpson when allegations of domestic abuse first surfaced in 1992. Since then, advertisers do a much more thorough background check on their celebrities before hiring them to tell us how we should spend our discretionary income. We are a nation of sheep. The problem is that we as Americans continue to look to our celebrities before making important decisions, which is a pity.

Read the entire series

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.

Remember the early part of 2008? Britney Spears was nuts. The economy was not in the toilet as much and commercials for Pfizer's (NYSE:PFE) anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor blanketed the nation's broadcast and cable airwaves. Good times.

Those Lipitor commercials -- in case you have forgotten -- featured medical scientist Dr. Robert Jarvik Jarvick speaking about the heart disease that killed his father and urging the public to ask their doctor about the pill. Jarvick, Jarvik, the "inventor" of the artificial heart, looked healthy and vigorous as he rowed on a sunny lake. As the New York Times pointed out, the ad was a pack of lies.
Jarvick Jarvik is a medical doctor who is not licensed to practice medicine and who may have exaggerated his role in developing the artificial heart. Plus, he does not even row. Talk about truth in advertising. After members of Congress balked, Pfizer pulled the campaign that reportedly cost it $256 million. Pfizer is going to have to figure another way to bolster sales of Lipitor before it comes off patent in 2010. Maybe James "Tony Soprano" Gandolfini can be persuaded to urge people to "whack" their cholesterol. Just a suggestion.

The sad thing is that Jarvik Jarvick is not the sleaziest pitchman in the drug industry. Those would be the celebrities who go on TV to "raise awareness" about a disease. Drug companies often pay them too. It's hardly surprising the U.S. is the only country to allow drug companies to sell directly to consumers. Whatever benefits these ads create are outweighed by the problems they cause.

Read the entire series

In a surprise move, UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) said today that it would end off-shore banking and security services in the U.S.

The decision was disclosed today by Mark Branson, the chief financial officer for UBS Global Wealth Management and Business Banking during testimony before a U.S. Senate hearing on tax havens. According to Bloomberg News, the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on investigations found that UBS bankers from Switzerland -- who were not licensed in the U.S. -- frequently traveled here to woo wealthy Americans interested in setting up secret Swiss bank accounts or shell companies in tax havens such as the British Virgin Islands.

UBS, Switzerland's largest bank, has estimated 19,000 Swiss accounts for U.S. clients with assets valued at $18 billion, according to the subcommittee's report. Along with LGT Bank of Lichtenstein, UBS allowed U.S. clients who sold their U.S. securities to continue to hold undisclosed accounts and to open accounts in the name of non-US entities that were owned by U.S. clients.

Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) soared today after the New York-based bank reported second quarter results that were not as lousy as expected.

They were terrible of course. Net income fell 53% to $2 billion, or 54 cents a share, ahead of the 44-cent average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Net revenue fell 3% to $18.4 billion, beating the $16.6 billion average Bloomberg estimate.

The results, though, underscore how well the company has fared under the leadership of CEO Jamie Dimon.

Here are some highlights:

• Investment banking fees were $1.7 billion, their second highest quarter ever.
• Net income in commercial banking rose 25% to $355 million.
• Net income was a record $425 million in Treasury and Security Services, up 21% from a year earlier.
• Equity underwriting fees rose 6% to $542 million.
• Fix income markets revenue dropped only 4% driven largely by net markdowns of $696 million on leveraged lending funded and unfunded commitments, as well as mortgage-related net markdowns of $405 million.
  

The straight-talking Dimon did not mince words about the challenges that lie ahead for JPMorgan, saying in the release, "Our expectation is for the economic environment to continue to be weak – and to likely get weaker – and for the capital markets to remain under stress.... In spite of the environment, we are confident that we are building an increasingly strong and profitable company."

But unlike many on Wall Street, Dimon can walk the walk and talk the talk.

The Coca Cola Co. (NYSE: KO), which has been battling declining sales of carbonated beverages, is not finding many friends on Wall Street after reporting its second quarter results.

As expected, they were weak. Net income fell 23% to $1.42 billion, or 61 cents per share, compared with $1.85 billion, or 80 cents, a year earlier, the Atlanta-based company said in its earnings press release. Excluding a non-cash impairment charge resulting from the write down of North American assets of Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc.
(NYSE:CCE), profit would have been $1.01. Revenue rose 17% to $9.05 billion.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) today reported better-than-expected second quarter results, allaying fears that the economic slowdown would hurt the world's largest chipmaker.

Net income rose 25% to $1.6 billion, or 28 cents and sales jumped 9.1% to $9.47 billion, beating analysts' expectations of profit of 26 cents on revenue of $9.33 billion. The company even gave robust guidance of $10 billion to $10.6 billion. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected sales of $10.01 billion. Shares of the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company rose in after-hours trading along with other tech bellwethers such as Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG).

"Intel had another strong quarter with revenue at the high end of expectations and earnings up substantially year over year," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO, in the earnings release. "As we enter the second half, demand remains strong for our microprocessor and chipset products in all segments and all parts of the globe."

Intel Corp.'s (NASDAQ: INTC) quarterly earnings results are like a canary in a coal mine for investors. If the world's largest chipmaker beats Wall Street expectations later today, then shares of every gadget, widget and internet company will raise in sympathy. If things go awry, tech investors better run for cover.

Interestingly, Wall Street analysts are forecasting growth at the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company to slow to a crawl in the quarter but most consider the stock a buy. Revenue is expected to increase 7% in the second quarter, down from 12% in the previous three quarters, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News who are calling for sales to rise 4% this year, half the rate of 2007. Analysts expect the company to earn 26 cents per share on revenue of $9.33 billion.

Earlier this year, tech research firm Gartner reduced its worldwide sales forecasts for personal computers, citing the weakening economy and cautioned that growth could drop into the single digits. But what's driving Intel these days is notebook computers, where sales remain robust. Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) reported better-than-expected results in May because of growth in laptops sales.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) shares fell in early trading as Wall Street viewed the company's announcement that it plans to raise as much as $15 billion through the end of next year by suspending its dividend, cutting its salaried workforce and selling assets with skepticism.

For one thing, who is going to want to buy the assets GE is trying to sell? For instance, sales of Hummer were down about 60% in June. What private equity player will take a chance on buying a brand synonymous with gas guzzling as gas sells for more than $4 a gallon at the pump? Who is going to want other lackluster GM brands like Saturn? Any new owners of the business will face the same problems as GM.

Also, let's not forget the rising prices of commodities used to make cars, such as steel. Hyundai Motor Co. announced today that it was raising prices on its cars because of increased costs for raw materials, according to Reuters. Soaring oil prices also is making the costs of plastics needed for car parts rise.

The new Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone is even a bigger hit than analysts had expected. During its debut weekend, about a million units of the phone that can do everything but your taxes were sold. This number is already higher than earlier estimates from today Doug McIntyre has posted. Even Apple's prickly Chief Executive Steve Jobs was impressed.

"iPhone 3G had a stunning opening weekend," he said in a press release issued this morning. " It took 74 days to sell the first one million original iPhones, so the new iPhone 3G is clearly off to a great start around the world."

Indeed, diehard geeks camped out and around Apple and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) stores to be among the first to get their hands on the sleek new phone. A 22-year-old college student from New Zealand named Jonny Gladwell was the first to purchase the mother of all gadgets. He waited outside his Vodafone store for 60 hours, according to Vnunet.com. His parents must be proud (or horrified).

What makes this even more amazing is that many Apple fans are fuming over technical glitches and shortages of the phone their lives will not be complete without. Gizmodo dubbed this the iPocalypse. Mitch Wagner of Information Week argues that Apple has got some fence-mending to do with customers who clearly expected better.

The markets are imploding today amid fears which Citigroup says are unfounded that Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM ) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) may not have enough capital to withstand the crisis in the housing market and continued worries about oil prices prompted by missile tests by the government of Iran. This is not just a perfect storm; it's a perfect season of calamities.

Want to know how bad it is? Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares are down on the day the geeks around the world are waiting in line for the new iPhone, which has gotten rave reviews. Amazing. If people are looking for an excuse to buy Apple, this may be it.

Other stocks that seem to be doing well are Anheuser-Busch Cos. (NYSE: BUD) because InBev raised its unsolicited offer, and General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), whose in-line quarter was greeted by cheers by Wall Street.