Kraft Foods Inc.’s (NYSE: KFT) $16.7 billion unsolicited takeover attempt of Cadbury PLC (NYSE ADR: CBY) is the latest sign of consolidation in the highly competitive food industry, and will likely lead to two things: A bidding war for Cadbury and further consolidation in the sector.

SmartMoney.com associate editor Jack Hough says now is a good time to pick up Buffett-favored stocks on the cheap.

Now that the results of the U.S. bank stress tests are finally in the books, the extent of the capital shortfalls are known and – in many cases – are actually being addressed.

When recessions bite, people turn to cheap comfort foods like macaroni and cheese. And as it turns out, those deliciously cheesy elbows have been a pretty good indicator of difficult times.

Bernanke Sees Late-09 Turnaround; Canadian Dollar Hits Six-Month High; Kraft Beats 1Q Estimates; South Africa Unemployment Hits 23.5%; Service Sector Gains Ground; AIG’s First Quarter Loss Expected to Shrink; Some Traders Oppose Up-Tick Rule; Chile’s Peso Rallies to 7-Month High Against Dollar

This could get ugly. Another month, another 600k+ jobs expected to be lost. This would mark the 16th straight month of job losses, just one month short of the longest streak in history.

Given the implicit government guarantees, Eric Roseman says it is likely that investors will soon start to switch from low-yielding Treasury bonds to high-grade corporate debt. The Fed’s balance sheet is now polluted by the toxic debt it has taken on from banks. And demand for Treasuries will not keep pace with the deluge of supply in the coming year. Eric says this could make investment grade corporate debt the new safe haven in bonds in 2009.

President-elect Barack Obama yesterday (Thursday) named Mary L. Schapiro – a strong proponent of protections for individual investors – to head the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission when his administration takes office next month, the biggest of three nominations with potential financial crisis implications.

Report: Russia, China Biggest Bribers; Coffee Prices Continue Falling; October Existing Home Sales Slump; China Wants More Help From BHP; Yahoo Closing in on New CEO; FedEx Lowers Guidance 26%; Lehman Selling French Unit for $1; NFL to Cut 150 Jobs

New Home Sales for September are announced today and this will sound like a broken record, but they are expected to disappoint.  In the face of the frozen credit markets, I guess a drop of only 2000 units could be viewed as a small victory.