Video: Pepsi and Grammy Award-Winning Artist Will.i.am to Create the Ultimate Music Collaboration

Having started in September, Pepsi started allowing music fans to apply their own musical touch to create their own unique mix of the song "La, La, La " by LMFAO. Will.i.am has joined Pepsi and LMFAO to help produce a user-generated video and music track that will be available to consumers in December 2009. Pepsi's "Ultimate Refresh" has introduced a new, digital mixing player that can be used by the music fans to combine three different original music clips along with the performance by LMFAO for a two minute collaborative video which can be viewed on www.ultimaterefresh.com. Upon uploading the video to the site, it will be revised by Will.i.am, and his favorite user-generated content will help Will.i.am to produce the ultimate remix of the song which will then be available free for download in early December 2009.

Competitors

Taking a look at Kraft foods, which is the top competitor of all of our stock companies, had a rough week. Starting the week off on November 23rd, their stock started and peaked at 27.34. Their stock continued to decrease throughout the week and ended at 26.64.

Market Review Nov. 23-27

NASDAQ: Started at 2,176.01 and ended at 2,138.43. They had a down week except for Tuesday November 24th.

DOW JONES: Started the week at 10,450.95 and ended at 10,309.91. They held steady until Wendesday November 25th and then crashed.

S&P 500: Had a down week too. Started at 1,106.24 and ended at 1,087.27.

Portfolio Review Nov. 23-27

Last week our portfolio value went down. It was a very bad week as it was the first time we dropped below the 90,000 mark. Conagra Foods and Pepsi actually did not have bad weeks as Conagra is still up about .60 and Pepsi is at 62.30 which is .12 below our buying price. Our ranking is 859 which is our worse all time. The total portfolio value is 89,179.10 which is also the worse value ever.

Review - Be Prepared for the Worst

This article ensures that the economy will continue to go down from here. The author said that the people who are saying that the worse of the recession is over are the same ones who believed that it was on the upside last year. There was an interesting idea included in the article that a balloon with trillions of dollars pumped into it to keep our economy stable will eventually deflate. This will most likely happen with the current problem that we have because we have taken somewhat of a socialist approach and in order to get the economy back in a fully capitalist style we will take a hit. The author predicts that we will have another Great Depression like economic problem to come.

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/1116/opinions-great-depression-economy-on-my-mind.htm

Review of the Market Nov.16-20th

In the market this week the Dow Jones Industrial Average started off at around 10,406.96 on the 16th and spiked the next day at 10,437.42. On the 18th they started to fall down a bit and by the 20th the stock had fell down to 10,318.16. The NASDAQ started the week off at about 2,197.85 and spiked at 2,203.78 on the 17th. The stock then continued to decrease and ended the week at 2146.04. The S&P 500 started at 1109.30 and on the 17th it made it's highest point at 1110.32. The rest of the week consisted of the stock decresingand ending the week at 1091.38.

Competition

The number one competitor for all of our stocks is Kraft Food. Kraft is actually having a shaky performance lately. The current price is 27.35 per share which is actually up from last week when it fell to 26.94 on Thursday. A possible reason for the rise in price of late is that Thanksgiving is right around the corner and many people will be buying food. Our companies will also have a price rise and keep up with the competition.

Portfolio Review Nov. 16-20

In the third week of November we did not purchase any stocks or mutual funds. Over the last week our portfolio has decreased significantly. Our portfolio dropped over $2000. Two stocks that we have invested in are doing good but Hershey's is doing very poor. Today, on Nov. 20th we have $91,082.54. We have a cash balance of $18,113.96.

New Products From Pepsi

Three new retro sodas wil be hitting the shelves beginning in March and April. New Pepsi natural and Pepsi and Mountain Dew throwback will allow the consumers to experience a refreshed version of their favorite sodas. Along with the new look that the cans will have, the sodas will also be replacing the high fructose corn syrup with natural cane and beet sugar which will eliminate four grams of sugar per 12 ounce serving. There will also be a few other additions to the new revamped sodas to achieve a better tasting formula. The bad part about the new throwback sodas is that they will only be available for a limited time only.

Portfolio Review Nov. 9-13

We kept the same stocks that we had for the previous week. We have stock in Pepsi, Hershey and Conagra Foods. Today on Nov.17, we have $93,212.83. Compared to week 4 we gained roughly $1500. All of our stocks are doing well. Also, we have a cash balance of $18,113.96 to invest if we want.

Market Review Nov. 9-13

NASDAQ: The NASDAQ had a steady but not great week last week. The value started at 2154.06 and the values went up and down slightly throughout the week. There were no huge anomalies in the values and it ended up at 2167.88.

Dow Jones: The Dow had a decent week, staying above 10,000 for the entire duration. The value started at 10226.94 and had steady gains other than a slight dip on Wednesday. The final value was 10406.96.

S&P 500: This was a week very similar to that of the Dow Jones. 1093.08 and were steady all week other than a small drop on Wednesday. Values stayed consistent after this and ended at 1093.48.

Antioxidants & Phytonutrients

Through research, it has been found that plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, peanuts, and tree nuts contain naturally occuring plant compounds or phytonutrients. Through some experiments it has been said that these phytonutrients may provide a wide range of health benefits. Phytosterols have also been found in peanuts, almonds, and other nuts which have been found to lower LDL-cholesterol. There have been many nutrients within the plant foods that may have a healthy effect on the body including the vitamin E found in some nuts have some antioxidant activity which can provide similar activity to some fruits and vegetables.

New Products

There is not really any new product in the food industry. However, with the approaching holiday season there will be a plethora of food being produced. Also, although there are no actual new products in the industry but companies are always attempting to modify their old products in order to make them taste better and be healthier.

Competition

All the stocks that we currently hold are in the Food Industry. The biggest competitor of all our companies is Kraft Foods. Kraft is currently not having a good week. Kraft opened the week at 27.64 and ended the week at 26.78. Analyst predict that Kraft will fall 3.8% by the end of the year. Our companies are currently doing well, so I believe that we made the right decisions on what companies we purchased.

Market Review Nov. 2-6

Dow Jones: The week was overall positive for Dow Jones. The Dow Jones started at 9,789.44 and ended at 10,023.42.

NASDAQ: Also had a very good week. It started the week at 2,049.20 and ended at 2,122.44.

S&P 500: Had a great week too. It started at 1,048.88 for the week and ended at 1,069.33. Gaining more than 20 points for the week.

Portfolio Review November 2-6

Last week we decided to keep the stocks we had and just wait and see what the stocks will do. Our stocks in Hersey, Pepsi, and Conagra Foods all went down slightly. The ending balance was only about 500 dollars lower than what it started at for the week. We paid no commission and there were no stock splits.

Market Review Oct. 26-30

By the S&P 500 market index the market was down roughly 30 points for the week. The market fell on Oct. 27 and Oct. 29. By friday the S&P 500 was at 1036.18

By the NASDAQ market index the market had a down week. The NASDAQ fell on Oct. 27 and Oct. 29. By friday the NASDAQ was at 2045.11

By the DJIA market index the market was down roughly 150 points for the week. Again the market fell on Oct. 27 and Oct. 29. On friday DJIA was at 9712.73

Doritos Issues Last Call for Consumer-Created Ads Vying for $5 Million in Prizes and Air Time During Super Bowl XLIV

Doritos, Pepsico's Frito Lay divison, is making the last call on entries in this year's "Crash the Super Bowl" challenge. This event challenges fans to submit their own homemade 30 second advertisements that show and share their love for Doritos tortilla chips. The grand prize for winning the competition is a massive total of $5 million and even a free trip to the super bowl for the six finalists, where they will wait and watch the winning ads while they are displayed across the entire nation. The "Crash the Super Bowl" challenge is just another way for Doritos brand to give the control over to the consumers. The ads will air on February 7th, 2009 during the commercial spots in between the Super Bowl.

Portfolio Review

We decided to sell our remaining 500 shares of DXRLX because of lack of performance. We lost nearly two dollars per share on the stock and no longer felt that it was a worth while investment. We decided to invest in Hersey because at the time Halloween was coming. The shares cost 39.27. With Thanksgiving and the holiday season approaching we felt that purchasing Pepsi and Conagra Foods. Pepsi shares sold for 62.45 and Conagra for 21.59. So far all three of the stocks are down very slightly. We expect them to rise within the next few weeks with Thanksgiving around the corner.

Competition

All of the stocks we currently hold are in the food industry so a fitting competitor for all of them is Kraft Foods. Kraft is currently at a higher point after a long down period the price is 26.80 which is lower than all three of our companies, therefor I believe we made good purchases within the food industry. Kraft is not projected to make much for gains for the remainder of this year.