Building on its massive business, Coke (NYSE: KO) has announced that it is buying Glaceau, the maker of VitaminWater, for $4 billion. VitaminWater is great for Coke, and you as well. The vitamin content is a bit suspect, but the product's marketing angle and taste are great. I especially like the XXX flavor, with its splash of acai, pomegranate, and blueberry -- three antioxidant superstars. Pick up a case or two of XXX VitaminWater today. My relative-strength calculations show Coke building a solid base versus the S&P 500.

Pepsi (NYSE: PBG), one of Coke's biggest competitors, is also on the move. "We sell soda" is Pepsi Bottling's mission statement -- Pepsi's Press director must be napping. The mission statement should be "We sell soda and water and energy drinks and any other partially digestible beverage we can fit in a plastic bottle." It seems like the management team is too busy running a company to worry about a silly ad campaign. Catchy mission statements are for promotional CEOs and performance-chasing mutual fund managers. I look for clumsy mission statements and understaffed PR departments. Pepsi fits the bill, and the stock offers a margin of safety.

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) is the king of shareholder yield. The company is a pioneer in returning value to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. In the last five years alone, ExxonMobil's share count has been reduced by 16%. A hearty serving of share buybacks and dividends keeps ExxonMobil management disciplined in an industry full of wildcat empire-building management teams. The benefits of high shareholder yield are evident as the company has outperformed the market consistently over the last 37 years. If I could own only one stock, it just might be XOM.

Did you catch the outlandish media reports that Honda Motor Co. (NYSE: HMC) was in talks to acquire Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG)? Harley stock popped based on the news, followed by a retrenchment to the pre-takeover speculation price. Anybody who rides a Harley knows a Honda-Harley merger would be brand suicide -- Harley is the antithesis of Honda. A more likely acquirer is private equity, but I view that as unlikely at this time.

The next best thing to a monopoly, which is illegal or heavily regulated in most countries, is a "duopoly" -- a two-firm industry. Large commercial aircraft manufacturing is a duopoly, with Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Airbus. Airbus is in shambles right now. Customers are cancelling orders left and right and ordering planes from Boeing. Even Air France-KLM, 18% owned by the French government -- the same government that owns 30% of Airbus -- is buying Boeing aircraft. My charting shows that Boeing stock is back on the way up after a period of consolidation.

Did you know that Iran's economy is in chaos due to gasoline rationing? Gas stations are ablaze, and mutinous Iranians line up for miles at the non-blazers. A nonpartisan U.S. House panel has proposed legislation intended to punish any company that provides Iran with gasoline. And are you aware that China already imports nearly 50% of its oil? Almost 90% of China's rivers are highly polluted, a full third of Chinese breathe polluted air, and drinking water is unsafe for human consumption. Nice. In the Far East, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand (95% Buddhist), and Vietnam all have much more appeal to me. Colombia is interesting for travel and investment. The Economist reports that international labor organizations consider Colombia the most dangerous country in the world for trade unions.