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The Kellogg Company said on Wednesday that it would buy Pringles for about $2.7 billion in cash, swooping in on the snack company after an earlier agreement with Diamond Foods fell apart.

The deal will add a prominent brand to existing Kellogg snack offerings Keebler and Cheez-It, helping the company increase its presence in snacks. Beginning with its $4.5 billion purchase of Keebler in 2000, Kellogg has tried to reduce its reliance on its mainstay cereal business, which includes Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies.

The snack business is growing faster and has greater appeal internationally. In a conference call with analysts, Kellogg’s chief executive, John A. Bryant, said that Pringles, known for its signature canned potato snacks, is in 140 countries and offers “the potential for increased scale in Europe and a good entry point into snacking in Asia and Latin America.” Pringles generates about $1.5 billion in annual sales.

Wednesday’s deal also provides some relief for Pringles’ parent, Procter Gamble, which agreed last spring to sell the business to Diamond for $2.4 billion in stock.

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Weekly Wrap Up

Despite the news that last quarter’s GDP was the highest it has been in a year and a half, stocks ended mixed as this slightly missed economists’ forecasts and there are several signs that 2012 isn’t going to start as strong. One of those signs is a softening in home prices and home sales that occurred in December and will likely end up extending into January. Stalled talks among the European Central Bank authorities over how to deal with their Greek bond holdings also was cause of investor anxiety this week. More Market News

Economic News

U.S. GDP grew at fastest pace in 1.5 years in fourth quarter 2011The nation’s on-and-off economic recovery has picked up its pace, the Commerce Department reported Friday, with the U.S. economy growing at an annualized rate of 2.8 percent for the end of 2011.

That rate is the fastest recorded in a year and a half, and it follows three quarters of growth below 2 percent.

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For a lot of Americans, the week between Christmas and New Year’s is a time of relaxation and inactivity. Many adults do not have to work, and kids are out of school. In short, nothing too exciting tends to occur during the final week of the year.

That was certainly not the case in 2011 for Verizon Wireless, who announced a new convenience charge for its customers — and then rescinded the fee almost immediately after an unexpected backlash. What’s more, this ordeal represented a monumental event in the constant battle between corporations and consumers.

Let’s take a closer look at how this saga unfolded:

1. On the morning of December 29th, an internal memo was leaked on the Internet which detailed how Verizon Wireless was going to begin charging its customers $2 each time they paid their bill using their credit cards — either online or over the phone.

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Gambling debt is not only a pecuniary responsibility; it is also an early sign of an addiction to gambling. There are a handful means to get by the financial problem of gambling debt, yet you may want to look into your gambling lifestyle to steer clear of a further upsurge on debt as well.

1. Speak with the casinos where you gamble to learn about how much you exactly owe them. Such circumstances also deem accounting for whatever loans you put your name down for to fund your gambling.

2. Create a list of supplementary resources of funding that you utilized to compensate for gambling. A number of gamblers obtain money out of family savings accounts and college funds. You will want to strive to return the money into such funds past the repayment to loan companies and casinos.

3. Establish a payment timetable in order to cope with paying off gambling establishments. Interest rates differ from casino to casino, but you can perhaps try to reach a deal for lower rates if you concur to pay higher sums.

4.

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The investigation into MF Global is intensifying as federal authorities unearth new details and confront potential obstacles in their hunt for roughly $1.2 billion in customer money that disappeared from the brokerage firm.

While prosecutors and regulators have jointly conducted dozens of depositions with former and current employees, a senior official in the Chicago office of MF Global recently declined to meet with the federal authorities, people briefed on the investigation said.

That official, Edith O’Brien, a treasurer at MF Global, is considered a “person of interest” in the investigation, the people said. Federal authorities suspect that she transferred about $200 million to JPMorgan Chase in London on the eve of the bankruptcy of MF Global, money that turned out to be customer cash.

Authorities had expected to interview Ms. O’Brien last month.

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Major indices were up more than 1.5 percent today as good news about the state of the economy came from several fronts. The Institute for Supply Management said that the manufacturing sector was up from November, while the Commerce Department saw construction spending up 1.2 percent in November from October. Germany also hit its lowest unemployment rate in decades, and an all time lowest rate since the unification between East and West. In the financial sector, Bank of America was up 4 percent and Goldman Sachs was up 5 percent. Read more…