Who's ready for some football? The Super Bowl is this weekend, and you know what that means -- commercials that we will all be talking about on Monday morning. In fact, we all know someone who says they watch the game for the commercials.

CBS announced earlier this week that it sold out all the in-game spots, but a few pre- and post-game spots remained. How much money did this make for CBS (CBS)? Roughly $200 million, and that is a low-end estimate. We all know why advertisers flock to the Super Bowl, as more than 98.7 million viewers tuned in last year. No matter who is in the Super Bowl, people watch the game and the commercials -- and eventually they may buy the products from the ads.

Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG) issued Q4 results on Tuesday. On a reported basis, the company made 40 cents per share. Last year at this time, there was a loss of $1.28 per share. In addition to that good news, Earnings.com says that expectations hovered around 43 cents per share, a figure much less than the adjusted stat of 59 cents.

Unfortunately, the top line didn't budge, and total worldwide physical case volume for the full fiscal year was worse by 3%. The latter metric is key to a beverage business, and in some ways, ultimately more important than net income. And in terms of cash from operations, there wasn't much going on. For the twelve-month period, money generation was slightly down.

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Pepsico Inc.'s (PEP) shares have pulled back recently, after shooting through $60 resistance. But I'm nevertheless reiterating my buy rating for the company's shares, first recommended on March 13, 2009, at a price of $48.62. Here's why:

Pepsi's strong presence in international markets remains the key. True, North American revenue growth will be low-single-digits in 2010, after the recession's flattish 2009, but investors should remain focused on the long-term and large pictures. Namely, Pepsi emerging market growth opportunities (it has a presence in more than 200 countries) and its rebrand in health and sports drinks.

Constellation Brands (STZ) reported what I thought was a dismal third quarter. The market wasn't too worried about it, though. The stock closed down about one percent. Yes, that's a decline, but I honestly thought the numbers would have been worth a bit more in terms of selling pressure (volume was strong, however).

Then again, the real name of the game is beating the analyst projections. On that count, Constellation was a winner. The company made an adjusted 54 cents per share, two cents better than predictions, according to Earnings.com. So, I suppose Wall Street had to give credit to management for at least achieving some amount of success. This most likely kept the selling in check.

Despite the media slump that's been running alongside the worldwide recession, CBS (CBS) isn't having any trouble moving ad space for the Super Bowl.

The event is still more than a month from now, but the network reports having only a few commercial slots left for the big game. In fact, 95% of its 62 slots have moved, even with two of the most committed Super Bowl advertisers -- Pepsi (PEP) and General Motors (GRM) -- bowing out of the action. The first half is already sold out completely.

I was surprised to read that PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP) isn't going to utilize the Super Bowl for advertising purposes. According to this item over at BNET.com, the soda giant will not air commercials for its beverages during the popular annual event.

It's interesting because both PepsiCo and Coca-Cola (KO) thrive on one thing: effective marketing. Sure, you might be a fan of soft drinks and think they sell themselves, but they really don't. Every year, each company's management team must make important decisions concerning how much to spend on ads, whether or not a particular campaign is working, which celebrity should be approached next to become a sponsor, etc.

So, it isn't bad enough that Tiger Woods ruined his marriage and soiled his squeaky-clean reputation. Apparently he cost his corporate sponsors $12 billion in stock value as well. According to a study conducted by UC Davis economics professors Victor Stango and Christopher Knittel, Tiger lost his sponsors a "collective $5 to $12 billion." This loss outpaces "several decades' worth of Tiger Woods' personal endorsement income."

The study examined the stock market returns during the 13 trading days after Tiger's car crash, a period concluding a week after Tiger's announcement of an indefinite leave of absent. The two economics professors then compared the returns for Tiger's sponsors during this 13-day period to those of the total stock market and each of the companies' closest competitor. Returns for the four years prior to the car accident were also taken into account in order to establish the stocks' historic performance.

This post is part of a special report, Top Picks for 2010, the 27th annual survey in which TheStockAdvisors.com asks the nation's leading advisors for their single favorite stock for the new year. See all 80 stocks listed here.

"PepsiCo (PEP), my top pick for 2010, remains underrated by the market," says Jim Stack.

The money manager and editor of InvesTech Market Analyst suggests, "All too often, it's viewed as a stodgy soft drink company, fully reliant on its namesake soda line. That's a misconception." Here, he sets the record straight.

Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup upgraded 3M Company (MMM) to buy from hold on expectations the company will deliver superior financial returns over the next 9 to 12 months and on valuation. The firm raised its target on shares to $92 from $84.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded CA Inc. (CA) to buy from hold as it believes cloud computing could accelerate the company's growth over the next 2 to 3 years. The firm raised its target on shares to $28 from $22.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Cooper Companies (COO) to outperform from market perform as it believes that the company has largely eliminated its execution risks while its new products should enable it to grow more quickly than the market.
• BioMarin (BMRN) was upgraded to buy from hold at Collins Stewart.
• Liquidity Services (LQDT) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• RealNetworks (RNWK) was upgraded to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.

This is the third screening to find value among Fortune's 25 corporate world leaders that have demonstrated an ability to regenerate themselves from within. The list has been cut to 18 and will be cut further here.

The methodology of using basic stock data points to identify potential value investments only sets the stage for success -- it assures nothing. While it is true that paying less is better than paying more and getting a higher yield is better than less, this gives you a scant picture of what is in people's hearts and minds, and that is harder to judge. Like the weather, no matter the predictions, you may not find out it is raining until you are standing in it. Regardless, it should be advantageous to start with good stock (pun intended) before you take to whittlin', and that we have.

Yesterday I started a review of 25 companies that Fortune deemed most successful according to their peers in developing quality leadership. Today I review the remaining 20, searching to find the ones that might be worth investing in.

Price-to-book (from 11/27/09) was used as the first value screen. The theory being from a value investor's perspective that buying for a price at or near the break-up value of the company provides downside protection. Of course that is easier said than done.