We are keeping our Hold recommendation on Companhia de Bebidas das Americas, or AmBev (ABV). The company posted slightly positive results for the second quarter of 2008 with excellent results in Brazil and in Argentina.

However, consolidated net income declined due to continued appreciation of the Brazilian real against the U.S. dollar. Nevertheless, parent company InBev's desire to acquire Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. (BUD) appears to be positive for the company.

However, the tighter monetary policy in Brazil, growing inflation in Argentina, the strength of the Brazilian real and its effect on the company's international sales, weak results in Central America, commodity costs and the difficult economic environment in the U.S. are matters of high concern.

We believe AmBev's strategy to focus on a few premium brands with higher quality and higher margins is already delivering strong results and will continue to boost revenues and earnings. This strategy enabled the

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Does InBev's $52 billion purchase of Anheuser Busch have impact on Chinese investors? Not really. The five largest beer companies in china are (in order) China Resources Snow Brewery, Tsingtao Brewery, Yanjing Brewery, and Anheuser-Busch.A-B does own 27% stake of Tsingtao and 100% of Harbin Brewery. I wouldn't rush out and invest in InBev, but the Chinese brewers are worth a look.

Siemens Slashes Jobs; Southwest Cozies Up to Canada; VMWare Axes CEO; Office Depot Drops on Dismal Sales; Oil Drops $10 in a Week; Fed’s New Lending Restrictions; Anheuser Busch Sues InBev; ConocoPhilips Strikes Deal with Abu Dhabi Siemens AG (ADR: SI) announced yesterday (Tuesday) that it would eliminate almost 17,000 positions to prepare for a global economic downturn. The Germany-based industrial giant hopes to achieve $1.9 billion (1.2 billion euros) in cost savings by 2010. Chief Executive Peter Loescher said Siemens needed to be faster, more efficient and have a leaner administration if it hoped to compete, Reuters reported. Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) and Canada-based WestJet Airlines Ltd. yesterday (Tuesday) announced a marketing alliance that is planned to go into effect in 2009. “This gives WestJet exactly what they need in terms of growing their trans-border ...

InBev Seeks Overthrow of AB Board; Microsoft Open to New Talks with Yahoo; Crude Retreats; Merrill Lynch to Write Down $6 billion; Freddie and Fannie Tumble; Tighter Fed?; Greenback Weighs on Gold; Prius Goes Solar Belgian brewer InBev NV announced yesterday (Monday) that it would attempt to remove the entire Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. (BUD) board of directors after InBev’s $46.3 billion hostile takeover offer bid was rejected. InBev is seeking to use a process outlined in Anheuser- Busch’s bylaws that allows shareholders to vote on a new board without a meeting, Bloomberg News reported. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) said yesterday (Monday) that it would be willing to reopen talks to buy all or part of Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO), but only if a new Yahoo board is elected, Reuters reported. Carl Icahn, the billionaire financier ...

Report: Toyota Plunking $1 Billion on Brazil Plant; India Housing Boom Ending; GDP Revised Up; Home Sales Rise, Values Fall; Anheuser Busch to Reject InBev Bid; Bank of America Sheds Jobs; Gold Shares Glow; Oshkosh Plunges on Lowered Outlook Toyota Motor Corp. (ADR: TM) plans to drop more than $1 billion on a new factory in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Valor Economico reported without citing a source. The new factory would be a bid to capture a share of the economic growth and rising incomes in South America. A pair of mortgage executives in India said the country’s five-year property boom is coming to an end as the number of available homes increases along with interest rates. "Due to the state of the equity markets, many investors who would have bought a second or a third house ...

Two weeks ago, I wrote an article in Money and Markets talking about Bud's surge on takeover rumors. And I pointed out that InBev's rumored buyout price of $65 a share meant there was still plenty of upside ahead. Since then, BUD stock has climbed to $61 a share, good for another 5% profit. Not too shabby given the broad market's performance over the same period. There are still some hurdles to the deal -- inlcuding a strong backlash from U.S. beer fans -- so this may be as far as the shares go for a while. Still, it's nice to see a solid dividend stock tacking on a little capital apprecation in a flagging market.

Three weeks ago, one of my recommended companies announced it was being acquired — at a nice premium — by Mars (with help from Warren Buffett).

Now, another of my favorite consumer staples is reportedly up for grabs, too!

I’m talking about Anheuser-Busch (BUD), which I first recommended in the exact same report that profiled Wrigley.

Last Friday, the Financial Times reported that InBev SA, the giant Belgian brewer, is working on a $46-billion takeover bid for BUD.

The shares rose to a new all-time high of $58 shortly after the news hit the wires. So if you already own BUD stock, you might want to crack open a cold one and celebrate!

And even if you don’t yet own the stock, a $46-billion buyout implies an acquisition price of $65 …