This past week, Warren Buffett's holding company, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), gave an update on what its stock holdings look like, what stocks were added, which ones added to, and which ones it was selling. Though there aren't many major changes in the list, there are some telling points that most investors can study and learn how to invest like Mr. Buffett.

These are stocks he's added to or added in the last quarter:

• Becton Dickinson (BDX): Up 155,000 shares (total owned: 1.889 million shares).
• Fiserve Inc. (FISV): This is a new position of 4.4 million shares.
• Iron Mountain (IRM): Increased position by 206,000 shares. Has been buying this over the past several quarters with a starting position of 3.3722 million shares.

Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded Coca-Cola (KO) to overweight from neutral due to valuation and expectations that developed market volume should improve. The firm raised its target price for shares to $66.
• BB&T upgraded Nordson (NDSN) to buy from hold and has an $82 price target on the stock. The firm believes certain drivers of Nordson's Advanced Tech unit are becoming more secular vs. cyclical and that the company's EBIT margins can go higher.
• Credit Suisse upgraded Embraer (ERJ) to outperform from underperform, citing the positive announcements from the Famborough Air Show. The firm raised its price target to $37 from $21.
• Universal Health (UHS) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Mead Johnson (MJN) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman.
• Coventry Health (CVH) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Leerink.

"Ya'll oughta try some of this here fried chicken; you ain't gonna believe it!" "Xie-Xie!" (pronounced "she-she") That is Chinese for thank you. From the hills of Kentucky, the Colonial Sanders secret recipe has made a splash in China. While it is well known a lot of the stuff you buy at Walmart (WMT) is made in China; what you may not know is that China is crazy for KFC.

You may not think anything of going out for Chinese with your friends and practice eating with chopsticks; when the Chinese go out with their friends to practice eating with a fork; KFC seems to be a popular option.

Coca-Cola (KO), the main rival to PepsiCo (PEP), closed higher by nearly 1.6% while the Dow received a beating. Shares of the beverage giant settled at $54.08. The market gave its approval to the company's latest earnings report.

I have Coke in my portfolio as a long-term holding, and I was pretty satisfied with the numbers. What I want from a quarterly report is an indication that the business continues to remain on a stable track to deliver quality future cash flows (I'm not expecting anything too exciting, for the most part). I believe investors essentially got that on Wednesday.

PepsiCo (PEP) is not my favorite stock, but that isn't because I dislike its business prospects. It's not my favorite because I own Coca-Cola (KO). As you can imagine, I have to dislike it at least a little bit.

But I do have to confess to being impressed by the beverage company's stock performance Tuesday afternoon. At the time of this writing, shares were higher by $2.18 to $64.23. That's a 3.5% gain, and for a stock like PepsiCo, it's pretty notable. Especially when earnings growth was, as is oftentimes expected with a blue-chip concern such as this one, rather standard and unexciting.

The shares of Coca-Cola (KO), first discussed here on February 20, 2009, at a price of $42.68, have misbehaved in the last three months, falling from $55 to about $51, but the calculation is to stick with the trade. Here's why:

Look for Coca-Cola to post 5% to 7% revenue growth in 2010, propelled higher by international sales, and strong growth in non-carbonated beverages. Efficiency improvements, moderating commodity costs, and quicker-recovering emerging markets round out the story of Coke surviving yet another recession, and then some.

In the year following Bush's dividend tax cuts, the Dow Jones rose 16%. When the tax cuts expire in a few months, will the market drop?

One method of evaluating stocks is that they are worth the present value of all the future cash flows. This can make dividend stocks particularly attractive to investors because they get paid rent or a dividend for holding a company. If conditions change and those future dividends are no longer expected, a stock can suddenly be worth a lot less. This is a large reason why we see stocks drop suddenly at earnings announcements or when companies revise outlooks.

Monday morning, Coca-Cola (KO) announced that it will distribute some drinks that are made by Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS). Coca-Cola will now distribute Dr Pepper and Canada Dry ginger ale in the United States and will distribute some drinks in Canada.

These beverages were distributed by Coca-Cola Enterprises, but that company is being acquired by Coca-Cola. The new agreement replaces Coca-Cola Enterprise's original deal with Dr Pepper.

"Fear is back and it can be seen in the internals. So what is one to do? What we always do: identify quality, establish value, and take advantage of opportunity when it presents itself," suggests Kelley Wright.

The editor of Investment Quality Trends -- an advisory service that assesses blue chip stocks by analyzing their historic dividend yield levels -- adds, "While all ships go out with the tide, value is eventually rewarded. Remember, we are in this for the long haul.

"Our current Timely Ten -- featured below -- is our reasoned expectation based on our methodology and experience for what we believe will perform best over the next five years. Do we believe that all 10 will go up simultaneously or immediately? Of course not.

In a recent Wall Street Journal interview, top Nike (NKE) executive Mark Parker talked about his ambitious goal to boost global sales 40% by 2015. His strategy? Focus on China, Brazil and India and connect with these emerging markets' emerging middle classes.

And most interesting of all: The company is planning this move under brands that don't bear the trademark swoosh logo.