ken powell, he explained why he expects food prices to stabilize. >> oil prices have come down, our package think costs, and includes the costs in our plant. we're seeing some movement in corn now in the grain complex. but overall, as we look at the whole market basket of goods that we buy, we see the low single digit level. >> consumers have been complaining about paying higher prices for food. and as commodity prices go up, will they have to pay even more -- will consumer have to pay more for food? >> they had to pay more this year, no doubt about it. there's wide price increases across all the sectors of our industry. as we go into next year, and dpaen, we think inflation environment is going to be better, we think there will be much less in the way of consumer price increases. tlaer going to see relative stability. >> susie: you announced job cuts. how likely is it you're going to have to cut more because of costs? >> i don't think it's likely. we had to do that on a one time basis because we looked at our business model and conditions going forward. it was a painful decision, but we ha

ken powell about the impact of rising food prices on his firm's bottom line, and he gives us his outlook for the second half of the year. >> tom: even with a slowing u.s. economy and the european anxieties, the first half of this year saw strong returns for stock investors. all this week we're looking ahead to the second half of the year for investors. in a phrase: buckle up. >> reporter: a presidential election year can bring with it plenty of uncertainty for stocks. and this year is no different. what is different this election year might be the magnitude of the uncertainty, and the nervousness that comes with it. there's the fiscal cliff, the expiration of tax cuts and automatic government spending cuts that will take effect early next year if there is no action by congress and the president. there's also what some regard as the monetary cliff: the federal reserve's latest effort to bring long-term interest rates down, called operation twist, runs through the end of the year. >> there's so much uncertainty in the market whether its the fiscal cliff, the elections, we're just heading i

. >> on that note, coming up a live interview with general mills ceo ken powell ahead of the company's investor meeting today. what the future holds for the home of brands including pillsbury and green giant. >>> good day for the bulls. dow looking to add about 66 at the hope. more "squawk on the street" straight ahead. [ feedback ] attention, well, everyone. you can now try snapshot from progressive free for 30 days. just plug this into your car, and your good driving can save you up to 30%. you could even try it without switching your insurance. why not give it a shot? carry on. now you can test-drive snapshot before you switch. visit progressive.com today. >>> hedge fund manager david einhorn remains bullish on apple. he explained why earlier this morning on "squawk box." >> i think the stock is very, very substantial i undervalued. i think it's the -- you know, it's the best big growth company we have. it is the dominating brand in the area that it is. and it trades at a multiple below the average in the s&p 500. i think that's extraordinary. >> he also said it's destined to be a $

as ken powell told us on "mad money" general mills weathered the worst commodity cost crisis in yearsnd it's come out stronger than any other food company especially kellogg. they have stumbled in the yogurt category. but powell said the new wave of product introductions could reverse the trend. plus, despite recently raising the dividend by 8%, classic sign of confidence, 12th dividend boost in eight years powell kept expectations low which gives the company a phenomenal chance of beating them. next up, you can't have a recession without a dollar store entry. we flogged dollar tree forever. it's up 30% year to date, no doubt because of my hefty candy purchases. but morgan stanley downgraded it on potentially slowing numbers. i'm jumping on another general. this time dollar general. it's up a similar amount but has more chance than the money trees which i call dollar tree. they are getting in california. vastly underdollared. one of the chief reasons i like dollar general is i have never seen the stock of a company eat through not one, two, three but four secondaries and still come ou

i talked with one ceo, ken powell, ceo of general mills how to control the potential impact on consumersmarket is gyrating a bit on corn right now. it's that time of year where every week there's a different piece of news. we haven't seen anything that would make us really materially change our expectation for our broad market basket inflation next year. >> so his point is, he doesn't expect big, dramatic change in prices despite the fact we are seeing a rise, slow rise, in prices for corn. >> there are so many things related to corn that i don't think people realize that could affect their prices as well. name a few. >> it's not just corn on the cob. corn is used in almost anything you can imagine. used in frozen pizza, marshmallows, wall paper paste, chewing gum. some ingredients in your foods like maltodextrin, high fructose corn syrup comes from corn. the feed that goes to animals, there's corn in that. so you know, add dairy products, eggs, beef, chicken, pork, the list depending on the corn. if the feed is going up in price you're feeding your cow, pig, chick than could create a do