The stock market edged lower on Thursday, as defensive sectors like telecom and utilities managed to outperform. This is the fourth time in five days that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI ) has fallen, though the market's off less than 0.5% during that time. Today, it lost just four points, or less than 0.1%, to end at 16,264.
McDonald's (NYSE: MCD ) couldn't help the Dow much on Thursday, adding just 0.3%. Not much changes from day-to-day with McDonald's, whose golden arches are one of the most recognizable brand symbols in the world. But for blue chip companies like Mickey D's to maintain their dominance, they've got to fend off competition, and embrace innovation and change in the industry. McDonald's isn't doing a great job at either of these.�Yum! Brands'�Taco Bell is now using real people named Ronald McDonald to endorse the taco haven's new breakfast menu. And McDonald's has been slow to embrace smartphone payment technology, as well, even as its rivals rush to develop apps�for their consumers.
Best Communications Equipment Companies To Watch For 2015: International Business Machines Corporation(IBM)
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) provides information technology (IT) products and services worldwide. Its Global Technology Services segment provides IT infrastructure and business process services, including strategic outsourcing, process, integrated technology, and maintenance services, as well as technology-based support services. The company?s Global Business Services segment offers consulting and systems integration, and application management services. Its Software segment offers middleware and operating systems software, such as WebSphere software to integrate and manage business processes; information management software for database and enterprise content management, information integration, data warehousing, business analytics and intelligence, performance management, and predictive analytics; Tivoli software for identity management, data security, storage management, and datacenter automation; Lotus software for collaboration, messaging, and so cial networking; rational software to support software development for IT and embedded systems; business intelligence software, which provides querying and forecasting tools; SPSS predictive analytics software to predict outcomes and act on that insight; and operating systems software. Its Systems and Technology segment provides computing and storage solutions, including servers, disk and tape storage systems and software, point-of-sale retail systems, and microelectronics. The company?s Global Financing segment provides lease and loan financing to end users and internal clients; commercial financing to dealers and remarketers of IT products; and remanufacturing and remarketing services. It serves financial services, public, industrial, distribution, communications, and general business sectors. The company was formerly known as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. and changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation in 1924. IBM was founded in 1910 and is based in Armonk, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]
IBM provides essential information technology products and services to growing companies and consumers around the world. The stock has been on a strong bull run in recent years but is now consolidating slightly below all-time high prices. Earnings have been steadily increasing while revenue figures have decreased over the last four quarters, which has confused investors a bit. Relative to its strong peers and sector, IBM has trailed in year-to-date performance. WAIT AND SEE what IBM does this coming quarter.
- [By GuruFocus]
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) Reached the 52-Week Low of $177.90
The prices of International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) shares have declined to close to the 52-week low of $177.90, which is 20.1% off the 52-week high of $215.90. International Business Machines Corp. is owned by 35 Gurus we are tracking. Among them, 16 have added to their positions during the past quarter. Thirteen reduced their positions.
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Had the politicians in Washington D.C. not come together,�this article could have been talking about the amazing repeats in history of October stock market crashes. Here are some post-1987 crash levels of existing DJIA components then versus now on a split-adjusted and dividend-adjusted trading basis.
American Express Co.�(NYSE: AXP) was $3.48 then versus $80.52 now. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) was $1.12 versus $38.78 now. DuPont (NYSE: DD) was $5.50 then versus $59.62 now. General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) $1.69 then versus $25.55 now. International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) $15.67 then versus $173.78 now. 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) was $6.63 then versus $122.84 now. McDonald’s Corp.�(NYSE: MCD) was $3.00 then versus $95.20 now.Again, future bear markets and market crashes will come. They always do. Until then, enjoy this raging bull market we have in stocks.
- [By John Udovich]
On Thursday, small cap supercomputer stock Cray Inc (NASDAQ: CRAY) announced that it had been rewarded with one of the largest contracts in its history for $174 million to provide the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) with supercomputers - meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of large caps�like International Business Machines Corp (NYSE: IBM) and�Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ) plus small cap Silicon Graphics International Corp (NASDAQ: SGI) who sort of compete with the company in the supercomputing space. I should�note that over a year ago, we had Cray Inc in�our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) trading portfolio�when we had suggested it was�potentially a good�low risk longer-term play.
Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In 2014: McDonald's Corporation(MCD)
McDonald?s Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a worldwide foodservice retailer. It franchises and operates McDonald?s restaurants that offer various food items, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages. As of December 31, 2009, the company operated 32,478 restaurants in 117 countries, of which 26,216 were operated by franchisees; and 6,262 were operated by the company. McDonald?s Corporation was founded in 1948 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Shauna O'Brien]
Before Tuesday’s opening bell, fast food giant McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) reported lower first quarter earnings, as last year’s earnings were impacted by a tax benefit.�
MCD’s Earnings in Brief
MCD posted Q1 earnings of�$1.205 billion, or $1.21 per share, down from $1.270 billion, or $1.26 per share, a year ago.� Revenue rose to�$6.70 billion from $6.61 billion last year. On average, analysts expected to see earnings of $1.24 per share and�$6.73 billion in revenue.CEO Commentary
Don Thompson, President and CEO of MCD, noted: “By leveraging a deeper understanding of what our customers want with the power of our business�model, our investments in restaurant capabilities and modernization, and our hard-earned competitive advantages, we will grow McDonald’s business and deliver enduring profitable growth over the long term. As we begin the�second quarter, global comparable sales for the month of April are expected to be modestly positive.”
MCD’s Dividend
MCD paid its last quarterly dividend of 81 cents on March 17. We expect the company to declare its next dividend in May.
Stock Performance
McDonald’s shares were up $1.00, or 1.00%, during pre-market trading Tuesday. The stock is up 2.72% YTD.
MCD Dividend SnapshotAs market close of April 21, 2014
Click here to see the complete history of MCD dividends.
Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In 2014: Visa Inc.(V)
Visa Inc., a payments technology company, engages in the operation of retail electronic payments network worldwide. It facilitates commerce through the transfer of value and information among financial institutions, merchants, consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company owns and operates VisaNet, a global processing platform that provides transaction processing services. It also offers a range of payments platforms, which enable credit, charge, deferred debit, debit, and prepaid payments, as well as cash access for consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company provides its payment platforms under the Visa, Visa Electron, PLUS, and Interlink brand names. In addition, it offers value-added services, including risk management, issuer processing, loyalty, dispute management, value-added information, and CyberSource-branded services. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Wallace Witkowski]
This will be a ��ow-a-day��week of quarterly results with Merck & Co. (MRK) �on Monday, Pfizer Inc. (PFE) �on Tuesday, Visa Inc. (V) �on Wednesday, Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) �on Thursday, and Chevron Corp. (CVX) �on Friday.
- [By Jim Jubak]
And it's easy to understand why. Alibaba's offering��ikely in New York rather than Hong Kong��ould well come in as the biggest IPO ever, easily surpassing the $16.1 billion Facebook (FB) raised in 2012 and the $19.65 billion raised in Visa's (V) 2008 offering.
Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In 2014: Philip Morris International Inc(PM)
Philip Morris International Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in markets outside of the United States. Its international product brand line comprises Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Virginia Slims, L&M, Chesterfield, Bond Street, Lark, Muratti, Next, Philip Morris, and Red & White. The company also offers its products under the A Mild, Dji Sam Soe, and A Hijau in Indonesia; Diana in Italy; Optima and Apollo-Soyuz in the Russian Federation; Morven Gold in Pakistan; Boston in Colombia; Belmont, Canadian Classics, and Number 7 in Canada; Best and Classic in Serbia; f6 in Germany; Delicados in Mexico; Assos in Greece; and Petra in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It operates primarily in the European Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. The company is based in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Albert Alfonso]
Altria's anticipated EPS growth rate is important to determine the level of its next dividend increase. Altria aims to increase its dividend in line with EPS growth. Since its 2008 spin-off of Philip Morris International (PM), Altria's dividend increases have averaged a CAGR of 8.7%. Also during this timeframe, Altria has averaged a dividend payout ratio of 80%. Altria has a long history of dividend increases, and has increased its dividend 46 times in the past 44 years.
Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In 2014: Chevron Corporation(CVX)
Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in petroleum, chemicals, mining, power generation, and energy operations worldwide. It operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment involves in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as holds interest in a gas-to-liquids project. The Downstream segment engages in the refining of crude oil into petroleum products; marketing of crude oil and refined products primarily under the Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex brand names; transportation of crude oil and refined products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car; and manufacture and marketing of commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives. It a lso produces and markets coal and molybdenum; and holds interests in 13 power assets with a total operating capacity of approximately 3,100 megawatts, as well as involves in cash management and debt financing activities, insurance operations, real estate activities, energy services, and alternative fuels and technology business. Chevron Corporation has a joint venture agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corp. and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in May 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is based in San Ramon, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Bieglmeier]
[Related -Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) Or Chevron Corporation (CVX): Which One Should You Own?]
Chevron Corporation (Chevron) manages its investments in subsidiaries and affiliates and provides administrative, financial, management and technology support to the United States and international subsidiaries that engage in fully integrated petroleum operations, chemicals operations, mining activities, power generation and energy services.
Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In 2014: Apple Inc.(AAPL)
Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, as well as sells related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications worldwide. The company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, retail stores, direct sales force, third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. In addition, it sells third-party Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod compatible products, including application software, printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones, and other accessories and peripherals through its online and retail stores; and digital content and applications through the iTunes Store. The company sells its products to consumer, small and mid-sized business, education, enterprise, government, and creative markets. As of September 25, 2010, it had 317 retail stores, including 233 stores in the United States and 84 stores internationally. The company, formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc., was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Doug Ehrman]
Earlier this week, Facebook (NASDAQ: FB ) announced the roll out of 'Chat Heads' as a new feature available through Facebook Home for both Google (NASDAQ: GOOG ) Android and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) iOS. While the feature is already gaining popularity, the way it operates within each environment is very different. Beyond Chat Heads, other features of Home are already gaining traction, suggesting that the smartphone landscape is about to change again. If early indications are accurate, Facebook has positioned itself brilliantly for the way forward and deserves a place in your portfolio.
- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
John Raoux/AP Beats Electronics and Beats Music won't turn Apple (AAPL) into a streaming-audio rock star overnight, but for $3 billion, Apple gets to add a leading maker of premium headphones and a young, promising streaming music service to its lineup. More importantly, the deal gives Apple hip hop icon Dr. Dre and legendary record producer Jimmy Iovine as key executives who can perhaps breathe new life into its fading iTunes music platform. Right now, the tech giants seem to have it all. Apple, Google (GOOG), and aging software behemoth Microsoft (MSFT) have tens of billions in the bank and long track records of success. But none of them have found cracking the streaming music market to be easy. All three dot-com giants have invested in their own online music platforms, but it's Spotify and Pandora (P) that are turning heads -- and connecting to headphones. The Unlikely Kings of Music Spotify and Pandora have different formulas, but both have been successful -- for them. Sweden's Spotify, with more than 10 million premium subscribers, offers users the ability to pick the tracks they want to hear, and customers are willing to pay as much as $10 a month for the right to take their commercial-free playlists to mobile devices. Its on-demand model became a sensation through Europe before hitting the U.S. three summers ago. Pandora doesn't allow listeners to pick the tracks. It uses algorithms to develop playlists based on user preferences. It is primarily consumed as a free service with ad blocks. Just 3.3 million of its 76 million active listeners pay to enjoy Pandora as a commercial-free experience. They enjoyed 1.7 billion hours of audio content last month Microsoft and Google decided to follow Spotify's model with Xbox Music in late 2012 and Google Music a few months later. Neither company has offered up metrics on their success, but that's likely telling in and of itself. Apple chose Pandora's discovery model when it rolled out iTunes Radio last Septemb
- [By Doug Ehrman]
For some time, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) has been criticized for falling behind in the quest for innovation and leadership in the technology space. It's in this spirit that various design elements of iOS 7 have been called ugly and uninspired, but there are some reasons to be hopeful. While the refresh may only lay the groundwork for new innovation, it stands as a beacon of where Apple is trying to go, and that's good news for investors.
- [By Travis Hoium]
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that's the case, Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA ) owes a lot of its success to some major lessons learned from Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) . The companies don't compete in the same markets or even make similar products, but there are three ways in which Tesla has followed Apple to its recent success.
Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In 2014: Colgate-Palmolive Company(CL)
Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets consumer products worldwide. It offers oral care products, including toothpaste, toothbrushes, and mouth rinses, as well as dental floss and pharmaceutical products for dentists and other oral health professionals; personal care products, such as liquid hand soap, shower gels, bar soaps, deodorants, antiperspirants, shampoos, and conditioners; and home care products comprising laundry and dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, bleaches, dishwashing liquids, and oil soaps. The company offers its oral, personal, and home care products under the Colgate Total, Colgate Max Fresh, Colgate 360 Advisors' Opinion:
- [By Bob Ciura]
Investors often flock to consumer staples companies because of their stable businesses that produce reliable profits, year-in and year-out. Even when the economy takes a nosedive, companies like The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG ) and Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL ) see their earnings stay afloat. After all, even when consumers are under economic distress, they still have to buy everyday household items like toothpaste, soap, and paper towels.
- [By Travis Hoium]
Colgate-Palmolive
Toothpaste and toothbrushes may not be exciting business, but it's consistent and consumers tend to develop habits they rarely break. Once they find a toothpaste brand they like, it could be years before they try another one. That leads to another incredibly consistent business for Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL ) , one that has paid back investors with a dividend since 1895. � - [By Demitrios Kalogeropoulos]
Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL )
Colgate's shares are trading well below the $62 high they hit just last month. The consumer goods company is heavily levered to international sales, with more than 80% of its business coming from outside the U.S. and more than half coming from emerging markets. - [By Dividend Growth Investor]
In a previous article, I outlined that it is getting more difficult to find quality dividend paying stocks to buy. Most of the usual suspects like Kimberly-Clark (KMB) or Colgate-Palmolive (CL) are very overvalued today, which prevents me from adding to my positions there. Other companies like Chevron (CVX) are attractively valued today, but unfortunately my portfolio is overweight in them. Currently I find the oil sector to be cheap and have some of the lowest P/E ratios in the market. However, I would hate to be concentrated in one sector which is exposed to the fluctuating prices in its commodity products.
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