After a tumultuous two days, the markets calmed down today, seeming to come to terms with the Fed's announcement that it's bond-buying program could end within a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI ) gained 41 points, the first session in nine that it's had less than a 100-point swing, finishing up 0.3%. The recovery, coming after yesterday's bloodbath, seemed to indicate that there was still bullish sentiment among investors, as there were no economic reports released today to further influence investors. Notably, a Wall Street Journal report said the Fed's taper may not come as soon as expected, which also helped stocks recover. Treasury rates continued to claim as the 10-year T-Note yield rose again, hitting 2.51%. The rising yield could put pressure on the housing market by pushing up mortgage rates.
Leading all Dow stocks today was Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG ) , gaining 2.9%. There was no major news out on the consumer goods giant today, but on Wednesday, the company announced a new partnership with fashion designer Alexander McQueen, wherein its P&G Prestige division will produce and sell designer fragrances under the Alexander McQueen label. P&G may also be benefiting today form its position as a defensive stock, as any slowdown in the economy from the Fed's taper will affect it less than other blue chips. Coca-Cola, another defensive stock, was the Dow's second-biggest gainer, moving up 1.6%.
Best Bank Companies To Invest In 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 Dan Caplinger]
IBM (NYSE: IBM ) , $12 billion
For IBM, buybacks are a very conscious piece of an overall corporate strategy. A few years ago, the tech giant set a goal of reaching earnings per share of $20 by 2015. To reach that goal, IBM clearly needs to boost its net income. But it is also very deliberately buying back stock to reduce its share count, making it that much easier to reach its goal. In fact, over the years, the company has borrowed money from time to time to reduce share count, and with low borrowing costs now, that strategy could be instrumental in getting IBM to $20 per share in earnings in the next two years.
Top 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 Travis Hoium]
Big oil companies and refiners ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM ) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX ) will both report earnings in the next two days, and they'll likely face the same challenges as Phillips 66. The difference is that they have much more exposure to oil exploration, which is doing quite well on rising oil prices. This is one of the advantages of investing in big oil companies: They have exposure to both the good and the bad in the market.
- [By Travis Hoium]
Dow components ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM ) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX ) have actually fallen slightly on oil's new high because they may not see a big benefit from higher prices. Oil is becoming more expensive to extract, and demand isn't rising rapidly, which would lead to higher profits from refining, retail, and extraction. Instead, demand is flat or declining slightly in the developed world, and there are big worries that supply disruptions will hit the Middle East as violence spreads there.
Top 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 Anders Bylund]
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT ) peaked more than a decade ago. Now Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) is looking at a similar end game.
Image source: Company websites and my own Photoshop/GIMP skills.
Top 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 Holly LaFon]
Company % of Assets Pepsico (PEP) 3.4 Philip Morris (PM) 2.3 Tesco PLC ADR (TSCO) 2.1 Molson Coors Brewing (TAP) 2.1 Microsoft (MSFT) 1.9 Merck (MRK) 1.9 Procter & Gamble (PG) 1.8 Avon Products (AVN) 1.6 Wal��art (WMT) 1.6 Medtronic 1.6 Hospira (HSP) 1.5 BP (BP) 1.4 Medco Health Solutions (MHS) 1.3 Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 1.3 Unilever NV (UL) 1.3
Jeff is also optimistic about natural gas and believes the recession in Europe could be setting up "a generational buying opportunity." - [By Morgan Housel]
For most of the last decade, investors scooped up stocks that had big international exposure with the idea that they would provide a hedge against a weakening dollar. Companies that do most of their business overseas, like Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO ) (73% overseas), Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM ) (all overseas), and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC ) (85% overseas), looked compelling as a hedge against the U.S. economy's faults.
Top 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 Rick Munarriz]
Monday
The first trading day of the week kicks off with McDonald's (NYSE: MCD ) reporting quarterly results in the morning. After a decade of smooth and consistent store-level growth, monthly comps have been mixed since last October. The world's largest restaurant operator probably hopes that pushing up its Monopoly promotion to summer instead of autumn will help drive sales in the coming weeks, but we'll see what the Big Mac daddy is willing to share on Monday. - [By Matt Thalman]
We'll hear from a number of the Dow's components this week. First up is McDonald's (NYSE: MCD ) , which is scheduled to release results on Monday before the opening bell rings. Wall Street's estimate for earnings per share is $1.40, which will be important for the company to beat, though perhaps it's not the most important detail of the report. This has been a rough year for the fast-food restaurant, which has struggled with beating same-store sales figures. For most investors, that will be what they want to see in the report.
- [By John Maxfield]
Heading down, on the other hand, are shares of McDonald's (NYSE: MCD ) , which are off by 0.7% in mid-afternoon trading. As my colleague Matt Thalman observed earlier, investors in the fast-food giant are likely seeing the dark side of today's cheery news. As the economy improves, the Federal Reserve becomes more likely to reduce its support for the economy. And when it does, investors are expected to flee higher-yielding dividend stalwarts like McDonald's in favor of bonds, which should see their interest rates climb.
Top 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 Ben Levisohn]
Shares of Procter & Gamble have dropped 3.2% during the past 12 months, lagging Unilever’s (UL) 2.5% rise, Colgate-Palmolive’s (CL) 8.7% advance and Kimberly-Clark’s (KMB) 3.1% gain.
- [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.
Top 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 Dan Caplinger]
2. A simple savings account
Savings accounts aren't popular among financial institutions because they aren't big revenue generators. The profits from prepaid cards come from merchant charges that Visa (NYSE: V ) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA ) collect, keeping a portion and giving the rest to card-issuing institutions. That's likely where SpendSmart expects to get the money to pay Bieber's $3.75 million endorsement fee. - [By Sue Chang and Ben Eisen]
American Express Co. (AXP) �shares gained 3.6% while its competitor Visa Inc. (V) �rose 4.7%. American Express said late Thursday its fourth-quarter earnings jumped to $1.31 billion, or $1.21 a share, from $637 million, or 56 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding expenses, AmEx would have earned $1.25 a share. Revenue increased to $8.55 billion from $8.14 billion a year earlier.
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