Blue chip stocks suffered their fifth loss in a row Thursday, after upbeat economic data continued to fuel worries that the Fed will soon start to withdraw it stimulus efforts.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 68 points, or 0.4% to close at 15,821.5, while the S&P 500 retreated 7.78 points, or 0.4% to end at 1,785.03.
And the Nasdaq Composite dropped 4.8 points, or 0.12% to close the day at 4,033.16.
Stocks lost their footing after initial claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected and the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy expanded faster than initially thought in the third quarter.
Data reports issued so far this week have included better-than-expected readings from the labor market and manufacturers, reigniting�concerns that the Federal Reserve could start reducing its $85-billion-a-month bond-purchase program as early as this month.
The Fed�� easy money policies have been credited with fueling the 2013 stock market rally. Investors worry the gains may not prove sustainable if the Fed eases back its bond buying prematurely.
Best Building Product Companies To Watch In Right Now: 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 Sean Williams]
The end result of these multiple actions has been an ongoing reduction in smoking rates over the past four decades and tougher times for U.S. tobacco producers such as Altria (NYSE: MO ) and Reynolds American (NYSE: RAI ) . In fact, a tough domestic sales climate was one reason Altria decided to spin off its overseas operations into Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM ) in 2008. By separating its business, the hope was that investors would have a better understanding of the fundamental forces driving Altria and Philip Morris.
Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Watch For 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 Dan Carroll]
Outside the defense sector, Chevron's (NYSE: CVX ) among the only Dow stocks making any headway today: The oil giant's shares are up about 0.2%. Chevron agreed to sell its retail network in Egypt to French competitor Total (NYSE: TOT ) in a deal announced by the latter today. With more than 1.4 million tons of annual sales in a network consisting�of 66 service stations and other assorted infrastructure, it's a big move for Total as it looks to develop its reach outside of Europe.
- [By Paul Ausick]
Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) opened flat this morning and peaked in mid-afternoon before sliding gack a little. Chevron has been the favorite big oil stock for about two years now and even though the stock is trading near its yearly high, sparse demand for equities today must have looked like a buying opportunity. Shares for this Dow 30 stock closed up 0.87% at $123.36 in a 52-week range of $105.75 to $127.83.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
Given its size, Exxon has to work hard just to stand still on the production front. Because existing wells naturally see declines in output over their productive lifetimes, Exxon has to look for new sources constantly in order to replace aging wells. The company is even less nimble than fellow Big Oil players Chevron (NYSE: CVX ) and ConocoPhillips, both of which expect much greater production growth than Exxon's targeted 2% to 3% growth. Chevron now expects 6% growth per year through 2017, while Conoco is seeking 3% to 5% annual growth over that period.
- [By Tyler Crowe]
Whenever shareholders see that their company is taking on debt, pitchforks and torches can be seen at the front door of corporate headquarters. Despite our investor aversion to debt, it isn't always a bad idea. Chevron (NYSE: CVX ) �is in a position to show just that. The company just completed a $6 billlion bond issuance that will be used to refinance some of its current debt structure. Chevron isn't alone, either, Rio Tonto (NYSE: RIO ) just did a similar bond move last week, and several other major American companies have done some big debt issuances in 2013.
Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Watch For 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 WWW.GURUFOCUS.COM]
During the quarter, Visa (V) reported strong year-颅��ver-颅��ear growth with earnings up 14%, as the business continues to operate at a superior level ��very much in-颅��ine with the past several years. Visa has been a core holding for our clients since October 2008 and rarely has a year gone by without the Company and its partners having to contend with lawsuits and legislation aimed at limiting pricing power and 4 distribution. 2014 is no exception, though most of the news has been favorable, with a ruling for "no change" to Visa's exclusivity for high-颅��alue signature transactions. We continue to see Visa's pricing power as being derived from VisaNet's superior value proposition relative to substitutes, particularly paper-颅��based payments, automated clearinghouse (ACH), and more recently, "cryptocurrencies" (e.g. Bitcoin). While these emerging payment platforms, including PayPal and Square, represent very legitimate substitutes to traditional interchange, in our view they are not quite "good enough," as evidenced by merchant acceptance that is largely sequestered to small businesses. While we have been net sellers of Visa over the past 18 months, it has been solely due to valuation ��our primary tool for risk management at Wedgewood. We believe Visa will continue to maintain its superior competitive positioning, as competitors find it difficult to achieve the network-颅��ffect benefits that have compounded the value proposition of VisaNet, particularly as acceptance and issuance of the Visa brand continues to expand.From David Rolfe (Trades, Portfolio)'s Wedgewood Partners first quarter 2014 commentary.
Also check out: David Rolfe Undervalued Stocks David Rolfe Top Growth Companies David Rolfe High Yield stocks, and Stocks that David Rolfe keeps buying
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- [By Sital S. Patel]
Ellison wants to hear from management about how they plan to reinvent the bank in the next few years. Companies like The Blackstone Group (BX) �and BlackRock Inc. (BLK) � or some of the processors like Visa (V) �and Discover Financial Services (DFS) � are doing new, innovative things that are working, notes the portfolio manager.
- [By Nick Taborek]
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Visa (V) Inc. and Nike Inc. (NKE) will be added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU), replacing Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and Alcoa Inc. (AA) in the biggest reshuffling since April 2004.
- [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.
Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Watch For 2014: 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 Trey Thoelcke]
Although recent speculation had Dell interested in acquiring International Business Machines Corp.’s (NYSE: IBM) low-end server business, it was Lenovo that won the prize. A deal to sell the so-called x86 server business to Lenovo fell through last spring when the parties could not agree on a price. In the new deal, the Chinese personal-computer maker has agreed to pay $2.3 billion in cash and stock.
- [By Andrew Tonner]
Sometimes boring can be beautiful, which has held especially true for tech blue chip�IBM (NYSE: IBM ) . By sticking to its knitting and making gradual improvements consistently over time, this established name has managed to nearly double the performance of the broad markets over the last decade. However, the stock has seen its fair share of volatility in the last several months on the heels of a weaker-than-expected Q1 earnings performance. In the video below, Fool contributor Andrew Tonner takes a closer look at IBM. Is it a buy today?�
- [By Wallace Witkowski]
Other notable earnings fall toward the tech end of the spectrum with reports from Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) , Intel Corp. (INTC) , International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) , eBay Inc. (EBAY) and Google Inc. (GOOG) .
- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
Getty Images SAN FRANCISCO -- Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) plans to cut as many as 16,000 more jobs in a major ramp-up of CEO Meg Whitman's years-long effort to turn around the personal computer-maker and relieve pressure on its profit margins. Whitman said the turnaround remained on track and her raised target reflected how HP continued to find areas to streamline across its broad portfolio, which encompasses computing, networking, storage and software. But some analysts wondered whether it signaled a worsening outlook for the coming year, or if more jobs may be cut. "The rationale makes sense," said RBC analyst Amit Daryanani. But "you do worry if there's a finality to this process, or if it's an ongoing thing that may affect morale at the end of the day. So far the trend has been worrisome." HP, whose sprawling global operations employ more than 250,000, estimated about three years ago when it first hatched its sweeping overhaul that it would need to shed 27,000 jobs. That number rose to 34,000 last year. On Thursday, it estimated another 11,000 to 16,000 more jobs needed to go, scattered across different countries and business areas. That took the grand total under Whitman's restructuring to 50,000. The Silicon Valley company is trying to reduce its reliance on PCs and move toward computing equipment and networking gear for enterprises, part of Whitman's effort to curtail revenue declines and return the world's No. 1 PC maker to growth. But that goal remains elusive. The company posted a disappointing 1 percent drop in quarterly revenue, as it struggled to maintain its grip on the shrinking personal computer market and weak corporate tech spending. That marked its 11th consecutive quarterly sales decline. Shares in HP closed down 2.3 percent at $31.78, after the company inadvertently posted the results on its website more than half an hour before the closing bell. A Pivotal Division Research jobs, which are vital for innovation and long-term growth,
Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Watch For 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 Rich Duprey]
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) as well has been stung by slowing growth, and even the expected introduction of the iPhone 5S won't be enough to prop up sales for long, while�BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY ) , which had pinned all of its hopes on its Z10 phone, is finding carriers slashing the price to just $50 from $200 a mere six months after its introduction.�Nokia was also hoping for a big splash when it switched over to Windows Phone devices, but sales cratered 27% from the year-ago period.
- [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]
Farhad Manjoo of Slate wrote a very interesting piece after Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) reported earnings last week, arguing that the iPad is poised to lead Apple's next wave of growth. Manjoo compares the iPad to the iPod, where Apple has been able to retain a dominant market share for over a decade. He claims that the iPad will perform similarly for Apple, while the iPhone has already lost its dominant position and will remain a niche product, albeit a highly profitable one.
- [By Travis Hoium]
For more than a decade,�Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT ) has been playing catch-up with�Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL ) market-defining products. The iPhone and iPad defined categories that Microsoft had no answer to and the popularity of the tablet has rendered the PC a dinosaur in computing.
Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Watch For 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 Melvin Backman]
Fast food funny business: Fast food giants McDonald's (MCD) and Yum! Brands (YUM), which runs KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, are dealing with a tainted meat scandal in China.
- [By Neha Marwah]
However, other players too got adversely affected and suffered softer sales throughout the year. McDonald�� (MCD) and Starbucks (SBUX), both reported decline in sales and experienced a slowdown in same store sales.
Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Watch For 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 Kashafa Investment Research]
What works in P&G�� advantage is the fact that the company is already ahead of its peers in the emerging markets. As of 2012, P&G had sales of $33 billion in developing markets as compared to $24 billion for Unilever (UL) and $10 billion for Colgate (CL). This competitive edge over peers will sustain as P&G has product quality, innovation and has a significant marketing budget given its comfortable cash position.
- [By Lee Jackson]
Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) is a top consumer staples name to make the UBS. Colgate sells its products in more than 200 countries and makes more than 75% of its revenue outside the United States, which provides geographic diversification and growth opportunities in emerging markets for the company. This diversity, matched with a huge list of consumer products, keeps revenues and dividends growing. Investors are paid a 2.3% dividend. The consensus target is $67.14. Colgate closed Tuesday at $64.34.
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