Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Buy For 2014

With consumer confidence falling in April and gross domestic product in the first quarter coming in lower than expected, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) was lucky to eke out any gains at all today. It was the fourth gain in five days for blue chips, which had their worst week of the year last week but added back more than 1% as a flurry of earnings helped the comeback. The Dow ended up 11 points, or less than 0.1%, on Friday to close at 14,712.�

Wall Street thought Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ  ) shares looked undervalued today, and even after adding 1.9% Friday, shares traded at less than six times forward earnings. Rebounding from losses yesterday, HP posted the highest gains in the index today. In recent years the company has felt the brutal impact of the PC market decline, and its stock took the biggest hit in the index last year. So while the bullishness of 2013 -- the stock is up more than 40% year to date -- reflects some optimism about CEO Meg Whitman's turnaround efforts, the stock is still rallying from fairly depressed levels.�

Hot Restaurant Companies To Buy For 2015: 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 WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  There are definitely concerns for Phillip Morris, which include decreased market share in many areas and poor debt management. However, up until this point, Phillip Morris has done a good job rewarding its shareholders. While history usually repeats itself, that�� not necessarily an all-positive in this case. Phillip Morris didn�� hold up well in 2008/early 2009. If a similar environment were to present itself again, then Phillip Morris wouldn�� be a top option ��regardless of the impressive yield. In the meantime, Phillip Morris is an OUTPERFORM.

• [By Rupert Hargreaves]

  For example, let's take a look at�Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM  ) . Now for the last four quarters, Philip Morris has paid out $3.49 in dividends per share. For the same period, the company has earned $5.28 per share, which gives us a dividend cover of 1.5 times and a payout ratio of 66%.

• [By GuruFocus]

  The decade low yield of tobacco stocks can be clearly seen from our new interactive charts, which are embedded below. The chart shows the dividend yield of three tobacco stocks: Reynolds American (RAI), Philip Morris International (PM) and British American Tobacco (BTI).

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Buy 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 Rick Munarriz]

  Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) doesn't even have a smart watch on the market, but that's not stopping naysayers from shooting it down.

  Jefferies analyst Peter Misek -- who has an uninspiring hold rating and $420 price target on the shares -- talked down the prospects of the long-rumored iWatch yesterday.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Jefferies upgraded Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) from Hold to Buy and lifted its price target from $425 to $600. Apple shares rose 0.01% to $483.08 in after-hours trading.

• [By Benjamin Pimentel]

  The tech sector also took from shares of Apple (AAPL) , which were down a fraction to close at $526.24 after the company�� shareholder meeting .

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Buy 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 David Smith]

  The second "Gasland" also touches down briefly in Queensland, Australia, where anti-fracking protests have begun. It then moves to a description of "demonstrations across Europe". Named as specific sites are the U.K., Bulgaria, Romania, France, and Canada. Little did we know that our neighbors to the north had hightailed it across the pond. Poland, where Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) has undertaken an ambitious shale drilling program is essentially unmentioned.

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Buy 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 Ben Levisohn]

  Last quarter, Buffett sold his stakes in�Archer Daniels Midland�(ADM) and�General Dynamics�(GD), and added to a position�in�International Business Machines�(IBM). He also bought shares of�Chicago Bridge & Iron�(CBI), an old favorite of mine from my trading days.�

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  One of Accenture's biggest areas of growth has been in technology-related consulting, with the company having become the No. 2 IT consulting company in the world, trailing only rival IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) . Accenture's ability to take advantage of diversity in its employee ranks comes from its lack of a physical corporate headquarters, allowing employees to work in their home countries, and thereby attracting the most talented workers available in a given area. In particular, Accenture has focused much of its attention on India, with more than a quarter of its employees hailing from the subcontinent.

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Buy 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 Dividends4Life]

  There are a number of ways to invest successfully. I have friends who are very successful value investors. Most of their returns are earned through capital appreciation. They spend a great deal of time pouring through 10-Ks and 10-Qs of companies off the beaten path. The potential returns are high, but so is the effort put in their craft. At the other extreme there are successful traders. They look at their charts to determine entry and exit points for the day's transactions. Little to no time is spent analyzing the underlying fundamentals of the company since it likely will only be held for a very short period of time. I would put investors in dividend growth stocks somewhere between these two, but much closer to the pure value investor. Like the value investors, our time-frame is long term. Although we carefully research potential companies, our emphasis leans more toward fundamental metrics needed to sustain annual dividend growth, with less emphasis on current value. There are successful investors in each of the above groups, and they share a common trait. This trait is found in most all successful people ���t is their secret to success. Fortunately, this trait can be learned and mastered. The secret to successful investing is... discipline. A person that moves from one investment strategy to another lacks the discipline to be successful. Very few people are born with the raw intellect that allows them to just pick winning stocks out of the air. For the rest of us, we have to rely on our discipline to do what's necessary to identify stocks that will provide us with our best opportunity to succeed, and we have to remain focused on quality over the long-term. Our portfolios include stocks like:Emerson Electric Co. (EMR) | Yield: 2.5% Emerson Electric Co. designs and supplies product technology and delivers engineering services and solutions to a wide range of industrial, commercial and consumer markets around the world. The company has paid a cash dividend t

• [By Regarded Solutions]

  The Team Alpha portfolio consists of Ford (F) Chevron (CVX) Apple (AAPL), McDonald's (MCD), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), AT&T (T), General Electric (GE), BlackRock Kelso Capital (BKCC), KKR Financial (KFN), Procter & Gamble (PG), CSX Corp. (CSX), Realty Income (O), Coca-Cola (KO), Annaly Capital (NLY), Cisco (CSCO), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), Newmont Mining (NEM), and Wells Fargo (WFC), and Intel (INTC).

• [By Alanna Petroff and Sophia Yan]

  An American-owned meat factory operating in China has been accused of selling out-of-date and tainted meat to clients including McDonald's (MCD) and Yum Brands (YUM), which owns the KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut chains.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  McDonald’s (MCD) is a disappointment. Its most recent earnings and revenue numbers were below the Street consensus. Its same-store sales are sliding. And its shares have dropped 4.8% so far this year, underperforming the S&P 500 by nearly 12 points. In fact, all that investors have at this point is a pledge for change, and that’s likely to disappoint too.

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  Unless it doesn’t. That plus the fast-food giant’s heft dividend are enough justification to buy McDonald’s, says UBS analyst Keith Siegner and team. He explains:

  This has been a frustrating year and could remain so as competition cont. to effectively execute and innovate against what appears not enough from MCD in months ahead. We are becoming increasingly discouraged that the current plan will be sufficient to close the comp gap to sandwich/burger peers (widened to -630 bps in Sept), let alone NT. It’s also unclear whether McDonald’s will truly address ownership, capital and cost structure opportunities. However, we still see significant potential to unlock value through multiple avenues, both operational and strategic corporate actions. Further, we are encouraged that despite results which were even more disappointing than prior quarters, shares were only down slightly, highlighting the support from low expectations and valuation and w/ a ~3.7% div. yield. Combined, we view the risk/reward as favorable and remain Buy.

  Shares of McDonald’s have gained 0.4% to $92.36 at 2:43 p.m. today, while Wendy’s (WEN) has risen 0.6% to $8.06 and Burger King (BKW) has dropped 1.2% to $31.72.

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Buy 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 MONEYMORNING.COM]

  That total was based on similar projections that have Alibaba raising between $15 billion and $20 billion in its initial public offering later this year. If Alibaba can raise $20 billion, it will be the largest U.S. IPO in history, eclipsing the $19.65 billion Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) raised in 2008, and the $18 billion General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) raised in 2010.

• [By Alex Planes]

  It was from these humble beginnings that Visa (NYSE: V  ) was born. BankAmericard became an independent corporation in 1970 and later changed its name to Visa in 1976 as a way to broaden its appeal internationally. By this point the Master Charge had been established as a competing credit card network, and it had actually grown larger than the former BankAmericard: In the first quarter of 1976, BankAmericard/Visa claimed 31.8 million cardholders and $2.3 billion in sales volume, while the Master Charge had 37.4 million cardholders and processed $2.9 billion in sales. Master Charge, of course, is the forerunner to MasterCard (NYSE: MA  ) , but it hasn't maintained its early lead over Visa. In 2012, Visa's total U.S. purchase volume clocked in at $981 billion compared to $534 billion for MasterCard, and Visa's 278 million American cardholders far outweigh MasterCard's 180 million American cardholders.

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Buy 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 Dividends4Life]

  Memberships and Peers: KMB is a member of the S&P 500, a Dividend Aristocrat, a member of the Broad Dividend Achievers��Index and a Dividend Champion. The company's peer group includes: The company's peer group includes: Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) with a 3.1% yield, Colgate-Palmolive Co. (CL) with a 2.3% yield, and Clorox Corporation (CLX) with a 3.4% yield.