Best Blue Chip Companies To Watch In Right Now

Why are markets going to keep going up? �

Because as long as the easy money party being put on by the central banks globally lasts they have to.

At least that is what Jim Rogers thinks.

He also warns that at some point in time that party has to stop. �When it does it is going to get ugly.

One market Jim Rogers would favor is Japan, specifically its blue chip companies. �New taxation policies in Japan have made stocks very attractive for Japanese citizens.

If you are interested in investing for the long term you should consider investing where the Chinese government will be investing which is in railroads and other things that will address China's pollution.

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Best Blue Chip Companies To Watch In Right Now: 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 Justin Loiseau]

  As retail sales rose 9.8%, McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) shares jumped 35%. As the Purchasing Managers Index increased 11.9%, General Electric (NYSE: GE  ) shares grew 41% while Intel (NASDAQ: INTC  ) rocketed 110% on 42% sales increases.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Maybe McDonald’s (MCD) investors are loving after all.

  AP

  Yesterday, McDonald’s dropped 0.3% after reporting same-store sales–and Barron’s panned the stock. Today, however, McDonald’s shares have gained 3.5% to $98.56, leaving Burger King (BKW), which has ticked up 0.3% to $27.63, and Wendy’s (WEN), which has dropped 1.1% to $9.30, in their dust.

  Sterne Agee’s Lynne Collier and Wesley Carmichael explain why investors enthusiastic about McDonald’s prospects:

  We are incrementally more positive on MCD following today’s comments from CFO Peter Bensen at the Bank of America Consumer Conference. Most importantly, Mr. Bensen spoke about the Company’s investigation into increasing leverage in the capital structure, which we believe could result in increased return of capital to shareholders…

  Still, McDonald’s has dipped 0.4% during the past 12 months, even as Wendy’s has surged 70% and Burger King Worldwide has jumped 49%.

  The question now: Is this the beginning of a new trend for McDonald’s?

• [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).

Best Blue Chip 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 Holly LaFon]

  His top four holdings are Philip Morris International (PM), Nestle SA Reg (NSRGY), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), CIE Financiere Rich (CFRHF).

  Philip Morris International (PM)

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  As the world's second largest tobacco company, Philip Morris International (PM) is the prototypical sin stock. It boasts recognizable brands, a sticky customer base, and a hefty dividend payout -- and the payout looks due for a dividend hike. As I write, Philip Morris International currently pays out a 85 cents each quarter, adding up to a 4.05% yield.

  Philip Morris owns almost 30% of the world's tobacco market. And much of that success is thanks to a single iconic brand: Marlboro. The firm has owned Marlboro (as well as second-tier names such as L&M and Parliament) internationally ever since Altria (MO) split up its international and domestic operations. Between the two markets, PM owns the more attractive franchise by far. After all, the international market is the only one that's actually growing.

  While the U.S. market for tobacco products is rife with regulation and demographic shifts are turning away from smoking, international tobacco sales are up -- especially in emerging markets. Premium positioning in markets like India, China and Indonesia translates into substantial cash flows for PM investors. And while the strength of the dollar has been a challenge post-2008, the potential for a Fed taper could strengthen this stock's payout in 2013.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Phillip Morris (PM) have been performing about as well as a soggy cigarette–but Morgan Stanley still hopes they will catch fire.

  Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

  How bad has performance of Phillip Morris been? Its shares have dropped 1.9% during the past 12 months, while American-focused Altria Group (MO) has gained 15%. British American Tobacco (BTI) has gained 3%, Reynolds American (RAI) has advanced 14%, and Lorillard (LO) has jumped 26%.

  And now Morgan Stanley’s David Adelman and team have cut their earnings-per-share forecast for Phillip Morris by 11 cents thanks to the strong dollar, after cutting it by 41 cents six weeks ago. Adelman explains why:

  While PM�� significant EM exposure has been an important driver of its 8%+ constant-currency 2008-2013 EBIT CAGR, recent weakness in a number of important EM currencies (e.g., Argentina, Turkey and Indonesia) will undoubtedly weigh on 2014 reported results. Further, it remains somewhat unclear the extent to which added Yen weakness will impact results, as PM�� F/X guidance already suggests that it was somewhat hedged on USD/Yen. Finally, with ~60% of its operating expenses denominated in ��ard dollar��currencies (USD, EUR and CHF), we have also incorporated a significant estimated transactional F/X impact (+40% of our $0.52/share est.).

  Still, Adelman kept Phillip Morris rated Overweight. He explains why:

  Remain OW, as stock should benefit from recent weakness and achievable 2014 targets: After underperforming US Tobacco and Staples by 18% and 24%, respectively, in 2013, and with expectations already lowered to a conservative level of 6-8% currency-neutral underlying EPS growth in 2014, we believe current valuation of ~14.5x 2015e P/E and <10x EV/EBITDA remains attractive. We continue to view local-currency earnings risk as to the upside, particularly as no new issues have appeared to emerge entering 2014 (such as unforeseen outsized excise

Top 10 Shipping Stocks To Invest In Right Now: 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 Tim Brugger]

  Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) �is making inroads in a key market, and at the rate its going, longtime stalwarts including Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ  ) and IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) better stand up and take notice.

• [By Kathy Kristof]

  Steve Halpern: Finally, in your article, among the other companies you discuss, you do look at International Business Machines (IBM), and you note that they're spending billions to buy back their own shares. Could you tell us a little about that?

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, global IT solutions giant International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM  ) has earned a coveted four-star ranking.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  On Thursday, IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever surprises inevitably arise. That way, you'll be less likely to have an uninformed, knee-jerk reaction that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.

Best Blue Chip Companies To Watch In Right Now: 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 DailyFinance Staff]

  Investors took a wait-and-see attitude Tuesday, but airline stocks lost altitude. The market is in a holding pattern until 2 p.m. Wednesday, when the Fed reveals details of this week's FOMC policy meetings, and whether it's ready to begin cutting back on its main economic stimulus program. If it does begin to taper, the next debate will begin immediately: Is that good or bad for investors? On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) edged down 9 points, the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) fell nearly 6, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) lost 5 points. The Dow's gainers were led by a pair of companies hiking their dividends. 3M (MMM), which makes everything from Post-It notes to medical equipment, rose 3 percent after increasing its payout by 35 percent. And Boeing (BA) rose 1 percent. It boosted the dividend by 50 percent and announced a big stock buyback. The other big blue chip winner was Visa (V), which gained another 2.5 percent. Its stock is now up 43 percent from a year ago. On the downside, Verizon (VZ), IBM (IBM), McDonald's (MCD) and Microsoft (MSFT) all lost about one percent. Microsoft says it will not name a new CEO until next year. And airline stocks were broadly lower. United (UAL) and Delta (DAL) both fell 3 percent. American Airlines (AAL), which completed its merger with U.S. Airways last week, fell 2 percent. And Southwest (V) also lost 2 percent. Brokerage recommendations gave a boost to several issues. Data storage companies Seagate (STX), up 3 percent, and Western Digital (WDC), up 2.5 percent, following JP Morgan upgrades. And iRobot (IRBT) surged 17 percent after Raymond James gave it a 'strong buy.' Shares of Facebook (FB) rose 2 percent, hitting an all-time high. The social media giant is rolling out new video ads this week. That's expected to boost revenue. The question is, will it alienate users? On the downside, Targacept (TRGT) lost more than a third of its value. A clinical trial of its schizophreni

• [By Anora Mahmudova]

  American Express Co. (AXP) �shares gained 3.6% after the credit card company said its fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled. Shares in rival Visa Inc. (V) � rose 4.7%

• [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 Ben Levisohn]

  After last week’s record high, the S&P 500 looked poised for a breakout. Then reality took over, as Russian troops landed in Ukraine, world markets shuddered, and U.S. stocks followed suit thanks to drops in 3M (MMM), Visa (V) and Walt Disney (DIS).

Best Blue Chip Companies To Watch In Right Now: 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 Sara Murphy]

  Joe also discusses particular risks to offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. BP (NYSE: BP  ) will have six rigs under firm contract there by December 2014, more than any other operator. Shell (NYSE: RDS-A  ) will come in second with five rigs. Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC  ) is expected to have four operating rigs by then, followed by Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) with three under firm contract and ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM  ) (NYSE: XOM  ) with two. Watch the following video to learn how climate change could affect these companies.

• [By Matt Thalman]

  Shares of Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) are down 1% today as the price of crude sinks. Just yesterday the stock was up 1.1% for the session, and I commented on how even at their current price, shares look rather cheap. The company is trading at less than 10 times earnings and pays a healthy 3.2% dividend yield. When we look at the company from a growth perspective, it doesn't look like a big winner with a market cap of $245 billion, so it's unlikely the stock will more than double in the coming years. But the strong dividend, combined with increasing worldwide demand for oil and energy, will make Chevron a stable winner for the years to come.