Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks For 2014

Pharmaceutical stocks have traditionally been considered logical choices for dividend stocks; here, we look at one of the blue chips of the pharmaceutical world, selling at discounts to historical valuations, explains John Dobosz, editor of Forbes Dividend Investor.

New York-based Pfizer (PFE) is one of the world's largest biopharmaceutical companies that discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells medicines for humans and animals.

Celebrex, for treating arthritis, and Viagra, for erectile dysfunction, are two of Pfizer's best selling drugs. Other products are targeted at Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular issues, depression, pain, respiratory ailments, and smoking cessation.

As blockbuster drugs lose patent protection, Pfizer must find new sources of growth to make up for the lower sales. What's encouraging is recent news from Merck (MRK) that it was working with Pfizer to develop new cancer drugs.

Revenue for 2014 is expected to dip 3% to $49.9 billion, with earnings inching higher by 2.3% to $2.27 per share. Earnings are expected to grow 12.9% for the year that just ended, with revenue up 15.7%.

Top 10 Oil Stocks For 2015: 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 Teresa Rivas]

  Chevron (CVX) lost ground on its second-quarter report, as did Alpha Natural Resources (ANR).

  J.C. Penney (JCP) ended lower despite reports that CIT had lifted its credit restrictions, while Weight Watchers (WTW) sank on its disappointing guidance and the departure of its CEO.

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks 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 Kelley Wright]

  McDonald's (MCD) is not just any other company; it is an icon. Its strong performance has continued for the past ten years. It has an S&P ����Quality Ranking, a Dividend Aristocrat, and a $3.24 dividend.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) is scheduled to release its quarterly earnings report on Monday, and its stock has climbed to the $100-per-share mark in approaching all-time record-high levels. But disappointing results for McDonald's earnings in past quarters have investors worried that the company might not deliver the fundamental strength it needs to match up to its stock's performance.

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks For 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 Tim Melvin]

  Some of the traditionally defensive stocks like Phillip Morris International (PM) and Merck (MRK) also fail our test for operating conditions and financial changes. Yield chasers have also pushed the value of their shares to unsustainable levels, and are unlikely to see much more than mid- to low-single-digit profit growth for several years.

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks 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 Jon C. Ogg]

  Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight and the price target is now $68 (versus a $59.93 close) at Morgan Stanley.

• [By Holly LaFon]

  A: The stock market is a market of individual stocks that represent fractional ownership interests in real businesses. The key to investment success is first and foremost to identify individual, highly durable businesses and then have the discipline to buy them when prices are attractive and the risk/reward trade-off is compelling. We invest in what we understand, continuing to pour over the universe of businesses within our many circles of competence that meet our management, capital allocation, business model, and valuation criteria. Some areas that we believe offer the greatest opportunity in terms of prospective returns include:

  Global market leaders such as Nike (NKE), Colgate-Palmolive (CL) and Philip Morris International (PM) that are beneficiaries of a growing global middle class and consumer culture. The global wealth effect, particularly in developing economies, is a real and very powerful force that should serve as a tailwind for these types of global brands over the long term. Well-managed financial services companies with true franchise value due to the success of their particular products or brand that have the ability and management prowess to build market share over time in a highly fragmented marketplace. Wells Fargo and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) are representative examples in this category. The depth of the recent financial crisis is well known. What is less understood is that certain market leaders used the downturn to dramatically strengthen their capital base and significantly grow their market share at the expense of weaker competitors. Certain health care-related businesses such as UnitedHealth Group and Laboratory Corporation of America that stand to benefit from growing health care spending by aging populations around the world. Workhorse technology companies such as Texas Instruments (TXN), Microsoft (MSFT) and Google that are market leaders with durable competitive moats and that also offer an attractive risk/reward proposition at
• [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.

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks 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 Ben Levisohn]

  Stocks have tumbled after a slightly stronger open as Visa (V),�American Express�(AXP),�United Technologies (UTX), Noble Corp (NE) and PVH Corp. (PVH) slide.

  REUTERS

  The S&P 500 dropped 1.2% to 1,846.34, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 231.19 points, or 1.4%, to 16,108.89.

  While a solid U.S. jobless claims number helped boost U.S. markets this morning, international concerns are coming to the fore once again. Tensions in the Ukraine are escalating– Russia is said to have 200,000 troops at ready and is reported to be readying itself for Iran-like sanctions–while China’s industrial production rose just 8.6% in January and February, down from a 9.7% increase in December. And though largely forgotten, all this turmoil comes against a backdrop of monetary policy uncertainty in the US.

  Capital Economics’ Julian Jessop says “China concerns still look exaggerated.” He writes:

  China�� continuing economic slowdown is clearly bad news for some commodity exporters. However, the world as a whole should actually benefit from slower but better-balanced growth in China. The risk of a ��ard landing��is also still small and perhaps even diminishing as a result of recent policy moves, despite the latest concerns about the health of the shadow banking system…

  [We] we would be wary of interpreting the recent slump in the price of copper as a warning sign of broader problems in the global economy. This slump has been compounded by factors specific to the industry, such as the impact of the China�� credit clampdown on the use of metals for financing. And as it happens, the Baltic Dry Index of global shipping costs, a rival bellwether, is actually rebounding again. However, we would put more weight on direct evidence from economic indicators such as the global PMIs, which have held up pretty well.

  Societe Generale’s Albert Edwards takes coppers decline as just that&#

• [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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Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks 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 Robert Eberhard]

  A year ago, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) was in the midst of a blistering nine-month stretch, cementing itself at the top of the market. Meanwhile, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) stood pat after its less-than-stellar showing in the Fed stress test, while other banks rushed to return capital to shareholders. Apple looked like a stock that couldn't lose, while Bank of America... well, was Bank of America: the stock so many love to hate. But since October, these stocks have switched places. Could the formerly scorned bank now be a better investment than the once-hot tech superstar?

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, consumer electronic device giant Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

• [By jaggom]

  Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) have been in a battle for a long time. The Cupertino-based organization spent a ton of its $40 billion war chest to cut down Google's Android. Then again, Apple has done well despite stiff rivalry. Its results are presently superior to Google, and the organization is picking up footing with its iphones. Also, with a strong quarterly dividend and a share buyback in the billions, Apple stock is a superior purchase to Google. Give us a chance to examine whether Apple can produce further solid results going ahead.

• [By Doug Ehrman]

  A recent Bloomberg News story suggests that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) may begin an iPhone trade-in program to compete with current third-party options. With the high price of the iPhone, buyers in emerging markets are anxious to by "used" iPhones at discounted prices. While the company hasn't commented on the motivation for the move -- should it in fact happen -- any measure that accelerates the iPhone product cycle should be seen as a positive for investors.

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks 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 Dimitra DeFotis]

  Among the largest components of the�SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average exchange-traded fund�(DIA),�Visa�(V) and�International Business Machines�(IBM) are slighlty higher today, while�Goldman Sachs�(GS) shares rose nearly a point.