Over a long and enviable career, Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway have amassed one of the most enviable track records in all of investing. Having kept to the basics of largely buying great companies he understands at fair prices, Buffett has been an example for investors the world over. And while technology has famously been an area he's avoided like the plague, he has purchased one tech stock -- the venerable IBM (NYSE: IBM ) . And while it remains a solid blue chip, the company's been in a bit of a rut lately. In this video, Fool contributor Andrew Tonner breaks down the recent goings-on at Big Blue and whether it remains a buy for investors today.
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Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Invest 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 Morgan Housel]
I'll be reading a slug of annual reports (called 10-Ks) over the next few weeks, first page to the last. This week: Visa (NYSE: V ) .
Here are five things I learned from Visa's annual report (which you can read here).
- [By Dan Newman]
"Bitcoins" either sound like a futuristic, implantable, laser-guided and rocket-pack equipped form of money, or the latest coin-shaped chocolate snack. In reality, it's probably a bit of both. The bitcoin, a digital currency, started the year worth about $15. Less than four months later, one bitcoin now trades above $70. While this past performance may be enticing and a sign of its legitimacy as a future currency, the bitcoin market is full of risks -- risks that may make bitcoins worth as much as a foil-wrapped piece of sugar. Bitcoin: A Crypto-Currency Bitcoin is based around the idea of a currency created and transacted through cryptography instead of issued and tracked through a central bank. And to add to its mystique, the creator of bitcoin only goes by a pseudonym and has never been positively identified. Instead of any legal authority, bitcoin transactions are verified through peer-to-peer interactions. If a user sends bitcoins to another user's "wallet" file, that transaction is verified through other users, and is written into the collective transaction log. And given the ease of transactions, any fees for transfers are minimal. Instead of a mint, bitcoins are created through a process called "mining," where computers attempt to solve for a certain number, and once found, are rewarded with new bitcoins. The rewards decrease with time, however, and there will only ever be about 21 million bitcoins created, three-quarters of which by 2016, and all by 2140. Even if you don't understand any of the above, the recent jump in valuation probably still has your interest. But there are plenty of reasons to continue to educate yourself before attempting to trade in bitcoins.
bitcoincharts.com Glitches Not having any legal regulation, bitcoin has attracted plenty of thieves through the websites that create trading markets: In 2011, the third-largest trading site, Bitomat, lost its wallet file, which held 17,000 bitcoins worth more than $200,000 at th - [By Dan Caplinger]
Yet the challenge AmEx has faced for a long time is how to keep distinguishing itself in an industry that's increasingly dominated by leading payment-processors Visa (NYSE: V ) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA ) . Both Visa and MasterCard have essentially used their payment networks as toll roads, luring third-party issuing banks to market their cards to customers and profiting from transaction volume, and they've issued 10 to 20 times the number of cards that AmEx has. By contrast, AmEx has adopted a much more vertically integrated business model, wherein AmEx maintains a much deeper connection to its cardholders, taking on credit risk but also reaping the rewards when it makes smart decisions about extending credit.
- [By Lawrence Meyers]
Visa (V) is a stock to buy now because its one part of a duopoly.
Say all you want about Discover Financial (DFS) and American Express (AXP), but MasterCard (MA) and Visa own the vast majority of the credit card world and always will. Discover came along years ago and hasn�� done much to penetrate the outer walls of its competitors. And we always want to own companies that dominate their space.
Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Invest 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 Douglas A. McIntyre]
McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) public relations department has been working overtime to show that the fast food chain cares about customer health. In September it announced:
- [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]
Alamy McDonald's (MCD) has been struggling to heat up its sales for more than a year, but let's not assume that all fast food chains are in the same boat. In fact, as McDonald's tries to upgrade its menu with premium-priced items and update its eateries with fancy decor, free Wi-Fi, and barista-brewed coffee beverages, a much smaller rival is doing just fine with a throwback business model and menu. At a time when many of its more modern peers are struggling to ring up sales, Sonic (SONC) -- the chain of drive-in restaurants where some orders are still delivered to parked cars by carhops on roller skates -- is doing just fine. Retro Chic Sonic reported another solid quarter on Monday. Same-restaurant sales rose 2.2 percent for its fiscal quarter ending in November. Margins improved to the point where adjusted earnings per share climbed 18 percent with the help of an aggressive share buyback plan. McDonald's doesn't operate on the same fiscal calendar, but we know that same-restaurant sales in the U.S. declined 0.8 percent in November and were up a mere 0.2 percent in October. McDonald's is the world's largest burger chain, but it's had several months since Oct. 2012 where it failed to drum up more sales than it did a year earlier. Meanwhile, Sonic is on a roll. This isn't a fluke. Sonic posted a 5.9 percent surge in same-restaurant sales during its summer quarter. Zigging When McDonald's Zags Sonic and McDonald's both serve cheap burgers, but what's more interesting to consider is where the two companies are going in different directions. McDonald's has been on a health kick lately. It's been promoting its grilled chicken salads and recently added breakfast sandwiches made with egg whites. Sonic, on the other hand, is crediting no small part of the success of its most recent quarter to its milkshakes and new Cheesecake Bites. Consumers may talk about eating healthier, but they do something else when they're eating out. We're seeing this in the chain
- [By Ong Kang Wei]
And that, unmistakably, is a brand. Although the value of a brand is intangible and cannot be measured in dollars, it is one of the most valuable assets a company can have. This is what differentiates a product from Coca-Cola (KO), Kraft Foods Group (KRFT), Nestle (NSRGY.PK) or McDonald's (MCD) from just another unknown manufacturer of these very much essential goods and services. In my eyes, brands are as good as a promise to consumers, which differentiates the product from the rest, and promises that the standard of that certain product will be much better than that of another manufacturer. Without this brand that people trust in and are loyal to, there will not be substantial profits and future growth for the company. Do you think Warren Buffett would have bought out Heinz (HNZ) without its world-famous brand name? Definitely not! It would be as good as just another ketchup brand left on the shelf.
- [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET.COM]
McDonald�� is a well-recognized company that fulfills cravings and demand for quick food choices that many consumers across the globe enjoy. When a photo of what was supposed to be mechanically separated chicken, or ��ink goop,��went viral many people thought the chain was doomed. The stock has been trading sideways in the last couple of years but is currently surging higher. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been rising, which has left investors pleased about recent earnings announcements. Relative to its peers and sector, McDonald�� has been an average year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what McDonald�� does this quarter.
Top 10 Gold Companies To Buy Right Now: 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 Kevin Chen]
Analyzing�IBM� (NYSE: IBM ) , Baidu� (NASDAQ: BIDU ) , Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) ,�Google� (NASDAQ: GOOG ) , and Nokia (NYSE: NOK ) , Kevin calculates the return on research capital, or RORC. You can calculate this number yourself by taking this year's gross profit and dividing it by last year's R&D expenditures.
- [By Alex Planes]
But Nokia stumbled badly. The era of smartphones, first hinted at by the business-focused BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY ) , was brought to full flower by Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) when it launched the iPhone in 2007. It didn't have to be that way. A 2012 Wall Street Journal article reveals Nokia's advanced phone plans, in development since before the iPhone was a gleam in Steve Jobs' eye:
- [By Rich Bieglmeier]
Apple Inc. (AAPL) plans to conduct a conference call to discuss financial results of its fourth fiscal quarter on Monday, October 28, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET.
Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Invest In Right Now: 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 Ong Kang Wei]
Another example of such a product is Colgate-Palmolive (CL)'s Colgate toothpaste. I do not think I have to elaborate much here. Toothpaste is needed in our everyday life, and we will definitely have to buy more toothpaste after we have finished using a packet of it, ensuring that Colgate gets more and more sales over the years.
Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Invest 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 Jim Jubak]
Things aren't quite that bad-yet-for the highly-touted deep ocean oil discoveries off the coast of Brazil, but the October 21 auction for the Libra field-estimated to hold eight billion to 12 billion barrels of oil-is shaping up as a near disaster. Only 11 companies registered for the auction last month-instead of the expected 40-and majors such as Chevron (CVX), ExxonMobil (XOM), and BP (BP) all failed to sign up.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
The Jones Industrials rose 0.6% to 16,064.77, a record high, while the S&P 500 gained 0.4% to 1.804.76, also an all-time high. Big Dow winners this week include JPMorgan Chase (JPM), which rose 4.7% this week after agreeing to a $13 billion settlement with the government, Chevron (CVX), which gained 3.3% to $124.03 after it suspended a North Sea oil project, and United Health Group (UNH), which advanced 2.6% to $73.74. In the S&P 500, Biogen Idec (BIIB) rose 17% to $285.62 after the European Union protected one of its drugs from competition and Tyson Foods (TSN), finished up 11% at $31.82 after reporting surprisingly good earnings.
Top 10 Blue Chip Companies 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 Geoff Gannon]
Warren Buffett mentioned doing this before his recent investment in IBM (IBM). Basically, he wanted to know why people would be likely to prefer IBM to competitors and why they stay with IBM. In his CNBC interview, Buffet seems to say there is a certain tendency to bet on the known quantity when it comes to IT providers. He especially mentions this in regard to foreign companies. It was interesting to see Buffett mention doing this kind of scuttlebutt with IBM ��because in past interviews he's said that while he used to do all the Phil Fisher scuttlebutt ��he'd gotten to the point (by the 1990s and 2000s) where he kept Phil Fisher�� principles in mind but he could basically make a decision just from reading public reports.
- [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET.COM]
IBM is a global technology company that provides essential products and services to companies and consumers worldwide. A recent earnings release has the markets disappointed with the company. The stock has been struggling over the last couple of years and continues to see lower highs and lower lows. Over the last four quarters, earnings have been rising while revenues have been declining which has produced conflicting feelings about IBM’s earnings announcements. Relative to its peers and sector, IBM has been a weak year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what IBM does this coming quarter.
Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Invest 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 Roberto Pedone]
One stock that insiders are buying up a large amount of here is Philip Morris International (PM), which manufactures and sells cigarettes and other tobacco products in markets outside the U.S. Insiders are buying this stock into modest strength, since shares are up 5.5% so far in 2013.
Philip Morris International has a market cap of $143 billion and an enterprise value of $168 billion. This stock trades at a reasonable valuation, with a trailing price-to-earnings of 17.25 and a forward price-to-earnings of 14.6. Its estimated growth rate for this year is 4.2%, and for next year it's pegged at 11.8%. This is not a cash-rich company, since the total cash position on its balance sheet is $3.59 billion and its total debt is $25.50 billion. This stock currently sports a dividend yield of 3.8%.
A director just bought 123,500 shares, or about $11.01 million worth of stock, at $89.15 per share.
From a technical perspective, PM is currently trending below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which is bearish. This stock has been downtrending over the last two months and change, with shares dropping from its high of $95.38 to its recent low of $85.21 a share. During that move, shares of PM have been mostly making lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action.
If you're bullish on PM, then I would look for long-biased trades as long as this stock is trending above some near-term support at $87.65 to $87 and then once it takes out its 200-day at $88.72 and its 50-day at $89.25 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 5.10 million shares. If we get that move soon, then PM will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $91.40 to $92.26 a share. Any high-volume move above those levels will then put $94 to $95 into range for shares of PM.
- [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET.COM]
Philip Morris provides cigarette and tobacco products through established brands to an increasing consumer base around the world. The stock has done very well over the last few years and is now trading at all-time high prices. Earnings and revenue figures have been increasing and decreasing, in recent quarters, which has confused investors a bit. Relative to its strong peers and sector, Philip Morris has been an average year-to-date performer. Look for Philip Morris to OUTPERFORM.
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