Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Watch For 2014

Japan was back at the center of financial news today, not because the Nikkei is still getting rocked back and forth, but because the island-nation's central bank refused to adjust monetary policy today in the midst of a huge market correction. In April, the Bank of Japan had announced a $1.4 trillion stimulus program with room for additional funding if needed, but today passed on that opportunity, though Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda did say that the bank could unleash further stimulus if borrowing costs rise.

World markets were down on the news, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) finishing down 117 points, or 0.8%, in a volatile session, as the blue chips opened down 1% before climbing to breakeven at midday, and finally tanking in afternoon trading. As stocks pulled back, treasuries hit a 14-month high, with the 10-year yield climbing to 2.29% at one point.

Among the Dow's biggest losers today was Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) , which fell 1.8% as rival Sony introduced its PlayStation 4 last night and said would be priced at $399, $100 less than Microsoft's Xbox One. The two are major competitors in the gaming arena, and Sony's moves could put pressure on Microsoft. In addition to beating the Xbox on price, the PS4 also allows users to sell or reuse second-hand games and does not require a fixed Internet connection. Both consoles are due out this fall in time for the holiday season.

Top 10 Construction Stocks To Watch 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 Heather Long]

  Keurig already has dozens of K-cup partnerships, including ones with Dunkin' Donuts (DNKN), Starbucks (SBUX) and Snapple (DPS). This latest deal also adds McCafe, the McDonald's (MCD) coffee that is sold in stores, to the K-Cup offerings, since Kraft helps promote and distribute McCafe.

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 Sara Murphy]

  For example, Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) is embroiled in a take-no-prisoners battle with its shareholders over a $19 billion lawsuit in Ecuador for its pollution of that country's rainforests. Last year, in connection with the Ecuador debacle, more than a third of Chevron's shareholders voted to strip the CEO of his other role as chairman of the board. Investors also continue to propose resolutions requesting greater transparency from Chevron on its decision-making process with regard to entering countries with poor human rights records. These salvos from shareholders are becoming increasingly difficult for companies to ignore.

• [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.

• [By David Smith]

  Admittedly, Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) is partnering with Saudi Aramco in production efforts in the Partitioned Zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. And oil-field services and technology kingpin Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB  ) has planted major facilities in the country. But it seems that a more widespread use of western companies' capabilities could do wonders for Saudi reserves and production longevity.

• [By Robert Rapier]

  There are numerous drillers making major investments in the Permian Basin. The list is long, but it includes Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY), Chevron (NYSE: CVX), Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN), Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD), Concho Resources (NYSE: CXO), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) and Apache (NYSE: APA).

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 Matt Thalman]

  When the Dow falls more than 100 points, it's usually easy to find a few losers. This morning, I talked about why American Express, Du Pont, and Caterpillar were all lower;�click here to read about those stocks, or continue reading to learn about�JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) , AT&T (NYSE: T  ) , and IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) .

• [By Chris Hill]

  Dollar General's (NYSE: DG  ) first-quarter profits rose rose 3%, but the retailer cut guidance for the full year. Business market software maker ExactTarget (NYSE: ET  ) rose more than 50% after Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM  ) agreed to buy the company for more than $2.3 billion. Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA  ) held firm after shares tanked on Monday in the wake of the company announcing it's cutting 18% of its staff. And IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) buys a company to better compete in the cloud computing space. In this installment of Investor Beat, our analysts discuss four stocks making big moves.

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 MONEYMORNING.COM]

  With a valuation of $168 billion, Alibaba will still be smaller than Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, GOOGL), which have market caps of $508 billion and $356 billion, respectively. However, Alibaba's market cap will be bigger than Facebook Inc.'s (Nasdaq: FB) $148 billion, Amazon.com Inc.'s (Nasdaq: AMZN)$136 billion, and eBay Inc.'s (Nasdaq: EBAY) $65 billion.

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  Worst Tech Prediction No. 10: The iPhone, 2007
  When Apple Inc.'s (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone came out, few in the mobile phone industry thought it would amount to much. But it was Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer who truly embarrassed himself. "There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. It's a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 60% or 70% or 80% of them, than I would to have 2% or 3%, which is what Apple might get." At the end of 2013, the iPhone had 48% of the U.S. smartphone market compared to 3% for Microsoft's Windows Phone.
  
  Have you ever been wrong about a new technology that later turned out to be a major development? Confess your mistakes on Twitter @moneymorning or Facebook.

• [By Anders Bylund]

  Everybody knows Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) . Under charismatic leader Steve Jobs, the Cupertino company transformed from a down-and-out wannabe computer-systems builder into a media-player giant, then a leading music-seller, and finally the smartphone-and-tablet powerhouse you see today. It's a classic rags-to-riches story that created a global powerhouse. The result: a 4,800% return.

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 Monica Gerson]

  Colgate-Palmolive Co (NYSE: CL) is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.73 per share on revenue of $4.46 billion.

  Precision Castparts (NYSE: PCP) is projected to report its Q2 earnings at $2.83 per share on revenue of $2.36 billion.

• [By Motley Fool Staff]

  Andres Cardenal:�Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL  ) , generates most of its sales and cash flows from its leadership position in the oral care industry. Management estimates that the company owns a global market share of 44.4% in toothpastes, 33.2% in toothbrushes, and 38.9% in mouthwashes.

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 MONEYMORNING.COM]

  Of course, a roster of A-list clients helps a great deal. Some of Open Text's stable of blue chip clients include The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO), BP plc (NYSE: BP), and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V).

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  A week of calm turned stormy for the major stock indexes, as American Express (AXP),�Boeing�(BA), Visa (V), Noble Corp. (NE) and Johnson Controls (JCI) tumbled.

• [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).

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Watch 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 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 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 GuruFocus]

  Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) Reached the 52-Week Low of $83.79
  
  The prices of Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) shares have declined to close to the 52-week low of $83.79, which is 15.1% off the 52-week high of $96.73. Philip Morris International Inc. is owned by 31 Gurus we are tracking. Among them, 14 have added to their positions during the past quarter. Nine reduced their positions.