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.
Best Blue Chip 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 Stephen Quickel]
Can Apple Inc. (AAPL) return to the $700 level? Whether its does or not, I suspect that the stock will be one of the outstanding comeback stories during the year ahead.
Indeed, even if it rebounds to $600 or so, that's a 20% gain. Most investors would settle for that. And chances are it will do much better over time, given Apple's knack for coming up with new products.
Short sellers have cleaned up since they began bum-rapping Apple in late 2012. Three observations are appropriate:- The short positions, while rising rapidly early in the fall, never amounted to more than a few percent of the outstanding shares at their peak.
- The stock was probably overdue for correction, having zoomed 9-fold since March 2009.
- The consensus of 50-plus Wall Street analysts covering AAPL still calls for 20%-plus a year earnings growth going forward, with a target price of $762.
Apple, in case you hadn't noticed, is selling iPads and iPhones at record levels while its stock has been under attack, in just about every corner of the world.
- [By Michael Fowlkes]
Tech-giant Apple (AAPL) has seen its shares take a serious beating in recent months, but we believe the selloff has just about reached its end. The underlying fundamentals remain strong and we expect to see several new products next year. The concerns that have led to the recent sell off are real, but at the same time not as material as some would like you to believe. A big concern is theslowing of its earnings growth. Last year it had 100% earnings growth, but that has dropped to 23% this year.
You need to ask yourself, considering Apple’s size, is a 23% jump in earnings growth really a bad thing? Apple has become a victim of its own success, and is having a hard time keeping up with its past successes. This does not mean the company is in trouble, it just means that investors need to have a more realistic view of the company’s business. Once the current panic subsides, we believe investors will come back to the stock, and realize that it is a great value with its current P/E of just 12.
- [By ANDREW]
I am a huge believer in Apple’s brand internationally and I think they still have more room to grow than people think. We all know the Iphone 5 is coming out and I think the sales will be insanely good. People buy these products not only because they are great, but because they are the only fashionable computer item on the market. Many people have no problem at all paying the large premium for Apple’s stuff just to look cool. That’s not the reason everyone does it but it’s a reason that all the challenger companies won’t be able to touch a large % of Apple’s core user base. Apple is in a league of their own and will stay that way for the foreseeable fut ure. Any Apple naysayer makes very weak arguments against the investment. Some people buy computers to get the most bang for their buck. Apple users proudly pay the big premium. That’s why they keep beating expectations on Wall Street. They don’t pay a dividend but certainly could at any time. They are a cash cow already sitting on a mountain of cash. I can see the company going over $500 before the end of 2012. Very strong buy.
- [By James K. Glassman]
When I think of cash, I think of Apple, a great company that generates tons of the green stuff. Between 2007 and 2011, Apple's net income -- the headline annual profits that most investors focus on -- rose by $22 billion. But over the same period, annual cash flow jumped from $5 billion to $38 billion.
Like geeks lining up for each new iGadget release, Apple investors anxiously awaited the company's first quarterly dividend of $2.65 a share, paid on August 16. The stock yields 1.7% and, despite a seemingly high price of $630.83 a share, it trades at just 12 times estimated earnings per share of $52.50 for the fiscal year that ends in September 2013.
Best Blue Chip Companies To Buy 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 Goodwin]
Chevron (CVX-N94.663.183.48%) is the world's second-largest energy company, after fellow Dow component Exxon Mobil (XOM-N73.951.121.54%).
But, analysts favour Chevron's stock, which receives positive reviews from 76 per cent of researchers in coverage. In contrast, Exxon receives positive reviews from 42 per cent of analysts, ranking third-worst in the Dow. Chevron is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results on Jan. 28. Its third-quarter adjusted earnings tally of $1.87 (reflecting 8.7 per cent year-over-year growth) missed the consensus forecast of $2.15 by 13 per cent, sending shares down modestly. The sales figure, at $49-billion, missed by 1.9 per cent. Chevron has integrated global operations and sells at a peer discount.
Its stock trades at a trailing earnings multiple of 11, a forward earnings multiple of 8.9, a book value multiple of 1.8, a sales multiple of 1 and a cash flow multiple of 6.2, 43 per cent, 52 per cent, 58 per cent, 67 per cent and 32 per cent discounts to oil-and-gas industry averages. Based on forward earnings, Chevron is the fourth cheapest Dow stock. It also pays a 72-cent quarterly dividend, translating to a 3.1 per cent dividend yield, seventh highest in the Dow. It has boosted the payout 7.9 per cent a year, on average, over a three-year span and 10 per cent a year, on average, over a five-year span. Chevron has $15-billion of cash, compared to $11-billion of debt.
Bullish Scenario: Macquarie expects Chevron's stock to rise 21 per cent to $114 in 12 months.
Bearish Scenario: JPMorgan, despite rating Chevron “overweight”, has a $90 target.
Best Beverage Stocks 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 ETF_Authority]
McDonald’s Corporation (MCD), together with its subsidiaries, operates as a foodservice retailer worldwide. The company has raised distributions for 35 years in a row. The 10 year annual dividend growth rate is 26.50%/year. The last dividend increase was 14.75% to 70 cents/share. Analysts are expecting that McDonald's will earn $5.73/share in 2012. I expect that the quarterly dividend will reach 77 cents/share in 2012. Yield: 2.80%
- [By Brian Gorban]
Fast food giant and world-renowned company McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) is undoubtedly a name you’ve heard of, as “the golden arches” are ubiquitous--and with good reason: The company operates over 33,000 restaurants in 119 countries. With over $27 billion in revenue and a market capitalization near $90 billion, McDonald’s is simply a juggernaut and should continue to be a beneficiary of the global growth story happening predominately in the “BRIC” (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries in the years and decades to come.
Of course, those countries have not been spared the current economic carnage and that has caused the company to miss the past two quarters’ consensus estimates, but that has created a buying opportunity. With the stock trading not far above its $83.31 52-week low, McDonald’s is now yielding an attractive 3.5% dividend yield, and with a low 54% payout ratio, look for the dividend to not only be safe but be raised in the near future. Add in the fact that the company has a comparatively and historically low 16x forward and trailing P/E, and I think MCD should serve investors well for the long-term while one can wait and happily collect the nice 3.5% dividend.
Best Blue Chip Companies To Buy 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 Peter Hughes]
International Business Machines (IBM) -- our aggressive pick for the year -- is one of the world's most dominant technology companies, with annual revenues of $105 billion and net income of $16 billion.
- [By Paul]
IBM. Emerging markets are a big growth driver for this computer systems and software provider. Not only that, Resendes says, IBM has "a bullet-proof balance sheet that will allow it to weather the current storm and position it for superior growth and profitability in the long term." He thinks the stock, which recently traded at $93, is worth $120 a share: ''There are some obvious companies that offer much bigger discounts, but you have to incorporate the safety factor. You're getting a premium company here that's a good spot to be in within the tech space."
- [By Louis Navellier]
IBM (NYSE:IBM) is an international IT company made famous by its line of personal computers and various IT services. A year-to-date gain of 18% shows IBM stock has a lot to offer.
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