Friday, September 25, 2009

9/25/09 pm Fri Dow Closes 9665.19 down 42.25 or 0.44

The following is not intended as advertising by a broker-dealer and is not a research report.

Post #127 The following is brought to you by Intellivest Securities Research, Inc. The following is not intended as advertising by a broker-dealer and is not a research report. Towards the end of this Blog is an update of the Dow 30's most recent SEC filings as of 9/25/09, a list of the Dow 30 CEO's and a ranking of the Dow 30 by market capitalization.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Friday at 9665.19 down 42.25 or 0.42% from Thursday's close of 9707.44. For the week the Dow was done 155.01 or 1.57%. Of the 30 Dow Companies: 8 gained and 22 declined with the biggest loser dollar-wise being American Express AXP $33.07 -0.78 2.3% 14,981,113 NYSE and the biggest gainer dollar-wise and percentage-wise being McDonald's MCD $56.95 +0.83 1.48% 11,174,074 NYSE. The biggest loser percentage-wise was Alcoa AA $13.08 -0.43 3.18% 29,991,667 NYSE.

The current divisor for the Dow found at today's page C4 of The Wall St. Jrnl is .132319125 unchanged. Friday's Dow Jones Industrial Average closing numerator was 1278.89 down 5.59 from Thursday's closing Dow numerator of 1284.48. This is the sum of all 30 closing prices. A short cut to the Dow numerator is to multiply the closing Dow by the Divisor.

Now, if you divide the Dow numerator decrease for today of 5.59 by the divisor you get 42.25, the decrease in Friday's Dow close.

The average closing price (the closing numerator divided by 30) of Friday's Dow Jones Industrial Average was 42.63 down 0.19 from Thursday's Dow Jones Industrial Average closing price of 43.82. The median closing price of Friday's Dow Jones Industrial Average was 38.36 down 0.75 from Thursday's Dow Jones median closing price of 39.11.

The highest closing price Friday again was IBM $121.08 +0.14 0.12% 5,111,912 NYSE and the lowest closing price Friday again was Alcoa AA $13.08 -0.43 3.18% 29,991,667NYSE.

The lowest volume Friday again was 3M MMM $73.8 -0.30 0.4% 3,468,411 NYSE and the highest volume again was Bank of Am BAC $16.6 -0.38 2.24% 160,668,900 NYSE.

If Friday morning before the market opened you had purchased $100 of each of the Dow Jones Industrial Average 30 shares (assuming you could buy fractional shares and assuming no transaction costs) and sold at the close you would have lost $558.
($128,448 - 127,890)

Friday's Closing Dow closing numbers:
Symb/Last/Change/% Change/Vol./Market

T $26.96 -0.07 0.26% 23,262,991 NYSE
AA $13.08 -0.43 3.18% 29,991,667 NYSE
AXP $33.07 -0.78 2.3% 14,981,113 NYSE
BAC $16.6 -0.38 2.24% 160,668,900 NYSE
BA $51.52 -0.27 0.52% 3,567,898 NYSE
CAT $51.2 -0.65 1.25% 10,753,194 NYSE
CVX $70.66 -0.05 0.07% 7,183,985 NYSE
CSCO $22.62 -0.03 0.13% 40,816,531 NASDAQ-GS
KO $52.97 +0.63 1.2% 10,771,553 NYSE
DIS $27.62 -0.35 1.25% 13,515,900 NYSE
DD $31.74 -0.53 1.64% 6,155,857 NYSE
XOM $68.7 -0.23 0.33% 16,285,740 NYSE
GE $16.37 -0.21 1.27% 103,076,011 NYSE
HPQ $47.02 +0.15 0.32% 19,752,434 NYSE
HD $26.85 -0.19 0.7% 11,751,466 NYSE
INTC $19.37 -0.17 0.87% 38,980,359 NASDAQ-GS
IBM $121.08 +0.14 0.12% 5,111,912 NYSE
JPM $43.65 -0.72 1.62% 30,877,312 NYSE
JNJ $60.62 -0.10 0.16% 7,810,494 NYSE
KFT $26.53 +0.15 0.57% 11,542,267 NYSE
MCD $56.95 +0.83 1.48% 11,174,074 NYSE
MRK $31.25 +0.24 0.77% 20,948,929 NYSE
MSFT $25.55 -0.39 1.5% 49,710,961 NASDAQ-GS
PFE $16.4 -0.04 0.24% 36,033,839 NYSE
PG $58.01 +0.17 0.29% 13,407,574 NYSE
MMM $73.8 -0.30 0.4% 3,468,411 NYSE
TRV $47.75 +0.23 0.48% 4,904,598 NYSE
UTX $61.54 -0.80 1.28% 4,664,903 NYSE
VZ $29.94 -0.21 0.7% 14,613,281 NYSE
WMT $49.47 -1.23 2.43% 26,193,961 NYSE

The following appeared in Friday morning's Blog:

BLOG NEWS: I scooped the Wall Street Journal last night by reporting on Hewlett-Packard's CEO comments that were the subject of an SEC filing yesterday that is also reported at the WSJ pB7 today. Also, today's Atlanta Business Chronicle at p38A has a commentary I wrote about this Blog and how the method of calculating of the Dow Jones Industrial Average should be changed.

Post #126 The following is brought to you by Intellivest Securities Research, Inc. The following is not intended as advertising by a broker-dealer and is not a research report. Towards the end of this Blog is an update of the Dow 30's most recent SEC filings as of 9/25/09, a list of the Dow 30 CEO's and a ranking of the Dow 30 by market capitalization.

A read of Friday's 9/25/09 print editions of: Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Investors Business Daily, New York Times, Atl Journal Const, USA Today & the 9/25/09 - 10/1/09 issue of the Atlanta Business Chronicle yielded the following stories about Dow Jones Industrial Average 30 component companies and the Dow with stories about the Dow aggregated first and then items about Dow Jones Industrial Average 30 companies presented alphabetically, followed by symbol and Thursday's closing price and related data:

Dow: Atlanta Business Chronicle at p38 "Time to change the almight Dow" by your Blogger Dan Kolber says it is time to revise how the Dow Jones Industrial Average is computer because by using the divisor, it only magnifies the ups and downs by 7.6 unncecessarily.

The current divisor for the Dow found at today's page C4 of The Wall St. Jrnl is .132319125 unchanged where it is also noted that as of today the Dow's trailing P/E ratio is 15.66, its P/E estimate is 15.71 and its Dividend yield is 2.90. Thursday's Dow Jones Industrial Average closing numerator was 1284.48 down 5.44 from Wednesday's closing Dow numerator of 1289.92. This is the sum of all 30 closing prices. A short cut to the Dow numerator is to multiply the closing Dow by the Divisor. Now, if you divide the Dow numerator decrease for today of 5.44 by the divisor you get 41.11, the decrease in Thursday's Dow close.

The average closing price (the closing numerator divided by 30) of Tuesday's Dow Jones Industrial Average was 42.82 down 0.18 43.00 Wednesday's Dow Jones Industrial Average closing price of 43.00. The median closing price of Thursday's Dow Jones Industrial Average was 39.11 down 0.22 from Wednesday's Dow Jones median closing price of 39.33. The highest closing price Thursday again was IBM $120.94 +0.12 0.1% 5,418,842 NYSE and the lowest closing price Wednesday again was Alcoa AA $13.51 -0.63 4.46% 36,444,484 NYSE. The lowest volume Thursday again was 3M MMM $74.1 -0.32 0.43% 3,096,267 NYSE and the highest volume again was Bank of Am BAC $16.98 -0.52 2.97% 219,177,121 NYSE.

If Thursday morning before the market opened you had purchased $100 of each of the Dow Jones Industrial Average 30 shares (assuming you could buy fractional shares and assuming no transaction costs) and sold at the close you would have lost $552.
($129,000 - $128,448)

T $27.03 -0.10 0.37% 28,695,429 NYSE: No mentions found.

Alcoa AA $13.51 -0.63 4.46% 36,444,484 NYSE: WSJ pC5 "Alcoa Leads Decline; Red Hat Is White Hot" by Karen Talley says as major stock indexes fell for a second consecutive session, Alcoa was part of a weak materials group. Investors were dealing with separate economic reports that showed new claims for jobless benefits fell last week, while demand dropped unexpectedly for existing homes during August. Alcoa dropped 4.5%, the Dow industrial average's poorest percentage performer. Materials stocks were especially weak on concerns the housing report raised about the broader economy. In the side bar, "And the Bad News" Alcoa is charted saying it was the worst performing stock percentage wise among Dow industrials, as sentiment was weak on materials and commodities shares.

AXP $33.85 +0.25 0.74% 13,932,222 NYSE: No mentions found.

Bank of America BAC $16.98 -0.52 2.97% 219,177,121 NYSE: Fin Times p15 "Rising confidence fails to bolster M&A activity" by Lina Saigol, Julie Macintosh says rising confidence among the world's top ceos and a rally in equity markets failed to lift deal activity during the first nine months of the year. In a ranking of the top 10 investment banks, Goldman Sachs is first, JPMorgan is third, down from 2, with 213 deals so far this year totaling $401 bil and Bank of America Merrill Lynch is still at 5 with 143 deals totaling $289 bil.

Related story at Fin Times p17 by Lina Saigol, Julie MacIntosh that ranks the investment banks by revenues and has JPMorgan first at $3.8 bil, Bank of America Merrill Lynch at $2.5 bil, and Goldman Sachs third at $2.5 Bil.

WSJ pB1 in an article about the history of the various buyouts of Simmons Co., by Peter Lattman it is noted that in '91 Merrill Lynch Capital Partners acquired a majority stake. Merrill Lynch is now owned by BofA.

WSJ pC1 "Home Sales Sap the Dow, Down 41.11" by Peter A. McKay, Donna Kardos Yesalavich says weak housing data squelched an early stock rally and the market ended the day with a second decline in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up nearly 60 points in the first half hour of trading, after weekly jobless claims came in better than expected. it ended with a 41.11 point drop, off 0.4%. The Dow remains up 11% this year and the S&P is up 16%. Among the Dow's financial components, Bank of America fell 3% and J.P. Morgan Chase was down 1.55.

Atl. Bus. Chron. p10A gives an update on Milton Jones, who on 9/16 announced his retriement as market president of Atlanta and Georgia for Bank of America.

Boeing BA $51.79 -0.58 1.11% 5,349,236 NYSE: WSJ pB3 Air Force Resumes Tanker Contest - competing Boeing and Northrop-Airbus Bids Are Expected in Third Round" by August Cole, Peter Sanders says the Air Force launched a new attempt to buy $40 bil of aerial refueling tankers after two previous efforts collapsed. The contract would be to replace the Air Force's aging fleet of tankers and will get bids from Boeing and a joint Northrop Grumman Corp and Airbus team. Both were bidders in the previous round, where Boeing successfully protested the award of the contract to the Northrop team in Feb. '08.

Similar story at Fin Times p16 by Jeremy Lemer that says the contract to supply an initial 179 aircraft is crucial to the prospects of Boeing and Northrop Gruman/EADS and also NYT pB1 by Christopher Drew..

Caterpillar CAT $51.85 -1.29 2.43% 11,786,132 NYSE: Inv. Bus. Daily pA3 "William Blackie Put Caterpillar On An Upward Path - The CEO steered the machinery company's business all over the globe and dug up massive sales." by Curt Schleier in this "best of Leaders &Success" column, William Blackie is profiled. He was CEO of CAT from '66 to '72 and died in 1996. he helped boost CAT's annual sales to $2.6 bil from $58 mil.

Chevron CVX $70.71 -0.66 0.92% 9,976,591 NYSE: NYT pB6 "Advertising - Tough on Crude Oil, Soft on Ducklings" by Andrew Adam Newman says in '78 Alice Berkner founder of the Int'l Bird Rescue Research Center which helps birds harmed by oil spills, secured a small grant from Chevron to test all major dish soaps for cleaning birds. The one that worked best was Dawn made by Procter & Gamble since 1973 who at first refused to contribute cases of Dawn to the group but finally did so in 1988. Now Dawn is championing animal rescue efforts in a tv commercial.

NYT pB7 "Stocks & Bonds - Investors Are Skittish Over Slowing Home Sales" by Jack Healy says the housing market, a source of so many of the country's economic problems, caused more headaches for Wall Street on Thur. Stocks fell after a real estate group reported that sales of existing homes dropped 2.7% in Aug. energy companies like Chevron and Marathon Oil fell as the price of crude oil slid $3.08 to $65.89 a barrel, the lowest in more than a month.

CSCO $22.65 -0.15 0.66% 38,887,001 NASDAQ-GS: No mentions found.

Coke KO $52.34 -0.24 0.46% 12,117,156 NYSE: Atlanta Business Chronicle p1a "Capitalism must change, says Coca-Cola's Isdell" by J. Scott Trubey says Neville Isdell, the former chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Co., says if capitalism fails to remold itself, the global recession, increased government intervention, social issues and changing social mores will fundamentally alter the free market. He spoke at a summit held 9/22 and 9/23 at the Fed Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Isdell and Georgia State University's J.Mack Robinson College of Business gathered top officers and board members fom 20 Southeastern companies and non-governmental organizations to join the cause.

Atl. Bus. Chron. p10A "Coke still it, remains world's top brand" says for the ninth cosnecutive eyar, The coca-Cola co. remained the most valuable brand in the world, according to a study issued Dept. 18 by BusinessWeek (and reported in this Blog.)

Atl. Bus. Chron. p25A "Restaurants & Hospitality" by Lisa R. Schoolcraft says the Atlanta Falcons have done Official Game Days partnerships with Coke, The Home Depot, UPS, and now Atlanta-based Taco Mac.

Inv. Bus. Daily "coke bottler Near Its 52 Week Highs" says Coca-cola Enterprises (not Coke KO) i near a 52 week hight and has rallied from a pullback. It is the largest bottler of Coca-Cola drinks. Coke KO owns 35% of Coca-Cola Enterprises, which is charted under "NYSE Stocks In The News" as a sidebar.

Disney DIS $27.97 -0.11 0.39% 11,924,469 NYSE: AJC pA10 "Cypress Gardens Clsoed" by Jerr Hart says the theme park, a Florida institution, would close because it cannot compete with Disney World in Orlando and Universal Studios.

DD $32.27 -0.86 2.6% 7,094,277 NYSE: No mentions found.

ExxonMobil XOM $68.93 -0.07 0.1% 21,539,918 NYSE: WSJ pC10 "Heard On The Street - Gas Drillers' Painful Growth Paradox says America's oil and gas exploration and production industry faces a shakeout. E&P capital expenditure has outstripped cash flow consistently over the past decade but Exxon Mobil, a consistent winner in terms of return on capital, has reinvested just 41% in that time.

NYT pB5 "Russia Invites foreign Oil Firms to Discuss Developing Siberian Gas Fields - As oil prices fall, Moscow softens tone on energy deals" by Andrew E. Kramer says Russian Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin has invited executive from Shell, Exxon Mobil, Total and other companies to meet with him to discuss new work on Siberian natural gas fields.

GE $16.58 -0.42 2.47% 122,895,432 NYSE: WSJ pW2 "Television - Blowing Up on the Small Screen - NBC tries to create big-budget, movie-style special effects once a week" by Amy Chozick says GE NBC's new medical drama "Trauma" starts off with an episode that has a fiery blast and is part of tv's growing use of expensive effects. Unntil recently, tv, except for reality series, rarely filmed off the studio set but tech advances have made stunts cheaper and less time consuming. NBC ranked last in total prime time viewers among the four major broadcasters, and has recently tried to cut costs and is saving money with the production of the Jay Leno show (its cheaper than a drama). The savings from Lenos' show let NBC make "Trauma" its most expensive new program this season.

Atl. Bus. Chron. p7A in a story about Hands On Atlanta, a volunteer group, by aria Saporta notes that GE is the presenting sponsor for Hands On Atlanta Day.

Hewlett-Packard HPQ $46.87 -0.06 0.13% 13,138,210 NYSE: WSJ pB7 "Best Days Ahead, H-P's CEO Says by Ben Charny sayd HPQ CEO Mark Hurd said HPQ was poised to grow faster than the overall technology market amid signs spending on several critical HP products was beginning to pick up. (This Blog again scooped the WSJ because this was reported in my Blog last night as a result of my review of SEC filings and is mentioned again at the end of this Blog where the Dow Jones SEC filing status report is found.)

NYT pB4 "Sales Forecast Weighs Down H.P.'s Shares" says HPQ on Thurs. forecast rev. for 2010 that might miss some analysts' estimates. HPQ said rev in the 2010 fiscal year would be $117 bil to $118 bil and analysts had estimated rev of $118 bil. HPQ said profit in the 2010 fiscal year will be $4.20 to $4.30 a share and analysts had predicted 44.21.

This is also reported at USA today p1B.

Home Depot HD $27.04 -0.31 1.13% 11,870,448 NYSE: Atl. Bus. Chron. p25A "Restaurants & Hospitality" by Lisa R. Schoolcraft says the Atlanta Falcons have done Official Game Days partnerships with Coke, The Home Depot, UPS, and now Atlanta-based Taco Mac.

INTC $19.54 -0.34 1.71% 52,182,862 NASDAQ-GS: No mentions found.

IBM $120.94 +0.12 0.1% 5,418,842 NYSE: Atlanta Business Chronicle pA1 "Tech giants want HOT job" by Dave Williams says IBM Corp., Ratheon and Alcatel-Lucent are among the top bidders for a state cotnract to convert an HOV lane on Interstate 85 to a high occupancy toll lane.

Atl. Bus. Chron. at p3A has a story by Urvaksh Karkaria about investors investing $4.5m into Oversight Systems, Inc. an auditing software company. The company's backers include Tom Noonan, co-founder of Internet Security Systems, Inc. which he sold to IBM in '06 for $1.5 bil.

Atl. Bus. Chron. p3A "Privatization bill headed to Capitol" by Dave Williams privatization would gain a permanet foothold in state gov. under a bill being developed by a legislative Republican. Last fall, the state signed 2 contracts with IBM Corp. and AT&T worth $1.2 bil to consolidate and maange Georgia's IT operations.

JPMorgan Chase JPM $44.37 -0.69 1.53% 41,679,569 NYSE: Fin Times p15 "Rising confidence fails to bolster M&A activity" by Lina Saigol, Julie Macintosh says rising confidence among the world's top ceos and a rally in equity markets failed to lift deal activity during the first nine months of the year. In a ranking of the top 10 investment banks, Goldman Sachs is first, JPMorgan is third, down from 2, with 213 deals so far this year totaling $401 bil and Bank of America Merrill Lynch is still at 5 with 143 deals totaling $289 bil.

Related story at Fin Times p17 by Lina Saigol, Julie MacIntosh that ranks the investment banks by revenues and has JPMorgan first at $3.8 bil, Bank of America Merrill Lynch at $2.5 bil, and Goldman Sachs third at $2.5 Bil.

WSJ pC1 "Home Sales Sap the Dow, Down 41.11" by Peter A. McKay, Donna Kardos Yesalavich says weak housing data squelched an early stock rally and the market ended the day with a second decline in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up nearly 60 points in the first half hour of trading, after weekly jobless claims came in better than expected. it ended with a 41.11 point drop, off 0.4%. The Dow remains up 11% this year and the S&P is up 16%. Among the Dow's financial components, Bank of America fell 3% and J.P. Morgan Chase was down 1.55.

Johnson & Johnson JNJ $60.72 -0.05 0.08% 9,281,676 NYSE: AJC pA20 "Tylenol orders recall of certain liquid products, says McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Tylenol's manufacturer and a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson is recalling 21 children's and infants' Tylenol liquid prodcuts manufactured between April and June of 2008.

This is also reported at USA Today p1B.

Kraft KFT $26.38 +0.10 0.38% 10,810,281 NYSE: Fin Times p1 "Remarks by Cadbury chief raise concerns in bid fight" by Jenny Wiggins says the UK's Takeover Panel is examining comments made by Cadbury's ceo in a private meeting with investors that referred to potential takeover valuations. The panel is concerned that Todd Stitzer's comments have created uncertainty among investors because what he said remains unclear. Cadbury has rejected an indicative offer by Kraft valued at $16.4 bil.

McDonald's MCD $56.12 +0.58 1.04% 9,252,283 NYSE: USA Today p4B "Markets Thursday - Home sales woes pull stocks lower" says US stocks fell for a second consecutive day as sales of existing homes unexpectedly slumped, and the Fed. Reserve said it will cut the size of 2 programs meant to bolster credit markets. McDonald's added 0.58. EVA Dimensions upgraded the world's largest restaurant company to "buy" from "hold." After the close, McDonald's raised its quarterly dividend 10% to 0.55 a share.

Merck MRK $31.01 -0.32 1.02% 14,421,930 NYSE: WSJpA5 "Vaccine Shows Promise in Preventing HIV Infection" by Gautam Naik says the first vaccine to show signs of preventing the spread of HIV has sown promise and is the result of a trial involving more than 16,000 adults in Thailand that indicates the vaccine was safe and reduced by 31% the chance of getting HIV. Article says there have been more than 100 vaccine trials since '87 and one of the biggest setbacks occurred in '07 when Merck & Co. ended a closely watched trial.

Similar story at Fin Times p4 by Andrew Jack that also mentions Merck's efforts, saying Merck was investing $5-10 mil a year toward an HIV vaccine, and also story at USA Today front page by steve Sternberg that does mention that 2 years ago Merck's efforts were halted.

Fin Times p16 "Battle for Solvay division nears end with Abbott out in front" by Lina Saigo, Martin Arnold says the 5 month bid battle for Solvay's pharmaceuticals business is expected to conclude today underlining the continued consolidation in the drug sector. Abbott Labs of the US has edged ahead of UCB of Belgium and Nycomend of Switzerland in the contest and a deal that values the unit at $6.6 bil is expected to be announced. Pfizer's takeover of Wyeth kicked off the consolidation in Jan, spurring Roche to bid hostiley for Genentech and Merck to announce a deal for rival Schering-Plough.

Similar story at Inv. Bus. Daily at pA2.

Microsoft MSFT $25.94 +0.23 0.89% 56,103,186 NASDAQ-GS: WSJ pB3 "Twitter Lines Up Additional Funding" by Jessica E. Vascellaro, Michael Corkery says Twitter is getting $100 mil in new funding from T. Rowe Price and Insight Venture Partners. Twitter has piqued the interest of Internet giants like Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. which have pitched Twitter on potential arrangements to help it sell advertisements.

Similar stories at Fin Times p15 (says Twitter is valued at $1 bil); Inv. Bus. Daily pA2 and at NYT pB1 by Brad Stone.

Inv. Bus. Daily pA2 "MSFT has no plans to buy video game maker Electronic Arts despite rumours to the contrary that drove EA's stock up.

Inv. Bus. Daily pA4 "Game Show Launches Holiday Push - Wii's Price Cut $50, to $200 - Sony, Microsoft have also lowered console prices as industry looks to recharge" says the Tokyo Game Show, billed as the world's largest computer entertainment fest, kicked off Thurs. with hopes that depressed sales of game consoles will enjoy a holiday resurrection. The video game industry has been in a slump for much of the year but the sector expects a better 4th quarter because the big three, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have announced bold price cuts on their game machines.

Pfizer PFE $16.44 +0.01 0.06% 51,744,947 NYSE: Fin Times p16 "Battle for Solvay division nears end with Abbott out in front" by Lina Saigo, Martin Arnold says the 5 month bid battle for Solvay's pharmaceuticals business is expected to conclude today underlining the continued consolidation in the drug sector. Abbott Labs of the US has edged ahead of UCB of Belgium and Nycomend of Switzerland in the contest and a deal that values the unit at $6.6 bil is expected to be announced. Pfizer's takeover of Wyeth kicked off the consolidation in Jan, spurring Roche to bid hostiley for Genentech and Merck to announce a deal for rival Schering-Plough.

Procter & Gamble PG $57.84 +0.59 1.03% 13,503,721 NYSE: NYT pB6 "Advertising - Tough on Crude Oil, Soft on Ducklings" by Andrew Adam Newman says in '78 Alice Berkner founder of the Int'l Bird Rescue Research Center which helps birds harmed by oil spills, secured a small grant from Chevron to test all major dish soaps for cleaning birds. The one that worked best was Dawn made by Procter & Gamble since 1973 who at first refused to contribute cases of Dawn to the group but finally did so in 1988. Now Dawn is championing animal rescue efforts in a tv commercial.

Inv. Bus. Daily pA7 "Irish Drugmaker Sees Growth In P&G Acquisition" by Marily Much says Irish drugmaker Warner Chilcott, the maker of women's health and dermatology products, made an optimistic move in its recent deal to buy Procter & Gamble's global prescription drug arm for $3.1 bi.

MMM $74.1 -0.32 0.43% 3,096,267 NYSE: No mentions found.

TRV $47.52 +0.23 0.49% 4,370,102 NYSE: No mentions found.

UTX $62.34 -0.40 0.64% 4,674,613 NYSE: No mentions found.

Verizon VZ $30.15 +0.27 0.9% 19,336,484 NYSE: AJc pA19 "Rapid growth for Verizon franchise - Second Wirelss Zone opens in Georgia - Stores, mainly in suburbs, jump from 240 to 400 in 2 years" by Rachel Tobin Ramos says Wireless Zone, unlike Best Buy or Radio Shack, offers service only from one provider - Verizon and is opening a third store in Georgia. It is competing with Cellular Sales, another eclusive Verizon agent with about 20 metro Atlanta stores.

AJC pA20 "Verizon decision sends Palm stock downward" says Palm dropped 4.7% after Verizon Wireless decided agaisnt selling Palm's Pre phone.

WMT $50.7 +0.30 0.6% 11,898,607 NYSE: No mentions found.

************** ***************** *******************

Here are the latest SEC filings as of 9/25/09 other than ownership filings and, except for certain cases, I do not include third party shareholder proposals:

Symbol & Co. Name/Date of Filing/Form Filed/ Comments

T AT&T: 8/28/09 two 8K's, one: announcing it had reached agreement with the Communications Workers of America (on a new, three-year contract covering approximately 7,000 wireline employees (located across the U.S.) under the CWA Communications and Technologies contract, subject to approval by these employees. The second 8K said two subsidiaries of T provided redeemed certain long-term debt issues as of September 28, 2009.

Alcoa AA: 7/29/09 8K announcing that Alain J. P. Belda, executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of AA retired as an executive officer but is staying on as a director until April 23, 2010.

American Express AXP: 9/15/09 8K annoucing delinquency and write-off statistics for the lending portfolio of its U.S. Card Services operating segment for the months ended June 30, July 31 and August 31, 2009.

9/2/09 10Q;

Bank of Am BAC: 9/24/09 several free writing prospectus regarding issuance of securities.

Boeing BA: 9/15/09 announcing that pursuant to a 1978 SEC settlement, BA informed the SEC of a change in its policy re the appointment of foreign consultants and to whom they report.

8/31/09 8K announcing the retirement of Scott E. Carson, Executive Vice President, President and Chief Executive Officer, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, effective January 1, 2010. Effective September 1, 2009, Mr. Carson will leave his current position and assume the role of Executive Vice President. Carson will be replaced by James F. Albaugh.

8/27/09 8K announcing a revised schedule for the 787 Dreamliner and a charge to third quarter earnings related to flight test aircraft.

Caterpiller CAT: 9/23/09 8K announcing a new credit agreement with The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., that provides for an unsecured aggregate revolving credit facility to $2.38 billion that serves as an alternative source of funds, if necessary, for CAT's commercial paper programs.

9/21/09 8K furnishing supplemental information concerning deliveries to users for its Machinery and Engines lines of business. Caterpillar sells the majority of its machinery and engines to independently owned and operated dealers and Original Equipment Manufacturersto meet the demands of their customers, the end users. Retail Sales of Machines by marketing region for the 3-month rolling period compared with the same months of the prior year were down significantlly.

9/15/09 8K announcing CAT and Navistar International Corporation (NYSE: NAV)formed a joint venture transaction resulting in a new company, NC2 Global LLC, to serve the global commercial truck market to be based in Chicago.

8/20/09 8K CAT filed Reg FD information concerning deliveries to users for its Machinery and Engines lines of business.

Chevron CVX: 8/6/09 10Q

Cisco CSCO: 9/23/09 Proxy Statement in connection with its Annual Meeting to be held 11/12/09.

9/11/09 10K

9/9/09 8K Cisco appointed Arun Sarin, former CEO of Vodafone Group Plc, to its Board of Directors. He will a $75,000 annual retainer, $2,000 per committee meeting attended, and 16,666 shares.

9/4/09 8K annoucing bonus payments for '09 fiscal year to: John T. Chambers, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, $2,031,000; Frank A. Calderoni, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, $900,000; Wim Elfrink, Executive Vice President, Cisco Services and Chief Globalization Officer, $1,000,000; Randy Pond, Executive Vice President, Operations, Processes and Systems, $900,000; and Richard J. Justice, former Executive Vice President, Worldwide Operations and Business Development and current Executive Vice President – Executive Advisor, $750,000.

Coke KO: 7/30/09 10Q

Disney DIS: 9/22/09 Form S-4 Proxy and 9/16/09 Prospectus related to the takeover of Marvel.

8/31/09 8K announcing a merger between its subsidiary, Maverick Acquisition Sub, Inc., and its subsidiary, Maverick Merger Sub, LLC, a single member Delaware limited liability company and Marvel Entertainment, Inc.. As a result of the Merger, Marvel will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Disney. Each share of Marvel common stock will be converted into $30 in cash and 0.7452 shares of Disney common stock.

DuPont DD: 8/13/09 8K announcing Nicholas C. Fanandakis, age 53, Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer & Chief Executive effective September 1, 2009 with an increase in annual salary from $387,708 to $500,000 and target short-term incentive award for 2009 will increase from $328,500 to $464,100. Mr. Fanandakis was named to his current position, Group Vice President- Applied BioSciences, in January 2008. Prior to that, he was vice president and general manager- DuPont Chemical Solutions Enterprise from September 2003 through September 2006 and vice president- Corporate Plans from October 2006 through December 2007. Jeffrey L. Keefer, EVP and Chief Financial Officer, will remain EVP and transition from the position of Chief Financial Officer to assume leadership responsibility for the DD's Performance Coatings business, corporate strategy development, Information Technology and overall cost and working capital productivity efforts effective November 1, 2009. Richard R. Goodmanson, EVP and Chief Operating Officer will retire effective September 30, 2009.

ExxonMobil XOM: 8/5/09 10Q

GE: 8/4/09 8K GE reached a settlement with the SEC & consented to a judgment of a fine of $50 million relating to four accounting matters arising in 2002 - 2003: the application of SFAS 133 to GE’s since-discontinued commercial paper hedging program and, separately, to certain swap derivatives where fees were paid or received at inception; a change in accounting for profits on spare parts in the commercial aviation engine business; and certain year-end transactions in the Rail business.

Hewlett-Packard HPQ: 9/24/09 8K saying at its Securities Analyst Meeting, HPQ addressed how it is uniquely positioned to grow and expand in the global information technology market. “We expect the IT industry to return to growth in 2010 and believe that HP will outpace the market,” said Mark Hurd, CEO.

9/17/09 8K On 9/17/09 HPQ elected Marc L. Andreessen as a dierctor and chair of the Technology Committee of the Board. Andreessen is a co-founder and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm, and a co-founder and chairman of Ning, Inc., an online platform for people to create their own social networks. Andreessen co-founded Opsware Inc. & served as chief technology officer of America Online, Inc. and was a co-founder of Netscape Communications Corporation. Andreessen gets an retainer of $100,000, an annual equity retainer of $150,000, and $2,000 in cash for each Board meeting attended in excess of six per year. Mr. Andreessen also will be eligible to participate in the product matching portion of the HP Employee Giving Program under which each non-employee director may contribute up to $100,000 worth of HP products each year to a qualified charity by paying 25% of the list price of those products, with HP paying the remaining 75%. In addition, Mr. Andreessen will receive an annual retainer of $10,000 for service as the chair of the Technology Committee. HPQ also increased the number of HPQ directors from ten to eleven.

9/8/09 10-QA

9/4/09 10-Q

Home Depot HD: 9/3/09 10-Q

8/26/09 8K announcing amendments to their By-Laws dealing with resignations of directors.

Intel INTC: 9/21/09 A tender offer regarding exchange of some of its stock options with its employees.

9/16/09 An intranet article re the Stock Option Exchange Program.

9/15/09 8K Intel is consolidating all of its major product divisions into the newly formed Intel Architecture Group, which will be co-managed by Sean Maloney and David (Dadi) Perlmutter, executive vice presidents. Maloney will be responsible for business and operations while Perlmutter will lead product development and architecture. Paul Otellini, CEO, will devote more time to corporate strategy and driving the company’s growth initiatives. Intel’s global manufacturing organization, the Technology and Manufacturing Group will now report to Andy Bryant, Intel’s chief administrative officer. Pat Gelsinger and Bruce Sewell, General Counsel, will leave INTC.

8/28/09 8K announcing that as a result of stronger than expected demand for microprocessors and chipsets, Intel now expects revenue for the third quarter to be $9.0 billion, plus or minus $200 million, as compared to the previous range of $8.5 billion, plus or minus $400 million. The gross margin percentage for the third quarter is expected to be in the upper half of the previous range of 53 percent, plus or minus two percentage points. The company is scheduled to report its third-quarter financial results on Oct. 13.

IBM: 9/8/09 8K IBM representatives will be meeting with a number of institutional investors through mid-September.

7/28/09 10Q

JPMorganChase JPM: 9/23/09 Various free writing prospectus re: issuance of securities.

9/17/09 prospectus reReverse Exchangeable Notes due December 21, 2009 Linked to Eight Equally Weighted Reference Stocks and in preceding days there were similar prospectuses.

9/2/09 Free Writing Prospectus relating to Core commodity C-IGAR Sigma Long-Short Index

Johnson & Johnson JNJ: 8/4/09 10Q

Kraft KFT: 9/9/09 prospectus relating to Kraft's bid to take over Cadbury that was announced on 9/7/09.

9/9/09 8K announcing a strategic update, including a review of the company’s successful three-year turnaround plan.

8/5/09 10Q

McDonalds MCD: 9/9/09 8K announcing that global comparable sales rose 2.2% in August and by segment performance was as follows: U.S. up 1.7%; Europe up 3.5%; andAsia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa declined 0.5%.

8/11/09 re: press release "McDonald’s Reports Global Comparable Sales Up 4.3% in July"

Merck MRK: 9/21/09 8K announcing that the acquisition by Sanofi-aventis of Merck’s 50 percent interest in Merial Limited (Merial) has been completed. Sanofi-aventis acquired Merck’s interest in Merial for a cash consideration of $4 billion. Formed in 1997, Merial is a leading animal health company that was a 50/50 joint venture between Merck and sanofi-aventis and is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of sanofi-aventis.

8/3/09 Sched 14A proxy material re: updated of acquisition of Schering-Plough

Microsoft MSFT: 9/11/09 8K James Cash to retire from Board of Directors. The
Harvard Business School professor and senior associate dean emeritus had served on the board since 2001. With Cash’s departure, the Microsoft board will have nine members: Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft; Steve Ballmer; Dina Dublon, former chief financial officer of JPMorgan Chase; Raymond V. Gilmartin, former chairman, president and chief executive officer of Merck & Co. Inc.; Reed Hastings, founder, chairman and CEO of Netflix Inc.; Maria M. Klawe, president, Harvey Mudd College; David F. Marquardt, general partner at August Capital; Charles H. Noski, former vice chairman of AT&T Corp.; and Dr. Helmut Panke, former chairman of the board of management at BMW AG.

8/24/09 S-8 Securities to be offered to employees in employee benefit plans

Pfizer PFE: 9/24/09 11-K Annual Report of Employee Stock Option Plan.

9/2/09 8K announcing an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to settle an investigation regarding off-label promotional practices related to Bextra, which Pfizer withdrew from the market in 2005 and other DOJ investigations involving off-label promotional practices concerning Zyvox, Geodon and Lyrica, and allegations related to payments to healthcare professionals involving these and nine other Pfizer medicines. Pfizer previously disclosed a related $2.3 billion charge to its fourth-quarter and full-year 2008 earnings in connection with the DOJ agreement in principle on January 26, 2009. PFE has reached agreements with attorneys general in 432 states to settle state civil consumer protection allegations regarding promotional practices concerning Geodon. PFE will pay a total of $33 million to the settling states.

Procter & Gamble PG: 9/10/09 8K confirmed its fiscal year 2010 and July – September quarter outlook for organic sales growth. The company also stated it expects to return to organic sales growth in the October – December quarter compared to prior year levels, following two quarters of organic sales declines. P&G also updated earnings per share guidance to include the anticipated impacts from the Pharmaceutical divestiture, which was announced on August 24, 2009. For fiscal year 2010, P&G confirmed previous guidance for organic sales growth of one to three percent. P&G expects net sales in the range of flat to up three percent versus prior year levels, which includes a foreign exchange impact of zero to minus one percent. P&G now expects fiscal 2010 earnings per share in the range of $3.99 to $4.12 per share. This includes a one-time net increase in earnings of $0.44 per share from the sale of the Pharmaceutical business, which will be partially offset by $0.10 to $0.12 per share of earnings dilution related to the transaction.

8/28/09 S-8 Securities to employees and 8/28 8K annoucning public offering of $500,000,000 aggregate principal amount of 3.150% Notes due 2015.
Also a PG subsidiary, Procter & Gamble International Funding SCA issued $1,000,000,000 aggregate principal amount of 1.350% Notes due 2011.

3M MMM: 8/5/09 3M contributed 8,329,862 shares of its common stock with a corresponding dollar value of approximately $600 million to its defined benefit pension plan, the 3M Employee Retirement Income Plan, made from treasury stock.

Travelers TRV: 8/5/09 10Q/A Amended 10Q

United Technologies UTX: 7/24/09 10Q

Verizon Communications Inc. VZ: 8K 9/11/09 8K announcing VZ's cash flow and balance sheet are strong, and VZ recently increased its dividend for the third consecutive year. VZ is not planning for any economic improvements in the second half of 2009. Verizon expects that economic conditions will continue to pressure revenues and margins in the second half of 2009, particularly in its Wireline segment. VZ expects to add one million wireless customers per quarter for the next several quarters.
o The company expects to achieve its stated Alltel cost synergy targets & greater cash flow from operations in the second half of 2009 compared to the first half of 2009.

9/4/09 8K VZ raised its quarterly dividend 3.3% to 47.5 Cents per Share. This is the third consecutive year that VZ has approved a quarterly dividend increase in September.

9/4/09 8K annoucning retirement of Dennis F. Strigl, President and Chief Operating Officer of Verizon Communications Inc.

Wal-Mart WMT: 8K 9/18 Pricing agreement re: the 9/16 filed prospectus relating to $1 bil of Euro Note Offering at 4.875%

9/14/09 Prospectus re debt securities of $364,600,000

9/9/09 10Q

8/13/09 8K re 7/31/09 2Q report of earnings

Here are the CEOs of the Dow 30 Companies:

T Randall L. Stephenson
AA Klaus Kleinfeld
AXP Kenneth I. Chenault
BAC Kenneth D. Lewis
BA W. James McNerney, Jr.
CAT James W. Owens
CVX David O'Reilly
CSCO John Chambers
KO Muhtar Kent
DIS Rogert Iger
DD Ellen Kullman
XOM Rex W. Tillerson
GE Jeffrey R. Immelt
HPQ Mark Hurd
HD Frank Blake
INTC Paul S. Otellini
IBM Samuel J. Palmisano
JPM Jamie Dimon
JNJ William C. Weldon
KFT Irene Rosenfeld
MCD Jim Skinner
MRK Robert Clark
MSFT Steve Ballmer
PFE Jeffrey Kindler
PG Bob McDonald
MMM George W. Buckley
TRV Jay S. Fishman
UTX Louis Chenevert
VZ Ivan Seidenberg
WMT Mike Duke

Here are the Dow Jones Industrial Average 30 ranked in order of market capitalization rounded to the nearest billion as of 9/25/09:

1. Exxon Mobil XOM $331
2. Microsoft MSFT 231
3. WalMart WMT 196
4. GE 176
5. Procter & Gamble PG 169
6. JPMorgan Chase 167
7. Johnson & Johnson JNJ 167
8. IBM 162
9. T 159
10. Chevron CVX 142
11. Cisco CSCO 131
12. Coke KO 121
13. Hewlett-Packard HPQ 112
14. Pfizer PFE 111
15. Intel INTC 109
16. Bank of Am BAC 109
17. Verizon VZ 86
18. Merck MRK 65
19. McDonald's MCD 61
20. United Technologies UTX 59
21. Disney DIS 52
22. 3M MMM 52
23. Home Depot 46
24. American Express AXP 40
25. Kraft KFT 39
26. Boeing BA 38
27. Caterpillar CAT 32
28. DuPont DD 29
29. Traveler's TRV 27
30. Alcoa AA 13