12/8/09 Tues. pm Dow Closes 10,285.97 down 104.14 or 1%

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Post #251 The following is brought to you by Intellivest Securities Research, Inc. Towards the end of this Blog is a list of the Dow 30 CEO's, a ranking of the Dow 30 by market capitalization as of close of 11/30/09 and an update of the Dow 30's most recent SEC filings as of 11/30/09.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Tuesday at 10,285.97 down 104.14 or 1% from Monday's close of 10,390.11. Of the 30 Dow Companies: 29 declined and one, Verizon, gain. The biggest decliner dollar-wise was Caterpillar CAT $56.38 -1.18 2.05% 6,442,379 NYSE and percentage-wise was DuPont DD $ 31.63 -0.77 2.38% 8,113,529 NYSE. The only gainer dollar-wise and percentage-wise was Verizon VZ $33.39 +0.14 0.42% 20,121,407 NYSE.

As of the open of the market Tuesday, the current divisor for the Dow found at page C4 of today's Wall St. Jrnl is .132319125 unchanged, the trailing P/E ratio is 18.03 up from Mon. morning's 18.02 (year ago it was 18.66) the P/E estimate is 16.05 unchanged from Mon's 16.05 (year ago it was 9.93) and the current dividend yield is 2.67 unchanged from Mon. morning's 2.67 (it was 3.51 a year ago).

Tuesday's Dow Jones Industrial Average closing numerator was 1361.03 down 13.78 from Monday's closing Dow numerator of 1374.81. 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 of 13.78 for Tuesday by the divisor you get the dencrease in Tuesday's Dow close of 104.14.

The average closing price (the closing numerator divided by 30) of Tuesday's Dow Jones Industrial Average was 45.27 down 0.56 from Monday's Dow Jones Industrial Average closing price of $45.83. The median closing price of Tuesday's Dow Jones Industrial Average was $40.12 down 0.21 from Monday's $40.33. The lowest volume Tuesday was Travelers TRV $49.92 -0.65 1.29% 4,022,790 NYSE and the highest volume again was Bank of Am BAC $15.41 -0.48 3.02% 310,040,227 NYSE.

If Tuesday morning before the market opened you had purchased 100 shares 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 $1,378 ($137,481 - 136,103).

Tuesday's Closing Dow closing numbers:
Symb/Last/Change/% Change/Vol./Market
AT&T T $27.61 -0.36 1.29% 25,761,594 NYSE
Alcoa AA $12.87 -0.18 1.38% 20,641,655 NYSE
American Express AXP $39.13 -0.28 0.71% 7,866,909 NYSE
Bank of America BAC $15.41 -0.48 3.02% 310,040,227 NYSE
Boeing BA $55.66 -0.16 0.29% 4,637,025 NYSE
Caterpillar CAT $56.38 -1.18 2.05% 6,442,379 NYSE
Chevron CVX $76.76 -1.41 1.8% 8,985,099 NYSE
Cisco CSCO $23.81 -0.40 1.65% 43,286,051 NASDAQ-GS
Coca-Cola KO $57.68 -0.19 0.33% 9,092,788 NYSE
Disney DIS $30.68 -0.32 1.03% 8,628,816 NYSE
DuPont DD $31.63 -0.77 2.38% 8,113,529 NYSE
ExxonMobil XOM $72.95 -0.82 1.11% 18,061,051 NYSE
GE $15.72 -0.36 2.24% 78,124,958 NYSE
Hewlett-Packard HPQ $48.94 -0.27 0.55% 11,518,471 NYSE
Home Depot HD $27.67 -0.55 1.95% 14,963,163 NYSE
Intel INTC $19.99 -0.38 1.87% 63,236,098 NASDAQ-GS
IBM $126.8 -0.24 0.19% 5,316,622 NYSE
J.P.Morgan Chase JPM $41.21 -0.04 0.1% 41,652,315 NYSE
Johnson & Johnson JNJ $64.25 -0.12 0.19% 10,984,164 NYSE
Kraft KFT $26.66 -0.02 0.07% 8,288,349 NYSE
McDonald's MCD $60.61 -1.32 2.13% 14,618,917 NYSE
Merck MRK $36.35 -0.35 0.95% 15,462,803 NYSE
Microsoft MSFT $29.57 -0.22 0.74% 36,924,476 NASDAQ-GS
Pfizer PFE $17.76 -0.30 1.66% 78,867,834 NYSE
Procter & Gamble PG $61.87 -0.60 0.96% 11,029,234 NYSE
3M MMM $77.11 -0.80 1.03% 5,027,597 NYSE
Travelers TRV $49.92 -0.65 1.29% 4,022,790 NYSE
United Technologies UTX $68.23 -0.63 0.91% 4,087,873 NYSE
Verizon VZ $33.39 +0.14 0.42% 20,121,407 NYSE
WalMart WMT $54.41 -0.52 0.95% 15,709,896 NYSE

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The following are excerpts from Tues. morning's Blog:

A read of Tuesday's 12/8/09 print editions of: Wall St. Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, USA Today, Atlanta Journal Constitution, & Daily Report (Ga) 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 Monday's closing price and related data:

Dow: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Monday at 10,390.11 up 1.21 or 0.01% from Friday's close of 10,388.14. YTD the Dow is up 18.39%. Of the 30 Dow Companies: 16 gained, 1, Merck, was unchanged and 13 declined. The biggest decliner dollar-wise was Caterpillar CAT $57.56 -0.74 1.27% 6,797,304 NYSE and percentage-wise was Bank of America BAC $15.89 -0.39 2.4% 287,657,435 NYSE. The biggest gainer dollar-wise was WalMart WMT $54.93 +0.69 1.27% 11,305,235 NYSE and percentage-wise was Boeing BA $55.82 +1.14 2.08% 4,904,341 NYSE.

WSJ pC1 "Blue Chips Finish Flat: Dollar Falls" by Peter A. McKay says stocks finished little changed as investors looked forward to a continued run of low borrowing costs but fretted about weakness in the US economy.

WSJ pC6 "Sprint Rings Up 13%; BofA, J.P. Morgan Fall" by Geoffrey Rjogow says large industrial and consumer firms, including Boeing and Walmart helped push the Dow Jones Industrial Average into positive territory though concern over the potential for higher interest rates continued to damp Bank of America and other financial firms. Bank investors were concerned that banks have been able to post robust quarterly results in recent months partly thanks to the low rates, which according to a speech from Fed Res. Chair Bernanke will stay low. BofA fell 2.4% and JPMorgan fell 1.2%.

NYT pB12 "Wall St. Stalls After Fed's Comments" by Javier C. Hernandez says in the morning, investors tried to predict what the Fed chair would say. In the afternoon, they were not exactly sure whether what he said was good or bad. Wall St. ended little changed on Mon. as traders dissected remarks by Bernanke. Initially, investors seemed encouraged by his reassurances that interest rates would remain low until the economy showed firmer signs of recovery. But by the end of the day, they had grown pessimistic about the pace of economic renewal.

Fin Times p24 "Telecoms strength fails to halt slide into negative territory" by Samantha Pearson says US stocks wavered between positive and engative territory Mon. as Wall St. absorbed last week's surrpsingly optimistic jobs report. The nation's unemployment rate dropped unexpectedly to 10% on Fri.; however, stocks initially fell as the data raised the expectation of higher interest rates.

USA Today p5B "Stocks slip on moderate recovery talk" by AP says even the prospect that interest rates will remain low couldn't bring buyers out Mon., when stocks ended mixed after Fed Res. Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy was likely to see moderate improvements and that interest rates are likely to remian low. The comments pushed the dollar down because low interest rates make the currency less attractive. That gave a boost to stocks, since a lower dollar can add to profits for US firms that do business overseas. The market's gains evaporated later, however, as the dollar pared its losses.

AT&T T $27.97 +0.37 1.34% 24,390,637 NYSE: "Looking Back on Ten Years And 316,657 Transactions" by Dennis K. Berman Since Jan 1, 2000, companies have inked 316,657 M&A deals across the globe, roughly 87 a day. They were valued at a combined $25.2 trillion, according to research firm Dealogic, nearly half the world's annual gross domestic product. Overextended Bank of America has four transaction in the top 100. At the start of the decade, oil was $27 a barrel, and the oil patch was still reeling from the previous $80 bil magamerger between Exxon Corp. and Mobil Corp. in '98. As stock markets began to wobble in '00, Chevron announced its own oil megadeal, spending nearly $39 bil to buy Texaco which helped Chevron lock in oil supply as prices moved ever higher over the remainder of the decade. Today Chevron stock is 50% higher than where its stock traded after the new firm was formed. Its market cap is 3 times the size. Most peoople on Wall St. forget about the Chevron Texaco deal, but that is only a sign of its quiet, efficient success. In a decade of would be emperors, only 2 true empire builders emerged: AT&T's Edward Whatacre and JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon. Whiteacre spent $140 bil reuniting much of the old Ma Bell, assembling a nat'l communications firm built around the wireless operations of SBC and Bellsouth Corp. Over the last five years, AT&T shares are up 10% while chief rivals Verizon Communications has slid 20%. Dimon helped assemble what became the pre-eminent US bank. While Citigroup is in the process of breaking up, Mr. Dimon has done just the opposite. What began in '00 with a deal between Chase and JP Morgan expanded in the '04 purchase of Bank One Crop. which brought Dimon to the firm and since then he has bought Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual. Investors are willing to pay $34 for every dollar of JP MMorgan earnings. Citigroup barely has earnings.

Alcoa AA $13.05 +0.06 0.46% 21,713,306 NYSE: No mentions found.

American Express AXP $39.41 +0.11 0.28% 9,137,653 NYSE: No mentions found.

Bank of America BAC $15.89 -0.39 2.4% 287,657,435 NYSE: WSJ PA4 "Financial Bill Hits Big Banks Hardest" by Damian Paletta says the nation's biggest banks are emerging as the biggest losers in Congress's effort to overhaul the ruless of the road for financial markets. Lawmakers are expected to respond to popular agner against banks and bailouts with a final vote on Friday in the House. No sector is set to lose as much as large banks such as Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase. The banks say consumers will face higher costs under certain elements of the bill which gives the gov new powers to break up banks and new rules for consumer protection, tougher regulation of derivatives and more limits on exec pay.

WSJ pC3 "BofA Yields On Return of Merrill Bull" by Harry Wilson, Grant Clelland says former Merrill Lynch investment bankers won a major concession from BofA as it agreed to reverse a decision preventing them from using the old Merrill bull logo on their business cards. The bull has been part of Merrill's marketing since '74.

WSJ pC6 "Sprint Rings Up 13%; BofA, J.P. Morgan Fall" by Geoffrey Rjogow says large industrial and consumer firms, including Boeing and Walmart helped push the Dow Jones Industrial Average into positive territory though concern over the potential for higher interest rates continued to damp Bank of America and other financial firms. Bank investors were concerned that banks have been able to post robust quarterly results in recent months partly thanks to the low rates, which according to a speech from Fed Res. Chair Bernanke will stay low. BofA fell 2.4% and JPMorgan fell 1.2%.

"Looking Back on Ten Years And 316,657 Transactions" by Dennis K. Berman Since Jan 1, 2000, companies have inked 316,657 M&A deals across the globe, roughly 87 a day. They were valued at a combined $25.2 trillion, according to research firm Dealogic, nearly half the world's annual gross domestic product. Overextended Bank of America has four transaction in the top 100. At the start of the decade, oil was $27 a barrel, and the oil patch was still reeling from the previous $80 bil magamerger between Exxon Corp. and Mobil Corp. in '98. As stock markets began to wobble in '00, Chevron announced its own oil megadeal, spending nearly $39 bil to buy Texaco which helped Chevron lock in oil supply as prices moved ever higher over the remainder of the decade. Today Chevron stock is 50% higher than where its stock traded after the new firm was formed. Its market cap is 3 times the size. Most peoople on Wall St. forget about the Chevron Texaco deal, but that is only a sign of its quiet, efficient success. In a decade of would be emperors, only 2 true empire builders emerged: AT&T's Edward Whatacre and JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon. Whiteacre spent $140 bil reuniting much of the old Ma Bell, assembling a nat'l communications firm built around the wireless operations of SBC and Bellsouth Corp. Over the last five years, AT&T shares are up 10% while chief rivals Verizon Communications has slid 20%. Dimon helped assemble what became the pre-eminent US bank. While Citigroup is in the process of breaking up, Mr. Dimon has done just the opposite. What began in '00 with a deal between Chase and JP Morgan expanded in the '04 purchase of Bank One Crop. which brought Dimon to the firm and since then he has bought Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual. Investors are willing to pay $34 for every dollar of JP MMorgan earnings. Citigroup barely has earnings.

Boeing BA $55.82 +1.14 2.08% 4,904,341 NYSE: WSJ pC6 "Sprint Rings Up 13%; BofA, J.P. Morgan Fall" by Geoffrey Rjogow says large industrial and consumer firms, including Boeing and Walmart helped push the Dow Jones Industrial Average into positive territory though concern over the potential for higher interest rates continued to damp Bank of America and other financial firms. Bank investors were concerned that banks have been able to post robust quarterly results in recent months partly thanks to the low rates, which according to a speech from Fed Res. Chair Bernanke will stay low. BofA fell 2.4% and JPMorgan fell 1.2%.

Caterpillar CAT $57.56 -0.74 1.27% 6,797,304 NYSE: No mentions found.

Chevron CVX $78.17 +0.10 0.13% 7,443,609 NYSE: "Looking Back on Ten Years And 316,657 Transactions" by Dennis K. Berman Since Jan 1, 2000, companies have inked 316,657 M&A deals across the globe, roughly 87 a day. They were valued at a combined $25.2 trillion, according to research firm Dealogic, nearly half the world's annual gross domestic product. Overextended Bank of America has four transaction in the top 100. At the start of the decade, oil was $27 a barrel, and the oil patch was still reeling from the previous $80 bil magamerger between Exxon Corp. and Mobil Corp. in '98. As stock markets began to wobble in '00, Chevron announced its own oil megadeal, spending nearly $39 bil to buy Texaco which helped Chevron lock in oil supply as prices moved ever higher over the remainder of the decade. Today Chevron stock is 50% higher than where its stock traded after the new firm was formed. Its market cap is 3 times the size. Most peoople on Wall St. forget about the Chevron Texaco deal, but that is only a sign of its quiet, efficient success. In a decade of would be emperors, only 2 true empire builders emerged: AT&T's Edward Whatacre and JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon. Whiteacre spent $140 bil reuniting much of the old Ma Bell, assembling a nat'l communications firm built around the wireless operations of SBC and Bellsouth Corp. Over the last five years, AT&T shares are up 10% while chief rivals Verizon Communications has slid 20%. Dimon helped assemble what became the pre-eminent US bank. While Citigroup is in the process of breaking up, Mr. Dimon has done just the opposite. What began in '00 with a deal between Chase and JP Morgan expanded in the '04 purchase of Bank One Crop. which brought Dimon to the firm and since then he has bought Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual. Investors are willing to pay $34 for every dollar of JP MMorgan earnings. Citigroup barely has earnings.

Cisco CSCO $24.21 +0.05 0.21% 32,800,541 NASDAQ-GS: No mentions found.

Coca-Cola KO $57.87 +0.38 0.66% 8,124,992 NYSE: No mentions found.

Disney DIS $31 +0.16 0.52% 12,399,163 NYSE: No mentions found.

DuPont DD $32.4 +0.06 0.19% 9,182,565 NYSE: WSJ pB1 "EPA's Carbon Proposal Riles Industries" by Rebecca Smith, Timothy Aeppel says industry groups vowed to fight an Obama admin proposal to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide, even as some firms prepared to comply with restrictions they regard as inevitable. The US EPA declared emissions of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide to be a danger to human health which clears the way for the EPA to limit emissions, initially form power plants, refineries, cement plants and other big factories. A DuPont exec is quoted as saying the EPA can't regulate greenhouse gas emissions in a flexible and economically efficient way, only Congress could set up a regulatory program that would work. Related story at USA pB1.

ExxonMobil XOM $73.77 -0.48 0.65% 17,708,757 NYSE: "Looking Back on Ten Years And 316,657 Transactions" by Dennis K. Berman Since Jan 1, 2000, companies have inked 316,657 M&A deals across the globe, roughly 87 a day. They were valued at a combined $25.2 trillion, according to research firm Dealogic, nearly half the world's annual gross domestic product. Overextended Bank of America has four transaction in the top 100. At the start of the decade, oil was $27 a barrel, and the oil patch was still reeling from the previous $80 bil magamerger between Exxon Corp. and Mobil Corp. in '98. As stock markets began to wobble in '00, Chevron announced its own oil megadeal, spending nearly $39 bil to buy Texaco which helped Chevron lock in oil supply as prices moved ever higher over the remainder of the decade. Today Chevron stock is 50% higher than where its stock traded after the new firm was formed. Its market cap is 3 times the size. Most peoople on Wall St. forget about the Chevron Texaco deal, but that is only a sign of its quiet, efficient success. In a decade of would be emperors, only 2 true empire builders emerged: AT&T's Edward Whatacre and JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon. Whiteacre spent $140 bil reuniting much of the old Ma Bell, assembling a nat'l communications firm built around the wireless operations of SBC and Bellsouth Corp. Over the last five years, AT&T shares are up 10% while chief rivals Verizon Communications has slid 20%. Dimon helped assemble what became the pre-eminent US bank. While Citigroup is in the process of breaking up, Mr. Dimon has done just the opposite. What began in '00 with a deal between Chase and JP Morgan expanded in the '04 purchase of Bank One Crop. which brought Dimon to the firm and since then he has bought Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual. Investors are willing to pay $34 for every dollar of JP MMorgan earnings. Citigroup barely has earnings.

GE $16.08 -0.12 0.74% 64,076,293 NYSE: WSJ pB8 "Baker Hughes Drills Deep for HIgh Stress Bits" by Russell Gold says Baker Hughes Inc. has been developing technology to drill for crude oil ever since the discovery of the Spindletop gusher set of Texas's black gold bonanza a century ago. Now it wants to build a better drill to tap the earth's geothermal energy and is trying to create drills and measurement equipment that can function at nearly 600 degrees Fahrenheit. A typical well doesn't get hotter than 400 degrees. Honeywell Int'l Inc. GE and Schlumberger Ltd, the world's largest oil field services firm by revenue and a major Baker Hughes competitor, are working on instruments and electronics that work reliably at 600 degrees and these rivals refused to discuss their projects.

Hewlett-Packard HPQ $49.21 -0.58 1.16% 12,918,426 NYSE: No mentions found.

Home Depot HD $28.22 +0.14 0.5% 12,587,518 NYSE: AJC pA24 says paint and cleaning products are being added to the list of Martha Sewart products to debut at Home Depot next year. Martha Sewart products were lucrative for Kmart, doing a $billion a year in sales but that deal is expiring in Jan.

Intel INTC $20.37 -0.09 0.44% 46,714,657 NASDAQ-GS: No mentions found.

IBM $127.04 -0.21 0.17% 4,089,576 NYSE: No mentions found.

JPMorgan JPM $41.25 0.49 1.17% 32,265,695 NYSE: WSJ PA4 "Financial Bill Hits Big Banks Hardest" by Damian Paletta says the nation's biggest banks are emerging as the biggest losers in Congress's effort to overhaul the ruless of the road for financial markets. Lawmakers are expected to respond to popular agner against banks and bailouts with a final vote on Friday in the House. No sector is set to lose as much as large banks such as Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase. The banks say consumers will face higher costs under certain elements of the bill which gives the gov new powers to break up banks and new rules for consumer protection, tougher regulation of derivatives and more limits on exec pay.

"Looking Back on Ten Years And 316,657 Transactions" by Dennis K. Berman Since Jan 1, 2000, companies have inked 316,657 M&A deals across the globe, roughly 87 a day. They were valued at a combined $25.2 trillion, according to research firm Dealogic, nearly half the world's annual gross domestic product. Overextended Bank of America has four transaction in the top 100. At the start of the decade, oil was $27 a barrel, and the oil patch was still reeling from the previous $80 bil magamerger between Exxon Corp. and Mobil Corp. in '98. As stock markets began to wobble in '00, Chevron announced its own oil megadeal, spending nearly $39 bil to buy Texaco which helped Chevron lock in oil supply as prices moved ever higher over the remainder of the decade. Today Chevron stock is 50% higher than where its stock traded after the new firm was formed. Its market cap is 3 times the size. Most peoople on Wall St. forget about the Chevron Texaco deal, but that is only a sign of its quiet, efficient success. In a decade of would be emperors, only 2 true empire builders emerged: AT&T's Edward Whatacre and JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon. Whiteacre spent $140 bil reuniting much of the old Ma Bell, assembling a nat'l communications firm built around the wireless operations of SBC and Bellsouth Corp. Over the last five years, AT&T shares are up 10% while chief rivals Verizon Communications has slid 20%. Dimon helped assemble what became the pre-eminent US bank. While Citigroup is in the process of breaking up, Mr. Dimon has done just the opposite. What began in '00 with a deal between Chase and JP Morgan expanded in the '04 purchase of Bank One Crop. which brought Dimon to the firm and since then he has bought Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual. Investors are willing to pay $34 for every dollar of JP MMorgan earnings. Citigroup barely has earnings.

WSJ pC6 "Sprint Rings Up 13%; BofA, J.P. Morgan Fall" by Geoffrey Rjogow says large industrial and consumer firms, including Boeing and Walmart helped push the Dow Jones Industrial Average into positive territory though concern over the potential for higher interest rates continued to damp Bank of America and other financial firms. Bank investors were concerned that banks have been able to post robust quarterly results in recent months partly thanks to the low rates, which according to a speech from Fed Res. Chair Bernanke will stay low. BofA fell 2.4% and JPMorgan fell 1.2%.

Daily Report p6 "Goldman may be JPMorgan's top asset" by David Reilly says JPMorgan Chase lists lots of assets, ranging from loans to securities to cash, on its $2 trillion balance sheet. Not to be found is one that might be its most valuable - Goldman Sachs because it has become the perfect lightning rod for populist outrage that might otherwise be directed at JPMorgan.

Johnson & Johnson JNJ $64.37 +0.01 0.02% 9,011,056 NYSE: No mentions found.

Kraft KFT $26.68 +0.11 0.41% 8,960,508 NYSE: No mentions found.

McDonald's MCD $61.93 +0.34 0.55% 8,997,086 NYSE: AJC says a transgendered teen is suing McDonald's in Fla for discriminating against her when managers refused to interview her for a job.

Merck MRK $36.7 unch unch 9,863,697 NYSE: No mentions found.

Microsoft MSFT $29.79 -0.19 0.63% 37,685,993 NASDAQ-GS: NYT pB1 "Google Adds Live Updates To Its Results" by Brad Stone, WSJ pB1 "Google Rolls Out New Tools as It Battles Rivals" by Jessica E. Vascelaro & USA Today pA1 says Google unveiled several Internet search advances, including ways to find info by taking a photo and results that stream on to a Web page continuously, as it attempts to fend off Microsoft and other competitors. One feature will incorporate more real time search results, content that hit the Internet in the preceding seconds, into Google's standard search results page. The moves are the latest sign of the escalating battle between Google and Microsoft whose Bing search engine has gained market share and won credibility for Microsoft in a field that Google dominates.

Pfizer PFE $18.06 -0.43 2.33% 75,409,971 NYSE: No mentions found.

Procter & Gamble PG $62.47 -0.13 0.21% 8,875,876 NYSE: WSJ pB5 "Limited Smells Success at Bath & Body Works" by Elizabeth Holmes, Ellen Byron says Limited Brands Inc. is increasingly dependent on its chain, Bath and Body works, which has seen increased competition. Drug stores have expanded their beauty aisles as big firms like Procter & Gamble and Unilever upgraded their Olay and Dove lotions and soaps and added exotic fragrances.

3M MMM $77.91 -0.33 0.42% 3,025,724 NYSE: No mentions found.

Travelers TRV $50.57 -0.47 0.92% 3,888,172 NYSE: No mentions found.

United Technologies UTX $68.86 +0.54 0.79% 3,445,433 NYSE: No mentions found.

Verizon VZ $33.25 +0.55 1.68% 16,042,801 NYSE: "Looking Back on Ten Years And 316,657 Transactions" by Dennis K. Berman Since Jan 1, 2000, companies have inked 316,657 M&A deals across the globe, roughly 87 a day. They were valued at a combined $25.2 trillion, according to research firm Dealogic, nearly half the world's annual gross domestic product. Overextended Bank of America has four transaction in the top 100. At the start of the decade, oil was $27 a barrel, and the oil patch was still reeling from the previous $80 bil magamerger between Exxon Corp. and Mobil Corp. in '98. As stock markets began to wobble in '00, Chevron announced its own oil megadeal, spending nearly $39 bil to buy Texaco which helped Chevron lock in oil supply as prices moved ever higher over the remainder of the decade. Today Chevron stock is 50% higher than where its stock traded after the new firm was formed. Its market cap is 3 times the size. Most peoople on Wall St. forget about the Chevron Texaco deal, but that is only a sign of its quiet, efficient success. In a decade of would be emperors, only 2 true empire builders emerged: AT&T's Edward Whatacre and JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon. Whiteacre spent $140 bil reuniting much of the old Ma Bell, assembling a nat'l communications firm built around the wireless operations of SBC and Bellsouth Corp. Over the last five years, AT&T shares are up 10% while chief rivals Verizon Communications has slid 20%. Dimon helped assemble what became the pre-eminent US bank. While Citigroup is in the process of breaking up, Mr. Dimon has done just the opposite. What began in '00 with a deal between Chase and JP Morgan expanded in the '04 purchase of Bank One Crop. which brought Dimon to the firm and since then he has bought Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual. Investors are willing to pay $34 for every dollar of JP MMorgan earnings. Citigroup barely has earnings.

WalMart WMT $54.93 +0.69 1.27% 11,305,235 NYSE: WSJ pC1 "Kroger Chargges Less: What Price Victory?" by Mark Gongloff says Kroger is due today to report earnings for its fisscal third quarter which ended in Nov. Analysts estimate it earned 37 shares a share down from 39 cents a year earlier. Recession generated price competition is hurting most traditional grocery store chains, as shellshocked consumers have fled to cheaper, big box competitors such as WalMart and Costco. On WalMart's earnings call last month, CEO Mike Duke said WalMart plans to widen the gap with their competitors on price leadership.

WSJ pC6 "Sprint Rings Up 13%; BofA, J.P. Morgan Fall" by Geoffrey Rjogow says large industrial and consumer firms, including Boeing and Walmart helped push the Dow Jones Industrial Average into positive territory though concern over the potential for higher interest rates continued to damp Bank of America and other financial firms. Bank investors were concerned that banks have been able to post robust quarterly results in recent months partly thanks to the low rates, which according to a speech from Fed Res. Chair Bernanke will stay low. BofA fell 2.4% and JPMorgan fell 1.2%.





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Here are the CEOs of the Dow 30 Companies:

T Randall L. Stephenson
AA Klaus Kleinfeld
AXP Kenneth I. Chenault
BAC Kenneth D. Lewis (on 10/1 he announced his resignation as of year-end).
BA W. James McNerney, Jr.
CAT James W. Owens who will be replaced by Douglas Oberhelman in 2010.
CVX David O'Reilly who will be replaced by John Watson at year end.
CSCO John Chambers
KO Muhtar Kent
DIS Robert 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
11/30/09 followed by number of shares outstanding rounded to the nearest 1/2 billion:

1. Exxon Mobil XOM $360 [5]
2. Microsoft MSFT 260 [9]
3. WalMart WMT 211 [4]
4. Chevron CVX 191 [2.5]
5. Procter & Gamble PG 183 [3]
6. Johnson & Johnson JNJ 174 [3]
7. GE 170 [10.5]
8. IBM 165 [1.5]
9. JPMorgan Chase 163 [4]
10. AT&T 159 [6]
11. Pfizer PFE 147 [8]
12. Cisco CSCO 134 [6]
13. BAC 134 [6.5]
14. Coke KO 132 [2]
15. Hewlett-Packard HPQ 116 [2]
16. Intel INTC 107 [5.5]
17. McDonald's MCD 106 [1]
18. Verizon VZ 90 [3]
19. Merck MRK 77 [2]
20. United Technologies UTX 63 [1]
21. Disney DIS 56 [2]
22. 3M MMM 54 [.5]
23. American Express AXP 49 [1]
24. Home Depot 47 [2]
25. Kraft KFT 39 [1.5]
26. Boeing BA 38 [1]
27. Caterpillar CAT 36 [.5]
28. DuPont DD 31 [1]
29. Travelers 28 [.5]
30. Alcoa AA 12 [1]

Here are the latest SEC filings as of 11/30/09 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: 11/6/09 8K re:the acquisition of Centennial Communications Corp. a regional provider of wireless and wired communications services for $945 million in cash.

Alcoa AA: 11/20/09 8K re: that it will temporarily idle production at its two aluminum smelters in Fusina and Portovesme, Italy while appealing a European Commission decision that Italy’s extension of the existing electricity tariff after 2005 did not comply with European Union state aid rules and that a portion of the benefit received by Alcoa must be refunded. The curtailments in Italy will bring Alcoa’s total global smelting system curtailments to approximately 24 percent. Alcoa expects to take a 4Q '09 charge of between $300 million and $500 million, pre-tax, including the temporary curtailment and recovery actions.

American Express AXP: 11/18/09 8K re: acquisition of Revolution Money, a Revolution LLC company which was launched by AOL Co-founder Steve Case's Revolution LLC in '07 & provides secure payments through an internet based platform. No names or account numbers appear on Revolution cards and transactions are authorized by using a PIN number. Their online person-to-person payment accounts are FDIC insured and suited for social and instant messaging networks.

Bank of Am BAC: 11/27/09 8K re: the Board approved amendments to the 2009 compensation arrangements for Joe L. Price, Chief Financial Officer, & Barbara J. Desoer, President, Bank of America Mortgage, Home Equity and Insurance Services.

Boeing BA: 11/20/09 8K re: Boeing issued $700,000,000 of 1.875% Senior Notes due 2012 and $500,000,000 of 3.750% Senior Notes due 2016.

Caterpiller CAT: 11/19/09 8K disclosing supplemental information concerning deliveries to users for its Machinery and Engines lines of business.

Chevron CVX: 11/5/09 10Q

Cisco CSCO: 11/24/09 8K re: Mark Chandler, Senior Vice President, Legal Services, General Counsel & Secretary of Cisco Systems adopted a pre-arranged stock trading plan to exercise Cisco stock options originally granted in 2001 and set to expire in February 2010 and sell the acquired shares of Cisco stock for up to 80,000 shares of Cisco stock.

Coke KO: 10/29/09 10QA

Disney DIS: 11/13/09 8K re: effective January 1, 2010, Thomas O. Staggs, currently Sr. Exec. VP & CFO, will become Chairman, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, & James A. Rasulo, currently Chairman, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, will become Sr. Exec. VP & CFO.

11/19/09 Amended S-4 related to the takeover of Marvel.

DuPont DD: 11/5/09 Prospectus relating to $1,000,000,000 3.250% Notes due 1/15 & $1,000,000,000 4.625% Notes due January 15, 2020

ExxonMobil XOM: 11/5/09 10Q

GE: 11/6/09 10QA

Hewlett-Packard HPQ: 11/23/09 8K re: financial results for its 4Q ended 10/31/09, with net rev of $30.8 billion, down 8% from a year earlier.

Home Depot HD: 11/17/09 8K re: 3Q of fiscal 2009 net earnings of $689 million, or $0.41 per diluted share, compared with net earnings of $756 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, in the same period in fiscal 2008.

Intel INTC: 11/16/09 8K re: board of directors approved a 12.5 percent increase in the quarterly cash dividend to 15.75 cents per share (63 cents per share on an annual basis), beginning with the dividend that will be declared in the first quarter of 2010.

IBM: 11/5/09 8K announcing its Form S-3, effective August 3, 2007, relating to $2,000,000,000 of debt securities of the Registrant.

JPMorganChase JPM: 11/20/09 re: Cazenove Group Limited (Cazenove) and J.P. Morgan have agreed a transaction under which their joint venture, J.P. Morgan Cazenove, will become a wholly owned part of J.P. Morgan.

Johnson & Johnson JNJ: 11/4/09 10Q

Kraft KFT: 11/9/09 8K re: pursuant to Rule 2.5 of the U.K. City Code on Takeovers and Mergers Kraft disclosed its intention to make an offer to acquire each outstanding ordinary share of Cadbury plc.

11/9/09 8K re: an acquisition and refinancing bridge credit agreement for a 364-day senior unsecured term loan facility with the lenders led by Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., as joint bookrunners, and Citibank, N.A. and Deutsche Bank AG Cayman Islands Branch, as co-administrative agents for loans up to £5.5 billion with a maturity date of 364 days.

McDonalds MCD: 11/12/09 8K re: CEO Jim Skinner outlined MCD’s priorities to continue to drive growth in sales, market share and returns through a strategic focus on its customers and restaurants under the successful Plan to Win. This includes plans to open about 1,000 new restaurants and reimage 2,300 existing locations worldwide in 2010.

Merck MRK: 11/4/09 8K announcing the consummation on November 3, 2009 of the merger of Merck & Co., Inc. &, Schering-Plough Corporation.

Microsoft MSFT: 11/24/09 8K re: Chris Liddell's departure as CFO to be replaced by Peter Klein.

Pfizer PFE: 11/5/09 10Q

Procter & Gamble PG: 10/29/09 10Q

3M MMM: 11/24/09 8K re: an amendment to its VIP Excess Plan that offers eligible highly compensated employees with the opportunity to defer the receipt of a portion of their current cash compensation on a tax-favored basis.

Travelers TRV: 11/10/09 8K re: the resignation of Robert I. Lipp from the Board.

United Technologies UTX: 11/17/09 8K re: its purchase of the GE Security business from GE for $1.82 billion. The closing is pending regulatory approvals. GE Security, part of GE Technology Infrastructure, supplies security and life safety technologies through a broad product portfolio for commercial and residential applications that include fire detection and life safety systems, intrusion alarms, and video surveillance and access control systems. Headquartered in Bradenton, Fla., the business has eight manufacturing facilities and approximately 4,700 employees in 26 countries.

Verizon Communications Inc. VZ:/11/2/09 8K announcing VZ adoption of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 160, Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements — an amendment of ARB No. 51 (SFAS No. 160).

Wal-Mart WMT: 11/12/09 8K re: diluted earnings per share from continuing operations for 3Q of fiscal year 2010 of $0.84, exceeding WMT’s guidance of $0.78 to $0.82. Walmart earned $0.77 per share from continuing operations in the third quarter last year.