1/10/10 Sun. Amex Touted by Barron's; Alcoa &CVX (Mon), Intel (Thurs), JPM (Fri) Report Results Next Week

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Post #235 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 1/4/10 and an update of the Dow 30's most recent SEC filings as of 1/4/10.

A read of Sunday's print editions of: 1/11 issue of Barron's, The New York Times & Atlanta Journal Constitution 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 Friday's closing price and related data.

Dow: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Friday at 10,618.19 up 11.33 or 0.11% from Thursday's close of 10,606.86. For the week, the Dow was up 190.14 from Friday's 10,428.05. Year to date the Dow Jones is up 1.82%. Of the 30 Dow Companies: 16 gained and 14 declined. The biggest gainer dollar-wise was IBM $130.85 +1.30 1% 4,171,554 NYSE and percentage-wise was Alcoa AA $17.02 +0.41 2.47% 32,916,710 NYSE. The biggest decliner dollar-wise and percentage-wise was Coca-Cola KO $55.15 -1.04 1.85% 14,109,603 NYSE.

(From Sat.) WSJ pB1 "Stocks End Higher In First Week of '10" by Peter A. McKay says stocks shook off a round of weak jobs data on Fri., posting a modest gain to end the first week of trading for 2010. Traders watch early year trading as a harbinger of how the next 12 months might play out. The 1.8% gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the first five days of the year handily beat the average 0.6% gain from 1900 through 2009. Stocks have languished since a series of economic reports painted a picture of a sluggish US recovery. Fri.'s jobs data, the week's most highly anticipated release, were worse than expected.

(From Sat.) WSJ pB3 "Blue Chips Take Jan. by Storm" by Donna Kardos Yesalavich says stocks closed slightly higher despite the fed. gov's report of a bigger than expected job loss in Dec., as well as analysts' downgrades that hurt Coca-Cola and Boeing. Industrial stocks, including Caterpillar, climbed as US wholesale inventories unexpectedly surged, and UPS reported US wholesale inventories rose in Nov by the highest level in 5 years. Boeing fell 1% after Macquarie lowered its investment rating on the stock to neutral from outperform. Coca-Cola also weighed on the Dow with a drop of 1.9% as J.P.Morgan cuts its investment rating on the stock to neutral from overweight.

(From Sat) Fin Times p14 "S&P holds steady despite disappointing jobs data" by Samantha Pearson says Wall St. was set to record its biggest weekly gain in 2 months after investors shrugged off disappointing jobs data. While the unemployment rate held steady at 10% as forecast, the Dept. of Labor said the economy had shed 85,000 jobs last month higher than expected. Telecoms stocks added to pressure from consumer discretionary groups. The S&P 500 telecoms services sector has lost 3.2% this week. AT&T, the mobile network operator, slid 1.3%.

(From Sat) Inv. Bus Daily pA1 "Stocks Shake Off Negatives in 1st Week" by Paul Whitfield says while it was hardly a rip roaring start for '10, stocks notched solid gains in the first week of the new year. Friday's action was up in lower volume. the current outlook is market is in confirmed uptrend.

(From Sat) NYT pB7 "Shares Post Small Gains Despite Weak Jobs Report" by Javier c. Hernandez says a grimmer than expected report on employment rattled Wall St. on Fri., but a late rally in industrial and energy shares helped the major indexes end the first week of '10 in positive territory.

As of the close of the market Friday, the current divisor for the Dow found at page B4 of today's Wall St. Jrnl is .132319125 unchanged, the trailing P/E ratio is 18.42 up from Friday morning's 18.40 (year ago it was 17.96) the P/E estimate is 13.75 down from Friday's 16.40 (year ago it was 10.58) and the current dividend yield is 2.58 unchanged from Friday's 2.58 (it was 3.66 a year ago).

Friday's Dow Jones Industrial Average closing numerator was 1404.99 up 1.50 from Thursday's closing Dow numerator of 1403.49. 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 increase of 1.50 for Friday by the divisor you get the increase in Friday's Dow close of 11.33.

The average closing price (the closing numerator divided by 30) of Friday's Dow Jones Industrial Average was 46.83 up 0.05 from Thursday's Dow Jones Industrial Average closing price of $46.78. The median closing price of Friday's Dow Jones Industrial Average was 43.32 down 0.07 from Thursday's $43.39. The lowest volume was 3M MMM $84.32 +0.59 0.7% 3,375,947 NYSE and the highest volume again was Bank of Am BAC $16.78 -0.15 0.89% 219,055,874 NYSE.

If Friday 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 made $150 ($140,490 - $140,340).

AT&T T $27.1 -0.20 0.73% 27,584,442 NYSE: Barron's pM6 says by share volume last week AT&T was the 18th most active stock on the NYSE with 162 million shares traded and was 17th by dollar volume.

Barron's p21 "In '09, Our Stock-Picking Was Groovy" by Andrew Bary" says some notable winners from '09 include Ford, American Express, Citigroup, Bank of America and Amazon.com but a side table also includes the other bullish firms that includes Home Depot, Coca-Cola, Verizon, AT&T, IBM and ExxonMobil.

Barron's p23 The Picture's Improving at Time Warner Cable" by Christopher C. Williams says cable operators produce copious amounts of cash and are proving formidable competitors to satellite TV providers such as DirecTV and telecommunications giants such as AT&T and Verizon Communications in the fight for consumers' eyeballs.

Barron's p29 "A Bandwidth-Shy Big Sow in Vegas" by Eric J. Savitz says at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week Intel was talking about its new Core i5 processor. Also doubts remain about Palm which last year was the big story at CES as it unveiled the Pre and its WebOS operating system. This year, Palm unveiled 2 new phones- Pixi Plus and Pre Plus - which will be sold only through Verizon Wireless. Oddly, AT&T announced that it will be selling 2 Palm phones as well but Palm wouldn't confirm that. Savitz says we need more bandwidth and we need it yesterday. At various points during the week, devices on the AT&T network became useless as the attendees' iPhones and BlackBerry Bolds overwhelmed the available bandwidth.

Barron's p36 "Speakng of Dividends" by Shrley A. Laxo says 5 huge payout cuts took place in the Dow Jones Industrial Average last year among current members: Aloca, Bank of America, GE, JPMorgan Chase and Pfizer although the latter's reduction has been partially restored. There were six enhanced payouts among the 30 Dow industrials from: AT&T, Intel, McDonald's, Pfizer (after a huge reduction), Travelers and Verizon. However, both McDonald's and Verizon made their declarations in the 3Q, while AT&T's and Intel's new dividends aren't scheduled for payment until this quarter. Pfizer had slashed its payout 50% in April to help fund its $68 bil purchase of rival Wyeth but which decided a month ago that things were gong well enough to raise its quarterly 12.5%.

Alcoa AA $17.02 +0.41 2.47% 32,916,710 NYSE: Barron's Week Preview" says on Mon. 1/11 Alcoa unofficially kicks off the earning season by reporting results and Chevron will give an interim update after posting results; on Wed 1/13/10 execs from Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, & Morgan Stanley will testify at the Financial Crisis Commission on the meltdown, on Thurs 1/14 tech bellwether Intel will post results and on Fri 1/15 JPMorgan Chase reports results before the market closes.

American Express AXP $41.95 -0.03 0.07% 7,868,065 NYSE: Barron's p18 "Follow-Up a Return Visit to Earlier Stories - Time to Lighten Up on American Express" by Jonathan R. Laing says the stock of American Express has been on a tear since last Mar., rocketing from under 10 to a recent closing price of 41.98. For all of '09, Amex was the top performer among the Dow Jones industrials' 30 members a by a long shot. Barron's said on 4/13/09 AXP was deeply undervalued and poised for an explosive rally when the stock was at 18.83. Delinquency rates on AXP's credit cards have started to drop, particularly in the 30 to 90 day category. Loan charge offs are beginning to decline which reduces the need for earnings punishing, loan loss provisions. The spending by Amex card holders is stabilizing and that is where the firm makes most of its profits off merchant fees rather than from interest income. Most of the charges on the cards are paid off each month. Still, the customer "spend" won't return to the pre-rececession level of $683.3 bil until maybe '12. The article quotes a few analysts who still think the stock will continue to go up but one analysts is afraid that the firm's affluent clientele may be less free spending than the bulls foresee, given the overleveraged balance sheets of many high income households. Amex could be hurt in '11 when the Bush tax cuts expire. Also their could be legislation that caps fees on credit cards.

Barron's p21 "In '09, Our Stock-Picking Was Groovy" by Andrew Bary" says some notable winners from '09 include Ford, American Express, Citigroup, Bank of America and Amazon.com but a side table also includes the other bullish firms that includes Home Depot, Coca-Cola, Verizon, At&T, IBM and ExxonMobil.

Bank of America BAC $16.78 -0.15 0.89% 219,055,874 NYSE: Barron's Week Preview" says on Mon. 1/11 Alcoa unofficially kicks off the earning season by reporting results and Chevron will give an interim update after posting results; on Wed 1/13/10 execs from Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, & Morgan Stanley will testify at the Financial Crisis Commission on the meltdown, on Thurs 1/14 tech bellwether Intel will post results and on Fri 1/15 JPMorgan Chase reports results before the market closes.

Barron's p21 "In '09, Our Stock-Picking Was Groovy" by Andrew Bary" says some notable winners from '09 include Ford, American Express, Citigroup, Bank of America and Amazon.com but a side table also includes the other bullish firms that includes Home Depot, Coca-Cola, Verizon, AT&T, IBM and ExxonMobil.

Barron's p36 "Speaking of Dividends" by Shrley A. Laxo says 5 huge payout cuts took place in the Dow Jones Industrial Average last year among current members: Aloca, Bank of America, GE, JPMorgan Chase and Pfizer although the latter's reduction has been partially restored. There were six enhanced payouts among the 30 Dow industrials from: AT&T, Intel, McDonald's, Pfizer (after a huge reduction), Travelers and Verizon. However, both McDonald's and Verizon made their declarations in the 3Q, while AT&T's and Intel's new dividends aren't scheduled for payment until this quarter. Pfizer had slashed its payout 50% in April to help fund its $68 bil purchase of rival Wyeth but which decided a month ago that things were gong well enough to raise its quarterly 12.5%.

Boeing BA $61.6 -0.60 0.96% 7,136,612 NYSE: No mentions found.

Caterpillar CAT $60.34 +0.67 1.12% 6,625,960 NYSE: No mentions found.

Chevron CVX $79.47 +0.14 0.18% 5,464,351 NYSE: Barron's Week Preview" says on Mon. 1/11 Alcoa unofficially kicks off the earning season by reporting results and Chevron will give an interim update after posting results; on Wed 1/13/10 execs from Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, & Morgan Stanley will testify at the Financial Crisis Commission on the meltdown, on Thurs 1/14 tech bellwether Intel will post results and on Fri 1/15 JPMorgan Chase reports results before the market closes.

Cisco CSCO $24.66 +0.13 0.53% 38,020,812 NASDAQ-GS: Barron's pM6 says by share volume last week Cisco was the 4th most active stock on NASDAQ last week at 209 mil shares traded.

Coca-Cola KO $55.15 -1.04 1.85% 14,109,603 NYSE: Barron's pM2 charts Coca-Cola saying expecting a tough six month stretch ahead, JPMorgan Chase downgraded the beverage behemoth to Neutral from Overweight.

Barron's p21 "In '09, Our Stock-Picking Was Groovy" by Andrew Bary" says some notable winners from '09 include Ford, American Express, Citigroup, Bank of America and Amazon.com but a side table also includes the other bullish firms that includes Home Depot, Coca-Cola, Verizon, At&T, IBM and ExxonMobil.

Disney DIS $31.88 +0.05 0.16% 7,634,020 NYSE: Barron's pM3 "The Trader" by Kopin Tan says PowerShares Dynamic Media, an ETF whose holdings include Google, Time Warner and Disney, broached a fresh peak, and is up 126% from its '08 low.

DuPont DD $33.94 -0.45 1.31% 5,456,584 NYSE: No mentions found.

ExxonMobil XOM $69.52 -0.28 0.4% 24,818,583 NYSE: Barron's pM6 says by dollar volume last week ExxonMobil was the 5th move active stock on the NYSE.

Barron's p21 "In '09, Our Stock-Picking Was Groovy" by Andrew Bary" says some notable winners from '09 include Ford, American Express, Citigroup, Bank of America and Amazon.com but a side table also includes the other bullish firms that includes Home Depot, Coca-Cola, Verizon, At&T, IBM and ExxonMobil.

GE $16.6 +0.35 2.15% 114,301,285 NYSE: Barron's p15 "Streetwise" by Michael Santoli says he knows of an unnamed stock picker who has a great record whose pick for the best-performing Dow stock of 2010 is GE, a call that came before an analyst's upgrade last week goosed the stock nearly 10%. The stock is neglected, underowned by pros, flattered by still strong free cash flow.

Barron's p36 "Speakng of Dividends" by Shrley A. Laxo says 5 huge payout cuts took place in the Dow Jones Industrial Average last year among current members: Aloca, Bank of America, GE, JPMorgan Chase and Pfizer although the latter's reduction has been partially restored. There were six enhanced payouts among the 30 Dow industrials from: AT&T, Intel, McDonald's, Pfizer (after a huge reduction), Travelers and Verizon. However, both McDonald's and Verizon made their declarations in the 3Q, while AT&T's and Intel's new dividends aren't scheduled for payment until this quarter. Pfizer had slashed its payout 50% in April to help fund its $68 bil purchase of rival Wyeth but which decided a month ago that things were gong well enough to raise its quarterly 12.5%.

Hewlett-Packard HPQ $52.59 +0.39 0.75% 10,184,509 NYSE: Barron's pL13 is an interview with Eddie Brown, CEO of Brown Capital Management by Christopher C. Williams and Brown says he has been selling Hewlett-Packard because their consensus earnings per share growth rate is 11% but when he met with the Hewlett investor relations person a couple of weeks ago, they were talking 6%, substantially below the consensus growth rate. He also is selling Johnson & Johnson because their growth expectations are kind of down" in the 6%, 7% range over the next few years even though JNJ is a perfect portfolio of businesses because it is a kind of health care umbrella of pharma, medical devices and consumables. Brown likes Google and is not concerned about the competition from Microsoft's Bing search engine because he thinks that will help to expand the market and that Google will hold its market share and even expand a bit.

Barron's p30 "Plugged In" by Mark Veverka says Steve Jobs and Apple always snub the consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas which was held last week. Microsoft has opened CFS almost every year and Bill Gates used to host the opening night keynote and CEO Steve Ballmer has been the opening act for the past 2 years. Ballmer introduced Hewlett-Packard's new tablet that runs Windows 7 as an apparent pre-emptive strike against Apple, but all it did was fan more anticipation for the Apple launch.

Home Depot HD $28.98 -0.14 0.48% 15,591,782 NYSE: Barron's full page ad by Morningstar Equity Research at p19 says Home Depot is a bargain because the market is severely underestimating an eventual recovery in home improvement spending and also gives a four star rating to Pfizer.

Intel INTC $20.83 +0.23 1.12% 47,002,186 NASDAQ-GS: Barron's p29 "A Bandwidth-Shy Big Sow in Vegas" by Eric J. Savitz says at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week Intel was talking about its new Core i5 processor. Also doubts remain about Palm which last year was the big story at CES as it unveiled the Pre and its WebOS operating system. This year, Palm unveiled 2 new phones- Pixi Plus and Pre Plus - which will be sold only through Verizon Wireless. Oddly, AT&T announced that it will be selling 2 Palm phones as well but Palm wouldn't confirm that. Savitz says we need more bandwidth and we need it yesterday. At various pionts during the week, devices on the AT&T network became useless as the attendees' iPhones and BlackBerry Bolds overwhelmed the available bandwidth.

Barron's Week Preview" says on Mon. 1/11 Alcoa unofficially kicks off the earning season by reporting results and Chevron will give an interim update after posting results; on Wed 1/13/10 execs from Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, & Morgan Stanley will testify at the Financial Crisis Commission on the meltdown, on Thurs 1/14 tech bellwether Intel will post results and on Fri 1/15 JPMorgan Chase reports results before the market closes.

Barron's p36 "Speakng of Dividends" by Shrley A. Laxo says 5 huge payout cuts took place in the Dow Jones Industrial Average last year among current members: Aloca, Bank of America, GE, JPMorgan Chase and Pfizer although the latter's reduction has been partially restored. There were six enhanced payouts among the 30 Dow industrials from: AT&T, Intel, McDonald's, Pfizer (after a huge reduction), Travelers and Verizon. However, both McDonald's and Verizon made their declarations in the 3Q, while AT&T's and Intel's new dividends aren't scheduled for payment until this quarter. Pfizer had slashed its payout 50% in April to help fund its $68 bil purchase of rival Wyeth but which decided a month ago that things were gong well enough to raise its quarterly 12.5%.

IBM $130.85 +1.30 1% 4,171,554 NYSE: Barron's p21 "In '09, Our Stock-Picking Was Groovy" by Andrew Bary" says some notable winners from '09 include Ford, American Express, Citigroup, Bank of America and Amazon.com but a side table also includes the other bullish firms that includes Home Depot, Coca-Cola, Verizon, At&T, IBM and ExxonMobil.

J.P.Morgan Chase JPM $44.68 -0.11 0.25% 32,908,600 NYSE: Barron's Week Preview" says on Mon. 1/11 Alcoa unofficially kicks off the earning season by reporting results and Chevron will give an interim update after posting results; on Wed 1/13/10 execs from Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, & Morgan Stanley will testify at the Financial Crisis Commission on the meltdown, on Thurs 1/14 tech bellwether Intel will post results and on Fri 1/15 JPMorgan Chase reports results before the market closes.

Barron's p36 "Speakng of Dividends" by Shrley A. Laxo says 5 huge payout cuts took place in the Dow Jones Industrial Average last year among current members: Aloca, Bank of America, GE, JPMorgan Chase and Pfizer although the latter's reduction has been partially restored. There were six enhanced payouts among the 30 Dow industrials from: AT&T, Intel, McDonald's, Pfizer (after a huge reduction), Travelers and Verizon. However, both McDonald's and Verizon made their declarations in the 3Q, while AT&T's and Intel's new dividends aren't scheduled for payment until this quarter. Pfizer had slashed its payout 50% in April to help fund its $68 bil purchase of rival Wyeth but which decided a month ago that things were gong well enough to raise its quarterly 12.5%.

Johnson & Johnson JNJ $64.21 +0.22 0.34% 7,801,246 NYSE: Barron's pL13 is an interview with Eddie Brown, CEO of Brown Capital Management by Christopher C. Williams and Brown says he has been selling Hewlett-Packard because their consensus earnings per share growth rate is 11% but when he met with the Hewlett investor relations person a couple of weeks ago, they were talking 6%, substantially below the consensus growth rate. He also is selling Johnson & Johnson because their growth expectations are kind of down" in the 6%, 7% range over the next few years even though JNJ is a perfect portfolio of businesses because it is a kind of health care umbrella of pharma, medical devices and consumables. Brown likes Google and is not concerned about the competition from Microsoft's Bing search engine because he htinks that will help to expand the market and that Google will hold its market share and even expand a bit.

Kraft KFT $28.93 +0.03 0.1% 10,991,221 NYSE: Barron's p16 "Week Review" says last week Warrren Buffett warned Kraft on issuing shares to pay for Cadbury after it sweetened its bid.

In a related story at Barron's p32 by Andrew Bary it is said that the oracle of Omaha often hates to see firms he invests in issue shares to complete transactions, but he's doing just that to buy Burlington Northern. Buffett seems to be saying "Do as I say, not as I do."

McDonald's MCD $61.84 -0.06 0.1% 6,100,451 NYSE: Barron's p36 "Speakng of Dividends" by Shrley A. Laxo says 5 huge payout cuts took place in the Dow Jones Industrial Average last year among current members: Aloca, Bank of America, GE, JPMorgan Chase and Pfizer although the latter's reduction has been partially restored. There were six enhanced payouts among the 30 Dow industrials from: AT&T, Intel, McDonald's, Pfizer (after a huge reduction), Travelers and Verizon. However, both McDonald's and Verizon made their declarations in the 3Q, while AT&T's and Intel's new dividends aren't scheduled for payment until this quarter. Pfizer had slashed its payout 50% in April to help fund its $68 bil purchase of rival Wyeth but which decided a month ago that things were gong well enough to raise its quarterly 12.5%.

Merck MRK $37.7 -0.02 0.05% 10,723,007 NYSE: No mentions found.

Microsoft MSFT $30.66 +0.208 0.68% 49,813,791 NASDAQ-GS: Barron's pL13 is an interview with Eddie Brown, CEO of Brown Capital Management by Christopher C. Williams and Brown says he has been selling Hewlett-Packard because their consensus earnings per share growth rate is 11% but when he met with the Hewlett investor relations person a couple of weeks ago, they were talking 6%, substantially below the consensus growth rate. He also is selling Johnson & Johnson because their growth expectations are kind of down" in the 6%, 7% range over the next few years even though JNJ is a perfect portfolio of businesses because it is a kind of health care umbrella of pharma, medical devices and consumables. Brown likes Google and is not concerned about the competition from Microsoft's Bing search engine because he htinks that will help to expand the market and that Google will hold its market share and even expand a bit.

Barron's p30 "Plugged In" by Mark Veverka says Steve Jobs and Apple always snub the consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas which was held last week. Microsoft has opened CFS almost every year and Bill Gates used to host the opening night keynote and CEO Steve Ballmer has been the opening act for the past 2 years. Ballmer introduced Hewlett-Packard's new tablet that runs Windows 7 as an apparent pre-emptive strike against Apple, but all it did was fan more anticipation for the Apple launch.

Pfizer PFE $18.68 +0.15 0.81% 30,344,117 NYSE: Barron's full page ad by Morningstar Equity Research at p19 says Home Depot is a bargain because the market is severely underestimating an eventual recovery in home improvement spending and also gives a four star rating to Pfizer.

Barron's p36 "Speakng of Dividends" by Shrley A. Laxo says 5 huge payout cuts took place in the Dow Jones Industrial Average last year among current members: Aloca, Bank of America, GE, JPMorgan Chase and Pfizer although the latter's reduction has been partially restored. There were six enhanced payouts among the 30 Dow industrials from: AT&T, Intel, McDonald's, Pfizer (after a huge reduction), Travelers and Verizon. However, both McDonald's and Verizon made their declarations in the 3Q, while AT&T's and Intel's new dividends aren't scheduled for payment until this quarter. Pfizer had slashed its payout 50% in April to help fund its $68 bil purchase of rival Wyeth but which decided a month ago that things were gong well enough to raise its quarterly 12.5%.

Procter & Gamble PG $60.44 -0.08 0.13% 8,400,560 NYSE: No mentions found.

3M MMM $84.32 +0.59 0.7% 3,375,947 NYSE: No mentions found.

Travelers TRV $48.56 -0.07 0.14% 3,921,525 NYSE: Barron's p36 "Speakng of Dividends" by Shrley A. Laxo says 5 huge payout cuts took place in the Dow Jones Industrial Average last year among current members: Aloca, Bank of America, GE, JPMorgan Chase and Pfizer although the latter's reduction has been partially restored. There were six enhanced payouts among the 30 Dow industrials from: AT&T, Intel, McDonald's, Pfizer (after a huge reduction), Travelers and Verizon. However, both McDonald's and Verizon made their declarations in the 3Q, while AT&T's and Intel's new dividends aren't scheduled for payment until this quarter. Pfizer had slashed its payout 50% in April to help fund its $68 bil purchase of rival Wyeth but which decided a month ago that things were gong well enough to raise its quarterly 12.5%.

United Technologies UTX $70.63 +0.14 0.2% 4,651,783 NYSE: No mentions found.

Verizon VZ $31.75 +0.02 0.06% 19,327,736 NYSE: Barron's p21 "In '09, Our Stock-Picking Was Groovy" by Andrew Bary" says some notable winners from '09 include Ford, American Express, Citigroup, Bank of America and Amazon.com but a side table also includes the other bullish firms that includes Home Depot, Coca-Cola, Verizon, At&T, IBM and ExxonMobil.

Barron's p23 "he Picture's Improving at Time Warner Cable" by Christopher C. Williams says cable operators produce copious amounts of cash and are proving formidable competitors to satellite TV providers such as DirecTV and telecommunications giants such as AT&T and Verizon Communications in the fight for consumers' eyeballs.

Barron's p26 has a story about Hughes Communications by Neil A. Martin says Hughes Communications has been the leader in providing satellite networks since 1986 when WalMart chose Hughes to connect all its stores and still remains on Hughes' client roster. 10% to 20% fo the US hasn't been wired for land based broadband cable, which is typically provided by the likes of Comcast, Verizon and Time Warner. For residents of such areas, satellite powered broadband is the only viable alternative.

Barron's p29 "A Bandwidth-Shy Big Sow in Vegas" by Eric J. Savitz says at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week Intel was talking about its new Core i5 processor. Also doubts remain about Palm which last year was the big story at CES as it unveiled the Pre and its WebOS operating system. This year, Palm unveiled 2 new phones- Pixi Plus and Pre Plus - which will be sold only through Verizon Wireless. Oddly, AT&T announced that it will be selling 2 Palm phones as well but Palm wouldn't confirm that. Savitz says we need more bandwidth and we need it yesterday. At various ponts during the week, devices on the AT&T network became useless as the attendees' iPhones and BlackBerry Bolds overwhelmed the available bandwidth.

Barron's p36 "Speakng of Dividends" by Shrley A. Laxo says 5 huge payout cuts took place in the Dow Jones Industrial Average last year among current members: Aloca, Bank of America, GE, JPMorgan Chase and Pfizer although the latter's reduction has been partially restored. There were six enhanced payouts among the 30 Dow industrials from: AT&T, Intel, McDonald's, Pfizer (after a huge reduction), Travelers and Verizon. However, both McDonald's and Verizon made their declarations in the 3Q, while AT&T's and Intel's new dividends aren't scheduled for payment until this quarter. Pfizer had slashed its payout 50% in April to help fund its $68 bil purchase of rival Wyeth but which decided a month ago that things were gong well enough to raise its quarterly 12.5%.

Walmart WMT $53.33 -0.27 0.5% 11,328,792 NYSE: Barron's p26 has a story about Hughes Communications by Neil A. Martin says Hughes Communictions has been the leader in providing satellite networks since 1986 when WalMart chose Hughes to connect all its stores and still remains on Hughes' client roster. 10% to 20% fo the US hasn't been wired for land based broadband cable, which is typically provided by the likes of Comcast, Verizon and Time Warner. For residents of such areas, satellite powered broadband is the only viable alternative.
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Here are the CEOs of the Dow 30 Companies:

AT&T T Randall L. Stephenson
Alcoa AA Klaus Kleinfeld
American Express AXP Kenneth I. Chenault
Bank of America BAC Brian T. Moynihan.
Boeing BA W. James McNerney, Jr.
Caterpillar CAT Douglas Oberhelman
Chevron CVX John Watson
Cisco CSCO John Chambers
Coca Cola KO Muhtar Kent
Disney DIS Robert Iger
DuPont DD Ellen Kullman
ExxonMobil XOM Rex W. Tillerson
GE Jeffrey R. Immelt
Hewlett-Packard HPQ Mark Hurd
Home Depot HD Frank Blake
Intel INTC Paul S. Otellini
IBM Samuel J. Palmisano
JPMorgan Chase JPM Jamie Dimon
Johnson & Johnson JNJ William C. Weldon
Kraft KFT Irene Rosenfeld
McDonald's MCD Jim Skinner
Merck MRK Robert Clark
Microsoft MSFT Steve Ballmer
Pfizer PFE Jeffrey Kindler
Procter & Gamble PG Bob McDonald
3M MMM George W. Buckley
Travelers TRV Jay S. Fishman
United Technologies UTX Louis Chenevert
Verizon VZ Ivan Seidenberg
Wal-Mart WMT Mike Duke

Here are the Dow Jones Industrial Average 30 ranked in order of market capitalization rounded to the nearest billion as of 1/4/10 followed by number of shares outstanding rounded to the nearest 1/2 billion:

1. Exxon Mobil XOM $328 [5]
2. Microsoft MSFT 271 [9]
3. WalMart WMT 204 [4]
4. Chevron CVX 188 [2.5]
5. Johnson & Johnson JNJ 178 [3]
6. Procter & Gamble PG 177 [3]
7. IBM 172 [1.5]
8. AT&T 165 [6]
9 JPMorgan Chase 164 [4]
10. GE 161 [10.5]
11. Pfizer PFE 147 [8]
12. Cisco CSCO 138 [6]
13. Coke KO 132 [2]
14. BAC 130 [8.5]
15. Hewlett-Packard HPQ 122 [2]
16. Intel INTC 113 [5.5]
17. McDonald's MCD 104 [1.5]
18. Verizon VZ 94 [3]
19. Merck MRK 77 [2]
20. United Technologies UTX 65 [1]
21. Disney DIS 60 [2]
22. 3M MMM 58 [.5]
23. Home Depot 49 [2]
24. American Express AXP 48 [1]
25. Kraft KFT 40 [1.5]
26. Boeing BA 39 [1]
27. Caterpillar CAT 35 [.5]
28. DuPont DD 30 [1]
29. Travelers 27 [.5]
30. Alcoa AA 16 [1]

Here are the latest SEC filings as of 1/4/10 other than ownership filings, registration of shares for employee benefit plans, free writing prospectuses 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: 12/18/09 8K re: amendment Bylaws to provide that the Chairman of the Board shall call a special meeting of the stockholders whenever requested in writing to do so by stockholders representing 15% (rather than 25%) of the outstanding shares of AT&T.

12/14/09 8K re: agreement with the Communications Workers of America on new, three-year contracts covering approximately 30,000 employees in CWA District 3 (AT&T's Southeast region).

Alcoa AA: 12/24/09 8K re: a joint venture with Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) for the development of an integrated bauxite mine, alumina refinery, aluminum smelter, and rolling mill in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

American Express AXP: 12/15/09 8K re: delinquency and write-off statistics for the lending portfolio of its U.S. Card Services operating segment for the months ended September 30, October 31 and November 30, 2009.

Bank of Am BAC: 12/17/09 re: election of Brian T. Moynihan to succeed Kenneth D. Lewis as the new President and Chief Executive Officer effective January 1, 2010 and his appointment to the Board and Executive Committee of the Board. Moynihan, 50, joined FleetBoston Financial Corporation in April 1993. He was promoted to lead Corporate Strategy and Development and then went on to lead Global Wealth and Investment Management at FleetBoston. Following the Corporation’s 2004 merger with FleetBoston, he served as president of Global Wealth and Investment Management from April 2004 to October 2007. From October 2007 to December 2008, Mr. Moynihan served as president of Global Corporate and Investment Banking. From December 2008 to January 2009, Mr. Moynihan served as the Corporation’s General Counsel. From January 2009 to August 2009, Mr. Moynihan served as president of Global Corporate and Investment Banking and Global Wealth Management. Since August 2009, he has served as president of Consumer and Small Business Banking.

12/9/09 8K re: amending its Certificate of Incorporation to fix the designations, preferences, limitations and relative rights of the Series S Preferred Stock.

12/3/09 Form 8K re: BAC's repaying the entire $45 billion investment borrowed under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

12/3/09 8K re: BAC being named as a defendant in two related lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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: 12/18/09 8K re: supplemental information concerning deliveries to users for its Machinery and Engines lines of business.

12/15/09 8K re: amendments to Bylaws.

Chevron CVX: 12/11/09 8K re: a new base salary of $1,500,000 for J.S. Watson (a $500,000 increase) to be effective January 1, 2010 when Mr. Watson assumes the position of Chairman & CEO and other exec compensation changes.

Cisco CSCO: 11/24/09 8K re: Mark Chandler, Senior Vice President, Legal Services, General Counsel & Secretary of Cisco Systems adopting a pre-arranged stock trading plan.

Coke KO: 10/29/09 10QA

Disney DIS: 12/2/09 10K

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: 12/14/09 8K re: Merger Agreement to buy XTO Energy.

12/1/09 8K re: fixing a total ceiling of $139 million in respect of 2009 under XOM's Short Term Incentive Program, of which bonuses were granted to certain officers as follows

GE: 12/3/09 8K re: GE, NBC Universal, Inc. and Comcast Corporation entering into a Master Agreement pursuant to which they will form a joint venture. The joint venture will consist of the businesses of NBCU, including its cable networks, filmed entertainment, televised entertainment, theme parks and unconsolidated investments, collectively valued at $30 billion, and Comcast’s cable networks including E!, Versus and the Golf Channel, ten regional sports networks and certain digital media properties, collectively valued at $7.25 billion. NBCU will borrow $9.1 billion from third party lenders, and the proceeds of this debt financing will be distributed to GE. Comcast will make a payment of approximately $6.5 billion in cash to GE. GE also entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement with Vivendi SA pursuant to which,GE will acquire Vivendi’s 20% interest in NBCU for $5.8 billion. GE expects to realize approximately $9.8 billion pre-tax in cash after the buyout of Vivendi’s 20% interest. The new venture initially will be 51% owned by Comcast and 49% owned by GE.

Hewlett-Packard HPQ: 12/17/09 10K

Home Depot HD: 12/3/09 10Q

Intel INTC: 12/17/09 8K re: a press release commenting on the suit filed against Intel by the Federal Trade Commission alleging anticompetitive practices.

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

JPMorganChase JPM: 12/22/09 8K re: the closing of a public offering of $1,500,000,000 aggregate liquidation amount of an affiliated trust.

12/16/09 8K re: the U.S. Treasury selling in a secondary public offering, 88,401,697 warrants, each representing the right to purchase one share of the common stock, of JPM at an exercise price of $10.75 per warrant.

Kraft KFT: 12/22/09 8K re: amendment of By-Laws to expand the Board to twelve members and appointment of Mackey J. McDonald & Jean-Francois M. L. van Boxmeer as directors, effective January 1, 2010. Mr. McDonald will serve on the Audit Committee, and Mr. van Boxmeer will serve on the Public Affairs Committee.

12/15/09 8K re: a press release relating to the formal response issued by Cadbury plc regarding the offer by Kraft Foods to acquire all of the shares of Cadbury plc.

McDonalds MCD: 12/18/09 8K re: am agreement re: the retirement of Ralph Alvarez, President and Chief Operating Officer.

12/9/09 8K re: an Investor Release reporting MCD's November and year-to-date 2009 sales.

12/4/09 8K re: resignation of Ralph Alvarez as President & COO effective December 31, 2009 & Director and MCD reduced its size by one for a total of 13 Directors.

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: 12/4/09 8K re: the resignation of Christopher P. Liddell, the former chief financial officer and his settlement agreement.

Pfizer PFE: 12/14/09 8K re: amendment of bylaws & change in fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble PG: 12/11/09 8K re: the purchase of Sara Lee's Ambi Pur brand by PG.

12/8/09 8K re: Angela F. Braly being appointed to the Board of Directors, effective December 8, 2009.

12/8/09 8K re: the retirement of Alan G. Lafley, Chairman of the Board and former President & CEO, will retire from his position as Chairman of the Board effective January 1, 2010 & Robert A. McDonald (56), currently President & CEO being elected to Chairman of the Board effective January 1, 2010.

3M MMM: 12/8/09 8K re: 2010 sales and earnings outlook.

Travelers TRV: 12/11/09 8K re: the election of Donald J. Shepard as a director. He is the former chairman of the executive board and chief executive officer of AEGON N.V.

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: 12/23/09 8K re: grant of stock options to executives.

12/7/09 8K re:amendments to bylaws.

WalMartWMT: 12/8/09 10Q