1/12/10 Tues. am Chevron Upgraded, Disney Downgraded by Analysts

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Post #238 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 Tuesday's print editions of: The Wall St. Journal, Financial Times, The New York Times, USA Today, Atlanta Journal Constitution & (Ga) Daily Report 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 10,618.19 up 45.8 or 0.43% from Friday's close of 10,618.19. Year to date the Dow is up 2.3%. Of the 30 Dow Companies: 16 gained and 14 declined. The biggest gainer dollar-wise and percentage-wise was Caterpillar CAT $64.13 +3.79 6.28% 21,958,752 NYSE. Year to date the Dow is up 2.26%. The biggest decliner dollar-wise was IBM $129.48 -1.37 1.05% 5,731,177 NYSE and percentage-wise was Home Depot HD $28.16 -0.82 2.83% 23,673,624 NYSE.

WSJ pC1 "Best Start Since '87 for S&P 500" by Peter A. McKay says stocks rallied as 4Q earnings season kicked off on Mon, putting the S&P 500 index on a 6 day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 2.3% for '10, its strongest start in 4 years. The Dow rose 0.4% led by a 6.3% surge in Caterpillar which was helped in part by Dec. trade figures from China, which moved past Germany as the world's top exporter. Alcoa rose 2.5% in regular trading but tumbled about 6% in after hours trading after it's earnings missed expectations.

Fin Times p24 "S&P 500 reaches 15 month peak as Alcoa is boosted" by Samantha Pearson says US stocks wavered between gains and losses yesterday as investors prepared themselves for the coming earnings season and weighed up positive data from China. S hares in Alcoa climbed 2.5% after China reported that its exports had risen more than expected in Dec. and imports had reached an all time high. Shares in Procter & Gamble dropped 0.4% as Venezuelan lowers its valuation of its currency.

WSJ pC5 "Chevron Gains 1.8%; Avon, Colgate Are Off" by Donna Kardos Yesalavich says stocks rose slightly Mon., with Alcoa among the gainers ahead of its 4Q earnings report, while Caterpillar jumped on signs of economic improvement in China, although Walt Disney fell following an analyst downgrade. Caterpillar was the Dow's best performer, with a rise of 6.3% after China, one of Caterpillar's key growth markets, announced $1.2 trillion in '09 exports. Also boosting sentiment for the stock, BofA Merrill Lynch wrote in a note to clients that construction equipment demand continued improving albeit at a very slow pace in 4Q. Alcoa and Chevron also helped lift the Dow. Alcoa climbed 2.5% ahead of its 4Q report marking the unofficial start of the reporting season. Chevron gained 1.8% ahead of a preliminary report on its 4Q performance. Also, Citi raised its investment rating on Chevron's stock to buy from hold due to higher long term oil prices that showed Chevron has the greatest valuation sensitivity to a change in oil prices compared with peers. Disney helped keep the Dow's gains in check falling 1.6% as Janney Capital Markets downgraded its investment rating on the stock to neutral from buy citing valuation altho the firm likes the prospects for Disney's new digital businesses and the marvel acquisition but noted the stock has already climbed about 40% since July.

NYT pB8 "Shares Edge Higher as Investors Await Earnings" by Javier C.Hernandez says as firms began releasing 4Q results on Mon, the question on Wall St. was no so much whether businesses turned a profit but how they did so.

Inv. Bus Daily "Earning's Gains Seen on Q4 sales Pickup And Reduced Costs" by Vance Cariaga says the 4Q earnings season, which officially kicked off Mon. with Alcoa, should offer a bagful of goodies for investors interested in robust bottom line gains. For that they can thank a dismal performance the rpior year, when the global financial crisis sent vorp. earnings on a swift downward spiral. Also same page "Stocks Seesaw, clsoe Mixed as Some Leaders Struggle" by Vincent Mao says stocks battled to a mixed finish Mon, wavering for much of the session until some buying came in the final hour. Monday's action was mixed in lighter volume. The current outlook is market is in confirmed uptrend.

USA Today p4B "S&P's new eyar winning streak grows" by AP says hopes that global manufacturing activity is heating up lifted industrial stocks Mon. ahead of an earnings report from Alcoa.


Monday's Dow Jones Industrial Average closing numerator was 1411.05 up 6.06 from Friday's closing Dow numerator of 1404.99. 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 6.06 for Monday by the divisor you get the increase in Monday's Dow close of 345.8.

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 18.50 up from Monday morning's 18.42 (year ago it was 18.37) the P/E estimate is 13.75 unchanged from Monday's 13.75 (year ago it was 10.58) and the current dividend yield is 2.56 down from Monday's 2.58 (it was 3.71 a year ago).

The average closing price (the closing numerator divided by 30) of Monday's Dow Jones Industrial Average was 47.04 up 0.21 from Friday's Dow Jones Industrial Average closing price of $46.83. The median closing price of Monday's Dow Jones Industrial Average was 43.50 up 0.18 from Friday's $43.32. The lowest volume was 3M MMM $83.98 -0.34 0.4% 2,927,603 NYSE and the highest volume again was Bank of Am BAC $16.93 +0.15 0.89% 168,991,587 NYSE.

If Monday 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 $630 ($141,120 -$140,490).

AT&T T $26.97 -0.13 0.48% 25,794,631 NYSE: Inv. Bus Daily pA4 "Group Plans Green Touch For Networks by Donna Howell & Fin times pA16 "Alcatel leads carbon project" by Andrew Parker say a consortium led by Alcatel-Lucent and including AT&T, outlined a resesrch program to produce technology within five years that can cut carbon emissions from telecoms networks b ya factor of 1,000.

WSJ pB1 "Low Bids for MGM cloud Fate Of Studio" by Jeffrey McCracken, Mike Sepctor says first round bids are due by the end of the week in the auction of debt laden film studio MGM, and nearly a dozen prominent Hollywood and media names have submitted offers including Time Warner, Lions Gate, news Corp, Summit, Liberty Media, CBS, Reliance Industries, Yahoo and AT&T. MGM may have to file bankruptcy. its lender group, led by JPMorgan Chase, includes some 100 investors, many of them hedge funds.

Alcoa AA $17.45 +0.43 2.53% 76,441,859 NYSE: WSJ pB1 "Alcoa Cuts Don't Stop New Loss in Quarter" by Robert Guy Matthews & NYT pB3 "High Energy Costs & Dollar's Decline Undermine Alcoa's Profit" by Bloomberg say Alcoa kicked off the 4Q earnings season with a $277 mil loss, reporting lower sales in the construction, aerospace, commercial building and gas turbine markets. While the 4Q loss was not as steep as Alcoa's $1.2 bil year earlier loss, Alcoa's results show that it hasn't roared back into profitability yet, despite massive restructuring, layoffs, idling of plants and steep cuts in capital spending and dividends. Its bigger peers, including Rio Tinto, are expected to fare better with their results in coming weeks because they are generally lower cost producers. Alcoa's loss in the 4Q, $266 mil or 27 cents a share is attributable to restructuring, special items and tax charges. Alcoa had a loss of $1.15 bil for the year or $1.23 a sahre, compared with a loss of $74 mil, or 10 cents a share, a year earlier.

WSJ pC1 "Best Start Since '87 for S&P 500" by Peter A. McKay says stocks rallied as 4Q earnings season kicked off on Mon, putting the S&P 500 index on a 6 day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 2.3% for '10, its strongest start in 4 years. The Dow rose 0.4% led by a 6.3% surge in Caterpillar which was helped in part by Dec. trade figures from China, which moved past Germany as the world's top exporter. Alcoa rose 2.5% in regular trading but tumbled about 6% in after hours trading after it's earnings missed expectations.

Fin Times p24 "S&P 500 reaches 15 month peak as Alcoa is boosted" by Samantha Pearson says US stocks wavered between gains and losses yesterday as investors prepared themselves for the coming earnings season and weighed up positive data from China. S hares in Alcoa climbed 2.5% after China reported that its exports had risen more than expected in Dec. and imports had reached an all time high. Shares in Procter & Gamble dropped 0.4% as Venezuelan lowers its valuation of its currency.

WSJ pC5 "Chevron Gains 1.8%; Avon, Colgate Are Off" by Donna Kardos Yesalavich says stocks rose slightly Mon., with Alcoa among the gainers ahead of its 4Q earnings report, while Caterpillar jumped on signs of economic improvement in China, although Walt Disney fell following an analyst downgrade. Caterpillar was the Dow's best performer, with a rise of 6.3% after China, one of Caterpillar's key growth markets, announced $1.2 trillion in '09 exports. Also boosting sentiment for the stock, BofA Merrill Lynch wrote in a note to clients that construction equipment demand continued improving albeit at a very slow pace in 4Q. Alcoa and Chevron also helped lift the Dow. Alcoa climbed 2.5% ahead of its 4Q report marking the unofficial start of the reporting season. Chevron gained 1.8% ahead of a preliminary report on its 4Q performance. Also, Citi raised its investment rating on Chevron's stock to buy from hold due to higher long term oil prices that showed Chevron has the greatest valuation sensitivity to a change in oil prices compared with peers. Disney helped keep the Dow's gains in check falling 1.6% as Janney Capital Markets downgraded its investment rating on the stock to neutral from buy citing valuation altho the firm likes the prospects for Disney's new digital businesses and the marvel acquisition but noted the stock has already climbed about 40% since July.

American Express AXP $41.47 -0.48 1.14% 7,396,890 NYSE: No mentions found.

Bank of America BAC $16.93 +0.15 0.89% 168,991,587 NYSE: Fin Times p16 "Lehman seeks to expose "silly" claims" by Anousha Sakoui says the collapse of Lehman is proving a big test for the derivatives market and is being closely watched for the precedents that unraveling these claims will set. Whbn it filed for bankruptcy, it allowed banks that were counterparties to terminate their trades and use provisions under the Int'l Swaps and Derivatives Assoc. contract for calculation of damages. More than 6,000 derivative claims were filed aganst Lehman including by Bank of America who has claims totaling $2.9 bil.

WSJ pC1 "BoA to Cut Curl's Duties; SEC Won't Sue Officers" by Dan Fitzpatrick, Kara Scannell says Gregory Curl, the BofA exec who was passed over in the competition for the top job at the largest US bank in assets, will see his responsibilities diminished as part of a forthcoming management shuffle. The 61 year old Curl was a confidant of ex CEO Kenneth D. Lewis and Hugh L. McColl, Jr. will lose the chief risk officer post he has held since mid '09 as new CEO Brian Moynihan install his own circle of close lieutenants. Also, a fed judge on Mon. denied the SEC attempts to add new allegations to its lawsuit against BofA for failing to disclose Merrill Lynch's steep losses prior to a takeover of the firm.

Contradictory story from Inv. Bus. Daily at pA2 "BofA faces new charges from SEC" says the SEC ahs expanded its cahrges involving the bank's payment of $3 bil in bonuses to Merrill Lynch execs. Regulators are accusing BofA of failing to disclose mounting losses as well as athe bonuses before a shreholder vote approving the merger.

NYT pB1 "What the Financial Crisis Commission Should Ask" by Andrew Ross Sorkin says on Wed., thefirst hearing of the Fin'l Crisis Inquiry commission will take place in D.C. and Wall St.'s top execs will testify including Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan and Brian T. Moynihan of BofA.

WSJ pA4 "Cuomo Seeks Data On Bonuses" by Chad Bray says NY Atty Gen'l Andrew Cuomo said he has requested info from the nation's largest banks and broker-dealers on their compensation and bonus plans for fiscal year '09. The firms are Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon Corp., Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Cahse, Morgan Stanely, State Street & Wells Fargo.

NYT pB1 "Bank Is in Talks to Settle State Claims Over Merrill" byLouise Story says a year after its takeover of Merrill Lynch, BofA is discussing settling New York state inquiry led by Atty Gen'l Andrew Cuomo into the deal and the billions of dollars in bonuses that Merrill hurriedly paid its employees.

WSJ pC1 "Pandit Shakes Up Citi's Upper Ranks" by David Enrich, NYTpB8 Citigroup Replaces Head of Consumer Banking" by Eric Dash & Fin times p13 "Citi ousts Dial in new revamp" say Citigroup removed Terri Dial from her job leading the NY firm's US retail bank as part of a broader push by CEO Vikram Pandit to strengthen his leadership team. Execs complained about her lack of progress overhauling the retail banking unit, which lags far behind rivals such as Bank of America Corp. and J.P.Morgan Chase and has struggled with soaring loan losses.

WSJ pC8 "Cost to Primary Dealers Goes Up" by Min Zing says the Fed. Reserve Bank of NY raised capital requirements by tripling it to $150 mil for its network of primary dealers which are those banks and broker-dealers that operate as its direct trading counterparties such as BNP Paribas, BofA, Barclays, Cantor Fitzgeral, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Daiwa, Deutsche Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, Miuho, organ Stanley, Nomura, Roayl Bank of Canada and UBS.

Boeing BA $60.87 -0.73 1.19% 5,627,699 NYSE: WSJ pB6 "Safety Officials Order Boeing Jet Inspections" by Andy Pasztor says federal air safety regulators have ordered enhanced structural inspections of more than 130 older Boeing 737 jetliners, 6 months after a Southwest Airlines plane developed a one foot wide hole in its main body in midflight. The safety directive calls for stepped up inspections to find possible cracks in the fuselage skin that could result in sudden fracture and failure of the skin panels.

Caterpillar CAT $64.13 +3.79 6.28% 21,958,752 NYSE: WSJ pC1 "Best Start Since '87 for S&P 500" by Peter A. McKay says stocks rallied as 4Q earnings season kicked off on Mon, putting the S&P 500 index on a 6 day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 2.3% for '10, its strongest start in 4 years. The Dow rose 0.4% led by a 6.3% surge in Caterpillar which was helped in part by Dec. trade figures from China, which moved past Germany as the world's top exporter. Alcoa rose 2.5% in regular trading but tumbled about 6% in after hours trading after it's earnings missed expectations.

Chevron CVX $80.88 +1.41 1.77% 11,916,708 NYSE: WSJ pB6 "Chevron Warns On Refining Net" by Isabel Ordonez, John Kell says Chevron warned investors Mon. that it expects its 4Q earnings to be lower than the previous quarter, driven by a sharp decline in profit from its refining and marketing business. The second largest US oil firm by market value after Exxon Mobil said in an update that earnings at its exploration and production segment are expected to be flat compared with the 3Q, despite higher commodity prices. During the first 2 months of 4Q, Chevron, got on average, $69.92 a barrel for crude oil from its US fields, up 10% from the full 3Q and up 30% from a year earlier. Internationally, growth was similar in both periods.

WSJ pC5 "Chevron Gains 1.8%; Avon, Colgagte Are Off" by Donna Kardos Yesalavich says stocks rose slightly Mon., with Alcoa among the gainers ahead of its 4Q earnings report, while Caterpillar jumped on signs of economic improvement in China, although Walt Disney fell following an analyst downgrade. Caterpillar was the Dow's best performer, with a rise of 6.3% after China, one of Caterpillar's key growth markets, announced $1.2 trillion in '09 exports. Also boosting sentiment for the stock, BofA Merrill Lynch wrote in a note to clients that construction equipment demand continued improving albeit at a very slow pace in 4Q. Alcoa and Chevron also helped lift the Dow. Alcoa climbed 2.5% ahead of its 4Q report marking the unofficial start of the reporting season. Chevron gained 1.8% ahead of a preliminary report on its 4Q performance. Also, Citi raised its investment rating on Chevron's stock to buy from hold due to higher long term oil prices that showed Chevron has the greatest valuation sensitivity to a change in oil prices compared with peers. Disney helped keep the Dow's gains in check falling 1.6% as Janney Capital Markets downgraded its investment rating on the stock to neutral from buy citing valuation altho the firm likes the prospects for Disney's new digital businesses and the marvel acquisition but noted the stock has already climbed about 40% since July.

WSJ pC5 "Options Report" by Tennille Tracy says there was noteworth volume in Chevron after Citigroup raised its rating ont he firm. Trading in Chevron jumped to five times the normal level as investors picked up 53,000 and 27,000 puts.

Cisco CSCO $24.59 -0.07 0.28% 35,852,823 NASDAQ-GS: No mentions found.

Coca-Cola KO $56.27 +1.12 2.03% 14,321,764 NYSE: NYT pB1 "Cowell Says He Will Leave Idol" by Edward Wyatt & WSJ pB1 Bblunt but Popular Simon Cowell Will Bow Out of American Idol" by Ethan Smith, Shira Ovide say the show has helped elevate product placement to new heights with its sponsorship agreements with firms such as coca-Cola and Ford who not only buy ad time but also pay to ahve their products embedded into the broadcast as judges are seen with Coke cups on their table. Also,t here are rumour that conan O'Brien, host of Ge's NBC's "Tonight Show" will leave the network over plans to move his show a half hour later to make room for Jay Leno at 11:35.

Disney DIS $31.36 -0.52 1.63% 11,254,030 NYSE: WSJ pC5 "Chevron Gains 1.8%; Avon, Colgagte Are Off" by Donna Kardos Yesalavich says stocks rose slightly Mon., with Alcoa among the gainers ahead of its 4Q earnings report, while Caterpillar jumped on signs of economic improvement in China, although Walt Disney fell following an analyst downgrade. Caterpillar was the Dow's best performer, with a rise of 6.3% after China, one of Caterpillar's key growth markets, announced $1.2 trillion in '09 exports. Also boosting sentiment for the stock, BofA Merrill Lynch wrote in a note to clients that construction equipment demand continued improving albeit at a very slow pace in 4Q. Alcoa and Chevron also helped lift the Dow. Alcoa climbed 2.5% ahead of its 4Q report marking the unofficial start of the reporting season. Chevron gained 1.8% ahead of a preliminary report on its 4Q performance. Also, Citi raised its investment rating on Chevron's stock to buy from hold due to higher long term oil prices that showed Chevron has the greatest valuation sensitivity to a change in oil prices compared with peers. Disney helped keep the Dow's gains in check falling 1.6% as Janney Capital Markets downgraded its investment rating on the stock to neutral from buy citing valuation altho the firm likes the prospects for Disney's new digital businesses and the marvel acquisition but noted the stock has already climbed about 40% since July.

DuPont DD $34.26 +0.32 0.94% 5,599,436 NYSE: No mentions found.

ExxonMobil XOM $70.3 +0.78 1.12% 30,684,918 NYSE: WSJ pB6 "Chevron Warns On Refining Net" by Isabel Ordonez, John Kell says Chevron warned investors Mon. that it expects its 4Q earnings to be lower than the previous quarter, driven by a sharp decline in profit from its refining and marketing business. The second largest US oil firm by market value after Exxon Mobil said in an update that earnings at its exploration and production segment are expected to be flat compared with the 3Q, despite higher commodity prices. During the first 2 months of 4Q, Chevron, got on average, $69.92 a barrel for crude oil from its US fields, up 10% from the full 3Q and up 30% from a year earlier. Internationally, growth was similar in both periods.

GE $16.76 +0.16 0.96% 76,675,382 NYSE: WSJ pB1 "blunt but Popular Simon Cowell Will Bow Out of American Idol" by Ethan Smith, Shira Ovide says the show has helped elevate product placement to new heights with its sponsorship agreements with firms such as coca-Cola and Ford who not only buy ad time but also pay to ahve their products embedded into the broadcast as judges are seen with Coke cups on their table. Also,t here are rumour that Conan O'Brien, host of Ge's NBC's "Tonight Show" will leave the network over plans to move his show a half hour later to make room for Jay Leno at 11:35.

Hewlett-Packard HPQ $52.43 -0.16 0.3% 10,143,383 NYSE: No mentions found.

Home Depot HD $28.16 -0.82 2.83% 23,673,624 NYSE: No mentions found.

Intel INTC $20.95 +0.12 0.58% 51,086,391 NASDAQ-GS: WSJ pB6 "Intel, Microsoft Offer Smart Sign Tech" by Don Clark, Nick Wingfield says Intel and Microsoft are promoting the idea of advanced digital signs in stores that aren't just for shoppers to look at because these look back. The 2 firms said they will collaborate to help firms create and use new forms of digital signs. By exploiting Intel chips and Microsoft software, the 2 firms hope to bring more interactivity to such devices and help retailers customize marketing offers to consumers. Signs equipped with cameras and special software could recognize the age, gender and height of people in front of them and tell what products and images received the most attention.

IBM $129.48 -1.37 1.05% 5,731,177 NYSE: No mentions found.

J.P.Morgan Chase JPM $44.53 -0.15 0.34% 31,878,678 NYSE: WSJ pC1 "Pandit Shakes Up Citi's Upper Ranks" by David Enrich says Citigroup removed Terri Dial from her job leading the NY firm's US retail bank as part of a broader push by CEO Vikram Pandit to strengthen his leadership team. Execs complained about her lack of progress overhauling the retail banking unit, which lags far behind rivals such as Bank of America Corp. and J.P.Morgan Chase and has struggled with soaring loan losses.

WSJ pC8 "Cost to Primary Dealers Goes Up" by Min Zing says the Fed. Reserve Bank of NY raised capital requirements by tripling it to $150 mil for its network of primary dealers which are those banks and broker-dealers that operate as its direct trading counterparties such as BNP Paribas, BofA, Barclays, Cantor Fitzgeral, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Daiwa, Deutsche Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, Miuho, organ Stanley, Nomura, Roayl Bank of Canada and UBS.

WSJ pC1 "Arctic Balst Awakens Orange Juice market" by Carolyn Cui, Tom Sellen says as an arctic chill spread across the main growing regions of Fla, orange juice prices began a wild ride after soaring 7% on Fri, plunging down 13% to finish at $1.3185 a pound. Processing firm Louis Dreyfus commodities is among the top orange juice Morgan Chase.

WSJ pB1 "Low Bids for MGM cloud Fate Of Studio" by Jeffrey McCracken, Mike Sepctor says first round bids are due by the end of the week in the auction of debt laden film studio MGM, and nearly a dozen prominent Hollywood and media names have submitted offers including Time Warner, Lions Gate, news Corp, Summit, Liberty Media, CBS, Reliance Industries, Yahoo and AT&T. MGM may have to file bankruptcy. its lender group, led by JPMorgan Chase, includes some 100 investors, many of them hedge funds.

WSJ pA4 "Cuomo Seeks Data On Bonuses" by Chad Bray says NY Atty Gen'l Andrew Cuomo said he has requested info from the nation's largest banks and broker-dealers on their compensation and bonus plans for fiscal year '09. The firms are Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon Corp., Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Cahse, Morgan Stanely, State Street & Wells Fargo.

NYT pB1 "What the Financial Crisis Commission Should Ask" by Andrew Ross Sorkin says on Wed., thefirst hearing of the Fin'l Crisis Inquiry commission will take place in D.C. and Wall St.'s top execs will testify including Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan and Brian T. Moynihan of BofA.

Johnson & Johnson JNJ $64.22 +0.01 0.02% 7,976,347 NYSE: No mentions found.

Kraft KFT $28.8 -0.13 0.45% 11,819,672 NYSE: No mentions found.

McDonald's MCD $62.32 +0.48 0.78% 6,081,665 NYSE: NYT p B2 "Mcdonald's names US Chief as Its No. 2 Exec" by William Neuman, Inv. Bus Daily pA2 & WSJ pB4 "McDoanld's names Don Thompson Pres, Operating Chief" by Kathy Shwiff say he will succeeds Ralph Alvarez and with oversee the firm's 32,000 restaurants world-wide.

Merck MRK $37.85 +0.15 0.4% 9,582,497 NYSE: No mentions found.

Microsoft MSFT $30.27 -0.39 1.27% 68,754,648 NASDAQ-GS: WSJ pB6 "Intel, Microsoft Offer Smart Sign Tech" by Don Clark, Nick Wingfield says Intel and Microsoft are promoting the idea of advanced digital signs in stores that aren't just for shoppers to look at because these look back. The 2 firms said they will collaborate to help firms create and use new forms of digital signs. By exploiting Intel chips and Microsoft software, the 2 firms hope to bring more interactivity to such devices and help retailers customize marketing offers to consumers. Signs equipped with cameras and special software could recognize the age, gender and height of people in front of them and tell what products and images received the most attention.

Pfizer PFE $18.83 +0.15 0.8% 32,449,989 NYSE: No mentions found.

Procter & Gamble PG $60.2 -0.24 0.4% 14,775,303 NYSE: WSJ pB2 "US Sellers Suffer Venezuela Hit" by Anjali Cordeiro, Ellen Byron & Fin Times p4 "Devaluation in Venezuelafuels fears of inflation rise" by Benedict Mander say consumer giants like Colgate-Palmolive, Avon and Procter & Gamble (the world's largest consumer products maker by sales) have pushed to sell more products in Latin America. Now, with Venezuela slashing the value of its currency, some of those profits are expected to take a hit as Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chevez weakened the bolivar last week to 4.3 per dollar from 2.15, a move poised to hurt int'l firms that have been ramping up their Latin American businesses to offset slower growth in the US and Europe. Translating Venezuelan earnings into US currency will now bring fewer dollars. Venezuela represents about 2% of profit for PG.

WSJ pB4 "New Web Sales Option For Household Goods" by Ellen Byron says makers of household products like diapers and detergents, are about to get another option for selling their goods online from Alice.com, a privately held start up that already runs an online market for household items, which plans to unvel a new service Tues providing merchandising, checkout and shipping services for firms that want to sell products through their own Web sites. Alice.com's expanded tools for manufacturers follow announcements by WalMart and Walgreen that they are increasing their online selling capabilities. Procter & Gamble owns a small stake in Ocado, a British online grocer.

3M MMM $83.98 -0.34 0.4% 2,927,603 NYSE: No mentions found.

Travelers TRV $48.54 -0.02 0.04% 3,058,441 NYSE: No mentions found.

United Technologies UTX $72.16 +1.53 2.17% 5,529,998 NYSE: No mentions found.

Verizon VZ $31.88 +0.13 0.41% 20,611,361 NYSE: No mentions found.

WalMart WMT $54.21 +0.88 1.65% 13,989,639 NYSE: WSJ pB4 s"WaLMart to Close 10 Sam's Clubs" by Kathy Shwiff says the closed stores will be in the US and cost 1,500 workers their jobs as part of a strategy to cut costs.

WSJ pB4 "New Web Sales Option For Household Goods" by Ellen Byron says makers of household products like diapers and detergents, are about to get another option for selling their goods online from Alice.com, a privately held start up that already runs an online market for household items, which plans to unvel a new service Tues providing merchandising, checkout and shipping services for firms that want to sell products through their own Web sites. Alice.com's expanded tools for manufacturers follow announcements by WalMart and Walgreen that they are increasing their online selling capabilities. Procter & Gamble owns a small stake in Ocado, a British online grocer.
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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