Thursday, February 11, 2010

2/11/10 Thurs. pm Dow Closes 10,144.19 up 105.81 or 1.05%

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Post #290 The following is brought to you by Intellivest Securities Research, Inc. Towards the end of this Blog is a list of the Dow 30 current CEOs, a ranking of the Dow 30 components by market capitalization as of 2/1/10 and an update of the Dow 30 component's most recent SEC filings as of 2/1/10.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Thursday at 10, 144.19 up 105.81 or 1.05% from Wednesday's close of 10,0038.38. Of the 30 Dow Companies: 28 gained and 2 (Bank of America and WalMart) declined. The biggest gainer dollar-wise and percentage-wise was Caterpillar CAT $56.15 +3 5.64% 16,395,461 NYSE. The biggest decliner dollar-wise and percentage-wise was WalMart WMT $53.08 -0.16 0.3% 11,579,194 NYSE.

As of the open of the market Thursday, the current divisor for the Dow Jones Industrial Average found at page C4 of today's Wall St. Jrnl is 0.132319125 unchanged, the trailing P/E ratio is 16.26 down from Wednesday morning's 16.29 (year ago it was 18.80) the P/E estimate is 12.67 unchanged from Wednesday's 12.67 (year ago it was 10.06) and the current dividend yield is 2.71 unchanged from Wednesday's 2.71 (it was 3.93 a year ago).

Thursday's Dow Jones Industrial Average closing numerator was 1,342.27 14 from Tuesday's closing Dow numerator of 1,328.27. 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 14 for Thursday by the divisor you get the increase in Thursday's Dow close of 105.81. A $1 change in the price of any DJIA stock = a 7.56 change in the average.

The average closing price (the closing numerator divided by 30) of Wednesday's Dow Jones Industrial Average was 44.74 up 0.46 from Wednesday's Dow Jones Industrial Average closing price of $44.28. The median closing price of Wednesday's Dow Jones Industrial Average was 38.71 up 0.40 from Wednesday's median closing price of 38.31. The lowest volume again was Boeing BA $60.59 +1.05 1.76% 4,395,636 NYSE and the highest volume again was Bank of America BAC $ 14.63 -0.04 0.27% 140,749,345 NYSE.

If Thursday 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 $1,380 ($134,220 - 132,840).

Market Watch Thursday by 2/11/10 4:34 pm by Donna Kardos Yesalavich, Kristina Peterson, says U.S. stocks finished strongly higher Thursday after the day's economic data, plus a pledge from European Union leaders to support Greece, encouraged investors to bet the global economic recovery would stay on track. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 105.81 points, or 1.1%, to 10,144.19. The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.4%. The Standard & Poor's 500-share index was up nearly 1%, led by its energy and materials sectors as crude-oil futures rose above $75 a barrel and metals futures rallied. The action came as investors were heartened by a better-than-expected U.S. weekly jobs report, China data, and some progress on preventing a spiralling Greek debt crisis. U.S. stock investors for much of the session focused on a statement from European Council President Herman Van Rompuy that euro-zone countries have pledged to support Greece through its debt crisis. The pledge helped bolster the widening consensus on Wall Street that Greece's neighbors will do what is necessary to support the monetary union. Credit spreads on Greece's sovereign debt narrowed, signifying that traders assigned a little less risk to the issues. The spread between 10-year Greek bonds and benchmark German bunds hit 2.727 percentage points, its lowest level since Jan. 19, when all three major U.S. stock indexes hit their recent highs. Investors yearning for specifics on support for Greece kept the euro depressed on a day when other risk-sensitive currencies, such as the Australian dollar, rallied strongly. The euro has now ceded the gains it had made earlier in the week in anticipation of a deal to support Greece. The dollar index touched a fresh seven-month high of 80.504, though gave up some of those gains as the euro came off its lows. Gold, oil and other commodities gained, helped by improved sentiment among investors about global economic prospects. Caterpillar Inc. was the Dow industrial average's best performer with a jump of 5.6%, lifted by rising commodities prices as well as data released Thursday indicating that consumer price inflation in China is moderating.

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

AT&T T $25.19 +0.07 0.28% 27,439,839 NYSE
Alcoa AA $13.58 +0.42 3.19% 34,108,003 NYSE
American Express AXP $38.29 +0.54 1.43% 9,901,832 NYSE
Bank of America BAC $14.63 -0.04 0.27% 140,749,345 NYSE
Boeing BA $60.59 +1.05 1.76% 4,395,636 NYSE
Caterpillar CAT $56.15 +3 5.64% 16,395,461 NYSE
Chevron CVX $71.73 +0.98 1.39% 11,258,247 NYSE
Cisco CSCO $23.93 +0.17 0.72% 42,445,202 NASDAQ-GS
Coca-Cola KO $54.22 +0.43 0.8% 13,163,563 NYSE
DuPont DD $32.55 +0.17 0.53% 7,124,599 NYSE
Disney DIS $30.16 +0.13 0.43% 12,389,346 NYSE
ExxonMobil XOM $65.24 +0.39 0.6% 23,515,573 NYSE
GE $15.77 +0.08 0.51% 66,767,991 NYSE
Hewlett-Packard HPQ $48.62 +0.60 1.25% 12,855,098 NYSE
Home Depot HD $28.99 +0.34 1.19% 14,584,406 NYSE
Intel INTC $20.06 +0.37 1.88% 58,633,071 NASDAQ-GS
IBM $123.73 +0.92 0.75% 5,087,196 NYSE
J.P.Morgan Chase JPM $39.02 +0.15 0.39% 33,807,951 NYSE
Johnson & Johnson JNJ $62.91 +0.18 0.29% 8,353,133 NYSE
Kraft KFT $28.99 +0.06 0.21% 21,737,409 NYSE
McDonald's MCD $63.79 +0.54 0.85% 7,478,176 NYSE
Merck MRK $36.88 +0.68 1.88% 14,429,436 NYSE
Microsoft MSFT $28.12 +0.13 0.46% 65,953,532 NASDAQ-GS
Pfizer PFE $17.87 +0.13 0.73% 54,644,905 NYSE
Procter & Gamble PG $61.96 +0.29 0.47% 10,367,878 NYSE
3M MMM $80.27 +1.65 2.1% 5,521,415 NYSE
Travelers TRV $50.2 +0.51 1.03% 4,639,251 NYSE
United Technologies UTX $66.71 +0.07 0.11% 5,504,100 NYSE
Verizon VZ $29.04 +0.17 0.59% 15,000,537 NYSE
WalMart WMT $53.08 -0.16 0.3% 11,579,194 NYSE
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The following are excerpts from Thursday morning's Blog:

A read of Thursday's print editions of: The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, Investor's Business Daily, 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 Wednesday's stock prices and related data.

Dow: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Wednesday at 10038.38 down 20.26 or 0.2% from Tuesday's close of 10,058.64. Year to date the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 3.74%. Of the 30 Dow Companies: 10 gained and 20 declined. The biggest gainer dollar-wise was J.P. Morgan Chase JPM $38.87 +0.48 1.25% 39,305,449 NYSE and percentage-wise was Bank of America BAC $14.67 +0.20 1.38% 175,436,474 NYSE. The biggest decliner dollar-wise was Chevron CVX $70.75 -0.56 0.79% 11,618,085 NYSE and percentage-wise was DuPont DD $32.38 -0.50 1.52% 6,403,701 NYSE.

WSJ pC1 "Swings Ease, leaving Dow Down 20.26" by Peter A. McKay, Donna Kardos Yesalavich says stocks declined as Fed. Res. Char Ben Bernanke laid out plans to raise some borrowing costs and investors waited to see details of any resuce package for Greece. Amid a snowstorm on the E. Cost, trading reached 4.4 bil shares, below the daily average of 5.1 bil. Disney rose 0.6% after releasing disappointing first quarter earnings, weighed by declines in theme park and consumer units.

WSJ pC2 "CME Buys 90% of Dow Jones Indexes" by Shira Ovide, Jeffrey McCracken says CME Group Inc. agreed to buy 90% of Dow Jones & Co.'s financial-indexes business that values the business at $675 mil. The deal means the Dow Jones Industrial Average will change hands for the first time since Charles Dow created it in 1896. The indexes will be contributed to a financial indexes venture that will be jointly owned by Dow and CME, which owns the Chicago Mercantile Exchange with Dow Jones, owned by Wall St. Journal publisher News Corp. owning 10% of the jv. Dow Jones will receive $607.5 mil from the sale. The managing editor of the Journal picks the firms represented in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the firms said the managing editor will continue to share ind decisions about the make up of the DJIA. The deal is subject to regulatory approval will close in the first quarter. The deal puts CME deeper into the investment info biz, packaging and calculating lists of stocks and other investments for use in futures, options,, mutual funds, and other investment products. CME has a market cap three times that of NYSE Euronext, which owns the NYSE.

WSJ pC5 "Sprint Tumbles 8%; BofA and Baidu Gain" by Kristina Peterson says stocks bounced around but ended in the red, as materials firms, including Alcoa, slipped amid global jitters focused on Greece. But losses were kept in check by financials, with JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America leading blue chip stocks throughout the day. Bank of America was the measure's best performer. Fin'l stocks rose Wed after Chair Bernanke of Fed Res outlined the central bank's plan to tighten credit policy. Dis reboudned after a poor start, despite releasing disappointing quarterly earnings. Materials and industrials slid amid anxiety over global debt, with Alcoa posting the Dow's largest drop and Caterpillar sinking 0.7%.

Fin Times p26 "Indices in retreat as trading volumes subdued by snow" by Samantha Person says US stocks sank into the red after Ben Bernanke outlined the central bank's plan to reverse its loose monetary policy. Shares in Disney declined as it posted quarterly profit above analysts' consensus estimate thanks to rising tv rev and improving trends at its theme park biz.

NYT pB3 "Shares Toss and Turn for Most of the Day" by Javier C.Hernandez says a heap of uncertainty greeted Wall St on Wed, settin the stage for an up and down day that left investors searching for a sense of direction.

Inv. Bus. Daily pA1 "Stocks Post Modest Losses As Volume Drifts Lower" by Paul Whitfield says stocks jogged to a negative finish Wed, although in softer volume. Wednesday's action saw the market down in lower volume and the current outlook is the market is in a correction.

USA Today p4B " Minor stock losses greet Fed plan" by Bloomberg says stocks posted minor losses Wed amid Fed Res. Chairman Bernanke's plan to raise the discount rate "before long."

Wednesday's Dow Jones Industrial Average closing numerator was 1,328.27 down 2.68 from Tuesday's closing Dow numerator of 1,330.95. 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 2.68 for Wednesday by the divisor you get the decrease in Wednesday's Dow close of 20.26. A $1 change in the price of any DJIA stock = a 7.56 change in the average.

The average closing price (the closing numerator divided by 30) of Wednesday's Dow Jones Industrial Average was 44.28 down 0.09 from Tuesday's Dow Jones Industrial Average closing price of $44.37. The median closing price of Wednesday's Dow Jones Industrial Average was 38.31 up 0.34 from Tuesday's median closing price of 37.97. The lowest volume again was 3M MMM $78.62 -0.10 0.13% 2,444,086 NYSE and the highest volume again was Bank of America BAC $14.67 +0.20 1.38% 175,436,474 NYSE.

If Wednesday 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 $270 ($133,110 - 132,840).

Market Watch Wednesday by Kate Gibson 2/10/10 4:26 pm says U.S. financial stocks rose Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke detailed his plans for an eventual tightening of monetary policy and as traders eyed an expected resolution to Greece's debt crisis.

The Financial Select Sector, which tracks the financial stocks in the S&P 500, added 0.8%. The financial sector was the only of the S&P 500 Index's 10 industry groups to maintain gains throughout the session, with the broad-market gauge ending at 1,068.13, off 2.39 points. Legg Mason Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!lm/quotes/nls/lm (LM 26.62, +0.17, +0.62%) on Wednesday reported assets under management fell to $679.4 billion at the end of last month, down some from $681.6 billion at the end of December. Its shares gained 5.5%. American International Group Inc.gained more than 16%, its shares rising one day after published reports that AIG was in talks to sell its life insurance unit Alico for about $15 million to MetLife Inc. On the Dow Jones Industrial Average Bank of America Corp. was the best-performing stock among its 30 components, rising 1.4%, closely followed by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. up 1.3%. In testimony prepared, but not delivered due to the snowstorm battering the nation's capital, Bernanke said the central bank might hike the discount rate before long, but the move would not mark a change in the Fed's outlook for monetary policy.
Financial stocks fell in the wake of Bernanke's comments, though they have since rebounded, noted TJ Marta, chief market strategist at Marta on the Markets. The Fed in December 2008 cut the discount rate, charged on direct loans to commercial banks, to 0.5% while also reducing the federal funds rates used by banks for overnight loans to one another to between zero and 0.25%. Read The Fed. Bernanke also said hiking the interest rate paid on money deposited by banks at the Fed would likely be among the first tools used to tighten credit. The market was also reacting positively to an apparently likely resolution to a debt crisis in Greece and shook off concerns about a larger-than-expected rise in the trade deficit.

AT&T T $25.12 -0.14 0.55% 26,648,263 NYSE: Fin Times p18 "AT&T confirms 4G network plan" by Paul Taylor says T confirmed plans to roll out a wireless 4G network based on the latest long term evolution technology next year and picked Sweden's Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent of France to supply the LTE network equipment. These 2 firms won the bulk of the LTE contract awarded by Verizon Communications, AT&T's main US rival, which is launching it 4G network this year. The network could cost $1.78 bil for AT&T to build.

WSJ pC12 "Sprint's Never Ending Mobile marathon" by Martin Peers says Sprint Nextel continues to fall behind in the wireless field by losing 148,000 subscribers in the 4Q. Each generates average monthly rev of $55. Sprint's cost structure is designed for the postpaid world dominated by At&T and Verizon Wireless yet it is trying to expand into prepaid. Aside from a chain of stores and heavy advertising, it is hard to expand into prepaid without having a nationwide cell network. Similar story at pB4 "Sprint Slowing Defections" by Roger Cheng & at Fin Times p14.

Alcoa AA $13.16 -0.12 0.9% 33,005,243 NYSE: WSJ pC5 "Sprint Tumbles 8%; BofA and Baidu Gain" by Kristina Peterson says stocks bounced around but ended in the red, as materials firms, including Alcoa, slipped amid global jitters focused on Greece. But losses were kept in check by financials, with JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America leading blue chip stocks throughout the day. Bank of America was the measure's best performer. Fin'l stocks rose Wed after Chair Bernanke of Fed Res outlined the central bank's plan to tighten credit policy. Dis rebounded after a poor start, despite releasing disappointing quarterly earnings. Materials and industrials slid amid anxiety over global debt, with Alcoa posting the Dow's largest drop and Caterpillar sinking 0.7%.

American Express AXP $37.75 +0.21 0.56% 8,879,697 NYSE: WSJ pB5 "Entrepreneurs Weigh Credit Card Options" by Emily Maltby says the new law dealing with credit card reform becomes effect 2/22 and protects consumer cards against arbitrary interest rate increases, over limit fees and clandestine term changes but the changes don't apply to the business cards, which may tempt some business owners to give up those cards in favor a consumer card. American Express says they won't change their rates on the business cards as a result of these changes to compensate because they operate both segments separately.

NYT pA1 "On Bankers' Top Pay List" lists the CEO compensation of top bankers and says some are paid more than Goldman Sachs' CEO which usually sets the standard, Jamie Dimon got $17.6 mil in '09 but the top earner was Wells Fargo CEO John Stump at $18.7 mill with Ken Chenault at American Express getting $10.6 mil and Greg Curl of Bof A, Chief risk officer earning $9.7 mil.

Bank of America BAC $14.67 +0.20 1.38% 175,436,474 NYSE: Fin Times p4 "BofA Merrill probes strikingly different" by Brooke masters says the twin probes of the '08 Bofa merger with Merrill are compared: the charges by Andrew Cuomo, the NY AG and the SEC charges. Cuomo's brought his suit under the Martin Act which does not require intent to defraud while the SEC does have to prove intent.

NYT pA1 "On Bankers' Top Pay List" lists the CEO compensation of top bankers and says some are paid more than Goldman Sachs' CEO which usually sets the standard, Jamie Dimon got $17.6 mil in '09 but the top earner was Wells Fargo CEO John Stump at $18.7 mill with Ken Chenault at American Express getting $10.6 mil and Greg Curl of Bof A, Chief risk officer earning $9.7 mil.

WSJ pC5 "Sprint Tumbles 8%; BofA and Baidu Gain" by Kristina Peterson says stocks bounced around but ended in the red, as materials firms, including Alcoa, slipped amid global jitters focused on Greece. But losses were kept in check by financials, with JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America leading blue chip stocks throughout the day. Bank of America was the measure's best performer. Fin'l stocks rose Wed after Chair Bernanke of Fed Res outlined the central bank's plan to tighten credit policy. Dis reboudned after a poor start, despite releasing disappointing quarterly earnings. Materials and industrials slid amid anxiety over global debt, with Alcoa posting the Dow's largest drop and Caterpillar sinking 0.7%.

Boeing BA $59.54 -0.20 0.33% 4,237,065 NYSE: No mentions found.

Caterpillar CAT $53.15 -0.38 0.71% 8,580,164 NYSE: WSJ pC5 "Sprint Tumbles 8%; BofA and Baidu Gain" by Kristina Peterson says stocks bounced around but ended in the red, as materials firms, including Alcoa, slipped amid global jitters focused on Greece. But losses were kept in check by financials, with JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America leading blue chip stocks throughout the day. Bank of America was the measure's best performer. Fin'l stocks rose Wed after Chair Bernanke of Fed Res outlined the central bank's plan to tighten credit policy. Dis reboudned after a poor start, despite releasing disappointing quarterly earnings. Materials and industrials slid amid anxiety over global debt, with Alcoa posting the Dow's largest drop and Caterpillar sinking 0.7%.

Chevron CVX $70.75 -0.56 0.79% 11,618,085 NYSE: AJC pA12 says Chevron has stepped up its offensive against a group that says it poisoned section of the Ecuadoran rain forest saying that a court appointed expert gave biased testimony against Chevron. The jmudgment may reach $27 bil which is more than twice the firm's '09 earnings.

Cisco CSCO $23.76 -0.13 0.54% 50,550,337 NASDAQ-GS: No mentions found.

Coca-Cola KO $53.79 -0.22 0.41% 9,358,703 NYSE: AJC pA11 "Coca-Cola Enterprise Bottler excels in Europe" by Jeremiah McWilliams says CCE, which is partially owned by KO, said on Wed that its sales volume fell 5% in No. America but sales grew 5% in Europe. CCE earned $110 mil or 22 cents s share in 4Q, up from a loss of $1.45 bil or $2.99 a share in the same period a eyar ago. Rev declned 2.5% in 4Q to $5.11 bil.

Disney DIS $30.03 +0.19 0.64% 24,190,539 NYSE: WSJ pB6 "Entertainment Firms Fight to Grow" by Paul Vigna, John Shipman says from Electronic Arts Inc. to Disney, entertainment firms are struggling to scratch out earnings growth as the big issue is growing competition from video, movies, games, music and travel for limited entertainment dollars due to the recession and high unemployment. Disney CEO Robert Iger said there is more pressure in the DVD market and more competition for people's time. Disney's profits were flat while rev rose 1.5%. Profits increased at its movie and tv divisions, while its theme parks suffered mainly on lower customer spending; attendance was up due to discounts.

WSJ pC1 "Swings Ease, leaving Dow Down 20.26" by Peter A. McKay, Donna Kardos Yesalavich says stocks declined as Fed. Res. Char Ben Bernanke laid out plans to raise some borrowing costs and investors waited to see details of any resuce package for Greece. Amid a snowstorm on the E. Cost, trading reached 4.4 bil shares, below the daily average of 5.1 bil. Disney rose 0.6% after releasing disappointing first quarter earnings, weighed by declines in theme park and consumer units.

WSJ pC5 "Sprint Tumbles 8%; BofA and Baidu Gain" by Kristina Peterson says stocks bounced around but ended in the red, as materials firms, including Alcoa, slipped amid global jitters focused on Greece. But losses were kept in check by financials, with JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America leading blue chip stocks throughout the day. Bank of America was the measure's best performer. Fin'l stocks rose Wed after Chair Bernanke of Fed Res outlined the central bank's plan to tighten credit policy. Dis rebounded after a poor start, despite releasing disappointing quarterly earnings. Materials and industrials slid amid anxiety over global debt, with Alcoa posting the Dow's largest drop and Caterpillar sinking 0.7%.

Fin Times p26 "Indices in retreat as trading volumes subdued by snow" by Samantha Person says US stocks sank into the red after Ben Bernanke outlined the central bank's plan to reverse its loose monetary policy. Shares in Disney declined as it posted quarterly profit above analysts' consensus estimate thanks to rising tv rev and improving trends at its theme park biz.

DuPont DD $32.38 -0.50 1.52% 6,403,701 NYSE: No mentions found.

ExxonMobil XOM $64.85 -0.35 0.54% 21,695,292 NYSE: No mentions found.

GE $15.69 +0.09 0.58% 68,312,602 NYSE: WSJ pB1 "Tape Delayed Olympic Contests Annoy the Instant Update World" by Sam Schechner, Amy Chozick says tape delay is a product of a dielmma facing NBC Universal, whose parent GE says it expects to lose about $250 mil on the Winter Olympics. It must delay in order to maximize its audience int he evenings on NBC without alienating it.

Hewlett-Packard HPQ $48.02 -0.10 0.21% 13,872,973 NYSE: No mentions found.

Home Depot HD $28.65 -0.22 0.76% 14,478,596 NYSE: No mentions found.

Intel INTC $19.69 +0.04 0.2% 56,223,719 NASDAQ-GS: No mentions found.

IBM $122.81 -0.40 0.32% 5,219,060 NYSE : No mentions found.

JPMorgan Chase JPM $38.87 +0.48 1.25% 39,305,449 NYSE: WSJ pC1 "Credit Suisse's Low Profile Cash Cow" by Jenny Strasburg says Philip Vasan the 50 year old American who runs Credit Suisse' s global prime brokerage unit has become one of its faster growing, but lowest profile, rev machines. About $2 bil of Credit Suisse's earnings that will be reported today will come from Vasan's unit. In the past year and a half several firms such as JPMorgan Chase and Desutsche Bank capitalized on the turbulence by luring clients seeking more secure prime brokerage providers.

WSJ pA6 "Obama, in Intervie, Geos Easy on CEOs" says in an interview the pres compared Jamie Dimon, ceo of JPMorgan and the CEO of Goldman Sachs with athletes who are paid even more.

NYT pA1 "On Bankers' Top Pay List" lists the CEO compensation of top bankers and says some are paid more than Goldman Sachs' CEO which usually sets the standard, Jamie Dimon got $17.6 mil in '09 but the top earner was Wells Fargo CEO John Stump at $18.7 mill with Ken Chenault at American Express getting $10.6 mil and Greg Curl of Bof A, Chief risk officer earning $9.7 mil.

Johnson & Johnson JNJ $62.73 -0.03 0.05% 10,115,778 NYSE: No mentions found.

Kraft KFT $28.93 +0.03 0.1% 19,987,222 NYSE: No mentions found.

McDonald's MCD $63.25 -0.32 0.5% 6,137,956 NYSE: No mentions found.

Merck MRK $36.2 -0.27 0.74% 16,820,418 NYSE: WSJ pB2 "Merck Settles Some Vioxx Suits" by Peter Loftus, Jonathan D. Rockoff & Inv. Bus. Daily pA2 say Merck agreed to pay $12.15 mil in legal fees and bolster its monitoring of drug safety to settle shareholder lawsuits stemming from the withdrawal of pain drug Vioxx. It removed Vioxx from the market in '04 after a study showed it doubled the risk of heart attack of stroke which then resulted in 27,000 personal injury lawsuits. Recently it paid $4.85 bil to settle personal injury claims of more than 40,000 people. In another settlement, it paid $80 mil to resolve 190 claims. There is also a US attorney investigation against Merck's handling of Vioxx ongoing in Boston.

Microsoft MSFT $27.99 -0.02 0.07% 47,949,344 NASDAQ-GS: No mentions found.

Pfizer PFE $17.74 -0.14 0.78% 59,954,469 NYSE: No mentions found.

Procter & Gamble PG $61.67 -0.09 0.15% 9,854,584 NYSE: WSJ pB5 "Giants Ally to Promote Family TV" by Suzanne Vranica, EllenByron says WalMart and Procter Gamble are jointly creating a made for tv movie, in an effort to promote family friendly alternatives to risque tv. It is a 2 hour "Secrets of the Mountain" to be broadcast in April on NBC.

WSJ pB8 "Product Tweaks Power Reckitt" by Paul Sonne profiles European consumer product firm Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC and how it has kept growing through the recession due to its innovations like a new battery operated, hands free soap dispenser which is sold with soap at $9.99 at WalMart. The firm has found itself up against more competition from Procter & Gamble and Henkel AG in Europe.

3M MMM $78.62 -0.10 0.13% 2,444,086 NYSE: No mentions found.

Travelers TRV $49.69 +0.12 0.24% 4,619,385 NYSE: No mentions found.

United Technologies UTX $66.64 +0.12 0.18% 4,933,051 NYSE: No mentions found.

Verizon VZ $28.87 +0.12 0.42% 15,147,208 NYSE: WSJ pC12 "Sprint's Never Ending Mobile marathon" by Martin Peers says Sprint Nextel continues to fall behind in the wireless field by losing 148,000 subscribers in the 4Q. Each generates average monthly rev of $55. Sprint's cost structure is designed for the postpaid world dominated by At&T and Verizon Wireless yet it is trying to expand into prepaid. Aside from a chain of stores and heavy advertising, it is hard to expand into prepaid without having a nationwide cell network. Similar story at pB4 "Sprint Slowing Defections" by Roger Cheng & at Fin Times p14.

Fin Times p18 "AT&T confirms 4G network plan" by Paul Taylor says T confirmed plans to roll out a wireless 4G network based on the latest long term evolution technology next year and picked Sweden's Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent of France to supply the LTE network equipment. These 2 firms won the bulk of the LTE contract awarded by Verizon Communications, AT&T's main US rival, which is launching it 4G network this year. The network could cost $1.78 bil for AT&T to build.

WalMart WMT $53.24 -0.01 0.02% 9,408,393 NYSE: WSJ pB8 "Product Tweaks Power Reckitt" by Paul Sonne prfiles European consumer product firm Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC and how it has kept growing through the recession due to its innovations like a new battery operated, hands free soap dispenser which is sold with soap at $9.99 at WalMart. The firm has found itself up against more competition from Procter & Gamble and Henkel AG in Europe.

WSJ pB5 "Giants Ally to Promote Family TV" by Suzanne Vranica, EllenByron says WalMart and Procter Gamble are jointly creating a made for tv movie, in an effort to promote family friendly alternatives to risque tv. It is a 2 hour "Secrets of the Mountain" to be broadcast in April on NBC.
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Here are the current 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 2/1/10 followed by number of shares outstanding rounded to the nearest 1/2 billion:

1. Exxon Mobil XOM $318 [5]
2. Microsoft MSFT 252 [9]
3. WalMart WMT 203 [4]
4. Chevron CVX 180 [2.5]
5. Procter & Gamble PG 180 [3]
6. Johnson & Johnson JNJ 174 [3]
7. GE 173 [10.5]
8. IBM 164 [1.5]
9 JPMorgan Chase 156 [4]
10. Pfizer PFE 152 [8]
11. AT&T 150 [6]
12. BAC 134 [8.5]
13. Cisco CSCO 131 [6]
14. Coke KO 126 [2]
15. Hewlett-Packard HPQ 113 [2]
16. Intel INTC 108 [5.5]
17. McDonald's MCD 106 [1.5]
18. Verizon VZ 84 [3]
19. Merck MRK 81 [2]
20. United Technologies UTX 63 [1]
21. 3M MMM 57 [.5]
22. Disney DIS 57 [2]
23. Home Depot 48 [2]
24. American Express AXP 45 [1]
25. Boeing BA 45 [1]
26. Kraft KFT 41 [1.5]
27. Caterpillar CAT 33 [.5]
28. DuPont DD 30 [1]
29. Travelers 28 [.5]
30. Alcoa AA 13 [1]

Here are the latest SEC filings as of 2/1/10 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: 1/29/10 8K re: 29,500 employees represented by Communications Workers of America District 3 failed to ratify the tentative labor agreement announced on December 14, 2009.

1/28/10 8K re: 4Q earnings were $0.51 per diluted share compared with $0.41 per share for the 4Q '08. 4Q net income was $3.0 bil compared with $2.4 bil for 4Q '08. Reported earnings for the full year '09 were $2.12 per diluted share, down from $2.16 per share for the full year '0 &net income for '09 was $12.5 bil, down from $12.9 bil for '08.

Alcoa AA: 1/27/10 8K re: contributions to pension plan of stock.

1/25/10 8K re: quarterly dividend on Alcoa’s common stock and preferred stock and that a contribution was authorized of up to $600 million in Alcoa common stock to Alcoa’s defined benefit pension plans.

1/12/10 8K re: Alcoa finished its 4Q '08 free cash flow positive, the first such quarterly achievement since 2Q '08. In 4Q '09, Alcoa generated free cash flow of $761 million, a $947 million improvement from 3Q '09 driven by strong cash from operations performance of $1.1 billion, a $940 million increase from the third quarter of 2009.

American Express AXP: 1/25/10 8K re: increases to the annual base salaries Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman & CEO from $1,250,000 $2,000,000; Edward P. Gilligan, Vice Chairman from $1,100,000 to $1,450,000; Stephen J. Squeri, Group President – Global Services & Chief Information Officer from $750,000 to $1,000,000; and Daniel T. Henry, Exec. VP & CFO from $700,000 to $850,000.

1/21/10 8K re: 4Q EPS of $0.59, up from $0.26 a year ago & other fin'l results.

1/15/10 8K re: owned and managed basis delinquency and write-off statistics for the lending portfolio of its U.S. Card Services operating segment for the months of Oct., Nov. and Dec. '09.

Bank of Am BAC: 1/20/10 8K re: '09 net income of $6.3 bil, compared with net income of $4.0 bil '08. Including preferred stock dividends & the negative impact from the repayment of the U.S. gov’s $45 billion preferred stock investment in the company under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, income applicable to common shareholders was a net loss of $2.2 billion, or $0.29 per diluted share.

1/15/10 8K re: Brian Moynihan, CEO's new senior management team: Steele Alphin, chief admin. officer; Cathy Bessant, Global Technology & Operations exec, David Darnell, pres. of Global Commercial Banking; Barbara Desoer, pres. of Home Loans & Insurance; Anne Finucane, global strategy & marketing officer; Sallie Krawcheck, pres. of Global Wealth & Investment Management; Tom Montag, pres. Global Banking & Markets; Ed O’Keefe, gen'. counsel; Joe Price, president of Consumer, Small Business & Card Banking; Neil Cotty interim CFO; Bruce Thompson chief risk officer; & Greg Curl will focus on key strategic partnerships critical to BAC’s global capabilities.

12/17/09 8K 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.

Boeing BA: 1/27/10 8K re: 4Q '09 results: rev grew to $17.9 bil & operating margin grew to 9.4% with net income of $1.75 per share. Operating cash flow increased to $3.2 bil.

Caterpiller CAT: 1/27/10 8K re: supplemental information concerning deliveries to users for its Machinery and Engines lines of business.
12/15/09 8K re: amendments to Bylaws.

1/27/10 8K re: sales & rev of $32.39 bil for '09, a decrease of 37% from $51.32 biln in '08. Profit per share was $1.43, down 75%. 4Q sales & rev. were $7.9 bil, down 39% from 4Q '08. Profit per share for 4Q was $0.36, down 67% from 4Q '08.

Chevron CVX: 1/29/10 8K re: earnings for 4Q '09: net income was $3.1 bil, down 37% from $4.9 bil in 4Q '08.

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: 11/25/09 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: 1/22/10 Proxy Statement for '10 Annual Meeting of shareholders, which will be held on Wednesday, 3/10/10 at 10 a.m. at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country in San Antonio, Texas.

1/12/10 8K re: new form of agreement for the award of stock units and stock options awarded to executive officers.

1/4/10 8K re: new employment agreement with James A. Rasulo and amendment of employment agreement with Thomas O. Staggs. Rasulo will serve as Sr. EVP & CFO with an annual salary of $1,400,000.

DuPont DD: 1/26/10 8K re: 4Q EPS of $.48 compared to a 4Q '08 loss of $.70 per share. Sales of $6.4 bil were up 10% vs prior year, led by sales growth greater than 20% for titanium dioxide, electronic materials, performance polymers & seed products.

ExxonMobil XOM: 2/1/10 8K re: 4Q results: earnings were $6,050 mil, a decrease of 23% or $1,770 mil from 4Q '08. EPS were $1.27, a decrease of 18%. Capital & exploration expenditures were $8.3 bil, up 21% from the 4Q '08.

GE: 1/22/10 8K re: 4Q ’09 EPS of $0.28; FY ’09 EPS of $1.03; rev of $41.4 bil for Quarter; $157 bi for Year.

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: 1/27/10 Def. Proxy Statement re: annual stockholders meeting on 3/1710 at 2 pm at Computer History Museum, 1401 N. Shoreline Boulevard, Mountain View, Cal.

1/27/10 8K re: Electronic Data Systems Corporation, which HP acquired in '08 is a defendant in litigation filed in the United Kingdom by Sky Subscribers Services Limited and British Sky Broadcasting Limited in '04 alleging deceit, negligent misrepresentation, negligent misstatement and breach of contract. On 1/26/10, the court issued a decision finding EDS UK liable to BSkyB for deceit in one area of the claim, for negligent misrepresentation and negligent misstatement in another area of the claim, and for breach of contract. The court also dismissed all of BSkyB’s other claims. The court will issue a final quantification of damages at a later date. HP plans to appeal.

Home Depot HD: 12/3/09 10Q

Intel INTC: 1/25/10 8K re: promotions of Renee J. James, Thomas M. Kilroy, Brian M. Krzanich & Stacy J. Smith to sr. vp.

1/15/10 8K re: 4Q earnings of revenue of $10.6B, up 13% sequentially; nearly twice the average seasonal sequential growth seen in 4Q; gross margin of 64.7% was a record, and up 7 points compared to 3Q; operating income of $2.5B was down 3% sequentially, and up 62% from a year ago. Net income of $2.3B was up 23% sequentially, and up 875% from a year ago.

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

IBM: 1/29/10 8K re: compensation for its top 5 execs.

1/19/10 8K re: Record diluted earnings per share of $10.01, up 13%; 7th consecutive year of double-digit EPS growth; record net income of $13.4 bil, up 9%; gross profit margin of 45.7%, 6th consecutive year of increase; record free cash flow of $15.1 bil, up $0.8 bil.

JPMorganChase JPM: 1/25/10 8K re: amendments to By-laws re: special meetings of stockholders.

1/19/10 8K re: 4Q results.

Kraft KFT: 2/1/10 8K re: further details about the dealing facilities that will be available to accepting Cadbury Securityholders who hold their Cadbury Shares or Cadbury ADSs in certificated form.

1/27/10 8K re: Kraft reduced the number of acceptances required to fulfil the Acceptance Condition of the recommended Final Offer for Cadbury from 90% to 50% plus one Cadbury Share.

1/12/10 8K re: increase of guidance for '09 diluted earnings per share to at least $2.00 versus the previous expectation of at least $1.97.1 reflecting strong operating gains & a significant increase in marketing investments versus the prior year.

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.

McDonalds MCD: 1/26/10 8K re: compensation to execs.

1/22/10 8K re: '09 results: global comparable sales increase of 3.8%, fueled by the U.S. 2.6%, Europe 5.2% & Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa 3.4%; growth in McDonald’s combined operating margin to 30.1%; consolidated operating income increase of 6% (10% in constant currencies) over the prior year; earnings per share of $4.11, up 9% over the prior year; & return of $5.1 bil to shareholders through shares repurchased & dividends paid, bringing the 3-year total to
$16.6 bil under MCD’s $15 bil to $17 bil cash return to shareholders target for '07 through '09.

1/15/10 8K re: Donald Thompson elected Pres. & Chief Operating Officer. He's been with McDonald's for 19 years.

12/23/09 8K re: am agreement re: the retirement of Ralph Alvarez, President and Chief Operating Officer.

Merck MRK: 11/18/09 8KA amending financial stmts re: the earlier announcement of the consummation on November 3, 2009 of the merger of Merck & Co., Inc. &, Schering-Plough Corporation.

Microsoft MSFT: 1/28/10 10Q.

1/28/10 8K re: record revenue of $19.02 bil for 2Q ended 12/31/09, a 14% increase from the same period of the prior year. Operating income, net income & diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $8.51 bil, $6.66 bil & $0.74 per share, which represented increases of 43%, 60% and 57%, respectively, when compared with the prior year period.

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

Pfizer PFE: 12/16/09 8K re: amendment of bylaws & change in fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble PG: 1/28/10 8K re: net sales growth of 6% for the October - December quarter to $21.0 bil. Organic sales grew 5%. Diluted net earnings per share were $1.49.

1/28/10 10Q

1/12/10 8K re: quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share on the Common Stock & on the Series A & Series B ESOP Conv. Class A Pref. Stock, payable 2/16/10 with record date of 1/22/10, which is its consistent dividend since incorporation in 1890. 4 bil times a day, P&G brands are sold globally, products include Pampers, Tide, Ariel, Always, Whisper, Pantene, Mach3, Bounty, Dawn, Gain, Pringles, Charmin, Downy, Lenor, Iams, Crest, Oral-B, Duracell, Olay, Head & Shoulders, Wella, Gillette, Braun Fusion. P&G has 135,000 employees in 80 countries.

1/8/10 8K re:changes to its segment reporting structure & agreement to sell its global pharmaceuticals business to Warner Chilcott plc.

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: 1/28/10 8K re: 4Q earnings of $1.30 per share on sales of $6.1 bil, with operating income margins of 21.9%. Sales & per-share earnings increased 11.1% & 69% year-on-year, respectively. Profits grew at double-digit rates in each of the company’s six business segments and in all geographic regions. Free cash flow for 4Q grew by 16% to $770 million. 3M '09 sales of $23.1 bil & earnings per share of $4.52, down 8.5% & 7.6% respectively. Excluding special items, '09 earnings declined 9.3%to $4.69 per share.

Travelers TRV: 1/26/10 8K re: net income of $1.285 bil, or $2.36 per diluted share, for the quarter ended 12/31/09, compared to $801 mil, or $1.35 per diluted share, for the quarter ended 12/3108. Operating income in the current quarter was $1.155 bil, or $2.12 per diluted share, compared to $939 mil, or $1.58 per diluted share, in the prior year quarter.

United Technologies UTX: 1/27/10 8K re: 4Q '09 earnings per share of $1.15 & net income attributable to common shareowners of $1.1 bil, down 7% and 6%, respectively, over the year ago quarter. Consolidated revenues for the quarter of $14.1 billion were 5% below prior year.

Verizon Communications Inc. VZ: 1/26/10 8K re: Consolidated cash flow growth in 4Q '09: $31.6 bil in cash flow from operations in '09, up $4.0 bil, or 14.5 percent, from '08 & other financial results inlcuding a loss of 23 cents per share and adjusted earnings of 54 cents per share, compared with 4Q '08 EPS of 43 cents and 61 cents, respectively.

WalMartWMT: 1/28/10 8K re: business restructurings to leverage operating expenses consistent with its priorities of growth, leverage and returns. These include the closure of 10 Sam’s Clubs announced on 1/11/10, the elimination of Sam’s Club new business membership representatives, the new operations structure for Walmart U.S.; the integration of the Puerto Rican operations into Walmart U.S. and Sam’s Club.
The net impact from the charges for these business restructurings on 4Q earnings for fiscal year 2010 is estimated to be 0.04 per share. Walmart will announce fourth quarter earnings before the market opens on February 18, 2010.

12/8/09 10Q