1/9/12 Mon Alcoa Reports Results Today; Chevron on Wed & JPMorgan Fri

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Post No. 1,412 The following is brought to you by Intellivest Securities Research, Inc. Toward the end of this Blog is a list of the Dow 30 current CEOs, and a ranking of the Dow 30 components by market capitalization and Dow 30 components' SEC filings in each case as of January 1, 2012.

A read of the print editions of Monday's Barron's, Wall St. Journal, Financial Times, Investor's Business Daily,New York Times, USA Today, Atlanta Journal Constitution and Daily Report (Ga. - carries Bloomberg) 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 stock prices and related data.

Dow Jones Industrial AverageThe Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Friday at 12,359.92 down 55.78 or 0.45% from Thursday's close of 12,415.70. For the week the Dow is up 142.36 or 1.17% from last Friday's close of 12,217.56. For the year the Dow is up 1.17%. Of the 30 Dow components 8 gained and 22 declined. The biggest gainer dollar-wise was McDonald's MCD $100.6 +0.77 0.77% 6,695,457 NYSE and percentage-wise was Microsoft MSFT $28.105 +0.425 1.54% 99,264,237 NASDAQ-GS. The biggest decliner dollar-wise IBM $182.54 -2.12 1.15% 4,818,951 NYSE and percentage-wise was AT&T T $29.68 -0.72 2.37% 45,461,381 NYSE.

Inv. Bus. Daily pA1 "Stocks quiet as job report fails to inspire" by Paul Whitfield says stocks yawned Fri, getting no traction out of better than expected jobs data as Friday's action was mixed in lower volume and the current outlook is the market is in a confirmed uptrend.

As of the open of the market Monday, the current divisor for the Dow Jones Industrial Average found at page C4 of Monday's Wall St. Journal is 0.132129493. Monday's trailing P/E ratio is 13.37 down from Friday's trailing P/E ratio of 13.43 (year ago it was 14.89); Monday's P/E estimate is 11.92 down from Friday's P/E estimate of 12.49 (year ago it was 13.55), and Monday's dividend yield is 2.59 up from Friday's dividend yield of 2.58 (last year it was 2.46). The Dow's all-time high was 14,164.53 on Oct. 9, 2007. The 12 year low close for the Dow was on March 9, 2009 when it fell to 6,547.05.

Friday's Dow Jones Industrial Average closing numerator was 1,633.10 down 7.37 from Thursday's closing numerator of 1,640.47. This is the sum of all 30 closing prices. A short cut to the Dow numerator is to multiply the closing Dow by the Divisor. Now, if you divide the Dow numerator decrease for today by the divisor (0.132129493) you get the decrease in today's Dow. A $1 change in the price of any DJIA stock = a 7.57 change in the average.

The average closing price (the closing numerator divided by 30) of Friday's Dow Jones Industrial Average was $54.44 down $0.24 from Thursday's average closing price of $54.68. The median closing price of Friday's Dow Jones Industrial Average was $44.62 (DD/HD) down $0.26 from Thursday's median closing price of $44.88. The lowest volume was Travelers TRV $59.35 +0.02 0.03% 1,950,914 NYSE and the highest volume again was Bank of America BAC $6.18 -0.13 2.06% 299,065,860 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 lost $27 ($164,047).

MarketWatch Friday 1/6/12 5:13 pm by Kate Gibson says U.S. stocks mostly declined Friday, cutting into weekly gains, as investors measured further evidence of an improving labor market against Europe’s troubles, illustrated by the euro’s decline.
Amid protests in the streets and hopes for talks with the IMF, Hungary is looking a bit like Greece. “The euro continues to fall, and I think that puts a lot of downward pressure on our stock market. We’re a global economy now, and if banks fail in Europe we need to be concerned,” said Kim Caughey Forrest, a senior equity analyst at Fort Capital in Pittsburgh. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA -0.45% closed down 55.78 points, or 0.5%, to 12,359.92. The blue-chip index rose 1.2% for the week, which was shortened by Monday’s New Year’s holiday. Trading volumes were light. Alcoa Inc. AA -2.14% paced blue-chip losses that included all but eight of its 30 components, with a Citi analyst predicting the aluminum producer on Monday would report its first quarterly loss since the recession. Alcoa’s earnings mark the unofficial start for fourth-quarter 2011 earnings, with analysts also looking for indications of what’s ahead. “Earnings are still a big focus,” said Caughey Forrest. “You want to know what these individual companies are seeing, and how they’re positioned to navigate what we see as another choppy year.”
Up 1.6% from last Friday’s close, the S&P 500 Index SPX -0.25% fell 3.25 points, or 0.3%, to 1,277.81 Friday, with telecommunications the heaviest weight and consumer discretionary companies rising the most among its 10 major sectors. The Nasdaq Composite COMP +0.16% bucked the trend, closing up 4.36 points, or 0.2%, to 2,674.22, for a 2.7% weekly gain. For every seven stocks falling eight advanced on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was just over 710 million. NYSE Composite volume was 3.6 billion. Last year’s daily average was 4.3 billion. The euro EURUSD -0.13% dropped below $1.27 for the first time since September 2010, sliding 1.7% for the week. The U.S. dollar also posted weekly gains against the Japanese yen USDJPY +0.42% . The dollar index DXY +0.45% , a measure of the greenback against six other major currencies, advanced to 81.244, up more than 1% for the week and hitting a one-year high. The stronger dollar weighed on commodities. Crude-oil futures CL2G +0.12% declined 0.3% to end at $101.56 a barrel; gold futures GC2G -0.17% fell 0.2% to finish the floor session at $1,616.80 an ounce. Equities gave a lackluster response to the government on Friday reporting 200,000 workers were added to U.S. nonfarm payrolls in December, while the jobless rate fell to 8.5%, nearly a three-year low. “Expectations were raised after the ADP number yesterday, and eyes are still on Europe” regarding the possible global impact of the region’s debt troubles, said Brad Sorensen, an analyst at the Schwab Center For Financial Research. “Add all that up and it leads to a tepid reaction.” Still, “it’s a good number, and continues the trend we’ve been seeing,” said Sorensen, who adds that a severe recession in Europe is not a foregone conclusion. “The jobs data was good, it was a nice strong number. There is probably some seasonality in the number, so we’ll see,” said Caughey Forrest at Fort Capital. Read First Take on jobs report.
Overseas, Italy’s borrowing costs surged, with the yield on the country’s 10-year note currently at 7.09%, a level generally viewed as unsustainable. Both Ireland and Portugal had to resort to financial rescues once their borrowing costs exceeded 7%. “We are all tied together and the sovereign debt crisis really hasn’t been solved, and it bubbles up with surprising regularity in U.S. investors’ thoughts. We’re seeing companies really gearing down for a long slog, for instance Alcoa,” said Caughey Forrest. The aluminum producer late Thursday said it would reduce its global smelting capacity.

Friday's Closing Dow Numbers and Monday's News:

Symbol Last Sale Change % Change Share Volume Market

AT&T T $29.68 -0.72 2.37% 45,461,381 NYSE: Barron's p24 "A toast to '11" by Shirley A. Lazo says '11 was a great one for dividends and there were 8 Dow firms that gave boosts: AT&T, Boeing, Chevron, Disney, GE, Home Depot, Merck and Pfizer. However, AT&T, Boeing, Disney, GE, Merck and Pfizer don't pay up until this quarter. McDonald's, Microsoft, and Verizon put more cash in investors' pockets, too, but their actual declarations took place in 3Q.

Alcoa AA $9.16 -0.20 2.14% 35,041,531 NYSE: Fin times p20 "JPMOrgan set to stand out from herd", NYT pB2 "Corporate earnings", WSJ pC1 "Alcoa report may offer bang, not bucks" by Kelly Evans say Alcoa reports on Mon, Chevron on Wed & JPMorgan on Fri. FT says JPMorgan is expected to report decreased earnings of 93 cents a share down from $1.02 from previous quarter but still is better than other expected bank results. Alcoa is expected to report earnings of 3 cents a share compared to a loss of 21 cents from previous quarter.

Barron's p16 "Alcoa on the runway" by Andrew Bary says Alcoa, the second worst performer in the Dow in '11, could rebound this year as aluminum prices bottom and mining capacity is rationalized. CEO Klaus Kleinfeld is looking for innovative uses for Alcoa's aluminum which the CEO calls a miracle metal which is found in aircraft, Coke bottles & iPads. Alcoa may take some time to paly out given weak alum pries but the firm seems in good shape for decades ahead. Alcoa is wining the battle against composites in comm'l aviation as the next generation of narrow body jets from Boeing and Airbus, a new 737 and A320 will use aluminum as the primary material.

Barron's p13 "Week preview" says Alcoa will kick off 4Q earnings season after the close on Monday as it plans to cut global smelting capacity by 12% due to decreased in alum prices. This will result in a 16 cent quarterly charge. On Fri JPMogan expects 4Q results and eps are seen falling to 93 cents a share.

Barron's pM3 "Despite Friday's fade, markets tick up nicely" by Vito J. Racanelli says some of the stocks did the best last week were '11 losers or among the poorest performers of '11: Bank of America, Alcoa, JPMorgan Chase and Netflix.

American Express AXP $48.27 -0.53 1.09% 4,818,293 NYSE: No mentions found.

Bank of America BAC $6.18 -0.13 2.06% 299,065,860 NYSE: Barron's pM3 "Despite Friday's fade, markets tick up nicely" by Vito J. Racanelli says some of the stocks did the best last week were '11 losers or among the poorest performers of '11: Bank of America, Alcoa, JPMorgan Chase and Netflix.

Barron's pL10 "Triumph of the Cheapstake" says bond trader Dan Fuss likes bonds of big banks that are too big to fail but out of favor such as Bank of America bonds due in '19 yielding 8%.

Barron's p22 "From Barrons.com" says one reason Bank of America came back above $6 is Citigroup did a Buy recommendation.

Inv. Bus. Daily pA17 "Battered bank syndrome" editorial says Bank of America cabved in to race bullies and still has to pay off plaintiffs who sued them with a $335 mil settlement.

Boeing BA $73.98 +0.45 0.61% 4,684,637 NYSE: Barron's p16 "Alcoa on the runway" by Andrew Bary says Alcoa, the second worst performer in the Dow in '11, could rebound this year as aluminum prices bottom and mining capacity is rationalized. CEO Klaus Kleinfeld is looking for innovative uses for Alcoa's aluminum which the CEO calls a miracle metal which is found in aircraft, Coke bottles & iPads. Alcoa may take some time to paly out given weak alum pries but the firm seems in good shape for decades ahead. Alcoa is wining the battle against composites in comm'l aviation as the next generation of narrow body jets from Boeing and Airbus, a new 737 and A320 will use aluminum as the primary material.

Barron's p24 "A toast to '11" by Shirley A. Lazo says '11 was a great one for dividends and there were 8 Dow firms that gave boosts: AT&T, Boeing, Chevron, Disney, GE, Home Depot, Merck and Pfizer. However, AT&T, Boeing, Disney, GE, Merck and Pfizer don't pay up until this quarter. McDonald's, Microsoft, and Verizon put more cash in investors' pockets, too, but their actual declarations took place in 3Q.

Caterpillar CAT $95.76 + 0.24 0.25% 5,271,141 NYSE: No mentions found.

Chevron CVX $108.31 -0.79 0.72% 8,137,728 NYSE: NYT pB2 "Corporate earnings" says Alcoa reports on Mon, Chevron on Wed & JPMorgan on Fri.

Barron's p24 "A toast to '11" by Shirley A. Lazo says '11 was a great one for dividends and there were 8 Dow firms that gave boosts: AT&T, Boeing, Chevron, Disney, GE, Home Depot, Merck and Pfizer. However, AT&T, Boeing, Disney, GE, Merck and Pfizer don't pay up until this quarter. McDonald's, Microsoft, and Verizon put more cash in investors' pockets, too, but their actual declarations took place in 3Q.

Cisco CSCO $18.85 -0.07 0.37% 27,719,722 NASDAQ-GS: Barron's p14 "Storm clouds should lift for Cisco" by Michael Santoli says a year ago Cisco shares looked cheap at $20 or 12 times earnings expected for '11 and today they are cheaper at $19 which is 11 times forecast profits for the fiscal year ending in July. In 'aa Cisco fought through a tough product transition, bruising price competition in its core network switch market, the demise of its Flip videocamera, slower cable box sales & a decline in tech spending by govs. Cisco started a 24 cent annual payout that produces a 1.3% yield compared to Microsoft and Intel both yielding 3%.

Coca-Cola KO $68.93 -0.44 0.63% 6,725,051 NYSE: Barron's pL21 "Build with the best" by J.R. Brandstrader says Kate Mead of MFS Value likes consumer staples that people use every day such as Johnson & Johnson maker of BandAid & Visine. James Kochan fixed income strategist for Wells Fargo likes Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and Kraft Foods even though none have appreciated much in the last but but he thinks their stock prices don't reflect the future earnings growth.

Disney DIS $39.91 +0.41 1.04% 14,324,642 NYSE: NYT pB1 "A Disney marketer's downfall" by Brooks Barnes says Disney is looking to replace M T Carney as pres of movie marketing.

Barron's p24 "A toast to '11" by Shirley A. Lazo says '11 was a great one for dividends and there were 8 Dow firms that gave boosts: AT&T, Boeing, Chevron, Disney, GE, Home Depot, Merck and Pfizer. However, AT&T, Boeing, Disney, GE, Merck and Pfizer don't pay up until this quarter. McDonald's, Microsoft, and Verizon put more cash in investors' pockets, too, but their actual declarations took place in 3Q.

DuPont DD $46.04 -0.66 1.41% 8,214,349 NYSE: No mentions found.

Exxon XOM $85.12 -0.64 0.75% 15,861,227 NYSE: WSJ pA8 "Venezuela weights exit from forum on disputes" by Kejal Vyas, NYT pB7 "Venezuela vows to reject arbitration in Exxon case" by Reuters says Pres. Chavex say he won't accept rulings by the World Bank's tribunal for investment disputes.

GE $18.65 +0.10 0.54% 50,356,035 NYSE: WSJ pB4 "Fight against EPA orders heads to Supreme Court" by Jess Bravin a case dealing with EPA's power to enforce the Clean Water Act is being watched by GE in its case involving a Hudson River Cleanup.

Barron's p24 "A toast to '11" by Shirley A. Lazo says '11 was a great one for dividends and there were 8 Dow firms that gave boosts: AT&T, Boeing, Chevron, Disney, GE, Home Depot, Merck and Pfizer. However, AT&T, Boeing, Disney, GE, Merck and Pfizer don't pay up until this quarter. McDonald's, Microsoft, and Verizon put more cash in investors' pockets, too, but their actual declarations took place in 3Q.

Hewlett-Packard HPQ $26.4 -0.10 0.38% 11,629,736 NYSE: WSJ pB7 "CEOs feel job jitters" by Leslie Kwoh says CEOs are anxious after Hewlett-Packard fired Leo Apotheker and Yahoo fired Carol Bartz.

Barron's p19 "High rollers in Vegas: Intel & Microsoft" by Tiernan Ray says this week the Consumer Electronics Show is in Las Vegas. Last year's Xoom along with competing tablets from Hewlett-Packard, RIM and others sold far fewer than expected. Microsoft & Intel largely absent from last year's tablet hubbub, each have a better story to tell at CES. Now Intel has chops for both smartphones & tablets. Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system will go on sale this year and Intel can look forward to its new chip called Ivy Bridge, which uses a 3 dimensional semiconductor transistor called tri-gate.

Home Depot HD $43.2 +0.11 0.26% 7,197,658 NYSE: Barron's p24 "A toast to '11" by Shirley A. Lazo says '11 was a great one for dividends and there were 8 Dow firms that gave boosts: AT&T, Boeing, Chevron, Disney, GE, Home Depot, Merck and Pfizer. However, AT&T, Boeing, Disney, GE, Merck and Pfizer don't pay up until this quarter. McDonald's, Microsoft, and Verizon put more cash in investors' pockets, too, but their actual declarations took place in 3Q.

Intel INTC $25.25 -0.15 0.59% 36,258,496 NASDAQ-GS: WSJ pB1 "Intel awaits Microsoft's next number" by Don Clark, Fin times p15 "Microsoft to promote smartphone software" by Richard Waters say Microsoft last year said it would not rely as much on Intel's software. Microsoft is now hanging its hat on Windows 8 to stay relevant.

Barron's p14 "Storm clouds should lift for Cisco" by Michael Santoli says a year ago Cisco shares looked cheap at $20 or 12 times earnings expected for '11 and today they are cheaper at $19 which is 11 times forecast profits for the fiscal year ending in July. In 'aa Cisco fought through a tough product transition, bruising price competition in its core network switch market, the demise of its Flip videocamera, slower cable box sales & a decline in tech spending by govs. Cisco started a 24 cent annual payout that produces a 1.3% yield compared to Microsoft and Intel both yielding 3%.

Barron's p19 "High rollers in Vegas: Intel & Microsoft" by Tiernan Ray, Inv. Bus. Daily pA7 "Just call Consumer Electronics Show "Chasing Apple" by Patrick Seitz, say this week the Consumer Electronics Show is in Las Vegas. Last year's Xoom along with competing tablets from Hewlett-Packard, RIM and others sold far fewer than expected. Microsoft & Intel largely absent from last year's tablet hubbub, each have a better story to tell at CES. Now Intel has chops for both smartphones & tablets. Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system will go on sale this year and Intel can look forward to its new chip called Ivy Bridge, which uses a 3 dimensional semiconductor transistor called tri-gate.

IBM $182.54 -2.12 1.15% 4,818,951 NYSE: No mentions found.

JPMorgan JPM $35.36 -0.32 0.9% 32,908,692 NYSE: Fin times p20 "JPMOrgan set to stand out from herd", NYT pB2 "Corporate earnings" say Alcoa reports on Mon, Chevron on Wed & JPMorgan on Fri. FT says JPMorgan is expected to report decreased earnings of 93 cents a share down from $1.02 from previous quarter but still is better than other expected bank results. Alcoa is expected to report earnings of 3 cents a share compared to a loss of 21 cents from previous quarter.

Barron's p13 "Week preview" says Alcoa will kick off 4Q earnings season after the close on Monday as it plans to cut global smelting capacity by 12% due to decreased in alum prices. This will result in a 16 cent quarterly charge. On Fri JPMogan expects 4Q results and eps are seen falling to 93 cents a share.

Barron's pM3 "Despite Friday's fade, markets tick up nicely" by Vito J. Racanelli says some of the stocks did the best last week were '11 losers or among the poorest performers of '11: Bank of America, Alcoa, JPMorgan Chase and Netflix.

Johnson & Johnson JNJ $64.83 -0.57 0.87% 15,208,101 NYSE: WSJ pB3 "Bristol tie-up targets Hepatitis C" by Jon Rockoff says new hepatitis C therapies were introduced last year by Merck and also from a collaboration between Johnson & Johnson & Vertex.

Barron's pL21 "Build with the best" by J.R. Brandstrader says Kate Mead of MFS Value likes consumer staples that people use every day such as Johnson & Johnson maker of BandAid & Visine. James Kochan fixed income strategist for Wells Fargo likes Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and Kraft Foods even though none have appreciated much in the last but but he thinks their stock prices don't reflect the future earnings growth.

Kraft KFT $37.55 -0.19 0.5% 7,878,031 NYSE: Barron's pL21 "Build with the best" by J.R. Brandstrader says Kate Mead of MFS Value likes consumer staples that people use every day such as Johnson & Johnson maker of BandAid & Visine. James Kochan fixed income strategist for Wells Fargo likes Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and Kraft Foods even though none have appreciated much in the last but but he thinks their stock prices don't reflect the future earnings growth.

McDonald's MCD $100.6 +0.77 0.77% 6,695,457 NYSE: Barron's p24 "A toast to '11" by Shirley A. Lazo says '11 was a great one for dividends and there were 8 Dow firms that gave boosts: AT&T, Boeing, Chevron, Disney, GE, Home Depot, Merck and Pfizer. However, AT&T, Boeing, Disney, GE, Merck and Pfizer don't pay up until this quarter. McDonald's, Microsoft, and Verizon put more cash in investors' pockets, too, but their actual declarations took place in 3Q.

Inv. Bus. Daily pA4 "Right way to bite into growing amrkets" by Gary Sern profiles Panera bread and says McDonald's is one of its big rivals in Canada. Restauarnts can boost revenue either by increasing same store sales or opening new restaurants.

Merck MRK $38.47 -0.27 0.7% 16,650,278 NYSE: WSJ pB3 "Bristol tie-up targets Hepatitis C" by Jon Rockoff says new hepatitis C therapies were introduced last year by Merck and also from a collaboration between Johnson & Johnson & Vertex.

Barron's p24 "A toast to '11" by Shirley A. Lazo says '11 was a great one for dividends and there were 8 Dow firms that gave boosts: AT&T, Boeing, Chevron, Disney, GE, Home Depot, Merck and Pfizer. However, AT&T, Boeing, Disney, GE, Merck and Pfizer don't pay up until this quarter. McDonald's, Microsoft, and Verizon put more cash in investors' pockets, too, but their actual declarations took place in 3Q.

Microsoft MSFT $28.105 +0.425 1.54% 99,264,237 NASDAQ-GS: NYT pB1 "Tech show loses clout as the place for big news" by Nick Wingfield says the Int'l Consumer Elec. Show used to be where big news was made as the new products would be introduced like Microsoft's Kinect, but no more.

WSJ pB1 "Intel awaits Microsoft's next number" by Don Clark, Fin times p15 "Microsoft to promote smartphone software" by Richard Waters say Microsoft last year said it would not rely as much on Intel's software. Microsoft is now hanging its hat on Windows 8 to stay relevant.

Barron's p14 "Storm clouds should lift for Cisco" by Michael Santoli, Inv. Bus. Daily pA7 "Just call Consumer Electronics Show "Chasing Apple" by Patrick Seitz say a year ago Cisco shares looked cheap at $20 or 12 times earnings expected for '11 and today they are cheaper at $19 which is 11 times forecast profits for the fiscal year ending in July. In 'aa Cisco fought through a tough product transition, bruising price competition in its core network switch market, the demise of its Flip videocamera, slower cable box sales & a decline in tech spending by govs. Cisco started a 24 cent annual payout that produces a 1.3% yield compared to Microsoft and Intel both yielding 3%.

Barron's p24 "A toast to '11" by Shirley A. Lazo says '11 was a great one for dividends and there were 8 Dow firms that gave boosts: AT&T, Boeing, Chevron, Disney, GE, Home Depot, Merck and Pfizer. However, AT&T, Boeing, Disney, GE, Merck and Pfizer don't pay up until this quarter. McDonald's, Microsoft, and Verizon put more cash in investors' pockets, too, but their actual declarations took place in 3Q.

Barron's p19 "High rollers in Vegas: Intel & Microsoft" by Tiernan Ray says this week the Consumer Electronics Show is in Las Vegas. Last year's Xoom along with competing tablets from Hewlett-Packard, RIM and others sold far fewer than expected. Microsoft & Intel largely absent from last year's tablet hubbub, each have a better story to tell at CES. Now Intel has chops for both smartphones & tablets. Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system will go on sale this year and Intel can look forward to its new chip called Ivy Bridge, which uses a 3 dimensional semiconductor transistor called tri-gate.

Inv. Bus. Dally pA2 "Smartphones" says Microsoft Windows Mobile OS had 5.1% of the smartphone market utilizing its operating system while Android had 46% global market share by operating system in Q4.

Pfizer PFE $21.57 -0.03 0.14% 29,910,201 NYSE: Barron's p24 "A toast to '11" by Shirley A. Lazo says '11 was a great one for dividends and there were 8 Dow firms that gave boosts: AT&T, Boeing, Chevron, Disney, GE, Home Depot, Merck and Pfizer. However, AT&T, Boeing, Disney, GE, Merck and Pfizer don't pay up until this quarter. McDonald's, Microsoft, and Verizon put more cash in investors' pockets, too, but their actual declarations took place in 3Q.

Procter & Gamble PG $66.36 -0.16 0.24% 8,337,621 NYSE: Barron's pL21 "Build with the best" by J.R. Brandstrader says Kate Mead of MFS Value likes consumer staples that people use every day such as Johnson & Johnson maker of BandAid & Visine. James Kochan fixed income strategist for Wells Fargo likes Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and Kraft Foods even though none have appreciated much in the last but but he thinks their stock prices don't reflect the future earnings growth.

3M MMM $83.37 -0.43 0.51% 2,763,571 NYSE: Barron's p3M "Research Report Avery Dennison" says Buckingham Research Group discusses Avery's decision to sell its Office & Consumer Products unit to 3M for $550 mil cash which is to close mid '12.

Travelers TRV $59.35 +0.02 0.03% 1,950,914 NYSE: No mentions found.

United Technologies UTX $73.9 -0.43 0.58% 3,413,156 NYSE: No mentions found.

Verizon VZ $38.33 -0.61 1.57% 22,244,727 Dual Listed: Barron's p24 "A toast to '11" by Shirley A. Lazo says '11 was a great one for dividends and there were 8 Dow firms that gave boosts: AT&T, Boeing, Chevron, Disney, GE, Home Depot, Merck and Pfizer. However, AT&T, Boeing, Disney, GE, Merck and Pfizer don't pay up until this quarter. McDonald's, Microsoft, and Verizon put more cash in investors' pockets, too, but their actual declarations took place in 3Q.

Walmart WMT $59 -0.42 0.71% 7,948,440 NYSE: IBD pA6 "Amazon disease plagues retailers' by Reinhardt Krause says bargain hunters are the core constituents for retailers like Walmart, Costco, and Target as the 3 chains hold one fifth of US retail sales excluding new auto and gas sales but competition is heating up from Dollar General and Family Dollar on one side and Amazon on the other.
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Here are the current CEOs of the Dow 30 Companies:

AT&T T Randall L. Stephenson (Dallas, TX)
Alcoa AA Klaus Kleinfeld (NY, NY)
American Express AXP Kenneth I. Chenault (NY, NY)
Bank of America BAC Brian T. Moynihan (Charlotte, N.C.)
Boeing BA W. James McNerney, Jr. (Chicago, Ill)
Caterpillar CAT Douglas Oberhelman (Peoria, Ill.)
Chevron CVX John Watson (San Ramon, CA)
Cisco CSCO John Chambers (San Jose, CA)
Coca Cola KO Muhtar Kent (Atlanta, GA)
Disney DIS Robert Iger (Burbank, CA)
DuPont DD Ellen Kullman (Wilmington, DE)
ExxonMobil XOM Rex W. Tillerson (Irving, Tx)
GE Jeffrey R. Immelt (Fairfield, CT)
Hewlett-Packard HPQ Meg Whitman (Palo, Alto, CA)
Home Depot HD Frank Blake (Atlanta, GA)
Intel INTC Paul S. Otellini (Santa Clara, CA)
IBM Virginia M. Rometty (replaces Samuel J. Palmisano 1/1/12) (Armonk, NY)
JPMorgan Chase JPM Jamie Dimon (NY, NY)
Johnson & Johnson JNJ William C. Weldon (New Brunswick, NJ)
Kraft KFT Irene Rosenfeld (Northfield, Ill.)
McDonald's MCD Jim Skinner (Oak Brook, Ill)
Merck MRK Kenneth Frazer (Whitehouse Station, N.J.)
Microsoft MSFT Steve Ballmer (Redmond, WA)
Pfizer PFE Ian Read (NY, NY)
Procter & Gamble PG Bob McDonald (Cincinnati, OH)
3M MMM George W. Buckley (St. Paul, MN)
Travelers TRV Jay S. Fishman (NY, NY)
United Technologies UTX Louis Chenevert (Hartford, CT)
Verizon VZ Lowell McAdam (NY, NY)
Wal-Mart WMT Mike Duke (Bentonville, ARK)

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Here are the Dow Jones Industrial Average 30 ranked in order of market capitalization rounded to the nearest 1/2 billion as of 1/1/12 followed by number of shares outstanding rounded to the nearest 1/2 billion:

1. Exxon Mobil XOM $406 [5]
2. Microsoft MSFT 218 [8.5]
3. IBM 216 [1]
4. Chevron CVX 212 [2]
5. WalMart WMT 204.5 [3.5]
6. GE 189 [10.5]
7. Procter & Gamble PG 183.5 [3]
8. Johnson & Johnson JNJ 179 [3]
9. AT&T T 179 [6]
10. Pfizer PFE 166.5 [7.5]
11. Coke KO 159 [2.5]
12. JPMorgan Chase JPM 126.5 [4]
13. Intel INTC 123.5 [5]
14. Merck MRK 115 [3]
15. Verizon VZ 113.5 [3]
16. McDonald's MCD 102.5 [1]
17. Cisco CSCO 97 [5.5]
18. Disney DIS 67.5 [2]
19. United Technologies UTX 66 [1]
20. Kraft KFT 66 [2]
21. Home Depot HD 65 [1.5]
22. Caterpillar CAT 58.5 [.5]
23. 3M MMM 57 [.5]
24. Bank of America BAC 56.5 [10]
25. American Express AXP 54.5 [1]
26. Boeing BA 54.5 [1]
27. Hewlett-Packard HPQ 51 [2]
28. DuPont DD 42 [1]
29. Travelers TRV 24.5 [.5]
30. Alcoa AA 9 [1]

Here are the latest 8K, 10Q & 10K & Proxy & certain other SEC filings as of 1/1/12:

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

AT&T T: 11/28 8K re: redemption of subsidiary Cingular Wirelss' $2.97 bil debt
11/25/11 8K re: withdrawal from FCC of application to buy T-Mobile
11/7/11 10Q for qtr ended 9/30/11
10/27/11 8K re: redemption of 5.87% Notes due 2/1/12
10/20/11 2 8Ks re: 3Qtr results

Alcoa AA: 11/16/11 8K re: exec changes
10/20/11 10Q for Qtr ended 9/30/11
10/14/11 8K re: transcript of 3Qtr earnings call
10/12/11 8K re: 3Qtr results

American Express AXP: 12/15/11 8K re: delinq. & write-off stats for prior 3 months
11/15/11 8K re: delinq. & write-off stats for Aug, Sept & Oct
11/4/11 8K re: exec changes
11/2/11 10Q for Qtr ended 9/30/11
10/19/11 8K re: 3Qtr results
10/17/11 8K re: delinq & write-f stats for 3 months eded 9/30/11

Bank of Am BAC: 12/16/11 8K re: unregistered sale of $885.4 of Senior Notes
12/6/11 8K re: stating it is unaffiliated from IPIC Group's mini-tender off of 4.86% of its common
12/2/11 8K re exchange of $442.3 of senior notes
12/1/11 Proxy re: amendment of Dec. of Trust for Preferred HITs
11/17/11 8K re: exchange of preferred shares
11/2/11 10Q for Qtr ended 9/30/11
10/18/11 8K re: 3Qtr results
10/7/11 8K re: separation contracts with Sallie L. Krawcheck & Joe L. Price

Boeing BA: 12/15/11 8-K/A election of Gregory D. Smith as CFO
11/14/11 8K re: $2.3 bil revolving credit agrmt.
11/1/11 8K re: exec changes
10/26/11 10Q for Qtr ended 9/30/11
10/26/11 8K re: 3Qtr results
10/4/11 8K re: election of ex-Contintel CEO Larry Kellner as Director

Caterpiller CAT: 12/19/11 8K re pst 3 months dealer stats.
12/16/11 8K re extension of stock repurchase plan
11/18/11 8K re: past 3 monts dealer stats
11/4/11 10Q for Qtr ended 9/30
10/24/11 8K re: 3 month dealer stats
10/24/11 8K re: results for quarter ended 9/30/11

Chevron CVX: 12/12/11 8K re grant of exec stock options
11/3/11 10Q for Qtr ended 9/30/11
10/28/11 8K re: 3Qtr results
10/11 8K re: 3Qtr results

Cisco CSCO 12/16/11 8K re pre-arranged exec stock trading plan
12/8/11 8K re amendment of stock option plan
11/22/11 10Q & 8K for Qtr ended 10/29
10/18/11 14A proxy (two) re: Annual Shareholder Meeting to be held 12/7/11 at Santa Clara, CA

Coke KO 12/19/11 re election of ex Mayor of Chicago Richard M. Daley to Board of Dirs.
11/10/11 Prospectus re: exchange of $1.6 bil of 2016 Notes
10/28/11 S-4 re: exchange of 3.3% Notes due '21 for 1.8% Notes due '16
10/27/11 10Q for Qtr ended 9/30/11
10/18/11 8K re: 3Qtr results
9/1/11 8K re: issuance of senior notes

Disney DIS 12/1/11 8K re sale of $1.6 bil of Global Notes
11/23/11 10K & 11/10/11 8K re: results for fiscal year ened 10/1/11
10/25/11 8K re: resignation of Director John E. Bryson to become U.S. Secretary of Commerce
10/7/11 8K re: extension of CEO Robert A. Iger's employment contract

DuPont DD: 11/22/11 8K : re: election of Lee M. Thomas as Director
10/25/11 10Q & 8K re: results for 3Qtr ended 9/30/11

ExxonMobil XOM: 12/6/11 8K re disclosure of exec bonuses and salaries (CEO's Rex Tillerson's base effective 1/1/12 is $2,567,000 and no exec has a contract, all are employees at will
11/29/11 8K re: exec changes
11/3/11 10Q for Qtr ended 9/30/11
10/27/11 8K re: 3Qtr results

GE: 11/8/11 10Q for Qtr ended 9/30/11
10/21/11 8K re: 3Qtr results
9/13/11 8K re: redemption of shares held by Berkshire Hathaway for $3.3 bil

Hewlett-Packard HPQ: 12/14/11 10Q for year ended 10/31/11
12/12/11 8K re close of sale of $3.5 bil of Global Notes
11/8/11 10Q & 11/21/11 8K re: results of year and Qtr ended 10/31/11
11/17/11 8K re: election of Ralph V. Whitworth to Board of Dirs
10/27/11 8K re: decision to keep PC unit
10/3/11 8K re: acceptance of offers to acquire Autonomy
9/29/11 8K re: separation contract with ex-CEO Leo Apotheker
9/28/11 8K re foreign antitrust approval of acquisition of Autonomy
9/22/11 8K re: replacement of CEO Leo Apotheker with Meg Whitman effective immediately
9/19/11 8KA & 8K re: issuance of floating global notes
9/13/11 8K re: purchase of Autonomy Corp.

Home Depot HD: 11/29/11 10Q & 11/15/11 8K re: results of Qtr ended 10/31/11
9/1/11 10Q for quarter ended 7/31/11

Intel INTC: 11/4/11 10Q for Qtr ended 10/1/11
10/19/11 & 10/18/11 8Ks re: Results for Qtr ended 10/1/11
9/19/11 & 9/14/11 8Ks re; offering of $5 bil of notes

IBM: 11/14/11 8K re: $10 bil Credit Agrmt
10/31/11 8K re: offering of $1.85 bil of debt
10/26/11 8K re: election of Virginia M. Rometty as CEO
10/25/11 8K re: election of David Farr, CEO of Emerson, to Bd.
10/25/11 10Q & 10/18/11 8K & 10/17/11 8K re: results for Qtr ended 9/30/11

JPMorganChase JPM: 12/22/11 8K re closing of $1.25 bil 5.4% Notes
12/8/11 8K re increase to share repurchase program
12/8/11 8K re FD disclosure re guidance presentation
11/8/11 8K re: election of James A. Bell as Dir.
11/4 28ks & 10Q re: Qtr ended 9/30/11
10/26/11 8K re: offering of $1.75 mil of 4.35% Notes due '21
10/13/11 8K re: 3Qtr results

Johnson & Johnson JNJ : 12/13/11 8K re closing of divestiture of assets of Ortho Dematologics division which made Retin-!
11/30/11 8K re: purchase of Synthes & offer to hire its CEO
11/22/11 8K re: exec changes
11/8/11 10Q for Qtr ended 10/2
10/27/11 S-4 re: acquisition of Synthes
10/18/11 8K re: results for Qtr ended 10/2/11

Kraft KFT: 12/5/11 8K re appointment of Irene Rosenfeld to lead Global Snacks and Tony Vernon as CEO fo N. American Grocery company
11/4/11 10Q & 11/2/11 8K re: Qtr ended 9/30/11
9/7/11 8K re: FD Disclosure re: presentation at investor conference

McDonald's MCD: 12/2/11 8K re Nov sales rose 7.4%
11/14/11 8K re: Investor Release re: Growth Plans
11/8/11 8K re: Oct sales
11/4/11 10Q for Qtr ended 9/30/11
10/21/11 8K re: results for 3Qtr ended 9/30/11
9/30/11 8K re: issuance of $500 mil med-term notes
9/26/11 8K re; declaration of quarterly cash dividend

Merck MRK: 12/21/11 8K re: technical amendments to bylaws
12/1/11 8K re: election of CEO Ken Frazier to Bd & retirement of former CEO Richard Clark from Board
11/10/11 8K & 11/8/11 10Q re Investor Presentation re results for Qtr ended 9/30/11
10/28/11 8K re: results for 3Qtr
10/12/11 8K/A re: frequency of shareholder advisory votes on exec comp

Microsoft MSFT: 12/22/11 8K/A re frequency of advisory votes on exec pay
11/17/11 8K re: voting results from Annual Shareholder Meeting
10/20/11 10Q & 8K re: results for Qtr ended 9/30/11
10/18/11 & 10/4/11 & 10/3/11 14A Proxies re: Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held 11/15/11 at Bellevue, Wash.

Pfizer PFE: 12/13/11 8K re election of 3 new members to Board
11/10/11 10Q & 11/1/11 8K for Qtr ended 10/2/11

Procter & Gamble PG: 11/3/11 8K re: Guidance
11/1/11 8K re: delay of sale of Pringles to Diamond Food
10/27/11 10Q & 8Ks (two) re: results of 3 Qtr ended 9/30/11
10/14/11 8K re: voting results of annual meeting of shareholders
10/11/11 *K re: quarterly dividend of 52.5 cents
10/11/11 CEO's Bob McDonald speech at annual shareholders meeting
10/6/11 8K re: political contribution policy

3M MMM: 12/6/11 8K re eps guidance
11/3/11 10Q re Qtr ended 9/30/11
11/3/11 8K re: pre-arranged stock trading plan for an exec
10/25/11 8K re: results of 3Qtr
9/29/11 8K re: offer of $4 bil of notes

Travelers TRV: 10/19/11 10Q & 8K re: results for Qtr ended 9/30/11
9/20/11 8K/A re: frequency of non-binding advisory shareholder votes

United Technologies UTX: 11/16/11 8K re: edemption of $500 mil of 6/1% Notes due 5/15/12
11/15/11 8K re: $15 bil Credit Agrmt
10/24/11 10Q & 10/19/11 8K re: results for Qtr ended 9/30/11
10/18/11 8K re: Pratt & Whitney & Rolls Royce partnership to develop next generation engines for mid-size aircraft

Verizon Communications Inc. VZ: 12/6/11 8K re: election of Lowell McAdam as new CEO
12/2/11 8K re purchase of spectrum for $3.6 bil
10/25/11 10Q & 10/21/11 8K re: results for Qtr ended 9/30/11
9/14/11 8K re: presentation to Merrill Lynch Media, Communication & Entertainment Conf.

WalMart WMT: 12/8/11 8K re registration rights agreement with certain selling shareholders
12/8/11 10Q for qtr ended 10/1/11
11/15/11 8K re: results for 3 & 9 months ended 10/31/11
9/29/11 8K re: adoption of Deferred Com Plan