7/16/09 Thurs. WMT Wal-Mart Changes its Image

Post #3 The following is brought to you by Intellivest Securities Research, Inc. The following is not intended as advertising by a broker-dealer and is not a research report. At the end of this Dow Monitor Blog is today's profiled company, AT&T T (which is mentioned in a story at Inv. Bus. Daily pA2 as having reached a labor agreement with the Communications Workes of Amercia covering 18,500 workers in the Midwest, causing T's shares to rise 2% yesterday).

The Dow closed Wednesday at 8616.21 up 256.72 +3.07% from Tuesday's close of 8359.49. 29 of the Dow 30 gained and only MCD McDonalds declined with the biggest gainer being IBM $107.22 +3.97 3.85% 8,495,626 NYSE and MCD, the only loser, doing as follows: MCD $57.08 -0.38 0.66% 11,689,974 NYSE.

A read of Wednesday's 7/16/09 print editions of: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Financial Times, Investor's Business Daily and USA Today yielded the following stories about Dow Jones 30 component companies:

WSJ pB1 has two leading stories about WMT Wal-Mart, "Wal-Mart to Assign New Green Ratings" which says that WMT unveiled an environmental labeling program for its products that could redefine the design and makeup of consumer goods sold around the world but would also boost costs and "Wal-Mart's Image Moves From Demon to Darling" that says how in the past 4 years, WMT has gone from being a whipping boy of the political left to cozying up to the Democratic White House. A related story is at WSJ pB4. WSJ has another story at pA6 "Additional Burdens Worry Businesses" that sounds the same theme about WMT changing its image. NYTimes B1 front page of its Business Section "At Wal-Mart, Labeling To Reflect Green Intent" that sounds the same theme. IBD pA2 says WMT will offer its "green" index to evaluate its 60,000 suppliers. IBD pA5 has an article about prepaid phone leader Tracfone testing an unlimited $45 per month plan and how these phones are sold at WMT.

WSJ pC1 "US Regulators to BofA: Obey or Else" that says BAC BofA is operating under a secret regulatory sanction that requries it to overhaul its board and address perceived problems with risk and liquidity management. Same page there is an article about how banks are ramping up their pay packages to their top people and gives an example of BAC BofA recently hired a top bond salesman for $6 million per year. BAC is also at WSJ pC1 along with JPMorgan in a story that says BAC will report its second quarter results on Fri and JPM will release theirs today. BofA is also mentioned in an article at WSJ pA4 about Former Treasury Secretary Paulson is still testifying about his role in the Merril deal.

WSJ pC1 "Dow Soars 256, Powered by Upbeat Intel" that also says CSCO Cisco was up 5.8% and MSFT rose 4.4% and AXP Amex rose 11% noting GE will release its earnings this week. WSJ pC6 Large Stock Focus also says INTC lifted NASDAQ and same page, another story "Intel's Profit is Expected to lead the Tech Pack" that says IBM will report its earnings today. NYT pB3 "Intel's Earning Help Drive a Rally" and USA Today p4B "Intel's optimism spreads to Markets" sound same theme.

Fin Times p24 "Intel triggers rally as hopes rise for return to growth" sounds similar theme and INTC's results also were discussed in "Market Pulse" at Inv. Bus. Daily pA1.

Fin Times p9 has a story about little laptops and how MSFT is not ignoring netbooks and will tailer Windows 7, its new oeprating system for them. Story says Asustek broke the oligopoly's grip on making netbooks. The oligopoly is said to be Acerm, Dell and HP.

BD pA5 has a story about an emerging product type that is bigger than smart phones but smaller thhan notebooks that INTC and Nokia are working on together. The story says HPQ and others will likely enter this category with new products.

WSJ pB1 in a story about Northrop says it is challenging BA Boeing's position as the nation's No. 2 defense contractor (after Lockheed Martin).

JNJ Johnson & Johnson reported on Tues. accelerating sales grwoth for its Remicade that competes with Abbott's top selling arthritis drug Humira - this in a story at WSJ pB3 about Abbott's net falling 2.6%.

AJC pA10 says a $5.4 million settlement was reached by Merck MRK and Schering-Plough to settle a case that claimed there was inaccurate data released involing Vytorin and Zetia.

WSJ pB3 "Steelworkers Fault GE Stance on American Manufacturing" says United Steelworkers Pres. Leo Gerard accused GE's CEO Jeffrey Immelt of hypocrisy for touting GE's new focus on American because GE doesn't really supporty "Buy American" policies. The article said GE exported $19 billion of goods and services in '08.

Fin Times p13 "Amex under fire for suspending payments to UK pension scheme" says AXP Amex has suspended its contributions to the pension system (they call it "scheme" in UK) of its UK workers that has drawn criticism.

AJC pA16 "Credit card delinquency rates improve in June" said AXP said that accounts at lest 30 days past due shrunk to 4.4% of total loans during the month ended 6/30 after falling to 4.7% in May and 4.9% in April.

IBD pA4 says Google is expected to see its sales rise 2.3% in Q2 and notes the recent heat up of its rivalry with MSFT.

NYT pB1 "Fighting Credit Fees" says WMT and HD Home Depot among others have unsuccessfully been fighting for years credit card fees known as interchange fees and now in the light of new proposed consumer legislation retailers are mounting another challenge against credit card fees.

"Paulson Expected to Face Hard Questioning on Merrill Deal" at NYT pB3 talks about BofA's BAC's acquisition of Merrill.

AJC pA10 says PC makers shipped 3% less PCs in Q2 than the prior quarter noting that HPQ Hewlett-Packerd remained the world's largest PC maker.

The current divisor for the Dow found at today's page C4 of The Wall St. Jrnl is
.132319125 unchanged.

Wednesday's Dow numerator was 1140.09 up 33.97 from Tuesday's Dow numberator of 1106.12. 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 increase of 256.72 in the Dow numerator by the divisor you get 256.72, the increase in Wednesday's Dow.

The average closing price of Wednesday's Dow Jones was 38.00 up 1.13 from Tuesday's Dow closing price of 36.87 The median closing price of Wednesday's Dow Jones was 31.59 up 1.15 from Tuesday's median Dow closing price of 30.44.

The highest closing price Wed. was IBM $107.22 +3.97 3.85% 8,495,626 NYSE and the lowest closing price Wed. again was AA Alcoa $10.14 +0.55 5.74% 34,911,655 NYSE.

The lowest volume Wednesday was MMM $62 +1.37 +2.26% 4,869,447 NYSE and the highest volume was BAC Bank of Am $$13.42 +0.51 3.95% 366,856,317 NYSE.

If Wednesday morning before the market opened you had purchased $100 of each of the Dow 30 shares (assuming you could buy fractional shares and assuming no transaction costs) and sold at the close you would have made $3,387.99 ($114,000 - $110,612.01).

Wednesday's Closing Dow closing numbers:

Symb/Last/Change/% Change/Vol./Market

T $23.97 +0.52 2.22% 25,433,914 NYSE
AA $10.14 +0.55 5.74% 34,911,655 NYSE
AXP $27.22 +2.76 11.28% 38,056,505 NYSE
BAC $13.42 +0.51 3.95% 366,856,317 NYSE
BA $41.36 +0.95 2.35% 7,676,341 NYSE
CAT $33.84 +1.91 5.98% 17,849,148 NYSE
CVX $64.57 +1.57 2.49% 13,367,578 NYSE
CSCO $19.81 +1.08 5.77% 87,217,279 NASDAQ-GS
KO $50.53 +1.24 2.52% 9,886,523 NYSE
DIS $24.08 +0.97 4.2% 11,826,352 NYSE
DD $26.98 +1.43 5.6% 9,366,933 NYSE
XOM $68.44 +2.22 3.35% 29,327,604 NYSE
GE $12.24 +0.60 5.15% 91,667,508 NYSE
HPQ $38.82 +1.68 4.52% 17,256,706 NYSE
HD $24.08 +0.40 1.69% 13,698,086 NYSE
INTC $18.05 +1.22 7.25% 185,319,949 NASDAQ-GS
IBM $107.22 +3.97 3.85% 8,495,626 NYSE
JPM $36.26 +1.56 4.5% 82,896,810 NYSE
JNJ $58.96 +0.73 1.25% 12,781,296 NYSE
KFT $27.53 +0.53 1.96% 8,489,998 NYSE
MCD $57.08 -0.38 0.66% 11,689,974 NYSE
MSFT $24.12 +1.01 4.37% 66,794,149 NASDAQ-GS
MRK $27.71 +0.55 2.03% 20,314,591 NYSE
PFE $15.02 +0.12 0.81% 43,268,323 NYSE
PG $54.65 +1.11 2.07% 14,858,059 NYSE
MMM $62 +1.37 +2.26% 4,869,447 NYSE
TRV $40.35 +0.81 2.05% 7,905,999 NYSE
UTX $53.75 +2.17 4.21% 6,482,062 NYSE
VZ $29.34 +0.39 1.35% 17,799,533 NYSE
WMT $48.55 +0.42 0.87% 18,575,644 NYSE

The following information has been published in earlier Blogs:

The purpose of this Blog is to study and comment on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and its 30 component companies. Why waste time trying to predict the stock market? It is more intelligent and efficient to study major public companies. For the first time in history, the average investor has at his or her fingertips vast amounts of information provided through the government at www.sec.gov, the Internet and the print media. Yet, there are thousands of public companies which are too many to know. The solution is to pick, somewhat admittedly arbitrarily, the 30 most well known companies, the blue chip companies that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Remember when you were in school and you had approximately 30 classmates? By the end of the year, you were fairly knowledgeable about your 30 classmates. At that point, if you were to predict who would be successful, who might end up in jail, who might succeed at sports or in business you could do so. In other words, to know 30 companies is not that difficult if you persist. The result is that by understanding the fundamentals of these 30 companies and how they intereact with each other, you will have a bellweather not only for the stock market but also for society at large in terms of politics, economic, technological and cultural trends. Join with me in becoming a student of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. To belong to the Dow Monitor Club you must be able to identify all 30 companies unassisted. This is easier than you think - they are all household names. Once you can name all 30 companies, to be a Premium Member you need to do the following:

1. Learn all 30 trading symbols and the exchange on which they trade (CSCO, INTC, MSFT are traded on NASDAQ, the other 27 are NYSE).

2. Learn the range of the daily closing price within a range of five dollars.

3. Learn the names of the CEOs - they are listed at the end of this Blog.

Once you are a Premium Member the following is recommended to increase your knowledge:

4. Track the SEC filings of the Dow 30 each weekend (I will try to do this and give the results at the end of this Blog.)

5. Each morning read the print editions of Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Atlanta Journal Constitution (or your local paper), Financial Times, Investor's Business Daily and USA Today for stories and information about Dow Jones 30 component companies. (I willI try to do this and give the results on this Blog.)

6. Each afternoon give the closing price and volume of each of the Dow Jones 30 component companies. (I will try to do this and give the results on this Blog.)

7. Each weekend read the print edition of Barron's, Forbes, Business Week, CEO, CFO, Time, NewsWeek and various other print periodicals for stories and information about Dow Jones 30 component companies such as The Atlanta Business Chronicle. (I willI try to do this and give the results on this Blog.) Recently, the Dow Jones Company has started a economic sentiment indicator that monitors 15 major print newspapers for mentions of certain "key" words, such as recession. Using this information, they feel they can spot trends. If you follow the print media as we will do, we will not only learn information but we will learn which companies are being discussed which is valuable in and of itself. During the few months of the beta stage of this Dow Monitor Blog I have learned that CAT Caterpillar is hardly ever mentioned. Other companies that don't get in the print media much are KRAFT, Travelers, and MMM. On the other hand, by far, the most mentioned companies are BAC Bank of America and MSFT.

8. Learn the intricacies of the Dow Jones Industrial Average itself. It is really a very simple process. You add the closing prices of all 30 companies and then multiply by a divisor which is found daily at page C4 of the Wall Street Journal(pB4 on Saturdays). The divisor is currently 0.132319125 and changes for stock splits, stock dividends and other recapitalizations. I learned if you dispense with the divisor and just add the 30 prices to get a numerator, you get a different, and arguably better, feel for what the Dow is doing. (You can also track the average daily close and median closing price this way, which is helpful.) The divisor really just multiplies by approximately 7 the increase or decrease in the market. In other words, if at the end of the day all Dow Jones IA stocks closed down .01 at their opening price except IBM moved up 5 points from 100 to 105, that would not be such a big deal but the DJIA would move up 35.59 (4.71 divided by .132319125) and that would seem like a good day on the Dow and people would get all excited even though 29 of the Dow 30 declined. A dollar increase in a price has the same effect on the Dow whether it is low priced Alcoa going from 9.50 to 10.50 (a significant movement) or high priced IBM going from 100 to 101 (no big deal). I will try to tell you the daily divisor on this Dow Monitor Blog. A student of the Dow Jones should memorize it - this will come naturally form looking at it daily and using it as I do to find your own metrics.

9. Learn the dividend habits of the Dow Jones 30.

10. Learn the price earnings ratios of the Dow Jones 30.

11. Read the annual reports on 10K, quarterly reports on 10Q, special reports on 8K on the Dow Jones 30, all available at www.sec.gov by putting in the ticker symbol. Also check Wikipedia on the company and its CEO. The CEO's of the Dow Jones Industrial Average should be "celebritized" (my word) because they are under the radar but are, in my opinion, the most powerful group in America and possibly the world.

12. Approach the Dow Jones Industrial Average as you would sports or other hobbies you may have. Just as you know the batting average of your favorite baseball habit, pick a favorite Dow Jones 30 stock and learn about it. (Currently, may favorite Dow company, not necessarily because of its metrics, is Boeing BA.) I guarantee you that not only will you become an expert on the stock market, but your brain will get a good work out and you will find benefits in other aspects of your life. You'll see.

Here are the latest SEC filings as of 7/15/09 other than ownership filings and, except for certain cases, I do not include third party shareholder proposals:

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

T AT&T 6/30/09 11K Annual Report of Employee Stock Purchase Plan
AA Alcoa 7/13/09 8K 2nd Quarter Earnings Results
AXP 6/30/08 8K Settlement w/FDIC re: convenience checks
BAC Bank of Am 7/1/09 8A Regis. of Securities
BA Boeing 7/7/09 8K Acquisition of Vought Aircraft
CAT Caterpiller 6/23/09 11K Annual Report of Employee Stock Purchase Plan
CSCO Cisco 6/2/08 S8 Regis. of securities to employees
KO Coke 6/25/09 11K Annual Report of Employee Stock Purchase Plan
DIS Disney 6/26/09 11K Annual Report of Employee Stock Purchase Plan
DD DuPont 6/29/09 11K Annual Report of Employee Stock Purchase Plan
XOM Exxon 6/24/09 11K Annual Report of Employee Stock Purchase Plan
GE 6/25/09 11K Annual Report of Employee Stock Purchase Plan
HPQ Hewlett-Pack 6/30/09 11K Annual Report of Employee Stock Purchase Plan
HD Home Depot 6/29/09 11K Annual Report of Employee Stock Purchase Plan
INTC Intel 7/14/09 8K Financial results 3rd quarter
IBM 6/29/09 11K Annual Report of Employee Stock Purchase Plan
JPM JPMorgan 7/14/09 Freewriting Prospectus
JNJ Johnson 6/28/09 8K Press release re: financial results
KFT Kraft 6/22/09 8K re: personnel changes
MCD McDonalds 6/22/09 Prospectus
MRK Merck 7/1/09 8K Closing of sale of notes
MSFT Microsoft 6.29.09 11K Annual Report of Employee Stock Purchase Plan
PFE Pfizer 6/29/09 11K Annual Report of Employee Stock Purchase Plan
PG Procter Gam 7/13/09 8K re: 0.44 dividend
MMM 3M 7/7/09 8K settlement of shareholder derivative suit
TRV Travelers 6/24/09 11K Annual Report of Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
UTX United Tech 6/26/09 11K Annual Report of Employee Stock Purchase Plan
VZ Verizon 6/29 11K Annual Report of Employee Stock Purchase Plan
WMT Wal-Mart 6/5/09 10Q

Here are the CEOs of the Dow 30 Companies:

T Randall L. Stephenson
AA Klaus Kleinfeld
AXP Kenneth I. Chenault
BAC Kenneth D. Lewis
BA W. James McNerney, Jr.
CAT James W. Owens
CVX David O'Reilly
CSCO John Chambers
KO Muhtar Kent
DIS Rogert Iger
DD Ellen Kullman
XOM Rex W. Tillerson
GE Jeffrey R. Immelt
HPQ Mark Hurd
HD Frank Blake
INTC Paul S. Otellini
IBM Samuel J. Palmisano
JPM Jamie Dimon
JNJ William C. Weldon
KFT Irene Rosenfeld
MCD Jim Skinner
MRK Robert Clark
MSFT Steve Ballmer
PFE Jeffrey Kindler
PG Bob McDonald
MMM George W. Buckley
TRV Jay S. Fishman
UTX Louis Chenevert
VZ Ivan Seidenberg
WMT Mike Duke

Today's Profiled Company is T AT&T (originally published Post #2 7/15/09 pm).

T $ 23.97 +0.52 + 2.22%
Jul. 15, 2009 Market Closed
T | AT&T Inc. | Common Stock | Market : NYSE

Last Sale: $ 23.97
Share Volume: 25,654,959
Today's High: $ 24
Best Bid: N/A
52 Week High: $ 33.56
Market Value: $ 141,423,000,000
Earnings Per Share (EPS): $ 3.62
NASDAQ Official Open Price: $ 23.71
NASDAQ Official Close Price: $ 23.98
Net Change: 0.52 2.22%
Previous Close: $ 23.45
Today's Low: $ 23.56
Best Ask: N/A
52 Week Low: $ 20.90
Shares Outstanding: 5,900,000,000
P/E Ratio: 6.62

The following is from Wikipedia:

AT&T
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
AT&T Inc.
Type Public (NYSE: T)
Founded 1983[1]
Headquarters One AT&T Plaza
Dallas, Texas, United States
Area served Worldwide
Key people Randall L. Stephenson (Chairman), (CEO) & (President)
Industry Telecommunications
Products Wireless
Telephone
Internet
Television
Revenue USD 119.3 Billion (2008)[2]
Operating income USD 18.165 Billion (2008)[2]
Net income USD $10.463 Billion (2008)[2]
Total assets ▲ USD $284.528 Billion (2008)
Total equity ▲ USD $112.518 Billion (2008)
Employees 294,600 (2009)
Website att.com
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is the largest provider of local, long distance telephone services in the United States, and also serves digital subscriber line Internet access. AT&T is the second largest provider of wireless service in the United States, with over 77 million wireless customers, and more than 150 million total customers.[3] AT&T, Inc. was formed in 2005, when "Baby Bell" SBC Communications Inc. purchased former "Ma Bell" AT&T Corporation. The newly merged company took on the iconic AT&T moniker and T stock-trading symbol (for "telephone").

The current AT&T includes eleven of the original Bell Operating Companies, and the original long distance division.[4] While it reconstitutes much of the former Bell System, AT&T Inc. lacks the vertical integration of the historic AT&T Corp., which prompted United States v. AT&T, the antitrust suit that led to the breakup in 1984. The company is headquartered in Downtown Dallas, Texas.[5]

The company was honored at the 2008 Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for development of coaxial cable technology as well as for staying true to its promise of "connecting people."

History

AT&T Corporation acquisition

On January 31, 2005, SBC announced that it would purchase AT&T Corp. for more than $16 billion. The announcement came almost 8 years after SBC and AT&T called off their first merger talks and nearly a year after initial merger talks between AT&T Corp. and BellSouth fell apart. AT&T stockholders, meeting in Denver, approved the merger on June 30, 2005. The U.S. Department of Justice cleared the merger on October 27, 2005, and the Federal Communications Commission approved it on October 31, 2005.

The merger was finalized on November 18, 2005.[6] Upon the completion of the merger, SBC Communications adopted the AT&T branding, and changed its corporate name to AT&T Inc. to differentiate the company from the former AT&T Corporation. On December 1, 2005, the merged company's New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol changed from "SBC" to the traditional "T" used by AT&T.

The new AT&T updated the former AT&T's graphic logo; however the existing AT&T sound trademark (voiced by Pat Fleet) continues to be used.

BellSouth acquisition
On Friday December 29, 2006, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the new AT&T's acquisition of regional Bell operating company BellSouth, valued at approximately $86 billion (or 1.325 shares of AT&T for each share of BellSouth at the close of trading December 29, 2006).[7] The new combined company retained the name AT&T.[8] The deal consolidated ownership of both Cingular Wireless and Yellowpages.com, once joint ventures between BellSouth and AT&T. All services, including wireless, became offered under the AT&T name.[9]

2007-2008 restructuring

Transition to new media

The AT&T tower in downtown Los Angeles, CA.In June 2007, AT&T's new chairman and CEO, Randall Stephenson, discussed how wireless services are the core of "The New AT&T".[10] With declining sales of traditional home phone lines, AT&T plans to roll out various new media such as VideoShare, U-verse, and to extend its reach in high speed Internet into rural areas across the country. He also has stated that AT&T will not make any more acquisitions for the time being. AT&T announced on June 29, 2007, however, that it was acquiring Dobson Communications. It was then reported on October 2, 2007 that AT&T would purchase Interwise for $121 million, which it completed on November 2, 2007. On October 9, 2007, AT&T purchased 12 MHz of spectrum in the prime 700 MHz spectrum band from privately-held Aloha Partners for nearly $2.5 billion; the deal was approved by the FCC on February 4, 2008. On December 4, 2007 AT&T announced plans to acquire Edge Wireless, a regional GSM carrier in the Pacific Northwest.[11] The Edge Wireless acquisition was completed in April 2008,[12]

Payphone removal

On December 3, 2007, AT&T announced it would remove all of its 65,000 remaining payphones by the end of 2008.[13] BellSouth already had removed its payphones years before being acquired by AT&T, and Qwest sold its pay telephone services in 2004. Verizon Communications will be the only Baby Bell that will continue to operate pay telephones following the removal of AT&T pay telephones,[14] and currently has no interest in leaving the business.[15]

On June 27, 2008, AT&T announced that it will move its corporate headquarters from 175 East Houston Street in San Antonio to One AT&T Plaza in Downtown Dallas.[5][16] The company said that it moved to gain better access to its customers and operations throughout the world, and to the key technology partners, suppliers, innovation and human resources needed as it continues to grow, domestically and internationally[17]

It is expected to involve about 700 of the company's nearly 6,000 San Antonio-based employees.

AT&T Inc. previously relocated its corporate headquarters to San Antonio from St. Louis in 1992, when it was then named Southwestern Bell Corporation. The company's Telecom Operations group, which serves residential and regional business customers in 22 U.S. states, will remain in San Antonio.

Atlanta will continue to be the headquarters for AT&T Mobility, with significant offices in Redmond, Washington, the former home of AT&T Wireless. Bedminster, New Jersey will continue to be the headquarters for the company's Global Business Services group and AT&T Labs. St. Louis will continue as home to the company's Directory operations, AT&T Advertising & Publishing.

Job cuts
On December 4, 2008, AT&T announced they would be cutting 12,000 jobs due to "economic pressures, a changing business mix and a more streamlined organizational structure".[19]

Post-consolidation wireless acquisitions

Cellular One acquisition
On June 29, 2007 AT&T announced that they had reached an agreement to purchase Dobson Cellular, which provided services in the US under the name Cellular One in primarily rural areas. The closing price was $2.8B USD, or $13 per share. AT&T also agreed to assume the outstanding debt of $2.3B USD. The sale completed on November 15, 2007, with market transition beginning December 9, 2007. [20]

Centennial acquisition
On November, 11 2008, AT&T announced a $944 million buyout of Centennial Communications Corp. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval, the approval of Centennial’s stockholders and other customary closing conditions. Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, Centennial’s largest stockholder, has agreed to vote in support of this transaction. In an attempt to quell regulators, on May 9, 2009 AT&T entered an agreement with Verizon Wireless to sell off certain existing Centennial service areas in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi for $240 million pending the successful merger of AT&T and Centennial. [21]

Wayport acquisition
On December 12, 2008, AT&T acquired Wayport, Inc., a major provider of Internet hotspots in the United States. With the acquisition, AT&T's public Wi-Fi deployment climbed to 20,000 hotspots in the United States, the most of any U.S. provider.[22]

Bell Operating Companies

Of the twenty-two Bell Operating Companies which AT&T owned prior to the 1984 agreement to divest, eleven (BellSouth Telecommunications combines two former BOCs) have become a part of the new AT&T Inc. with the completion of their acquisition of BellSouth Corporation on December 29, 2006:[23]

BellSouth Telecommunications (formerly known as Southern Bell and South Central Bell)
Illinois Bell
Indiana Bell
Michigan Bell
Nevada Bell (formerly known as Bell Telephone Company of Nevada)
Ohio Bell
Pacific Bell (formerly Pacific Telephone & Telegraph)
Southwestern Bell
Wisconsin Bell (formerly Wisconsin Telephone)
AT&T owns the following operating companies not considered a Bell Operating Company:

Southern New England Telephone — Now wholly owned; the original AT&T held 16.8% interest prior to 1984.
Cincinnati Bell - AT&T held 27.8% interest in Cincinnati Bell before 1984.
In 1998, SNET was bought by SBC, an RBOC, but Cincinnati Bell has remained independent.

Former operating companies
The following companies have gone to defunct status under SBC/AT&T ownership:

Southwestern Bell Texas - a separate operating company created by SBC and merged back into SWBT on December 30, 2001.
Woodbury Telephone - merged into Southern New England Telephone on June 1, 2007.

Corporate structure

AT&T Inc. has retained the holding companies it has acquired over the years resulting in the following corporate structure:

AT&T Inc., publicly-traded holding company
Southwestern Bell Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T Arkansas/Kansas/Missouri/Oklahoma/Southwest/Texas
Pacific Telesis Group, Inc. d/b/a AT&T West, acquired in 1997
Pacific Bell Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T California
Nevada Bell Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T Nevada
Southern New England Telecommunications Corporation d/b/a AT&T East, acquired in 1998
Southern New England Telephone Company (includes former Woodbury Telephone)
AT&T Teleholdings, Inc. d/b/a AT&T Midwest, formerly Ameritech, acquired in 1999
Illinois Bell Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T Illinois
Indiana Bell Telephone Company, Inc. d/b/a AT&T Indiana
Michigan Bell Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T Michigan
The Ohio Bell Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T Ohio
Wisconsin Bell, Inc. d/b/a AT&T Wisconsin
AT&T Corporation, acquired 2005
AT&T Communications, Inc.
BellSouth Corporation d/b/a AT&T South, acquired 2006
BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. d/b/a AT&T Alabama/Florida/Georgia/Kentucky/Louisiana/Mississippi/North Carolina/South Carolina/Southeast/Tennessee

Corporate governance

AT&T's current board of directors:

Randall L. Stephenson — Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
James A. Henderson
Gilbert F. Amelio
William F. Aldinger III
August A. Busch III
Martin K. Eby, Jr.
Charles F. Knight
Jon C. Madonna
Lynn M. Martin
Ronald M. Crump
John B. McCoy
Mary S. Metz
Toni Rembe
S. Donley Ritchey
Joyce M. Roche
Laura D'Andrea Tyson
Patricia P. Upton

Criticism and controversies

Contributions to political campaigns
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, AT&T is the United States' second largest donor to political campaigns, having contributed more than US$ 36 million since 1990, 56% and 44% of which went to Republican and Democratic recipients, respectively. A key political issue for AT&T is the question of which businesses win the right to profit by providing broadband internet access in the United States.[24]

In 2005, AT&T was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush.[25][26][27]

Censorship controversy
In August 2007, the band Pearl Jam performed in Chicago at Lollapalooza which was being web-broadcast by AT&T. The band, while playing the song "Daughter", started playing a version of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" but with altered lyrics critical of president George Bush. These lyrics included "George Bush, leave this world alone!" and, "George Bush, find yourself another home!". Listeners to AT&T's web broadcast heard only the first line because the rest was censored[28] although, AT&T spokesman Michael Coe said that the silencing was "a mistake."[29]

In September 2007, AT&T changed[30] their legal policy to state that "AT&T may immediately terminate or suspend all or a portion of your Service, any Member ID, electronic mail address, IP address, Universal Resource Locator or domain name used by you, without notice for conduct that AT&T believes"..."(c) tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries."[31] By October 10, 2007 AT&T had altered the terms and conditions for its Internet service to explicitly support freedom of expression by its subscribers, after an outcry claiming the company had given itself the right to censor its subscribers' transmissions.[32]

Section 5.1 of AT&T's new terms of service now reads "AT&T respects freedom of expression and believes it is a foundation of our free society to express differing points of view. AT&T will not terminate, disconnect or suspend service because of the views you or we express on public policy matters, political issues or political campaigns."[33]

Privacy controversy
Further information: NSA call database, Mark Klein, NSA warrantless surveillance controversy, Hepting v. AT&T
In 2006, the Electronic Frontier Foundation lodged a class action lawsuit, Hepting v. AT&T, which alleged that AT&T had allowed agents of the National Security Agency (NSA) to monitor phone and Internet communications of AT&T customers without warrants. If true, this would violate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 and the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. AT&T has yet to confirm or deny that monitoring by the NSA is occurring. In April 2006, a retired former AT&T technician, Mark Klein, lodged an affidavit supporting this allegation.[34][35] The Department of Justice has stated they will intervene in this lawsuit by means of State Secrets Privilege.[36]

In May 2006, USA Today reported that all international and domestic calling records had been handed over to the National Security Agency by AT&T, Verizon, SBC, and BellSouth for the purpose of creating a massive calling database.[37] The portions of the new AT&T that had been part of SBC Communications before November 18, 2005 were not mentioned.

On June 21, 2006, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that AT&T had rewritten rules on their privacy policy. The policy, which took effect June 23, 2006, says that "AT&T — not customers — owns customers' confidential info and can use it 'to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process.' "[38]

On August 22, 2007, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell confirmed that AT&T was one of the telecommunications companies that assisted with the government's warrantless wire-tapping program on calls between foreign and domestic sources.[39]

On November 8, 2007, Mark Klein, a former AT&T technician, told Keith Olbermann of MSNBC that all Internet traffic passing over AT&T lines was copied into a locked room at the company's San Francisco office — to which only employees with National Security Agency clearance had access.[40]

Intellectual property filtering
In January 2008, the company reported plans to begin filtering all Internet traffic which passes through its network for intellectual property violations.[41]

Commentators in the media have speculated that if this plan is implemented, it would lead to a mass exodus of subscribers leaving AT&T,[42] although this is misleading as internet traffic may go through the company's network anyway.[41] Internet freedom proponents used these developments as justification for government-mandated network neutrality.

Discrimination against local public access channels
AT&T is accused by community media groups of discriminating against local public access channels (the so-called PEG : "public, education, government channels") by "imposing unfair restrictions that will severely restrict the audience" [43].

According to Barbara Popovic (Executive Director of Chicago Access Corporation–CAN TV–in Chicago), none of the benefits of the new broadcasting system of AT&T (called U-verse) -such as easy-access-to-a-program guide, fast channel change, DVR recording...- is available for public channels[43].

The California Public Utilities Commission (a consumer rights board which is division of Ratepayer Advocates) reported :
"Instead of putting the stations on individual channels, AT&T has bundled community stations into a generic channel that can only be navigated through a complex and lengthy process."[43]

Sue Buske (president of the Buske Group -a telecommunications consulting firm-, former head of the National Federation of Local Cable Programmers -now known as the Alliance for Community Media-) argue that this is "an overall attack [...] on public access across the [United States], the place in the dial around cities and communities where people can make their own media in their own communities"[43].

Naming rights and sponsorships

One AT&T Plaza - AT&T's corporate headquarters in Dallas, Texas
[edit] Buildings
AT&T 220 Building - building in Indianapolis, Indiana
AT&T Building - building in Detroit, Michigan
AT&T Building - building in Indianapolis, Indiana
AT&T Building - building in Kingman, Arizona
AT&T Building - building in Nashville, Tennessee
AT&T Building - building in Omaha, Nebraska
AT&T Building Addition - building in Detroit, Michigan
AT&T Center - building in Los Angeles, California
AT&T Center - building in St. Louis, Missouri
AT&T City Center - building in Birmingham, Alabama
AT&T Corporate Center - building in Chicago, Illinois
AT&T Huron Road Building - building in Cleveland, Ohio
AT&T Midtown Center — building in Atlanta, Georgia
AT&T Switching Center - building in Los Angeles, California
AT&T Building - building in San Diego, California
One AT&T Plaza - Corporate Headquarters, Dallas, Texas
Sony Tower, (formerly the AT&T Building)

Venues
AT&T Bricktown Ballpark — Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (formerly Southwestern Bell Bricktown Ballpark, SBC Bricktown Ballpark)
AT&T Center — San Antonio, Texas (formerly SBC Center)
AT&T Field — Chattanooga, Tennessee (formerly BellSouth Park)
AT&T Park — San Francisco, California (formerly Pacific Bell Park, SBC Park)
AT&T Plaza - Chicago, Illinois (public space that hosts the Cloud Gate sculpture in Millennium Park)
AT&T Plaza — Dallas, Texas (the new plaza in front of the American Airlines Center in the Victory Park)

Sponsorships

AT&T sponsors the annual Red River Rivalry football gameAT&T Champions Classic — Valencia, California
AT&T Classic — Atlanta, Georgia (formerly BellSouth Classic)
AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic (formerly Mobil Cotton Bowl Classic, Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl Classic, SBC Cotton Bowl Classic) — played in Arlington, Texas, at Cowboys Stadium.
AT&T National — Washington, D.C.
AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
AT&T Red River Rivalry — Dallas, Texas (formerly Red River Shootout, SBC Red River Rivalry)
Jones AT&T Stadium — Lubbock, Texas (formerly Clifford B. and Audrey Jones Stadium, Jones SBC Stadium)
AT&T WilliamsF1 Team — based in Grove, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

Randall L. Stephenson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Randall Lynn Stephenson, Jr. (born 22 April 1960 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is an American business executive.

Stephenson replaced Edward E. Whitacre, Jr. as chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T Inc. in 2007. He was senior executive vice president and chief financial officer of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, which he joined in 1982. He was elected as a director of AT&T Inc. in June 2005. He also serves as a director of AT&T Mobility and Emerson Electric Co.

He holds a B.S. from the University of Central Oklahoma and an MBA from the University of Oklahoma.

The following bio is from AT&T's website:

Randall L. Stephenson
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President

Randall L. Stephenson is chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president of AT&T Inc. He was appointed to the position in 2007.

Since becoming chairman, Mr. Stephenson has strengthened AT&T's position as the world's largest telecommunications company by focusing on mobility and broadband access to the Internet. Today, AT&T has established leading positions in wireless smartphones, wireless data, global business solutions, broadband, voice and local search advertising, and is continuing to gain momentum in video entertainment.

Mr. Stephenson previously served as the company's chief operating officer, from April 2004 to June 2007, where he was responsible for all wireless and wired operations, and as senior executive vice president and chief financial officer for SBC Communications (today AT&T), from August 2001 to May 2004.

Mr. Stephenson was appointed to AT&T's board of directors in 2005.

Born in Oklahoma City, Mr. Stephenson began his career with Southwestern Bell Telephone in 1982 in the information technology organization in Oklahoma. He then progressed through a series of leadership positions including an assignment in Mexico City as SBC International's director of finance, overseeing SBC's ownership interest in Teléfonos de México. In 1996 he was named controller for SBC Communications. Additionally, Mr. Stephenson served as senior vice president-Consumer Marketing.

Under Mr. Stephenson's leadership, AT&T announced the largest education initiative in company history — AT&T Aspire — a $100 million philanthropic program to help strengthen student success and workforce readiness.

He is a member of the board of directors of Emerson Electric Co., a national board member of the Boy Scouts of America and is chairman of the 2009-2010 corporate campaign of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Mr. Stephenson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Central Oklahoma and a Master of Accountancy degree from the University of Oklahoma.