Saturday, January 21, 2012

1/21/12 Sat GE Profits Slide; Disney's CEO Paid $31.4 Mil

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Post No. 1,433 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 and Investor's Business Daily, the combined Sat/Sun issues of Wall St. Journal & Financial Times, Saturday's New York Times & Atlanta Journal Constitution yielded the following stories about Dow Jones Industrial Average 30 component companies and the Dow with stories about the Dow aggregated first and then items about Dow Jones Industrial Average 30 companies presented alphabetically, followed by symbol and Friday's stock prices and related data.

Dow Jones Industrial AverageThe Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Friday at 12,623.98 up 45.03 or 0.36% from Thursday's close of 12,623.98. For the week the Dow was up 298.42 or 2.40% from last Friday's close of 12,422.06. For the year the Dow is up 4.12%. Of the 30 Dow components 17 gained, GE was unchanged and 12 declined. The biggest gainer dollar-wise and percentage-wise was Microsoft MSFT $29.71 +1.59 5.65% 165,090,028 NASDAQ-GS. The biggest decliner dollar-wise was American Express AXP $50.04 -0.91 1.79% 12,534,687 NYSE and percentage-wise was Home Depot HD $44.51 -0.90 1.98% 12,353,496 NYSE.

Inv. Bus. Daily pA1 "Stock indexes steady but Google plunges" by Paul Whitfield says stocks kept their moves small Fri as the market digested a mixed bag of quarterly earnings reports. The Dow led with an 0.8% gain as components Intel, Microsoft and IBM advanced smartly after their latest earnings reports. The action was mostly up in mixed volume as the current market outlook is it is in a confirmed uptrend.

WSJ pB5 "Blue chips climb to 6 month peak" by Chris Dieterich says strong earnings from IBM powered blue chips higher for the 4th straight session and to a 6 month high even as discouraging quarterly reports from other bellwethers kept the broader market flat. Microsoft was up $1.59 after it reported fiscal 2Q earnings that beat expectations and lowered its operating expense outlook for '12.

Sat NYT pB7 "markets end day with slim gains" by Reuters says stocks on Wall St closed with narrow gains on Fri after GE and Google fin'l results fell short of expectations and investors looked for a resolution in the latest round of Greek debt talks.

As of the close of the market Friday, the current divisor for the Dow Jones Industrial Average found at page B6 of Saturday's Wall St. Journal is 0.132129493. Saturday's trailing P/E ratio is 13.7 up from Friday's trailing P/E ratio of 13.63 (year ago it was 14.82); Saturday's P/E estimate is 12.05 up from Friday's P/E estimate of 11.92 (year ago it was 12.59), and Saturday's dividend yield is 2.52 down from Friday's dividend yield of 2.55 (last year it was 2.42). 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 1,680.75 up 12.75 from Thursday's closing numerator of 1,668. 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 for today by the divisor (0.132129493) you get the increase 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 $56.02 up $0.42 from Thursday's average closing price of $55.60. The median closing price of Friday's Dow Jones Industrial Average was $46.97 (DD/HD) down $0.44 from Thursday's median closing price of $47.41. The lowest volume was 3M MMM $85.65 -0.15 0.17% 3,497,127 NYSE and the highest volume again was Bank of America BAC $7.07 +0.11 1.58% 233,385,396 NYSE.

If Friday morning before the market opened you had purchased 100 shares of each of the Dow Jones Industrial Average 30 shares (assuming you could buy fractional shares and assuming no transaction costs) and sold at the close you would have made $1,275 ($168,075 - $166,800).

MarketWatch Friday 1/20/12 4:11 pm by Laura Mandaro says U.S. stocks finished Friday near session highs, with the S&P 500 making a late about-face to end in the green, lifted by well-received results from Microsoft Corp. MSFT +0.10%, International Business Machines Corp. IBM -1.05% and Intel Corp. INTC +0.04% . The major indexes rose 2% to nearly 3% for the week, the third straight week of gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA +0.76% ended up 96.50 points, or 0.8%, at 12,720.48, led by a 5.7% rally in Microsoft and a 4.4% gain in IBM shares. The S&P 500 SPX +0.07% ended up 0.9 point, or 0.1%, at 1,315.38. The Nasdaq Composite COMP -0.06% lost 1.63 points, or 0.1%, to 2,786.70. The broader indexes were dragged by an 8.4% drop in Google Inc. GOOG +0.13% shares.

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

Symbol Last Sale Change % Change Share Volume Market

AT&T T
$30.51 +0.09 0.3% 25,711,238 NYSE: Barron's p28 "2012 Roundtable Part 2" says Bill Gross likes funds such as the Reaves Utility Income Fund that borrows up to 40% of its assets and invests in stocks such as AT&T and Verizon. Mario Gabelli mentions that Verizon Comm just bought Terremark, a data center firm. Fred Hickey says IBM, Microsoft and Google have been in Web-hosting for years and mentions Kraft Foods spinning off its snack foods business.

Barron's p19 "In search of yield" by Andrew Bary says most firms can afford to pay a 4% dividend including Disney, ExxonMobil, Microsoft and Walmart. JPMorgan could do so but would need regulatory approval. Dow firms that have been paying dividends of 4% or more are AT&T, Merck, and Pfizer. When GE and Intel lifted their dividends their stock rose. Firms such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson & Merck historically have been able to generate steady annual profit growth while paying out half their profits in dividends.

Alcoa AA
$10.17 -0.01 0.1% 23,079,956 NYSE:

American Express AXP
$50.04 -0.91 1.79% 12,534,687 NYSE: Barron's p54 "Mailbag" has a letter that says American Express Bank is offering a money market yield of 0.9% as an alternative to CDs.

Bank of America BAC
$7.07 +0.11 1.58% 233,385,396 NYSE: WSJ pB1 "Bonuses pinched from bank CEOs" by Dan Fitzpatrick says JPM said it paid CEO Jamie Dimon a '11 stock bonus of $17 mil. Bank of America said last week it will $1 bil in stock as year end compensation in lieu of cash awards.

Barron's p16 "Week review" says Bank of America posted a quarterly profit.

Barron's pM3 "The Lazarus rally" by Vito J. Racanelli says Nasdaq gained 2.8% the past week helped by strong 4Q profits from Microsoft & Intel. Bank of America reported better than expected 4Q rev on Thursday. IBM, Microsoft and Intel all reported slower rev growth.

Barron's p40 "2011 Quiz Winner" by Andrew Bary says McDonald's was the year's top performing Dow stock and the worst was Bank of America.

Boeing BA
$75.52 -0.04 0.05% 4,489,115 NYSE:

Caterpillar CAT
$105.64 -0.11 0.1% 6,522,636 NYSE:

Chevron CVX
$106.89 -0.04 0.04% 7,135,326 NYSE: Sat NYT pB2 "chevron appeals $18 bil judgment in Ecuador" by Reuters says Chevron filed an appeal with Ecuador's National Corut of Justice. Chevron inherited the case when it bought Texaco 10 years ago.

Barron's pM15 "The 2012 Lucky 13" by Shirley A. Lazo says Coca-Cola got its start in Atlanta in 1886 and ha nearly a half century of dividend boosts to its credit and is yielding 2.78%. Chevron has been sweetening dividends annual for a quarter of a century and yields 3.05%. Johnson & Johnson has a 48 year stretch of dividend boosts and is yieldinjg 3.50%.

CSCO
$19.92 +0.13 0.66% 41,529,914 NASDAQ-GS:

Coke KO
$68.09 +0.64 0.95% 9,400,036 NYSE: WSJ pA6 "Fungicide in juice is safe for crops" by Bill Tomson says the fungicide found in orange juice made by Coke and PepsiCo was federally approved for use on oranges in '09 and is considered safe. DuPont got it approved years ago but in '01 DuPont told the EPA it did not want to sell the product any more so EPA canceled DuPont's registration for it.

Barron's pM15 "The 2012 Lucky 13" by Shirley A. Lazo says Coca-Cola got its start in Atlanta in 1886 and ha nearly a half century of dividend boosts to its credit and is yielding 2.78%. Chevron has been sweetening dividends annual for a quarter of a century and yields 3.05%. Johnson & Johnson has a 48 year stretch of dividend boosts and is yieldinjg 3.50%.

Barron's p19 "In search of yield" by Andrew Bary says most firms can afford to pay a 4% dividend including Disney, ExxonMobil, Microsoft and Walmart. JPMorgan could do so but would need regulatory approval. Dow firms that have been paying dividends of 4% or more are AT&T, Merck, and Pfizer. When GE and Intel lifted their dividends their stock rose. Firms such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson & Merck historically have been able to generate steady annual profit growth while paying out half their profits in dividends.

Disney DIS
$39.31 -0.13 0.33% 7,546,477 NYSE: WSJ pB4 "Disney CEO Iger paid $31.4 Mil" by Erica Order says this was for '11 as his compensation rose 11.9% over prior year.

Barron's p19 "In search of yield" by Andrew Bary says most firms can afford to pay a 4% dividend including Disney, ExxonMobil, Microsoft and Walmart. JPMorgan could do so but would need regulatory approval. Dow firms that have been paying dividends of 4% or more are AT&T, Merck, and Pfizer. When GE and Intel lifted their dividends their stock rose. Firms such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson & Merck historically have been able to generate steady annual profit growth while paying out half their profits in dividends.

DuPont DD
$49.42 +0.02 0.04% 5,301,946 NYSE: WSJ pA6 "Fungicide in juice is safe for crops" by Bill Tomson says the fungicide found in orange juice made by Coke and PepsiCo was federally approved for use on oranges in '09 and is considered safe. DuPont got it approved years ago but in '01 DuPont told the EPA it did not want to sell the product any more so EPA canceled DuPont's registration for it.

Exxon XOM
$87.49 +0.46 0.53% 18,860,836 NYSE: Barron's p19 "In search of yield" by Andrew Bary says most firms can afford to pay a 4% dividend including Disney, ExxonMobil, Microsoft and Walmart. JPMorgan could do so but would need regulatory approval. Dow firms that have been paying dividends of 4% or more are AT&T, Merck, and Pfizer. When GE and Intel lifted their dividends their stock rose. Firms such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson & Merck historically have been able to generate steady annual profit growth while paying out half their profits in dividends.

GE
$19.15 unch unch 91,304,867 NYSE: WSJ pB3 "GE profit slides on pricing" by kate Linebaugh, Bob Sechler, Sat NYT pB3 "Finance business helps lift GE profits by 6%, but rev falls short" by Steve Lohr, Inv. Bus. Daily pA1 "Weak Europe hurts GE sales", AJC pA12 "GE braces for more volatiliy" by AP say GE's Q4 profit rose 8% to 39 cents a share ex items, a penny above views but rev fell 8% to $38 bil and missed views. GE cited slowness in Europe and weaker appliance sales. Rev missed estimates falling to $37.97 bil from $41.23 a year earlier after the sale of NBC Universal. Its 4Q profit fell to $3.73 bil weighed down by lingering costs from a consumer finance business in Japna that GE exited.

Sat NYT pB7 "markets end day with slim gains" by Reuters says stocks on Wall St closed with narrow gains on Fri after GE and Google fin'l results fell short of expectations and investors looked for a resolution in the latest round of Greek debt talks.

Barron's p19 "In search of yield" by Andrew Bary says most firms can afford to pay a 4% dividend including Disney, ExxonMobil, Microsoft and Walmart. JPMorgan could do so but would need regulatory approval. Dow firms that have been paying dividends of 4% or more are AT&T, Merck, and Pfizer. When GE and Intel lifted their dividends their stock rose. Firms such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson & Merck historically have been able to generate steady annual profit growth while paying out half their profits in dividends.

Hewlett-Packard HPQ
$28.13 +0.98 3.61% 22,228,244 NYSE:

Home Depot HD
$44.51 -0.90 1.98% 12,353,496 NYSE: AJC pA12 "Home Depot looks to web" by Arielle kass says Home Depot acquired Redbeacon.com that sets up customers with professional contractors.

Intel INTC
$26.38 +0.75 2.93% 100,793,290 NASDAQ-GS: WSJ pB4 "Intel shuffles Execs, gives clues on CEO race" by Don Clark, Inv. Bus. Daily pA3 "Intel" say it reshuffled management naming Brian Krzanich as coo and Dadi Perlumutter a chief porduct officer.

Barron's p41 "Microsoft and Intel: riding the highs of low expectations" by Tiernan Ray says a mood of heaviness has weighed upon the PC market, which is the core of Intel and Microsoft's businesses. Intel said its sales its sales may rise as much as 9%. Intel shares are up 12% in the past 3 months and Microsoft is up 10%. Microsoft is "loaded for bear" and Microsoft's "positive buzz will continue to outweigh the negative."

Inv. Bus. Daily pB2 "Tech sector leaders advance" says Microsoft beat Q4 profit views and rev was in line despite sluggish PC sales due to a disk drive shortage. Intel topped forecasts and IBM's profit jumped 11%.

Inv. Bus. Daily pA1 "Stock indexes steady but Google plunges" by Paul Whitfield says stocks kept their moves small Fri as the market digested a mixed bag of quarterly earnings reports. The Dow led with an 0.8% gain as components Intel, Microsoft and IBM advanced smartly after their latest earnings reports. The action was mostly up in mixed volume as the current market outlook is it is in a confirmed uptrend.

Barron's pM3 "The Lazarus rally" by Vito J. Racanelli says Nasdaq gained 2.8% the past week helped by strong 4Q profits from Microsoft & Intel. Bank of America reported better than expected 4Q rev on Thursday. IBM, Microsoft and Intel all reported slower rev growth.

Barron's p19 "In search of yield" by Andrew Bary says most firms can afford to pay a 4% dividend including Disney, ExxonMobil, Microsoft and Walmart. JPMorgan could do so but would need regulatory approval. Dow firms that have been paying dividends of 4% or more are AT&T, Merck, and Pfizer. When GE and Intel lifted their dividends their stock rose. Firms such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson & Merck historically have been able to generate steady annual profit growth while paying out half their profits in dividends.

IBM
$188.52 +8 4.43% 12,606,220 NYSE: WSJ pB5 "Blue chips climb to 6 month peak" by Chris Dieterich says strong earnings from IBM powered blue chips higher for the 4th straight session and to a 6 month high even as discouraging quarterly reports from other bellwethers kept the broader market flat. Microsoft was up $1.59 after it reported fiscal 2Q earnings that beat expectations and lowered its operating expense outlook for '12.

Barron's pM3 "The Lazarus rally" by Vito J. Racanelli says Nasdaq gained 2.8% the past week helped by strong 4Q profits from Microsoft & Intel. Bank of America reported better than expected 4Q rev on Thursday. IBM, Microsoft and Intel all reported slower rev growth.

Inv. Bus. Daily pB7 "Tech icon IBM grows profits 10%+ again" by David Saito-Chung says IBM had fallen 3 weeks in a row but it had a strong advance as it had an 11% jump in EPS to $4.71 that beat views.

Inv. Bus. Daily pA1 "Stock indexes steady but Google plunges" by Paul Whitfield says stocks kept their moves small Fri as the market digested a mixed bag of quarterly earnings reports. The Dow led with an 0.8% gain as components Intel, Microsoft and IBM advanced smartly after their latest earnings reports. The action was mostly up in mixed volume as the current market outlook is it is in a confirmed uptrend.

Inv. Bus. Daily pB2 "Tech sector leaders advance" says Microsoft beat Q4 profit views and rev was in line despite sluggish PC sales due to a disk drive shortage. Intel topped forecasts and IBM's profit jumped 11%.

Barron's p28 "2012 Roundtable Part 2" says Bill Gross likes funds such as the Reaves Utility Income Fund that borrows up to 40% of its assets and invests in stocks such as AT&T and Verizon. Mario Gabelli mentions that Verizon Comm just bought Terremark, a data center firm. Fred Hickey says IBM, Microsoft and Google have been in Web-hosting for years and mentions Kraft Foods spinning off its snack foods business.

JPMorgan JPM
$37.36 +0.43 1.16% 33,982,737 NYSE: Sat NYT pB7 "Bad year for Wall St not reflected in chiefs' pay" by Susanne Craig, WSJ pB1 "Bonuses pinched from bank CEOs" by Dan Fitzpatrick says JPM said it paid CEO Jamie Dimon a '11 stock bonus of $17 mil. Bank of America said last week it will $1 bil in stock as year end compensation in lieu of cash awards.

Barron's p19 "In search of yield" by Andrew Bary says most firms can afford to pay a 4% dividend including Disney, ExxonMobil, Microsoft and Walmart. JPMorgan could do so but would need regulatory approval. Dow firms that have been paying dividends of 4% or more are AT&T, Merck, and Pfizer. When GE and Intel lifted their dividends their stock rose. Firms such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson & Merck historically have been able to generate steady annual profit growth while paying out half their profits in dividends.

Johnson & Johnson JNJ
$65.27 +0.08 0.12% 14,414,063 NYSE: Barron's p17 "Week preview" says on Tuesday Verizon Comm reports 4Q earnings with estimates of 0.53 per share versus year ago of 0.54 as does Johnson & Johnson with estimates of $1.10 versus a year ago of 1.03.

Barron's pM15 "The 2012 Lucky 13" by Shirley A. Lazo says Coca-Cola got its start in Atlanta in 1886 and ha nearly a half century of dividend boosts to its credit and is yielding 2.78%. Chevron has been sweetening dividends annual for a quarter of a century and yields 3.05%. Johnson & Johnson has a 48 year stretch of dividend boosts and is yieldinjg 3.50%.

Barron's p19 "In search of yield" by Andrew Bary says most firms can afford to pay a 4% dividend including Disney, ExxonMobil, Microsoft and Walmart. JPMorgan could do so but would need regulatory approval. Dow firms that have been paying dividends of 4% or more are AT&T, Merck, and Pfizer. When GE and Intel lifted their dividends their stock rose. Firms such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson & Merck historically have been able to generate steady annual profit growth while paying out half their profits in dividends.

Kraft KFT
$38.67 -0.03 0.08% 7,099,429 NYSE: Barron's p28 "2012 Roundtable Part 2" says Bill Gross likes funds such as the Reaves Utility Income Fund that borrows up to 40% of its assets and invests in stocks such as AT&T and Verizon. Mario Gabelli mentions that Verizon Comm just bought Terremark, a data center firm. Fred Hickey says IBM, Microsoft and Google have been in Web-hosting for years and mentions Kraft Foods spinning off its snack foods business.

McDonald's MCD
$101.74 +0.48 0.47% 5,486,987 NYSE: Barron's p40 "2011 Quiz Winner" by Andrew Bary says McDonald's was the year's top performing Dow stock and the worst was Bank of America.

Merck MRK
$39.2 -0.06 0.15% 15,143,846 NYSE: Barron's p19 "In search of yield" by Andrew Bary says most firms can afford to pay a 4% dividend including Disney, ExxonMobil, Microsoft and Walmart. JPMorgan could do so but would need regulatory approval. Dow firms that have been paying dividends of 4% or more are AT&T, Merck, and Pfizer. When GE and Intel lifted their dividends their stock rose. Firms such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson & Merck historically have been able to generate steady annual profit growth while paying out half their profits in dividends.

Microsoft MSFT
$29.71 +1.59 5.65% 165,090,028 NASDAQ-GS: WSJ pB5 "Blue chips climb to 6 month peak" by Chris Dieterich says strong earnings from IBM powered blue chips higher for the 4th straight session and to a 6 month high even as discouraging quarterly reports from other bellwethers kept the broader market flat. Microsoft was up $1.59 after it reported fiscal 2Q earnings that beat expectations and lowered its operating expense outlook for '12.

Barron's p41 "Microsoft and Intel: riding the highs of low expectations" by Tiernan Ray says a mood of heaviness has weighed upon the PC market, which is the core of Intel and Microsoft's businesses. Intel said its sales its sales may rise as much as 9%. Intel shares are up 12% in the past 3 months and Microsoft is up 10%. Microsoft is "loaded for bear" and Microsoft's "positive buzz will continue to outweigh the negative."

Inv. Bus. Daily pB2 "Tech sector leaders advance" says Microsoft beat Q4 profit views and rev was in line despite sluggish PC sales due to a disk drive shortage. Intel topped forecasts and IBM's profit jumped 11%.

Inv. Bus. Daily pA1 "Stock indexes steady but Google plunges" by Paul Whitfield says stocks kept their moves small Fri as the market digested a mixed bag of quarterly earnings reports. The Dow led with an 0.8% gain as components Intel, Microsoft and IBM advanced smartly after their latest earnings reports. The action was mostly up in mixed volume as the current market outlook is it is in a confirmed uptrend.

Barron's pM3 "The Lazarus rally" by Vito J. Racanelli says Nasdaq gained 2.8% the past week helped by strong 4Q profits from Microsoft & Intel. Bank of America reported better than expected 4Q rev on Thursday. IBM, Microsoft and Intel all reported slower rev growth.

Barron's pM6 charts Microsoft saying it beat fiscal 2Q earnings estimates though profit fell slightly from a year ago. New products beckon.

Barron's p19 "In search of yield" by Andrew Bary says most firms can afford to pay a 4% dividend including Disney, ExxonMobil, Microsoft and Walmart. JPMorgan could do so but would need regulatory approval. Dow firms that have been paying dividends of 4% or more are AT&T, Merck, and Pfizer. When GE and Intel lifted their dividends their stock rose. Firms such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson & Merck historically have been able to generate steady annual profit growth while paying out half their profits in dividends.

Barron's p28 "2012 Roundtable Part 2" says Bill Gross likes funds such as the Reaves Utility Income Fund that borrows up to 40% of its assets and invests in stocks such as AT&T and Verizon. Mario Gabelli mentions that Verizon Comm just bought Terremark, a data center firm. Fred Hickey says IBM, Microsoft and Google have been in Web-hosting for years and mentions Kraft Foods spinning off its snack foods business.

Pfizer PFE
$21.9 +0.06 0.27% 38,923,611 NYSE: Barron's p19 "In search of yield" by Andrew Bary says most firms can afford to pay a 4% dividend including Disney, ExxonMobil, Microsoft and Walmart. JPMorgan could do so but would need regulatory approval. Dow firms that have been paying dividends of 4% or more are AT&T, Merck, and Pfizer. When GE and Intel lifted their dividends their stock rose. Firms such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson & Merck historically have been able to generate steady annual profit growth while paying out half their profits in dividends.

Procter & Gamble PG
$66.23 0+.15 0.23% 12,089,889 NYSE: Barron's p19 "In search of yield" by Andrew Bary says most firms can afford to pay a 4% dividend including Disney, ExxonMobil, Microsoft and Walmart. JPMorgan could do so but would need regulatory approval. Dow firms that have been paying dividends of 4% or more are AT&T, Merck, and Pfizer. When GE and Intel lifted their dividends their stock rose. Firms such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson & Merck historically have been able to generate steady annual profit growth while paying out half their profits in dividends.

3M MMM
$85.65 -0.15 0.17% 3,497,127 NYSE:

Travelers TRV
$61.59 +1.29 2.14% 3,909,185 NYSE:

United Technologies UTX
$76.69 -0.50 0.65% 6,486,554 NYSE:

Verizon VZ
$38.97 -0.03 0.08% 14,709,623 DualListed: WSJ pB3 "Vodafone overturns tax bill in India" by Amol Sharma, WSJ pB16 "Vodafone's foreign cheer" by Hester Plumridge say Indai's Supreme Corut ruled that Vodafone isn't liable for taxes on the deal it struck to enter Inida in '07. Vodafone owns 40% of Verizon Wireless.

Barron's p17 "Week preview" says on Tuesday Verizon Comm reports 4Q earnings with estimates of 0.53 per share versus year ago of 0.54 as does Johnson & Johnson with estimates of $1.10 versus a year ago of 1.03.

Barron's p19 "In search of yield" by Andrew Bary says most firms can afford to pay a 4% dividend including Disney, ExxonMobil, Microsoft and Walmart. JPMorgan could do so but would need regulatory approval. Dow firms that have been paying dividends of 4% or more are AT&T, Merck, and Pfizer. When GE and Intel lifted their dividends their stock rose. Firms such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson & Merck historically have been able to generate steady annual profit growth while paying out half their profits in dividends.

Barron's p28 "2012 Roundtable Part 2" says Bill Gross likes funds such as the Reaves Utility Income Fund that borrows up to 40% of its assets and invests in stocks such as AT&T and Verizon. Mario Gabelli mentions that Verizon Comm just bought Terremark, a data center firm. Fred Hickey says IBM, Microsoft and Google have been in Web-hosting for years and mentions Kraft Foods spinning off its snack foods business.

Walmart WMT
$61.01 +0.40 0.66% 10,366,946 NYSE: WST pB4 "New Sam's Club CEO named by Walmart" by Miguel Bustillo, Karen Talley, Inv. Bus. Daily pA2 "Walmart promotes women" says Rosalind Brewer was named as president and CEO of Sam's Club warehouse succeeding Brian Cornell.

Barron's p19 "In search of yield" by Andrew Bary says most firms can afford to pay a 4% dividend including Disney, ExxonMobil, Microsoft and Walmart. JPMorgan could do so but would need regulatory approval. Dow firms that have been paying dividends of 4% or more are AT&T, Merck, and Pfizer. When GE and Intel lifted their dividends their stock rose. Firms such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson & Merck historically have been able to generate steady annual profit growth while paying out half their profits in dividends.
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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