Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Own For 2014

It was a tough week for the markets, with fear hanging in the air over the fate of the Federal Reserve's bond-buying program and over last week's market stumble. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) and the S&P 500 posted their worst weeks of the year, after declining 2.23% and 2.1%, respectively. The blue chip index lost 344 points over the past five days, with the worst single-day slide of 225 points coming on Thursday. The Nasdaq also lost 1.56% this past week, held at a reasonable loss thanks to Apple and the multimillion-dollar Tweet from Carl Icahn.

Before we hit the Dow losers, let's look at this week's best-performing component. Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT  ) , with a gain of 0.77%, was the only Dow stock that rose this past week. As gold, silver, and platinum rise, the value of the mining equipment Caterpillar makes also rises, and if prices can sustain their current levels, we're likely to see increased orders for its machinery as more people try to dig gold out of the ground. �

Top 10 Semiconductor Companies To Watch In Right Now: Colgate-Palmolive Company(CL)

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets consumer products worldwide. It offers oral care products, including toothpaste, toothbrushes, and mouth rinses, as well as dental floss and pharmaceutical products for dentists and other oral health professionals; personal care products, such as liquid hand soap, shower gels, bar soaps, deodorants, antiperspirants, shampoos, and conditioners; and home care products comprising laundry and dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, bleaches, dishwashing liquids, and oil soaps. The company offers its oral, personal, and home care products under the Colgate Total, Colgate Max Fresh, Colgate 360 Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  A: The stock market is a market of individual stocks that represent fractional ownership interests in real businesses. The key to investment success is first and foremost to identify individual, highly durable businesses and then have the discipline to buy them when prices are attractive and the risk/reward trade-off is compelling. We invest in what we understand, continuing to pour over the universe of businesses within our many circles of competence that meet our management, capital allocation, business model, and valuation criteria. Some areas that we believe offer the greatest opportunity in terms of prospective returns include:

  Global market leaders such as Nike (NKE), Colgate-Palmolive (CL) and Philip Morris International (PM) that are beneficiaries of a growing global middle class and consumer culture. The global wealth effect, particularly in developing economies, is a real and very powerful force that should serve as a tailwind for these types of global brands over the long term. Well-managed financial services companies with true franchise value due to the success of their particular products or brand that have the ability and management prowess to build market share over time in a highly fragmented marketplace. Wells Fargo and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) are representative examples in this category. The depth of the recent financial crisis is well known. What is less understood is that certain market leaders used the downturn to dramatically strengthen their capital base and significantly grow their market share at the expense of weaker competitors. Certain health care-related businesses such as UnitedHealth Group and Laboratory Corporation of America that stand to benefit from growing health care spending by aging populations around the world. Workhorse technology companies such as Texas Instruments (TXN), Microsoft (MSFT) and Google that are market leaders with durable competitive moats and that also offer an attractive risk/reward proposition at
• [By Eric Volkman]

  It's one of the steadiest dividend payers on the market, and it's continuing to fly level. Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL  ) has declared a fresh quarterly common stock dividend, which is to be $0.34 per share, paid on August 15 to shareholders of record as of July 23. That amount matches the firm's previous distribution; this was paid in May. Prior to that, Colgate-Palmolive handed out $0.31 per share.

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Own For 2014: Apple Inc.(AAPL)

Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, as well as sells related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications worldwide. The company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, retail stores, direct sales force, third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. In addition, it sells third-party Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod compatible products, including application software, printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones, and other accessories and peripherals through its online and retail stores; and digital content and applications through the iTunes Store. The company sells its products to consumer, small and mid-sized business, education, enterprise, government, and creative markets. As of September 25, 2010, it had 317 retail stores, including 233 stores in the United States and 84 stores internationally. The company, formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc., was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images Apple (AAPL) and Alibaba (BABA) could soon be collaborators. At The Wall Street Journal's WSJD live event, Alibaba's founder and Executive Chairman Jack Ma was asked whether he would consider a partnership between Apple Pay and Alipay, Alibaba's payments company. "I am very interested in that," Ma said. "A good marriage needs both sides to work." When asked about such a partnership Apple CEO Tim Cook said, "We are going to talk about getting married later this week," adding, "I have the utmost respect for Jack." It's been just over a week, but Cook says Apple Pay is already a big success. Within the first 72 hours of Apple Pay's debut, the new mobile payment service had already exceeded more than one million card activations, he said. "We are just getting started," Cook said. He expects more merchants to adopt the service because he believes it's an easier, faster and more secure way to buy goods. However, some merchants such as CVS (CVS) and Rite Aid (RAD) have refused the service. Cook called the tension between Apple and these merchants a "skirmish." Apple Pay is currently available at 220,000 locations around the country. Cook went on to talk about a wide range of subjects including activist investor Carl Icahn's call for Apple to boost its buyback program. Cook defended Apple's current capital return program, noting that the company bought back $17 billion of stock last quarter alone. "I don't spend a lot of time talking to Carl," Cook said. Apple recently reported quarterly results that beat analyst estimates, selling nearly 40 million iPhones. iPad shipments, however, missed wall street's expectations. Cook remains confident in that product, however, noting that the tablet is now used in a variety of markets, from education to enterprise. "I am very excited about that business," Cook said. Apple's CEO also made a point of saying that the tech titan isn't in the business of collecting, storing

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  AP/Mark Lennihan One of the bright spots in Microsoft's (MSFT) quarterly report last week was that Surface sales more than doubled sequentially. The software giant rang up $893 million in sales of its Windows-fueled tablet during the holiday quarter, up sharply from the $400 million in sales it cleared during the three months ending in September. The uptick wasn't really a surprise. Tablets sell briskly during the holidays, and Microsoft also updated its product line in October with the release of Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2. However, the more that one thinks about it, the worse that Microsoft's $893 million in Surface sales becomes. Apple (AAPL) reported its financial results for the same three months earlier this week. It sold nearly $11.5 billion worth of iPads during the quarter, up from the $6.2 billion it sold during the September quarter. Technically speaking, Microsoft's 123 percent increase is larger than Apple's still impressive 85 percent spike in sequential sales. However, is there any doubt that Apple is the one that's doing better? How many Surfaces did Microsoft actually sell during the quarter? Well, the Surface 2 starts at $449, but the Surface Pro 2 can set buyers back as much as $1,799. Set aside the sticker shock for a $1,799 tablet, and let's point out the the cheapest Surface Pro 2 -- the one running Windows 8.1 Pro instead of the scaled-down Windows RT operating system -- starts at $899. So when Microsoft says $893 million in tablet sales it likely translates into a little more than a million devices. Apple on the other hand sold more than 26 million tablets during the quarter. If we look at the unit levels sequentially, Microsoft's sales grew by less than a million sequentially while Apple sold nearly 12 million more iPads than it did during the prior three months. In short, let's not celebrate Microsoft's feat of selling somewhere between a million but far less than 2 million tablets during the holidays. Despite an aggressive mark

• [By Paul Ausick]

  On the operating system side of the equation, Android from Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and iOS from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) continue to lead by wide margins. The Windows Phone operating system from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and BlackBerry OS from BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) trail well behind.

• [By Tim Brugger]

  The envelope, please
  Samsung remains the leader in both feature and smartphone sales across the globe, growing 13% in total, and up 3.2 percentage points over the year-ago quarter. In the race for smartphone dominance with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) , Samsung is winning the worldwide smartphone contest, and the lead is growing. Apple's share of the smartphone pie dropped to 18.2% in Q1, from 22.5% in the same period last year. And with no new phones expected for at least a quarter or two, and difficulties in securing subsidy deals with Asian wireless providers, things could get worse before they get better for Apple.

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Own For 2014: Visa Inc.(V)

Visa Inc., a payments technology company, engages in the operation of retail electronic payments network worldwide. It facilitates commerce through the transfer of value and information among financial institutions, merchants, consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company owns and operates VisaNet, a global processing platform that provides transaction processing services. It also offers a range of payments platforms, which enable credit, charge, deferred debit, debit, and prepaid payments, as well as cash access for consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company provides its payment platforms under the Visa, Visa Electron, PLUS, and Interlink brand names. In addition, it offers value-added services, including risk management, issuer processing, loyalty, dispute management, value-added information, and CyberSource-branded services. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The Dow was weighed down by Nike, which fell 3% to $76.84 ahead of next week’s earnings, while United Health dropped 2.6% to $72.14 and Pfizer declined 2.2% to $30.65. Only five Dow components finished in the green, including Visa (V), which rose 3.1% to $205.66 after Mastercard’s (MA) big dividend/buyback/stock-slit announcement.

• [By David Hanson and Matt Koppenheffer]

  In this video, Motley Fool financial analysts David Hanson and Matt Koppenheffer discuss three reasons American Express is well-positioned and a possibly better than Visa (NYSE: V  ) or MasterCard (NYSE: MA  ) �as�way to play the growth in plastic.�

• [By Andrew Tonner]

  Since both banks and credit card companies benefit from Apple Pay in much the same way, I'll further lump them together for purposes of this discussion. It doesn't take an overly keen observer to note that these combined financial institutions stand to gain as the result of Apple's new payment platform.�True, Apple Pay will eat into the value of each transaction (Apple reportedly receives $0.15 for every $100 of transactional value), but there's little question that the system's ease of use should help increase aggregate payment volumes for banks and expand the overall use of consumer credit for the credit card companies. �On top of seeing increased point-of-sale transaction volumes, these two kinds of financial institutions also believe Apple Pay will drive a significant uptick in mobile e-commerce sales by finally providing the kind of secure and seamless option many small websites need. �So while Apple will certainly eat into their margins, the credit card companies such as�Visa (NYSE: V  ) , MasterCard (NYSE: MA  ) , and American Express (NYSE: AXP  ) �and major banks like�Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) , JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) , Citi (NYSE: C  ) , are certainly right in their optimistic view of Apple Pay.

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Own For 2014: International Business Machines Corporation(IBM)

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) provides information technology (IT) products and services worldwide. Its Global Technology Services segment provides IT infrastructure and business process services, including strategic outsourcing, process, integrated technology, and maintenance services, as well as technology-based support services. The company?s Global Business Services segment offers consulting and systems integration, and application management services. Its Software segment offers middleware and operating systems software, such as WebSphere software to integrate and manage business processes; information management software for database and enterprise content management, information integration, data warehousing, business analytics and intelligence, performance management, and predictive analytics; Tivoli software for identity management, data security, storage management, and datacenter automation; Lotus software for collaboration, messaging, and so cial networking; rational software to support software development for IT and embedded systems; business intelligence software, which provides querying and forecasting tools; SPSS predictive analytics software to predict outcomes and act on that insight; and operating systems software. Its Systems and Technology segment provides computing and storage solutions, including servers, disk and tape storage systems and software, point-of-sale retail systems, and microelectronics. The company?s Global Financing segment provides lease and loan financing to end users and internal clients; commercial financing to dealers and remarketers of IT products; and remanufacturing and remarketing services. It serves financial services, public, industrial, distribution, communications, and general business sectors. The company was formerly known as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. and changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation in 1924. IBM was founded in 1910 and is based in Armonk, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt Koppenheffer]

  9. Conservative investment portfolio
  If there's one thing that people think of Warren Buffett as, it's a great investor. But he's also a very conservative investor -- particularly when it comes to Berkshire's portfolio. Berkshire's "big four" stocks --�Wells Fargo� (NYSE: WFC  ) ,�Coca-Cola� (NYSE: KO  ) ,�IBM� (NYSE: IBM  ) , and�American Express�-- are all companies that we could see solid returns from in the years ahead. But, more importantly, they're all companies that we're�unlikely�to see drastic underperformance from.�

• [By Tim Brugger]

  For the last year, through the first calendar quarter of 2013, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) has generated about $76 billion in revenues, so why would a mere $1.19 billion in sales in what is now a relatively minor $13.1 billion market, according to recent data from Gartner, warrant investor discussion? Or take the case of IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) and its $104.5 billion in annual revenues in 2012. Its paltry $1.63 billion piece of this particular pie hardly makes a dent, so what's the big deal?

• [By Chris Neiger]

  While consumer tech devices often focus on incremental changes -- think Apple's upcoming larger iPhone --�IBM� (NYSE: IBM  ) �has been busy working on a new chip that processes information like a human brain.

• [By Gregory Ness]

  Most of the biggest technology payoffs have been generated by companies that drove transformations in business operations. From the mainframe era with IBM (IBM) through the PC era with Microsoft (MSFT) and the networking era with Cisco (CSCO), disruptive technologies that set new standards for business productivity established built-to-last companies with massive market capitalizations.

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Own For 2014: McDonald's Corporation(MCD)

McDonald?s Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a worldwide foodservice retailer. It franchises and operates McDonald?s restaurants that offer various food items, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages. As of December 31, 2009, the company operated 32,478 restaurants in 117 countries, of which 26,216 were operated by franchisees; and 6,262 were operated by the company. McDonald?s Corporation was founded in 1948 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jack Kramer and Nick Martell] Get hungry -- Wall Street's getting into the meat and potatoes of the first-quarter earnings season. Stocks rose all week long as headline corporations dropped earnings reports like they were hot.
  
  1. Stock winner of the week ... Toys are fun, but toys that make money are even more fun. That's why�Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS  ) �is our pick for stock of the week. Shares of the Rhode Island-based toy designer rose nearly 2% Monday after reporting earnings that were a treat for investors to play with. The company enjoyed $679.5 million in revenues over the first quarter of 2014, a 2% increase from the same period last year.
  
  So what helped out Hasbro? It turns out that, in fact, "boys drool and girls rule." That's because sales of toys focused on boys (we're talking about Nerf classics) rose by just 2% over the quarter -- but for girls, toys like My Little Pony jumped by 21%. Plus, international Hasbro sales gained 5% despite a slight sales slowdown in North America. � The reason investors felt like kids on Christmas morning after Hasbro's earnings was that the toy industry hasn't been kind recently. Classic physical toys are facing serious competition from electronic ones -- plus, the unflattering holiday sales season ate away at Mattel's toy sales, according to their earnings report the week earlier. Hasbro's been going through some restructuring since 2013, and as it remakes itself, Wall Street seems happy that its 2014 is off to a mom-approved start.
  2. ... And stock loser
  The only thing worse than ordering a burger medium rare and getting it well done is having some poorly served earnings from�McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) . Last Tuesday, the fast-food giant reported an artery-packing $6.7 billion in revenues during the first quarter of the year -- but that�represented only a 1% rise from the same period in 2013, which was simply in line with analysts' expectations.
  
  Ronald McDonald may always be smiling, but he wasn't

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Own For 2014: Chevron Corporation(CVX)

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in petroleum, chemicals, mining, power generation, and energy operations worldwide. It operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment involves in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as holds interest in a gas-to-liquids project. The Downstream segment engages in the refining of crude oil into petroleum products; marketing of crude oil and refined products primarily under the Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex brand names; transportation of crude oil and refined products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car; and manufacture and marketing of commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives. It a lso produces and markets coal and molybdenum; and holds interests in 13 power assets with a total operating capacity of approximately 3,100 megawatts, as well as involves in cash management and debt financing activities, insurance operations, real estate activities, energy services, and alternative fuels and technology business. Chevron Corporation has a joint venture agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corp. and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in May 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is based in San Ramon, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By reports.droy]

  The shares of Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) and Chevron Corp. (CVX) are also somewhat headed in the same downward direction as the investor��joy. Let�� take a better look at what is happening in the world of gas prices.

• [By Teresa Rivas]

  Chevron (CVX) lost ground on its second-quarter report, as did Alpha Natural Resources (ANR).

  J.C. Penney (JCP) ended lower despite reports that CIT had lifted its credit restrictions, while Weight Watchers (WTW) sank on its disappointing guidance and the departure of its CEO.

• [By Robert Rapier]

  There are numerous drillers making major investments in the Permian Basin. The list is long, but it includes Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY), Chevron (NYSE: CVX), Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN), Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD), Concho Resources (NYSE: CXO), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) and Apache (NYSE: APA).

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Own For 2014: Philip Morris International Inc(PM)

Philip Morris International Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in markets outside of the United States. Its international product brand line comprises Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Virginia Slims, L&M, Chesterfield, Bond Street, Lark, Muratti, Next, Philip Morris, and Red & White. The company also offers its products under the A Mild, Dji Sam Soe, and A Hijau in Indonesia; Diana in Italy; Optima and Apollo-Soyuz in the Russian Federation; Morven Gold in Pakistan; Boston in Colombia; Belmont, Canadian Classics, and Number 7 in Canada; Best and Classic in Serbia; f6 in Germany; Delicados in Mexico; Assos in Greece; and Petra in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It operates primarily in the European Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. The company is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Thursday

  Earnings Expected From: UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE: UNH), Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), PrivateBancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: PVTB), PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE: PPG), Philip Morris International Inc (NYSE: PM), Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK), Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU), Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG), Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) Economic Releases Expected: Chinese GDP, Chinese industrial production, Chinese retail sales, US industrial production, US housing starts, US building permits

  Friday