12:52pm ET
Investing
American’s Most Efficiently Run Brands
The media is filled with brand lists, most of them which are based on research which estimates the value of a given brand. It is hard to connect these valuations to the…
MO Coverage Page 63
10:23am ET
Companies and Brands
Altria Delivers Another Big Dividend Hike (MO)
Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE: MO) has hiked its dividend. While we saw a dividend hike earlier in the year, we had a few questions about its dividend coverage. It seems those questions…
Jon C. Ogg 2:08pm ET
Investing
Seeking Refuge in Defensive Stocks (PEP, KO, CPB, HRL, MCD, VGR, MO, RAI)
Defensive stocks are supposed to hold up in down stock markets. That isn’t so today. In our list of 17 defensive stocks we routinely track, none were positive today. On average, the…
10:32pm ET
Investing
The Greatest Brands in American History
Most of the analysis about super-brands focuses on companies and products that have been prominent in the last few decades – companies like Apple, Google, Toyota, or Starbucks. According to how many…
3:57pm ET
Investing
The Daily Gimmick: Miller Lite Fantasy Football Draft Sweepstakes (TAP, MO, BUD)
Gimmicks are always a big way to draw in new customers and to entice existing customers to buy more. They often cost a company very little and can bring in large rewards. …
4:02am ET
Media
Media Digest (8/2/2010) Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
Reuters: BP plc (NYSE: BP) has made final plans to plug its well. Reuters: The dollar index fell to a three-month low due to a slowing economy. Reuters: Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:…
4:57am ET
Investing
The Biggest Companies You’ve Never Heard Of…And What They Do
The great majority of the largest companies in America are easily identified by name by most consumers. That is because their names match one or more of their most important brands. McDonald’s…
6:08am ET
Investing
BP Shares May Double
The problems in the Gulf have caused BP’s shares to drop from a 52-week high of $62 to the current price of $32. Two years ago, they were almost $70. BP’s stock…
4:45pm ET
Investing
Weak Market, Strong Stocks Again (AOL, ABCO, PPO, KO, KFT, MO, RAI)
This morning we ran a list of stocks which actually closed up 2% or more yesterday during the sell-off waves. We looked through the list of about 20 stocks, and of those…
11:47am ET
Investing
Time For Defensive Stocks? (PEP, KO, BUD, TAP, KFT, CAG, CPB, HRL, MCD, MO, VGR, RAI, PG, CL, MRK, JNJ)
There are three things investors traditionally want after making huge gains when they still want to hold stocks. They want stocks that have dividends and may want ‘value stocks.’ But the largest…
7:31am ET
Investing
The Dividend Hikes Continue (KO, CCE, TIF, PFCB, RIG, KGC, AU, MO, HNZ, DAI, HME)
The Fed has started the end of the near-zero rate cycle cycle, sort of. But yesterday’s sudden discount rate hike to 0.75% from 0.50% is almost certainly a prelude to the Fed…
8:26am ET
Investing
10 Expected Big Dividend Growth Picks for 2010 (DPS, JPM, GE, MO, VZ, T, CSCO, DOW, WMT, KMB)
Over what we saw during the recession, 2009 was the year that dividends were cut down to effect cash conservation to get through the recession. In fact, the dividend cuts may have…
5:53am ET
Companies and Brands
China Restricts Smoking And Philip Morris (PMI) Gets Smoked
Two trillion cigarettes are sold in China each year. Sixty-percent of adult men in the People’s Republic are smokers. The AP reports that China will ban smoking indoors in seven of the nation’s…
Douglas A. McIntyre 6:50am ET
Investing
Value Track: Revisiting Stocks The Rally Left Behind (ABT, MO, AWK, BKC, ENER, GENZ, KR, ORB, WMT, LEAP, PCS)
It was early in October before earnings season kicked off into full thrust when we first reviewed many large or actively traded stocks which had not participated in the stock market rally…
5:31am ET
Investing
The Twenty Companies That Wall St. Can Trust The Least
Wall St. likes financial statements that give it deep insights into a company’s operations, especially its liabilities. It likes boards that make sure shareholders get as complete a picture as possible of…