Investing
24/7 Wall St.’s Corporate Power Rankings: Week 22
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Last Updated:
| Company | Rank (last week) | Symbol | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Intel | 4 (1) | INTC | Settlement of Dell probe of relationship with largest chip maker could take pressure off. SIA says that global chip sales hit extraordinary level in first quarter. |
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Disney | 3 (2) | DIS | ESPN about to get into potential gold mine with 3D ads. ABC ratings for NBA finals better than expected. Stock rockets up from Tuesday through Friday. |
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Coca-Cola | 5 (3) | KO | Early data from World Cub shows Coke ad numbers are strong. Coughs up modest $715 million to keep rights to Dr. Pepper. |
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Ford | 6 (4) | F | Consumer sentiment numbers bode well for sales of autos over the next few months. Ford to start makeover of Lincoln. If recent history is guide, it should go well. |
| McDonald’s | 1 (5) | MCD | Sharp increase in same-store sales worldwide. Currency may be a drag, but is a secondary issue. | |
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Apple | 9 (6) | APPL | iPad sales more than offset by federal government’s probe into consumer electronic company’s mobile ad monopoly. Jobs does not want Apple to become the next Microsoft with years of antitrust litigation. |
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Berkshire Hathaway | 2 (7) | BRK | Some fool pays $2.63 million to have lunch with Buffett. Oracle makes ratings agencies look bad, giving him a chance for him to start his own. |
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Abbott Labs | 10 (8) | ABT | Company declares 346th consecutive quarterly dividend. Goldman Sachs downgrade does appear to hurt investor appetite for shares. |
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IBM | 7 (9) | IBM | New auto computer technology looks promising. Trouble at Dell should help Big Blue in server markets. |
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Philip Morris | 8 (10) | PM | Dividend put at $.58 a share, which makes the firm’s yield an attractive 5.2%. |
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Proctor & Gamble | 11 (11) | PG | Prospects lifted by consumer sentiment. Morgan Stanley analyst expresses fondness for the shares. |
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Wal-Mart | 16 (12) | WMT | May retail sales announced by Feds are awful. Rumors are that the new Apple iPhone 4.0 will be sold by Sam’s. |
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Hewlett-Packard | 12 (13) | HPQ | Able to settle major suit over price it paid for Palm. Expands use of its Halo video conferencing technology to a much larger platform—PCs. |
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Microsoft | 13 (14) | MSFT | Improvement in global chip sales should be good sign for sales of Windows 7. Launches new Office online product and very promising upgrade of Xbox 360. |
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Oracle | 15 (15) | ORCL | Barron’s predicts stock will outperform S&P 500. Some analysts argue that Sun layoffs are good for margins, not just a sign of bad M&A. |
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Cisco | 14 (16) | CSCO | Company said that it would start dividend in the next several years. Launches new product for corporate social networking—Quad. |
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Pfizer | 17 (19) | PFE | Gains on word that its new drug for irregular heartbeat—apixaban—works well. FDA slaps company’s hands for not reporting troubles with cholesterol drug Lipitor and the anti-seizure drug Lyrica. |
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19 (18) | GOOG | May benefit from probe into rival Apple’s mobile ad plans. Search company decides to take the long way around through complaints and diplomacy to get back into China. Good luck | |
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American Express | 21 (19) | AXP | Retail sales numbers look bad for Amex earnings. Citi analyst says new financial regs should not hurt earnings. |
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Dow Chemical | 18 (20) | DOW | Saudi announcement to place new petro plant in more favorable place should help margins. |
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FedEx | 22 (21) | FDX | Analysts optimistic about earnings to be released Wednesday and expect European troubles to have a minimal impact. |
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Boeing | 20 (22) | BA | Able to settle one large strike with United Aerospace Workers Union. Another strike may be in offing. Global airline association sees rebound in travel volume. |
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Caterpillar | 23 (23) | CAT | Sets deal with Navistar to more aggressively attack Chinese market. Investors cheered as firm ups dividend. |
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AT&T | 27 (24) | T | Telecom has trouble keeping Apple IPad customer e-mails confidential. More than 114,000 get exposed in hack. As FBI gets involved, Ma Bell looks more like Keystone Cops every day. |
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Verizon | 24 (25) | VZ | Launch of new Motorola Droid should help wireless sales. Sprint problems with new EVO 4G launch should help VZ. |
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Johnson & Johnson | 29 (26) | JNJ | More bad news each day about Tylenol and Mortin recalls. Government now says JNJ execs were loose with the truth about who knew what when. |
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Home Depot | 28 (27) | HD | Retail sales numbers for May are not favorable. Mortgage activity is also slow. Going to be a long summer for shareholders if trends don’t improve. |
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Exxon-Mobil | 25 (28) | XOM | Efforts to get payment for Venezuela assets progress. Fact that BP may cut dividend should push investors into arms of world’s No.1 oil co. |
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GE | 26 (29) | GE | Company presses its solutions on health care that will solve the world’s problems. They might actually help a bit. Appliance division recalls 181,000 washing machines. Dirty laundry. |
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Bank of America | 30 (30) | BAC | Sells stake in Grupo Financiero Santander for $2.5 billion. Analyst immediately cuts earnings forecast. |
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JP Morgan | 31 (31) | JPM | Gets a piece of GM IPO, but fees will be tiny. Korea looks into insider trading at JPM ops in the Asian nation. |
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Goldman Sachs | 32 (32) | GS | News of SEC settlement is false. Still more likely to get hurt by financial reform more than any other US bank. |
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