P&G rose to the No.1 spot based on the success of its e-commerce initiatives. Apple climbed higher as iPhone 4 and iPad sales surged. B of A took the bottom slot due to an investigation into how it hid liabilities.
| Company | Rank (last week) | Symbol | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Proctor & Gamble | 1 (6) | PG | The success of company’s new e-store appears to be better than expected. Firm completes Ambi Pur buyout. |
| McDonald’s | 2 (4) | MCD | Falling consumer credit and slowdown in economy will bring eaters back from mid-priced restaurants to fast food. | |
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Apple | 3 (7) | APPL | Jobs & Co. rebound from concerns about iPhone 4 service. Smartphones and iPads continue to be sold out in most locations, meaning strong demand may last into the fall. Then it’s Christmas. |
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Coca-Cola | 4 (8) | KO | Trouble with product liability action in India more than offset by perception that Coke is a top investment as economy slows. |
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IBM | 5 (5) | IBM | Wall St. signals strengthened expectations ahead of Big Blue earnings. Chip sales post big increase, which should bode well for server operations. |
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Disney | 6 (1) | DIS | ESPN got huge TV ratings with LeBron and World Cup. “Toy Story 3” begins to fade. |
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Berkshire Hathaway | 7 (3) | BRK | Buffet & Co. gets downgraded by Stifel Nicolaus due to slowing economy. Shareholders do not seem to care. Goldman Sachs,however, rates firm as “buy.” |
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Intel | 8 (5) | INTC | Market begins to get nervous that PC growth cannot keep pace with Q1. Oppenheimer downgrades stock. |
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Abbott Labs | 9 (9) | ABT | Firm’s leadership in HIV treatment should benefit from new NIH findings on progress in AIDS prevention. |
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Ford | 10 (1) | F | Company announces tiny recall. New Edmund research shows pony firm with extremely high customer loyalty. |
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Cisco | 11 (13) | CSCO | Avondale holds shares at “outperform”. Wall St. upbeat about upcoming quarterly numbers. |
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Oracle | 12 (14) | ORCL | EMC buyout of Greenplum appears to validate Ellison & Co.’s investment in the storage software business. |
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Philip Morris | 13 (11) | PM | Slowing economy pushes investors toward dividend and share buyback stocks. Supreme Court opts not to case alleging the dangers of smoking were illegally concealed. |
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Wal-Mart | 14 (12) | WMT | New consumer caution could cause customers to go to discount retailers. Walton & Co. needs the help as US same-store sales falter. |
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15 (15) | GOOG | Search-engine company gets back into China, but Wall St. worries that core US text ad business is slowing. | |
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Pfizer | 16 (17) | PFE | EU approves firm’s new child cholesterol drug, a market that could be tremendous worldwide. |
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Hewlett-Packard | 17 (16) | HPQ | Costs of manufacturing in China may rise with local labor costs. But, IT market seems to be holding its own. |
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American Express | 18 (28) | AXP | Company has been protected from recent downturn in consumer confidence because of high net worth customers. New credit data shows that could change. |
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FedEx | 19 (21) | FDX | Freight company should be helped by USPS plans to raise rates. UBS upgrades shares to “buy” |
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Dow Chemical | 20 (20) | DOW | Andrew N. Liveris, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, has been appointed by President Barack Obama to the President’s Export Council |
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Microsoft | 21 (19) | MSFT | Growth of PC and Apple tablets leaves Mr. Softy Windows behind. Google’s ability to stay in China hurts search prospects of world’s largest software company. |
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Exxon-Mobil | 22 (22) | XOM | Court decision to block Gulf drilling ban should help world’s largest oil company. Investors depressed about risk and dilution if Exxon tries to by BP plc. |
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Caterpillar | 23 (23) | CAT | Goldman Sachs raises stock to “buy”. Huge cost cuts give earnings leverage as US economy slowly emerges from recession and China stays hot. What about Europe? |
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GE | 24 (26) | GE | Earnings will be at beginning of season. GE has a lot of business in Europe and infrastructure operations in Asia. Battle between US and China over yuan could hurt. |
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Verizon | 25 (25) | VZ | New Android-based phones could help company take back smartphone share from Apple. Lack of progress by Sprint 4G should help. |
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Boeing | 26 (24) | BA | Will have competition from EADS for Air Force tanker bid. It plans to buy cyber software company Narus, which makes little sense. |
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Johnson & Johnson | 27 (27) | JNJ | New recall includes 3 million bottles of Tylenol and related drugs. First of many lawsuits over recall filed. |
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Home Depot | 28 (29) | HD | Housing market still depressed, but Fitch sees slight pick-up in home improvement spending. BMO upgrades stock. |
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AT&T | 29 (28) | T | Strong sales of iPhone and iPad help, but slowdown in consumer spending could stunt sales of smartphones and most expensive wireless data plans. |
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Goldman Sachs | 30 (32) | GS | More evidence that investment bank’s customers do not care about legal troubles. Liberty Mutual sues over being mislead about value of Fannie Mae stock. |
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JP Morgan | 31 (31) | JPM | Barclays says there may be upside in stock, but most investors expect earnings to be hurt by weak investment banking business. |
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Bank of America | 32 (30) | BAC | Told federal regulators that it made six trades from 2007 to early 2009 that helped it hide $10.7 billion of debt. Immense stupidity. |
Douglas A. McIntyre
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