Top 5 Blue Chip Companies To Buy For 2014

Our top pick for 2014 was founded in 1910, and has been at the forefront of the constantly changing area of high technology ever since, says Russ Kaplan, editor of the Heartland Advisor.

Our pick is the well-known blue chip company International Business Machines (IBM). Technology has changed drastically since 1910, and IBM has always risen to a challenge, which, over the years, has left many high tech companies in the dust.

I've been following IBM since the early 1980s, and it's gone through periods when Wall Street analysts have been skeptical of its future. Today is one of those times, providing you with an excellent buying opportunity.

The skepticism comes from the supposed inability to react to such developments as the progression from typewriters to computers, and from mainframes to personal computers.

After that, IBM got out of the personal computer business, which had become a commodity with low prices, to a service company. It sold its computer manufacturing business to Lenovo (LNVGF).

Top 5 Electric Utility Stocks To Watch For 2015: 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 Ben Levisohn]

  …large stocks can outperform in ��isk on,��rising markets, as well as in bifurcated markets like this year. A period of large cap outperformance is not necessarily a bear market phenomenon. The large cap rally during the dot-com boom is a classic example, as large technology companies led the market. In the ��0s, large multinational growth companies such as Coca-Cola (KO), Pfizer (PFE), and Philip Morris�(PM) led the charge. It is also important to note that during these periods both large and small stocks delivered positive returns.

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Company % of Assets Pepsico (PEP) 3.4 Philip Morris (PM) 2.3 Tesco PLC ADR (TSCO) 2.1 Molson Coors Brewing (TAP) 2.1 Microsoft (MSFT) 1.9 Merck (MRK) 1.9 Procter & Gamble (PG) 1.8 Avon Products (AVN) 1.6 Wal��art (WMT) 1.6 Medtronic 1.6 Hospira (HSP) 1.5 BP (BP) 1.4 Medco Health Solutions (MHS) 1.3 Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 1.3 Unilever NV (UL) 1.3
  Jeff is also optimistic about natural gas and believes the recession in Europe could be setting up "a generational buying opportunity."

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Similarly, in 2008, Altria spun off its Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM  ) unit. In that case, Philip Morris represented the larger portion of the business, making up almost 70% of the overall value of the pre-merger company. Again, the dividends that Altria paid after the merger were in line with the domestic segment's previous share of payouts.

• [By Shauna O'Brien]

  On Wednesday, Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) announced that its board has approved a 10.6% increase to its quarterly dividend.

  PM has increased its dividend from 85 cents to 94 cents per share, or $3.76 annually.

  The dividend will be paid on October 11 to shareholders of record on September 26. The stock will go ex-dividend on September 24.

  Philip Morris shares were mostly flat during pre-market trading Wednesday. The stock has been mostly flat YTD.

Top 5 Blue Chip Companies To Buy 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 Rick Munarriz]

  Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) have cornered the mobile operating system market, but let's not assume that it's just BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY  ) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) fighting to be the distant third place finisher.

• [By Chad Henage]

  The 800-pound gorilla couldn't care less
  In the music business, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) is still the 800-pound gorilla. The company's iTunes business generates four times as much revenue in three months as Pandora Media (NYSE: P  ) expects to generate the whole year.

• [By Doug Ehrman]

  Facebook (NASDAQ: FB  ) recently announced that it plans to roll out a new functionality dubbed Chat Heads that would make integrating messaging even more seamless. Not only will Chat Heads be part of the company's new meta app FB Home on Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) Android, but it will be available as part of the Facebook app in Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) iOS. The functionality may be critical to Apple, depending on what level of traction FB Home is able to achieve.

Top 5 Blue Chip Companies To Buy 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 Steven Russolillo]

  Visa(V) is the only Dow component that currently has a stock price above $200. Eight companies have stock prices above $100 as of Thursday’s close.

• [By Amanda Alix]

  A long-standing dispute between credit card issuers Visa (NYSE: V  ) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA  ) and the businesses that accept consumer payments via those instruments is heating up again, as a flurry of lawsuits filed on both sides over a prior settlement regarding interchange fees jump-start the hostilities all over again.

• [By David Hanson and Matt Koppenheffer]

  Stocks jumped during the early hours of trading, but credit card network monster Visa (NYSE: V  ) was lagging behind.

  In this video, Motley Fool financial analysts David Hanson and Matt Koppenheffer discuss the business of Visa and tell investors if they believe the stock is fairly valued or overvalued.

Top 5 Blue Chip Companies To Buy 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 Asit Sharma]

  Last week,�Wendy's� (NASDAQ: WEN  ) announced in its second-quarter earnings report that it will sell 425 company-operated stores to franchisees. This will reduce the number of company-owned and -operated stores in the Wendy's system from 22% to 15%. �Coupled with earnings that beat expectations, Wendy's stock rose more than 8.5% on the day of the announcement. After a few years of rather aimless wandering while McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) increased its dominance, and Burger King� (NYSE: BKW  ) returned to the public markets courtesy of merger-savvy Brazilian billionaires, is Wendy's poised to excite investors again?

• [By Kelley Wright]

  Based on this criteria, here are our current Timely Ten selections:

  Chevron Corp. (CVX)��ielding 3.3%
  
  CVS Caremark (CVS)��ielding 1.6%
  
  Coca-Cola (KO)��ielding 2.9%
  
  Baxter International (BAX)��ielding 3.0%
  
  Walgreen (WAG)��ielding 2.3%
  
  McDonalds Corp. (MCD)��ielding 3.3%
  
  PepsiCo (PEP)��ielding 2.8%
  
  ExxonMobil (XOM)��ielding 2.9%
  
  Occidental Petroleum (OXY)��ielding 2.7%
  
  Wal-Mart Stores (WMT)��ielding 2.5%
  
  

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