Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust has reported its fourth quarter portfolio. The foundation portfolio usually invests in blue chips that are traded at reasonable prices. �It buys McDonald's, Exxon Mobil, Caterpillar Inc, Wal-Mart etc, sells Procter & Gamble Co, Air Products & Chemicals Inc, Toyota Motor Corp, Diamond Foods, Inc. during the 3-months ended 12/31/2013, according to the most recent filings of his investment company, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust. As of 12/31/2013, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust owns 18 stocks with a total value of $20.1 billion. These are the details of the buys and sells.
Added Positions:�MCD,�XOM,�CAT,�WMT, Reduced Positions:�BRK.B, Sold Out:�PG,�APD,�TM,�DMND,For the details of Bill Gates's stock buys and sells, go to�http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Bill+Gates
These are the top 5 holdings of Bill Gates
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Added: McDonald's Corporation (MCD)
Hot Low Price Stocks To Own Right Now: 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]
Shares of Alcoa have jumped 4.3% to $8.28 today at 1:26 p.m, which would have made it the Dow’s best performer today instead of AT&T (T) and its 2.8% gain. Still it’s hard to complain too much today as the Dow’s three new members are having solid, if not extraordinary, days. Nike (NKE) has jumped 1.3% after its CEO told analysts that his company could have $30 billion of sales in 2015 and $36 billion by 2017. Goldman Sachs (GS), meanwhile, has gained 1.3% to $155.04 and Visa (V) has advanced 0.8% to $183.98.
Best Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In Right Now: 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 Leo Sun]
In a previous article, I discussed three exciting ways that Google (NASDAQ: GOOG ) was revolutionizing the health care industry via new investments in biotech, medical devices, and electronic health records (EHRs). However, Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG ) chief rival in smartphones and tablets, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) , also has some grand plans of its own for expanding into the health care industry.
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)
> Cost for 100 shares: $46,500Apple was the bull market king until the stock peaked at $705 in 2012. Now the company’s lead against technology peers has narrowed, it is dependent on new product excitement, which has been elusive, and the leadership today just does not have the same clout as the great Steve Jobs. With shares trading around $465, Apple’s 52-week range is $385.10 to $705.07, and its market cap of $422 billion makes it the largest single public company. Apple is now paying a dividend and is approved for share buybacks, so a dividend split would not be out of line. Apple has even had three different two-for-one stock splits: in 2005, 2000 and 1987. Apple’s most recent stock split took its shares to roughly $44 in today’s price terms, so it has risen tenfold despite it latest stock price woes. Here is some food for thought: Apple consumers still pay almost the same for one share as they do for many of the company’s retail products.
- [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]
Alamy Companies can make brilliant moves, but there are also times when things don't work out quite as planned. From an underwhelming iPhone event to Pandora's new CEO, here's a rundown of the week's best and worst moves in the business world. Apple (AAPL) -- Loser Shares of the consumer tech giant had rallied heading into Tuesday's iPhone event, but the love didn't last. The stock began to sell off while Apple was still presenting its updated smartphones. There were no smartwatches, no high-def smart TVs, and no magical unicorns offered up at the presentation. The market was also unimpressed to find that the cheaper iPhone that everyone was hoping would make inroads into Android's 80 percent global market share wound up being just $100 cheaper than the new iPhone 5s. Apple only updates its iPhones annually, so it was also a letdown to see the company once again fail to produce phones with screens larger than four inches. Yes, Apple is spicing up the shell colors across both new iPhone lines, but the actual screens are too small compared to the larger Android devices that many consumers are choosing these days. Pandora (P) -- Winner The leading music streaming service had been searching for a new CEO for months, and it finally found one. Brian McAndrews -- who at one time ran digital marketing powerhouse aQuantive before selling it to Microsoft (MSFT) in a $6 billion deal -- will take control of the leading media platform that serves up 1.35 billion hours a month to its more than 72 million active listeners. It's a smart hire. Pandora didn't need a big terrestrial radio guru. Pandora isn't about content programming. It already has the technology in place that serves up timely music recommendations and adapts to a listeners preferences. Pandora's major challenge remains to monetize its growing airplay, and that's where McAndrews is the perfect fit for a fast-growing company that's just starting to impress marketers. The Dow -- Loser The Dow Jones Industr
Best Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In Right Now: 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 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 abirk]
Philip Morris International (PM) is reaching new heights in 2013. With its products being sold in 180 countries it is the proud owner of about 15 cigarette brands- Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Virginia Slims, L&M, and Chesterfield being some of them. FY2013 looks bright for this tobacco giant. Reasons Why 2013 Is Looking Bright
- [By Dan Caplinger]
Altria has topped the tobacco industry for decades, with its leading Marlboro brand retaining its popularity around the world. But with the company having spun off its Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM ) division, Altria now has to rely on the U.S. market, with its unique challenges and risks. Let's take an early look at what's been happening with Altria over the past quarter and what we're likely to see in its quarterly report.
Best Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In Right Now: 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 Paul Ausick]
Today�� big gainer among the Dow stocks was McDonald�� Corp. (NYSE: MCD). The company�� CFO indicated that the fast-food giant may seek more ways to cut costs and even borrow cash to boost returns to investors. The company�� shares traded up 3.53% at $98.56 in a 52-week range of $92.22 to $103.70 just ahead of the closing bell. Volume is on track to be more than 3-times higher than the daily average of nearly 5 million shares traded.
- [By Jonas Elmerraji]
Switching gears outside of the energy sector brings us to fast food chain McDonald's (MCD), another name on hedge funds' hate list. McDonald's has had a pretty tepid year in 2014, down 2.6% over a stretch when the S&P is within grabbing distance of double-digit upside. So it's not hugely surprising that fund managers don't have the patience to stick it out with MCD this fall. Funds sold 2.29 million shares of McDonald's over the course of the third quarter...
McDonald's is the biggest fast food restaurant chain in the world, with approximately 35,900 restaurant locations in 125 countries. Of those, nearly 7,000 are company-owned units. The other 80% of stores are franchised. That model has been a cash cow for MCD shareholders in the past, giving the firm claim to sticky recurring revenues supplying franchise stores with food ingredients, marketing, and employee training. Importantly, McDonald's owns the land beneath the majority of its franchisee restaurants; that huge land portfolio gives McDonald's more in common with a REIT than with the diner down the street.
The competitive nature of the fast food business means that MCD has gotten the squeeze in recent quarters as it tries to play catch up with a consumer that's moving up the "food chain" (so to speak) -- an ongoing initiative to improve food quality and make MCD more nimble should pay dividends down the road. In the meantime, McDonald's continues to execute well, especially given the discount currently on shares versus six months ago. The firm's 3.6% dividend yield should add some extra attractiveness given the prolonged low-interest rate environment that's expected to stretch well into 2015.
It looks like funds are making a mistake by selling MCD early here...
- [By Dan Caplinger]
Internationally, Jamba still has a small presence, but it made a big step by making a master franchise development agreement to open 80 stores throughout Mexico beginning later this year. The success that Arcos Dorados (NYSE: ARCO ) has had in Mexico and other Latin American countries in franchising McDonald's (NYSE: MCD ) locations shows the huge potential that the region has generally for American restaurants, and focusing on warmer climates should help Jamba avoid the seasonality it suffers colder markets like the U.S. and Canada.
Best Blue Chip Stocks To Invest 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 Dan Caplinger]
Investors have always been interested in stocks that pay dividends, but lately, low interest rates on bonds and other fixed-income investments have made solid dividend payers even more valuable. Among the most promising dividend stocks in the market is Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL ) , and one big reason is that it is one of the few exclusive companies to make the list of Dividend Aristocrats. In order to become a member of this elite group, a company must have raised its dividend payouts to shareholders every single year for at least a quarter-century. Only a few dozen stocks manage to make the cut, and those that do tend to stay there for a long time.
- [By Laura Brodbeck]
Friday
Earnings Expected From: Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY), Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL), Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE: COG), Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC), Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO), Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG), Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPG) Economic Releases Expected: German consumer confidence, Italian retail sales, British GDP, U.S. new home salesPosted-In: Earnings News Previews Top Stories Economics Pre-Market Outlook Markets Trading Ideas Best of Benzinga
- [By Travis Hoium]
Colgate-Palmolive
Toothpaste and toothbrushes may not be exciting business, but it's consistent and consumers tend to develop habits they rarely break. Once they find a toothpaste brand they like, it could be years before they try another one. That leads to another incredibly consistent business for Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL ) , one that has paid back investors with a dividend since 1895. �
Best Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In Right Now: 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 John Reese]
Chevron Corporation (CVX)
Since I started tracking my Guru Strategies nearly ten years ago, the performance of my Graham-based model has been rather remarkable. Even though the strategy Graham outlined is now more than 60 years old, it just keeps on working.
Best Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In Right Now: 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 Editor , Dividend Growth Investor]
For example, using the Standard & Poor’s,�I looked at the top ten companies in the index as of 1983:
YEAR COMPANY % MARKET % OF 8312 Int’l Bus. Machines (IBM) 1 $74,346 6.09% 8312 Exxon Corp (XOM) 2 $32,114 2.63% 8312 General Electric (GE) 3 $26,626 2.18% 8312 General Motors (GM) 4 $23,414 1.92% 8312 American Tel & Tel (T) (new) 5 $17,234 1.41% 8312 Stand’d Oil,Indiana 6 $14,848 1.22% 8312 Schlumberger, Ltd (SLB) 7 $14,503 1.19% 8312 Sears, Roebuck 8 $13,150 1.08% 8312 Eastman Kodak 9 $12,603 1.03% 8312 duPont(EI)deNemours 10 $12,405 1.02%Thirty years later, only two of these companies went bankrupt (Eastman Kodak (EKDKQ) and General Motors (GM)), while the rest did well for their shareholders. The past 30 years were a tumultuous period for all of the companies however, as it was characterized by a flurry of mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations and changing of business focus.
- [By Alex Planes]
IBM (NYSE: IBM ) knew it had something big on its hands when it introduced the System/360 series of mainframe computers on April 7, 1964. Legendary IBM executive (and son of that other legendary IBM executive) Thomas J. Watson Jr. called the launch "the most important product announcement in the company's history." IBM hosted a launch event that would put today's to shame -- a coordinated nationwide reveal attended by more than 100,000 businessmen in 165 cities across the United States.
- [By Matt Thalman]
Consider that the mother of all server companies, IBM (NYSE: IBM ) just announced quarterly earnings this past week and missed on the top and bottom lines. It was the company's first earnings miss since 2005. The main reason for the miss was weak demand in the IT hardware segment, and analysts think this is a bad sign moving forward for the whole industry, not just for IBM.
- [By Tim Beyers]
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT ) lifted the Dow on an earnings beat, overcoming disappointing results from the index's top blue chip, IBM (NYSE: IBM ) . Revenue grew 18%, in line with expectations, while similar profit gains tracked ahead of estimates. Mr. Softy's $0.72 �a share of fiscal Q3 earnings beat the consensus by $0.04.
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