Hot Blue Chip Stocks To Watch Right Now

LONDON --�Shares in asset-management specialist�Schroders (LSE: SDR  ) �have strode consistently higher since last summer, gaining almost 29% in the year to date and striking recent all-time highs of 2,212 pence in the process.

In my opinion, Schroders offers great value for investors seeking robust earnings growth and an increasingly remunerative dividend policy, which I believe should drive the shares still higher in the near future.

Managed assets strike record in 2012
Schroders announced last month that net revenues slipped 3% to 1 billion pounds during 2012, exacerbated by a 17% drop in turnover at the firm's Private Banking division. This shortfall helped push pre-tax profits 12% lower to 360 million pounds.

However, the blue chip continued to witness surging activity last year, helped by its diversification across a multitude of asset classes and products. In fact, Schroders saw new net business inflows leap to 9.4 billion pounds last year, rocketing up from 3.2 billion pounds in 2011. And this pushed assets under management to record levels, at 212 billion pounds, up more than 13% on the previous year.

Top 10 Communications Equipment Companies To Watch 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 Divine]

  Yes, oil prices fell 7.5% across the globe, and yes, Chevron's (NYSE: CVX  ) earnings dropped 4.5% in the first quarter, yet shares still added 1.3% today after the energy giant reported. While oil production slipped, increased traction in the natural gas business showed some promise, as natural gas sales rose 3.2%.�

• [By Stephan Dube]

  Another great international producer is also making its presence felt in offshore Brazil. Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) , part of the same ventures as Shell in the Santos basin with the Atlanta and Oliva assets, holds working interests in three quality deepwater fields in the Campos basin: Frade, Papa-Terra, and Maromba.

• [By David Dittman]

  Answer: Growth: Magna International, Ag Growth International Inc (TSX: AFN, OTC: AGGZF), NextEra Energy Inc (NYSE: NEE), Aqua America Inc (NYSE: WTR) and, at these levels, Chevron Corp (NYSE: CVX). I like Verizon too.
  
  Income: Brookfield Renewable Energy, Northeast Utilities (NYSE: NU), Enterprise Products Partners LP (NYSE: EPD), Plains All American Pipeline Partners LP (NYSE: PAA), Pembina Pipeline.

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Argentina
  The shale gas and oil resources in Argentina has the potential to really put the country at the forefront of the world's energy map. Not only does the country hold the fourth largest shale oil reserves, but it's also No. 2 in shale gas reserves. Investors looking to profit as the country develops these reserves could look at global giant Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) , which completed its first two exploratory wells into the Vaca Muerta formation last year, with another well currently being drilled. The company has three more appraisal wells planned, and given the vast reserve estimates for the country, this could be a big future driver for Chevron.

Hot Blue Chip Stocks To Watch 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 GuruFocus]

  Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) Reached the 52-Week Low of $83.79
  
  The prices of Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) shares have declined to close to the 52-week low of $83.79, which is 15.1% off the 52-week high of $96.73. Philip Morris International Inc. is owned by 31 Gurus we are tracking. Among them, 14 have added to their positions during the past quarter. Nine reduced their positions.

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  Philip Morris provides cigarette and tobacco products through established brands to an increasing consumer base around the world. The stock has done very well over the last few years and is now trading at all-time high prices. Earnings and revenue figures have been increasing and decreasing, in recent quarters, which has confused investors a bit. Relative to its strong peers and sector, Philip Morris has been an average year-to-date performer. Look for Philip Morris to OUTPERFORM.

• [By Kelley Wright]

  Tobacco is a controversial business; but for Philip Morris International (PM), it's a market basically unaffected by economic slowdowns or rising commodity prices, which means it is stable and defensive; a combination we can live with. We also like the $3.76 dividend, outstanding growth, and a five-year average return on equity of over 160.

• [By Ted Cooper]

  Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM  ) returned 146% in stock price increases and dividends over the last five years. That's an average of nearly 30% per year. Clearly, investors who owned Philip Morris for any significant length of time during the last five years made out pretty well. Unfortunately, two new developments have emerged to make future returns less certain. All Philip Morris investors need to know about these two things before deciding whether to hold or sell their stock.

Hot Blue Chip Stocks To Watch 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 Jon Friedman]

  When Tim Cook succeeded Steve Jobs as the chief executive officer of�Apple, (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) , I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The Russell 1000 growth index is chock full of big tech companies like Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Verizon Communications (VZ) and Google (GOOG).The big difference now is that these types of stocks actually make oodles of money and trade at (more) reasonable valuations.

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) pleasantly surprised Wall Street by comfortably beating expectations when it reported earnings for its March quarter after the market close today (Wednesday).

• [By Paul Hodgson]

  Now, we all know that Steve Jobs had a Gulfstream V, but that's because Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) bought it for him rather than paying him a salary.

Hot Blue Chip Stocks To Watch 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 Burrows]

  Rival Colgate-Palmolive (CL) has different concerns, namely sluggishness in emerging markets where it enjoys commanding market share and derives more than half its revenue.

• [By Holly LaFon]

  A: The stock market is a market of individual stocks that represent fractional ownership interests in real businesses. The key to investment success is first and foremost to identify individual, highly durable businesses and then have the discipline to buy them when prices are attractive and the risk/reward trade-off is compelling. We invest in what we understand, continuing to pour over the universe of businesses within our many circles of competence that meet our management, capital allocation, business model, and valuation criteria. Some areas that we believe offer the greatest opportunity in terms of prospective returns include:

  Global market leaders such as Nike (NKE), Colgate-Palmolive (CL) and Philip Morris International (PM) that are beneficiaries of a growing global middle class and consumer culture. The global wealth effect, particularly in developing economies, is a real and very powerful force that should serve as a tailwind for these types of global brands over the long term. Well-managed financial services companies with true franchise value due to the success of their particular products or brand that have the ability and management prowess to build market share over time in a highly fragmented marketplace. Wells Fargo and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) are representative examples in this category. The depth of the recent financial crisis is well known. What is less understood is that certain market leaders used the downturn to dramatically strengthen their capital base and significantly grow their market share at the expense of weaker competitors. Certain health care-related businesses such as UnitedHealth Group and Laboratory Corporation of America that stand to benefit from growing health care spending by aging populations around the world. Workhorse technology companies such as Texas Instruments (TXN), Microsoft (MSFT) and Google that are market leaders with durable competitive moats and that also offer an attractive risk/reward proposition at

Hot Blue Chip Stocks To Watch 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 Louis Navellier]

  As you can tell, Oracle is not the only major software player to have issues. Oracle competes with the likes of computing giants International Business Machines (IBM) and Microsoft (MSFT). If you plug all three of these companies in my Portfolio Grader tool, you can see that Microsoft is the strongest right now in terms of buying pressure and fundamentals. So of the three, MSFT is the only stock I’d recommend at current prices.

Hot Blue Chip Stocks To Watch 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 DAILYFINANCE]

  Gary Malerba/AP Neiman Marcus says 1.1 million debit and credit cards used at its stores may have been compromised in a security breach last year. The high-end retailer said Visa (V), MasterCard (MA) and Discover (DFS) have found 2,400 Neiman Marcus and Last Call customer cards that were used fraudulently. Last Call is Neiman Marcus' clearance chain. Neiman Marcus says it is notifying all customers who shopped in its stores in 2013 and offering them a free year of credit monitoring and identity-theft protection. Malicious software installed in Neiman Marcus' system attempted to take customer card information from July 16 to Oct. 30, the company said. The malicious software has been disabled. Neiman Marcus Group Ltd. reiterated in a post on its website Wednesday night that social security numbers and birth dates weren't stolen and customers who shopped online weren't affected. Customers that use its private Neiman Marcus credit cards were also not affected. The Dallas-based company said the investigation is ongoing. The company learned that malicious software was installed to its system on Jan. 1, after a forensics company discovered it. It informed federal law enforcement agencies and began working with the U.S. Secret Service and payment processors. Target (TGT) also suffered a security breach, during the holiday shopping season. Hackers stole about 40 million debit and credit card numbers. Personal information, including names, email addresses, phone numbers and home addresses of as many as 70 million customers was also stolen. Neiman Marcus said it has no knowledge of a connection between the two security breaches. A report published earlier this month by iSight Partners, a global cyber intelligence firm that works with the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security, said the security breach that hit Target appears to have been part of a broader and highly sophisticated scam that potentially affected a large number of retailers.

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  It's working with the three biggest credit card companies out there: American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP), MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA), and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V). And Apple also has forged relationships with such key retailers as McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD), Macy's Inc. (NYSE:
  M), and Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG).

• [By Mark Morelli]

  How will the potential disruption impact business and affect investors? Should the executives at ATM manufacturers such as Diebold (NYSE: DBD  ) �be worried? Credit�and debit card processors like MasterCard (NYSE: MA  ) and Visa (NYSE: V  ) �are already benefiting from the trend to a cashless society. Could things get even better?

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Stocks rebounded from yesterday’s rout today as 3M (MMM), Visa (V), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN), Allergan (AGN) and Mosaic (MOS) helped lead the major indexes higher.

Hot Blue Chip Stocks To Watch 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 Dividend Growth Investor]

  McDonald�� Corporation (MCD) franchises and operates McDonald's restaurants in the United States, Europe, the Asia/Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, Canada, and Latin America. This dividend aristocrat has managed to raise distributions for 36 years in a row. Over the past decade, it has managed to reward shareholders with 28.40% in annual dividend raises on average. Currently, the stock trades at 17.40 times earnings, and yields 3.20%. Check my analysis of McDonald��.

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images Companies can make brilliant moves, but there are also times when things don't work out quite as planned. From a new online retailer blowing away expectations in its first quarter since going public to the world's largest burger chain eating crow over its chicken wings, here's a rundown of the week's smartest moves and biggest blunders in the business world. Comcast (CMCSK), Netflix (NFLX), and You -- Winners (Mostly) The week kicked off with Netflix shelling out some dough to be able to stream its content faster for Comcast's Xfinity broadband subscribers. It's a move that's long overdue, as Netflix's monthly reports on different access providers showed that Xfinity speeds on Netflix video streams were starting to decline in recent months. This is the kind of stuff that would result in consumers either ditching Comcast or unsubscribing from Netflix so this "peering" arrangement benefits both companies. Naturally it's also good news for Comcast subscribers. No one likes to see online videos stop to buffer or degrade in image quality. Everybody wins -- mostly. (The down side, though, can be viewed like this: Netflix, the 800 lb. gorilla of streaming video, just caved on the net neutrality fight and agreed to pay for bandwidth. It'll have to pass that cost on to subscribers eventually. And with Netflix out of the fight, expect any smaller company that sees its content being throttled to pay the Danegeld quickly, too.) Sony (SNE) -- Loser The Japanese consumer electronics giant has been struggling on several fronts lately, and now it's retreating on the retail front, too. Sony revealed plans to close 20 of its 31 Sony Store locations in this country. The outcome probably won't come as a surprise to anyone that has walked by one of its locations. However, Sony's been scaling back through layoffs, selling off its Vaio computer business, and other acts of surrender. Keeping the Sony Store locations would just be a pu

• [By Jon Quast]

  For a little perspective, a company-operated McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) does just over $700,000 in sales a quarter. With the company planning to open around 1,500 locations this year, it's growing about the same rate as The Cheesecake Factory. However, these 1,500 locations won't be as big of a boost for McDonald's as new locations will be for Cheesecake.