10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Own Right Now

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) is not just a collection of 30 market-defining blue chips. It's also packed with brilliant dividend stocks.

All 30 of the current components pay a dividend today, ranging from Bank of America' modest 0.3% yield (with a bullet, now that regulators have finally given the bank the option to raise payouts again) to AT&T and its massive 4.7% yield backed by monthly payments from more than 100 million wireless customers.

The average Dow stock sports a 2.6% dividend yield and has increased payouts by 8.7% annually over the last decade. As a testament to the Dow's dividend strength, that long-term growth includes the banking industry's blanket cuts after the 2008 meltdown. For another perspective on the Dow's dividend powers, consider that about half of the 2,800 stocks in the Russell 3000 index index don't pay dividends at all. The average yield on that wider market barometer is also 2.6%, but payouts grow at a far slower 6% annual rate.

10 Best Food Stocks To Invest In 2015: 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 Laura Brodbeck]

  Stable, quality consumer goods companies can provide some stability during a market correction as the need for staple household items, coupled with a solid balance sheet, typically keeps companies like Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL) and Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE: PG) afloat.

• [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. �

10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Own 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 Laura Brodbeck]

  Thursday

  Earnings Expected From: SAP AG (NYSE: SAP), Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS), UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE: UNH), Mattel, Inc, (NASDAQ: MAT), Key Corp (NYSE: KEY), Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), PPG Industries, Inc (NYSE: PPG), The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX), Schlumberger N.V. (NYSE: SLB), International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Economic Releases Expected:  Chinese house prices, US housing starts, eurozone CPI, Hong Kong’s unemployment rate

  Friday

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  In the movie Blast From the Past, when Brendan Fraser asks why a player has to run from first base to second when a ball is put in play he is told, “Because he must.” That might be the best explanation for why stocks rose today, as high flyers like Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN), Netflix (NFLX) and International Business Machines (IBM) helped lead the major indexes to record highs.

10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Own 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 jaggom]

  Cirrus Logic (CRUS) recently released its results with a disappointment due to a shift in the pricing structure and the product mix. To the dissatisfaction of the investors, Cirrus revenue dropped 29%. The adoption of voice as a key interface for mobile devices is expected to improve Cirrus performance in the future as quoted by CEO Jason Rhode. Apple (AAPL), a major customer of Cirrus, continues to grow on account of new devices and penetration into new markets that makes Cirrus positive regarding its future despite weak results. Cirrus is also targeting the new market of wearable devices.

• [By Tim Beyers]

  Mr. Softy's problem is that it hasn't trained users to accept disruptive changes in design and development in the same way that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) has. Instead, Windows customers expect Microsoft to be stable and predictable. Modernizing -- as Microsoft did with Windows 8 -- means risking alienating big chunk of the installed base, Tim says.

• [By Maria Levitov]

  Emerging-market stocks rose after a report showed that a gauge of Chinese manufacturing increased to a six-month high. Technology companies climbed, led by Apple Inc. (AAPL)�� suppliers, amid optimism over new iPhone sales.

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Earnings reports expected on Monday include:

  Merck & Company, Inc. (NYSE: MRK) is expected to report third quarter EPS of $0.88 on revenue of $11.19 billion, compared to last year�� EPS of $0.95 on revenue of $11.49 billion. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is expected to report EPS of $7.88 on revenue of $36.76 billion, compared to last year�� EPS of $8.67 on revenue of $35.97 billion. Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) is expected to report third quarter EPS of $2.10 on revenue of $1.78 billion, compared to last year�� EPS of $1.91 on revenue of $1.39 billion. Herbalife LTD. (NYSE: HLF) is expected to report third quarter EPS of $1.14 on revenue of $1.20 billion, compared to last year�� EPS 0f $1.04 on revenue of $1.02 billion.

  Economics

10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Own 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 Arjun Sreekumar]

  3 companies seeing success in the Gulf
  Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) , for instance, has had a string of exploration successes in the region, including its most recent deepwater oil discovery in the Coronado prospect about 200 miles off the Louisiana coast. The company's test well, jointly owned with ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP  ) , has a 35% interest, and Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC  ) , which has a 15% interest, unveiled more than 400 feet of oil-bearing rocks.

• [By MLP Trader]

  Of course, this is just a thought experiment for how the company could continue and reward shareholders in its current form. I think a buyout is a much more likely outcome. The company is an extremely tempting target for a Crescent Point (CSCTF.PK), Chevron (CVX), or Exxon (XOM). With an Enterprise Value of about $3.5 billion, it's a bite size for larger integrated oil companies. According to a 3rd party estimate, the present value of Lighstream's booked reserves alone is significantly higher than that. And Lightstream has a huge inventory of unbooked locations and a million acres of completely undeveloped land.

• [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%
  
  

  Subscribe to Investment Quality Trends here��/P>

• [By Arjun Sreekumar]

  What's next for the global LNG trade?
  Going forward, however, the rare drop last year is likely to be an anomaly, with the number of countries participating in the global LNG trade set to grow sharply. This year, BG Group forecasts that the global LNG trade will grow by a modest 5.4 million tons, bolstered by exports from Angola -- where Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) recently shipped its first cargo from the Angola LNG plant -- and new terminals in Australia, as well as an increase in imports from Singapore and Malaysia, and an offshore facility in Israel.

10 Best Blue Chip 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 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.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Stocks bucked their recent Monday weakness today as Visa (V), International Business Machines (IBM), United Technologies (UTX), Micron Technology (MU) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) gained. But your view of today likely depended on the index you were watching.

  Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

  The S&P 500 gained 0.5% to 1,872.34, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8% to 16.457.66. Those benchmarks were trumped by the Nasdaq Composite, which advanced 1% to 4,198.99, and the small-cap Russell 2000, which finished up 1.8% at 1,173.04.

  The price-weighted Dow was given a boost by its big weightings in Visa, which rose 1.8% to $215.86, International Business Machines, which advanced 1.1% to $192.49 after Morgan Stanley named it a top alpha generator among mega-cap stocks, and United Technologies, which gained 1.8% to $116.83. United Technologies’ Sikorsky division agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle claims that it charged too much for spare parts. Micron Technology gained 8% to $23.66 after a positive report at RBC Capital Markets and Drexel, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) rose 4.3% to $70.72.

  Deutsche Bank’s David Bianco notes that small-caps and non-mega caps need interest rates to stay low…

  On 2014E EPS, Russell 2000 (R2000) PE is 23.6 and S&P 500 PE is 15.6. The relative forward PE of the R2000 vs. the S&P at 1.5x is amongst the highest since 1995. Within the S&P, the PE at non-mega caps is also demanding vs. history. The median trailing PE of S&P 500 stocks at 18.5x is 2 points higher than its average since 1983 and is well into the late 1990s range. EPS growth, while expected to accelerate, is unlikely to reach the mid to low teens pace of the last two cycles. Hence, we think small and non mega-cap stocks are more dependent on interest rates staying below historical norms to justify current valuations and are more susceptible to moderation in growth expectations.

  ̷

10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Own 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 WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  There are definitely concerns for Phillip Morris, which include decreased market share in many areas and poor debt management. However, up until this point, Phillip Morris has done a good job rewarding its shareholders. While history usually repeats itself, that�� not necessarily an all-positive in this case. Phillip Morris didn�� hold up well in 2008/early 2009. If a similar environment were to present itself again, then Phillip Morris wouldn�� be a top option ��regardless of the impressive yield. In the meantime, Phillip Morris is an OUTPERFORM.

• [By Tim McAleenan Jr.]

  And lastly, Mankiw mentions emerging markets. If you want to bet against the United States dollar and own a company that generates all of its profits outside the United States, it could be useful to take a look at Philip Morris International (PM). Asia makes up 37% of its profits. The Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe make up 27% of its profits. Smoking rates in countries like Indonesia are increasing at 10-25% annual rates. The Marlboro brand is gaining market share in Asia. The company is planning aggressive expansion into Central Africa. If you want emerging markets exposure, Philip Morris International could be a decent way to cover your bases.

10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Own 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 Rick Munarriz]

  The allure may be obvious. Average ticket prices could head higher as customers trade up from sodas and beers. However, McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) also thought that it could boost sales and woo new customers by adding premium beverages. It hasn't exactly worked out well lately. Comps turned negative in October for the first time in a decade, and customer complaints are growing.�

• [By Shauna O'Brien]

  Before Tuesday’s opening bell, fast food giant McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) reported lower first quarter earnings, as last year’s earnings were impacted by a tax benefit.�

  MCD’s Earnings in Brief

  MCD posted Q1 earnings of�$1.205 billion, or $1.21 per share, down from $1.270 billion, or $1.26 per share, a year ago.� Revenue rose to�$6.70 billion from $6.61 billion last year. On average, analysts expected to see earnings of $1.24 per share and�$6.73 billion in revenue.

  CEO Commentary

  Don Thompson, President and CEO of MCD, noted: “By leveraging a deeper understanding of what our customers want with the power of our business�model, our investments in restaurant capabilities and modernization, and our hard-earned competitive advantages, we will grow McDonald’s business and deliver enduring profitable growth over the long term. As we begin the�second quarter, global comparable sales for the month of April are expected to be modestly positive.”

  MCD’s Dividend

  MCD paid its last quarterly dividend of 81 cents on March 17. We expect the company to declare its next dividend in May.

  Stock Performance

  McDonald’s shares were up $1.00, or 1.00%, during pre-market trading Tuesday. The stock is up 2.72% YTD.

  MCD Dividend Snapshot

  As market close of April 21, 2014

  Click here to see the complete history of MCD dividends.

• [By Jeremy Bowman]

  A day after reporting disappointing comparable sales, McDonald's� (NYSE: MCD  ) shares jumped today, gaining 3.8% after its CFO said the fast-food chain could take greater steps to return cash to shareholders. CFO Pete Bensen said the company was looking at ways to optimize its capital structure, which could include selling stores in Asia to franchisees or cutting SG&A costs, and taking on more debt to fund greater share buybacks. Over the last three years, the company has returned to $16.5 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, not bad for a stock with a market cap just under $100 billion. At a time when the Golden Arches' operations are struggling, perhaps a change in the capital structure is the best way to make sure this cash cow keeps delivering for investors.