Hot Blue Chip Companies To Buy Right Now

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- The Dow Jones Industrial Average has been getting the short end of the stick in 2013. With the blue chip stock index trailing the S&P 500 350 basis points, it's the less exciting of the big indexes, despite the stuffy old Dow being up 25.7% since the first session of the year.

But even though the Dow is trailing, it's still been posting some impressive numbers: More than half of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow are up more than 30% in 2013. So much for boring blue chips.

Better yet, the Dow could hold the keys to even more gains in 2014. All you have to do is look for the "dogs."

The Dogs of the Dow is a strategy that's built around simply buying the ten highest-yielding Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks, rebalancing once a year, and holding on. Because yield is inversely related to performance, these big names tend to be late bloomers out of the big index's 30 names. So, should you be buying the dogs as the calendar flips over to 2014?

Hot Canadian Stocks To Watch For 2015: 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 Doug Ehrman]

  This feature ��known as an application container ��was popularized by BlackBerry, and is one of the central reasons those devices have stood alone for so long. Now that Samsung and Android have broken through, many speculate that Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) iOS is likely to follow in short order. The application container should be well received by users, as well, because it means that the personal information ��like photos, social media data, and personal contact data, will reside outside of the secure work space, and remain invisible to administrators. Each environment will have differentiated backgrounds to ensure ease of use, and no data will be enabled to cross the divide.

• [By Daniel Sparks]

  Analysts expect Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) to report revenue of $35.02 billion for the company's third quarter, according to Fortune's preliminary survey. As Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt points out, that's the exact same number Apple reported in the year-ago quarter. Is zero growth Apple's new norm? Or, even worse, is decline Apple's future? Possibly -- but there are still a few potential growth drivers left for Cupertino's tech giant.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Its earnings report and guidance was not strong enough to convince growth investors that the recent move into China is nothing, but something that came too late to make a huge difference. And Carl Icahn is back out swinging against Apple wanting more buybacks.

Hot Blue Chip Companies To Buy 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 Douglas A. McIntyre]

  McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) public relations department has been working overtime to show that the fast food chain cares about customer health. In September it announced:

Hot Blue Chip Companies To Buy 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 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.

Hot Blue Chip Companies To Buy 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 Motley Fool Staff]

  Most investors are familiar with the adage: "Buy low, sell high." However, in reality it's often difficult to buy a beaten down stock when everyone else seems to be running for the hills. Nevertheless, this can be a very rewarding strategy for patient investors. Below, the Motley Fool's contributors explain why Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC  ) , IBM� (NYSE: IBM  ) ,�and ARM Holdings (NASDAQ: ARMH  ) are three tech stocks poised to make a serious comeback in the quarters ahead.