The market is doing well so far in 2011 after a great 2010.  With the DJIA around 11,800 it is still a far cry from when 14,000 was being challenged in 2007.  Even with the NASDAQ having done so well, around 2,725, it is still barely half of its all-time highs seen back in the tech bubble from 1999 to 2000.  Some stocks always do well and lead the market.  We decided to review the top 100 companies by market cap in our own Real-Time 500 that tracks the 500 largest companies by market cap.  We found that 7 of the top 100 stocks by market cap were at or challenging all-time highs.  Some are outright, some on a dividend adjusted basis.

These great leaders may be surprising on some fronts and obvious on others. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) are probably not surprises, but others are such as  Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP), and United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX).

We took a look at these individually and offered historic data, added in some color on each, and showed what analysts till thinks of each. Initially, the target was those within a couple percent of highs and this list is well within that parameter.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) hit $191.00 on Wednesday despite a $186.87 closing bell price.  The new all-time high of $191.60 was hit in recent days.   Jeff Bezos and friends have managed to do what very few of the old internet giants have been able to do by getting well above the old highs from back in the great tech-bubble of 1999 to 2000 back when the NASDAQ was briefly challenging 5,000.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) hit yet another all-time high on Wednesday of $348.60.  Even at the $338.84 close, it is impossible even for the critics to say that Apple has not been a phenomenal story.  We’ll spare the details and would note that the consensus price target is now approaching $390.00.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) closed at $95.54 on Wednesday when it also hit a new all-time high of $96.80.  Amazingly, this stock is now up some 200% from the 2009 lows.  The construction equipment business has been better than many expected and the mining equipment side of the business is firing on all cylinders.  The BRIC nations and other emerging markets are the key driver and the North American market has assisted as well.  When it stops is anyone’s guess but the stars have been aligned for Caterpillar.  Analysts now have a consensus price target of $101.69 per Thomson Reuters estimates.

Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) is now almost a $44 billion company and its growth has come from technology and engineering solutions for industrial, commercial, and consumer markets. It main segments are power, process management, industrial automation and climate technologies.  Shares closed at $57.91 Wednesday and its 52-week trading range is $41.22.  Analysts have a consensus target price of $61.72.  Be advised that at the end of 2007 and during the first half of 2008 the prices did reach a high of $59.05 in 2007 and $58.72 in 2008, but the charts and share prices are dividend adjusted.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) has been on fire and is the largest DJIA component by far now due to its high nominal share price.  When you think the good news is priced in, it keeps rising.  The company is now targeting $20.00 in earnings per share by 2015 and it remains solid with a below-market P/E ratio.  Shares hit a new high of $156.13 on Wednesday and that is after its earnings report carried shares higher for an all-time high close of $155.69.  It turns out that getting rid of its PC business was perhaps the best move it could have ever made. Analysts currently have a consensus price target of $154.05.

Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP) is going to feel like a misnomer since it has just reported earnings and since shares are indicated lower on Thursday.  Despite a $97.30 closing price on Wednesday, its shares hit a high of $98.49 on Wednesday morning and the all-time high of $99.49 on January 13, 2011.  That put the largest rail carrier’s stock back within about 1% of the high yesterday morning.  Amazingly, this was under $70.00 just last summer.  Analysts have a consensus price target of $107.64 on Union Pacific shares.

United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) was not our top pick for conglomerates in 2011, in part on valuation.  What is not arguable though is the share price.  The conglomerate closed at $79.91 and the new all-time high of $80.00 was actually hit yesterday as well.  What investors need to know is that on a nominal basis the shares hit an absolute high of $82.50 in October 2007 and $80.98 in September 2007.  Again, it is the dividend adjusted high that gives this a high as United Tech has paid out over $4.00 in dividends per share since that time.  Rival GE would have to rally more than 100% from today’s prices to be near all-time highs again.  Analysts have a consensus price target on United Tech of $89.38 as of now.

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JON C. OGG

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