24/7 Wall St.’s Corporate Power Rankings: Week 17

The 24/7 Wall Street Corporate Power Rankings of the thirty-two most important companies in America are determined by earnings, analyst rankings, important corporate news, trends in each firm’s industry, product introductions, management strength and change, and credible rumors. It is, in effect, a new version of the DJIA.

The Corporate Power Rankings are released at midnight on each Sunday based on performance during the previous week. Companies which seem to be unaffected by the new global credit crisis rose to the top of the list. These included Coca-Cola,  McDonald’s , and Disney. Major financial firm which are more exposed to the trouble in the bond and sovereign debt issues moved to the bottom

	Company	Rank (last week)	Symbol	Comment
	Coca-Cola	1 (5)	KO	Coca-Cola. In a world where Europe is falling apart and the market is plunging “Have a Coke and a Smile” seems like good advice. And, shares held up very well during sell-off.
	McDonald’s	2 (4)	MCD	McDonald’s is another “comfort stock” in a harsh market. Deal with Facebook adds location feature which is a darn clever use of social media.
	Disney	3 (6)	DIS	“Ironman 2” project from Marvel division hammers the rest of the box office world with $134 million gross.
	Philip Morris	4 (12)	PM	Philip Morris shows that soft drinks, fast foods, and smokes largely ignore market shifts. They’re still smoking in China and other parts of the developing and third world.
	Apple	5 (2)	APPL	Apple gets keelhauled by market sell-off which shows how vulnerable premium PE stocks can be. But, iPad is about to launch overseas and new iPhone is on the way.
	Berkshire Hathaway	6 (1)	BRK	Berkshire-Hathaway may face an inquiry into who knew about Buffett’s buyout of Burlington and when,. New details of BRK last quarter shows best results since 2007.
	Ford	7 (3)	F	Ford is still best run, best performing car company in US but exposure in Europe is worrisome. If region is hurt, advances in US will not make up for it.
	Abbott Labs	8 (7)	ABT	Abbott helped by new South Korean survey that shows its stents are better heart treatment that surgery. Also helps J&J and Boston Scientific.
	IBM	9 (8)	IBM	IBM should benefit from recent shift of client data to automated centers. Pushes cloud computing initiatives with buyout of industry leader Cast Iron.
	Oracle	10 (9)	ORCL	Oracle hurt by exposure in Europe, but stock recovered toward the end of the week along with others that have strong diversification.
	Wal-Mart	11 (13)	WMT	Wal-Mart decides to get into tiny store business. Firm says these new outlets will let it expand its slow-growing US ops. Focus of locations in China, Mexico, and US helps buoy shares.
	Cisco	12 (10)	CSCO	Cisco is expected to announce good earnings but will say that Europe has become a big “if.”Upcoming earnings could lift the stock even in down market.
	Johnson & Johnson	13 (11)	JNJ	Johnson & Johnson is still taking “incoming” on Tylenol recall. Pharma remains a safe haven in sell-off and J&J’s strength in the field keeps shares in good shape.
	Intel	14 (14)	INTC	Intel’s investment in Clearwire 4G may get added benefit as Clearwire adopts the AT&T and Verizon LTE technology. Intel gets broader bet on future of wireless.
	Proctor & Gamble	15 (16)	PG	Procter & Gamble takes huge sell-off in market collapse but rebound in minutes. After all is said and done, P&G beats DJIA for the week.
	GE	16 (15)	GE	GE says it will add employees as economy recovers. CEO Jeff Immelt joins Buffett in backing Wall St. execs. As investigations widen, he may rue the day.
	Exxon-Mobil	17 (17)	XOM	Exxon Mobil gains ground on rival BP due the Gulf troubles that could cripple the British firm for years. Oil sold off, but is likely to move back up after Europe sorts out. Game to Exxon.
	Pfizer	18 (18)	PFE	Pfizer delivers results that Wall St. likes. Company’s M&A strategy pays off.
	American Express	19 (19(	AXP	American Express benefits from strong results posted by Visa. Wave of consumer credit defaults appears to be abating.
	Dow Chemical	20 (20)	DOW	Dow Chemical begins to move into crop bioengineering, a promising area dominated by Monsanto. Market hates Dow’s Europe exposure and collapsing commodities. Shares off 18%.
	FedEx	21 (21)	FDX	FedEx should pick up market share as government watches USPS post $1.9 billion in losses at middle of fiscal year. Taxpayers can’t afford that. Need to let shipping go to private firms.
	Hewlett-Packard	22 (22)	HPQ	Hewlett-Packard does not just face Apple in smartphone business. Nokia and RIMM launch new initiatives and have customer bases that make them dangerous.
	Microsoft	23 (23)	MSFT	Microsoft Xbox prospects get a boost as Nintendo falters. Market worries about market share loss of IE, but still owns 60% of a market that may mean little in mobile world of the future.
	Google	24 (25)	GOOG	Google drops below $500. But, FCC pressure on net neutrality, key national policy, favors Google and YouTube.
	JP Morgan	25 (24)	JPM	Was a bad week to be a bank with operations in Europe. Issue now will be whether JPM and peers hold much sovereign debt in PIIGS.
	Bank of America	26 (26)	BAC	Bank of America’s Countrywide unit gets $600 million settlement with NY pension. More of these are likely to come out of the woodwork.
	Caterpillar	27 (27)	CAT	Caterpillar diversifies into rail maintenance business. Shuffles top management. Neither move matters.  Europe exposure undercuts shares.
	Home Depot	28 (28)	HD	Home Depot stock likely to be aided by little exposure in Europe. Upcoming earnings expected to be fair i housing market recovery lasts.
	Verizon	29 (29)	VZ	Verizon benefits from new ChangeWave survey saying it has best customers service among US wireless companies.
	Boeing	30 (32)	BA	Boeing says 787 Dreamliner will launch later this year. Also, gets 20 new orders for 777.
	Goldman Sachs	31 (31)	GS	Goldman Sachs may be in early settlement talks with SEC. GE’s Immelt offers support.
	AT&T	32 (30)	T	AT&T finishes last in ChangeWave survey. Another indication that wireless network is costing it business.

Douglas A. McIntyre