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24/7 Wall St.’s Corporate Power Rankings: Week 30

The 24/7 Wall Street Corporate Power Rankings of the 32 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.

As might be expected HP dropped more than ten spots due to problems caused by the ouster of its CEO Mark Hurd. J&J moved up the list slightly, escaping the basement, as problems with recalls of they company’s OTC drugs lessened.

Google’s prospects improve on a surge of its Android OS for mobile devices which may become the firm’s next big revenue source after its huge search business.

Company Rank (last week) Symbol Comment
McDonald’s 1 (1) MCD Barron’s says fast food giant is widening its lead of rival Burger King. Most people thought the race was already over. 1 (1)
Apple 2 (2) APPL Jobs fires executive in charge of iPhone hardware after problems with handset reception. The guilty will go free while the innocent are punished. 2 (2)
Proctor & Gamble 3 (3) PG Company adds to product line and invests in growth despite economic headwinds. 3 (3)
IBM 4 (4) IBM Should be helped by temporary vacuum at top of rival HP. On the other hand, a Big Blue exec might be hired to take former HP CEO’s place. 4 (4)
Coca-Cola 5 (5) KO Company shares are upgraded by JP Morgan. Stock nears 52-week high. 5 (6)
Intel 6 (7) INTC Settles government antitrust charges with no more than a slap on the wrist. 7 (8)
Berkshire Hathaway 7 (6) BRK Earnings off on derivatives investments. Better luck next time, 6 (5)
Ford 8 (9) F Good July US sales. Maybe a little under Wall St estimates but still part of extraordinary run. 9 (10)
Disney 9 (8) DIS Raised ticket prices at theme parks to take more dollar’s from kid’s piggy banks 8 (7)
Philip Morris 10 (10) PM Shares up as market looks for more “safe haven” stocks. 10 (9)
Cisco 11 (11) CSCO Another company that should benefit from HP turmoil 11 (12)
Abbott Labs 12 (12) ABT Firm expects to expand overseas business in attempt to  boost earnings 12 (11)
Oracle 13 (13) ORCL Larry Ellison gives billions to charity and watches rival Mark Hurd burn at the stake. 13 (13)
Pfizer 14 (14) PFE CFO says company will push increased presence in developing world to offset slower sales in US. Join the party. 14 (15)
Google 15 (15) GOOG Good news—Android doing well. Bad news—kills Wave product. Better off with Android success. Wastes $229 million to buy social network site Slide in effort to compete with Facebook. 15 (14)
Wal-Mart 16 (16) WMT Rival Target moves into NYC, proof that big box retailers have good chance for urban expansion. 16 (16)
Microsoft 17 (17) MSFT Embarrassed as Google Android thrashes Windows mobile OS. 17 (18)
FedEx 18 (19) FDX Continues strong run with new expansion in Europe. 19 (19)
Exxon-Mobil 19 (21) XOM Business is stronger and BP’s is weaker by the day. XOM likely to get some of UK-based firm’s assets cheap as fire sale continues. 21 (22)
Dow Chemical 20 (22) DOW Good news—profitable. Bad news—less than Wall St. wanted. But problems seem temporary based on production halts at three big plants. 22 (21)
Caterpillar 21 (23) CAT Weakening economy hurts prospects but CAT tries to offset with new acquisitions—latest locomotive maker Electro-Motive Diesel. 23 (23)
Boeing 22 (24) BA Company lost 24 plan orders. Luckily still have huge back log. 24 (24)
GE 23 (25) GE Looks dumb by selling control in NBCU just as advertising market surges back. 25 (26)
Verizon 24 (26) VZ Secret deal with Google on net neutrality falters, but government may have killed it anyway. 26 (25)
JP Morgan 25 (28) JPM JP Morgan Chase. Jobless rate news threatens, but JPM is in a lot of non-consumer businesses. 28 (29)
Goldman Sachs 26 (27) GS Will spin off one of its most profitable businesses—proprietary trading. Sign that firm’s prospects will dim over time. 27 (27)
AT&T 27 (29) T As Google Android gains on Apple iPhone, bad news for Ma Bell and its most popular product. 29 (31)
Johnson & Johnson 28 (32) JNJ Recall news appears to fade. Long-term consequences hard to measure. 32 (32)
Bank of America 29 (31) BAC Housing and employment data hit at heart of largest US consumer bank. 31 (30)
Hewlett-Packard 30 (18) HPQ Hurd’s resignation hurts image and leaves hole at the top that could take months to fill. 18 (17)
American Express 31 (20) AXP Wall St. thought the company’s write off problems were over. Unemployment data shows they may move into double dip. 20 (20)
Home Depot 32 (30) HD Housing market could not be worse 30 (28)

-Douglas A. McIntyre

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