24/7 Wall St.’s Corporate Power Rankings: Week 31

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 in a falling market, safe haven stocks moved up the ranking, which helped Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and P&G. In general, tech stocks dropped down the list after Cisco posted earnings that were below Wall St. expectations

	Company	Rank (last week)	Symbol	Comment
	Coca-Cola	1 (5)	KO	Status as “safe haven” helps shares during last week. Recovery of European economy should help sales in key markets.
	Disney	2 (9)	DIS	Monster earnings led by big numbers from ESPN and the company’s movie studio. Establishes Mouse as No. 1 media company.
	McDonald’s	3 (1)	MCD	Another important “safe haven” stock with high dividend and share buyback. July same-store sales soar.
	Proctor & Gamble	4 (3)	PG	Upgraded by Argus Research. seen taking share as Colgate and J&J falter.
	Apple	5 (2)	APPL	New study shows iPhone users would be attracted by Verizon Wireless service, a sign that non-exclusive distribution would benefit.
	Berkshire Hathaway	6 (7)	BRK	Many Buffett stocks well prepared for economic slowdown. Diversity of portfolio also a plus.
	IBM	7 (4)	IBM	Growing concern that IT spending will slow. IBM probably better positioned with product mix and international distribution than most rivals.
	Ford	8 (8)	F	Likely value of GM IPO shows that Pony company may be undervalued. GM profit also a sign of domestic industry health.
	Intel	9 (6)	INTC	Concerns that PC and IT sales will slow, but most recent data show server purchases are OK now.
	Abbott Labs	10 (12)	ABT	Shares perform DJIA last week. Medical device business not likely to be hurt badly as government expenditure on health rises.
	Philip Morris	11 (10)	PM	Shares move toward 52-week high as money rushes into strong balance sheet stocks. Smokers can’t kick the habit, even in a recession.
	Cisco	12 (11)	CSCO	Wall St. disappointed the router firm did not offer better forecasts, but earnings were impressive.
	Oracle	13 (13)	ORCL	Another tech company that may be hurt by slow corporate spending, but IP suite against Google could get Ellison a piece of smart phone software industry.
	Google	14 (15)	GOOG	Android mobile OS passes Apple product. Google threat of software IP suit from Oracle may be substantial.
	Pfizer	15 (14)	PFE	Dividend now 4.4%. Stock better investment than DJIA recently. Pharma not likely to be badly hurt by slowing GDP.
	Microsoft	16 (17)	MSFT	Standout sales from Xbox 360 in July. Current quarter PC sales likely to keep driving Windows 7.
	Exxon-Mobil	17 (19)	XOM	Still moving ahead with promising Qatar oil facility. Should benefit this quarter from $75 crude. Cash-flow attractive to investors.
	Wal-Mart	18 (16)	WMT	Market very concerned about retail sales in the second half. Upcoming earnings expected to show rebound in US sales.
	FedEx	19(18)	FDX	Slowing economy likely to take tool on multinational shipping. Shares down 8% last week.
	Dow Chemical	20 (20)	DOW	S&P revises view of debt to “stable” based on earnings. Still vulnerable to a drop in corporate spending.
	Caterpillar	21 (21)	CAT	Data about China manufacturing drop dings stock and US infrastructure spending likely to slow.
	GE	22 (23)	GE	Growing backlog of aircraft orders should help jet air group and coming government spending in medical should help company’s equipment supply division.
	Boeing	23 (22)	BA	Aircraft makers drop on economy long-term threat to order but backlog should sustain them for several quarters.
	Verizon	24 (24)	VZ	Data confirms position as best-regarded cellular provider. May be closer to offering iPhone, but in the meantime, new Android handsets sell well.
	Goldman Sachs	25 (26)	GS	JP Morgan Chase. Jobless rate news threatens, but JPM is in a lot of non-consumer businesses.
	JP Morgan	26 (25)	JPM	Some rivals begin layoffs spreading concern that institutional banking could be hurt by the economy.
	Johnson & Johnson	27 (28)	JNJ	Takes double hit on retail sales fall-off and growing unemployment. Defaults likely to spike again.
	AT&T	28 (27)	T	Another round of research critical of company’s3G network. Once iPhone exclusive is gone, a lot of customers will go with it.
	Hewlett-Packard	29 (30)	HPQ	Still on the ropes due to CEO firing Rival Cisco weak forecasts do not help.
	American Express	30 (31)	AXP	Takes double hit on retail sales fall-off and growing unemployment. Defaults likely to spike again.
	Bank of America	31 (29)	BAC	Likely to be hit by credit cards defaults, mortgage write-offs, and commercial banking slowdown as GDP cools.
	Home Depot	32 (32)	HD	Another set of data show housing market still weakening along with jobs. Retail sales also off.

Douglas A. McIntyre