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.
P&G moved into the top spot based on the expansion of its Olay and Gillette brands. H-P moved up the list due to its aggressive M&A activity. And Google moved higher because of the rapid success of Android
| Company | Rank (last week) | Symbol | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Proctor & Gamble | 1 (3) | PG | New Olay and Gillette initiatives bear fruit. Upgrades line of detergents. |
| McDonald’s | 2 (2) | MCD | Moves back near 52-week high. Moody’s may upgrade ratings. August sales were strong. | |
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Apple | 3 (1) | APPL | New “Facetime” device is driving portable product sales. Nokia has big problems competing against iPhone and boots its CEO. |
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IBM | 4 (5) | IBM | Fighting between rivals Oracle and H-P can only help. H-P’s M&A strategy is designed to make it look more like Big Blue, but it’s a long way to go. |
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Abbott Labs | 5 (4) | ABT | Closes purchase of generics company Piramel. A good signal that Abbott has decided to buywhat it cannot build. |
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Coca-Cola | 6 (6) | KO | New concerns that “soda tax” could hit earnings. Coke’s CFO says US market could still grow, which is contrary to view of most of Wall St. |
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Cisco | 7 (8) | CSCO | CEO makes $19 million, which he deserves. RBC downgrades to “outperform” on concerns about deal flow. |
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Disney | 8 (7) | DIS | It may be unsettled by departure of ABC News president, but Mouse company wants to slash profits in that division anyway. |
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Philip Morris | 9 (9) | PM | Hits 52-week high. Dividend rises 10.3%. Money pours into shares. |
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10 (10) | GOOG | Android set to become No.2 mobile OS in the world and Samsung will incorporate into its new tablet PC. But, how does search company make money on that? | |
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Pfizer | 11 (12) | PFE | Closes big deal with American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation to handle R&D treatment for dogs. Good idea since part of the business which caters to humans is not doing well. |
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Ford | 12 (11) | F | Head of rival Nissan says critical US market in recovery. Company about to make big push for Lincoln. |
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Berkshire Hathaway | 13 (14) | BRK | Buffett goes to China to get charitable contributions from fellow billionaires. Not much happens, but BRK shares have a good week. |
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Oracle | 14 (15) | ORCL | Company is winning war of the worlds against Hewlett-Packard. Ellison will get to keep Hurd, who is highly motivated to crush his old company. |
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Intel | 15 (13) | INTC | Outlook for chips sales during second half of the year darkens and market turns against slow diversification at world’s largest chip firm |
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Exxon-Mobil | 16 (16) | XOM | Demand for crude is projected to rise next year–only slightly. XOM benefits from tight inventories now. |
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FedEx | 17 (17) | FDX | New Obama business tax credits should help FDX. China production numbers indicate that critical market is still healthy. |
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Microsoft | 18 (18) | MSFT | Company loses another senior person, this time to Nokia. And, Google Android crushes Windows mobile in new study of mobile software-bad week all around. |
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Wal-Mart | 19 (21) | WMT | Signals of temporary worker hiring at other big retailers is positive sign as holidays approach. Goldman makes positive comments about industry and rival Costco. |
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Dow Chemical | 20 (19) | DOW | The 396th consecutive cash dividend issued by the company is $.15 a share. No wonder its is best yield stock in the world. |
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Verizon | 21 (20) | VZ | New Samsung table PC should help competition with AT&T. New JDPower study hails Verizon Wireless call quality. |
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GE | 22 (23) | GE | New Obama infrastructure initiatives could help GE’s slow business in US. GE CEO blasted China for unreasonable prejudice against US companies. China says it will try its best to be nicer. |
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Caterpillar | 23 (22) | CAT | Tries to protect its position in China by opposing Congress’ move to push China to revalue yuan. Federal infrastructure investments would be windfall. |
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American Express | 24 (24) | AXP | Drop in consumer credit use is bad news. So is possible sale of Discover to JPMorgan. |
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JP Morgan | 25 (27) | JPM | May make bigger push into consumer credit card market. Firm also picks up more M&A business. Wall St. buzz is that JPM capital ratios improved this quarter. |
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AT&T | 26 (26) | T | Samsung table will be sold buy AT&T, but its rivals will get product as well. Concerns rise that new Google voice product will seize share from telco. |
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Boeing | 27 (25) | BA | Air traffic for most domestic carriers was up last month, the continuation of a rebound. Company causes worries about its military unit on news of restructuring. |
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Goldman Sachs | 28 (28) | GS | Fine from UK regulators is extremely minor. Improvement in M&A and big bond issues to help investment bank division profits. |
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Hewlett-Packard | 29 (30) | HPQ | Board of directors may be weak but deal machine is not. Follows buyout of 3Par with ArcSight purchase. |
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Bank of America | 30 (29) | BAC | Still struggles near 52-week lows. New Basel Committee rules may force BAC to raise capital. |
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Home Depot | 31 (31) | HD | Strong balance sheet allows company to raise $1 billion with nearly no interest. The only thing is HD does not need the money. |
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Johnson & Johnson | 32 (32) | JNJ | Company signals drug Zevtera will not be approved for sale in the US. That is a small problem compared to ongoing disintegration of parent company’s brand. |
Douglas A. McIntyre
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