Top 5 Blue Chip Companies To Watch In Right Now

After a slow start to the day, the record-setting Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) hasn't been stopped from rising even higher, despite misgivings from wary investors over its year-to-date surge. As of 2:15 p.m. EDT, the blue chip index has pulled in gains of 20 points, or around 0.1%. Most stocks are in the green today, helped by falling jobless�claims reported by the Labor Department. Let's catch up on the stories and movers you need to know.

Mixed reactions around the market
AT&T (NYSE: T  ) hasn't been able to take advantage of the Dow's record gains today, and the telecom stock has weighed down the index from even bigger gains. Shares have fallen more than 1% to rank among the top Dow laggards even after the company announced the launch�of a no-contract, prepaid wireless service today, called Aio Wireless.

Aio looks to follow in the steps of competitor services�targeting customers who aren't interested in traditional two-year phone contracts. While AT&T won't offer LTE with the Aio plans, it does offer unlimited data, talk, and text at a price range of $40 to $70. With AT&T's contract memberships growing at a slower rate than competitors such as Verizon (NYSE: VZ  ) , the firm's willingness to expand beyond traditional contract boundaries is a good move to capture new customers.

Hot Semiconductor Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Apple Inc.(AAPL)

Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, as well as sells related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications worldwide. The company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, retail stores, direct sales force, third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. In addition, it sells third-party Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod compatible products, including application software, printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones, and other accessories and peripherals through its online and retail stores; and digital content and applications through the iTunes Store. The company sells its products to consumer, small and mid-sized business, education, enterprise, government, and creative markets. As of September 25, 2010, it had 317 retail stores, including 233 stores in the United States and 84 stores internationally. The company, formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc., was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anders Bylund]

  This just in: Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) is a serious option for income investors. Apple stock pays a 3% dividend yield right now thanks to a combination of flagging share prices and a modest policy boost in April's quarterly check.

• [By Jeff Reeves]

  The Taiwan-based company is close to many Asian electronics manufacturers. And regardless of whether those manufacturers crank out something as hot as the iPhone from�Apple�(AAPL), ASX still will have a strong baseline simply because of how many high-tech devices exist in the world.

• [By Eric Bleeker, CFA, Jason Moser, and Chris Hill]

  While much ado has been made about the battle for your living room among the tech giants, your car is a battleground often overlooked by investors, and the competition is heating up. In this segment, Eric discusses how including cars in Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) iOS or Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) Android ecosystems could keep the technology from becoming outmoded longer than if automakers make their own proprietary in-car systems. He also discusses which automakers are already on board with the idea, and why some holdouts such as Ford (NYSE: F  ) could be making a big mistake.

Top 5 Blue Chip Companies To Watch In Right Now: Philip Morris International Inc(PM)

Philip Morris International Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in markets outside of the United States. Its international product brand line comprises Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Virginia Slims, L&M, Chesterfield, Bond Street, Lark, Muratti, Next, Philip Morris, and Red & White. The company also offers its products under the A Mild, Dji Sam Soe, and A Hijau in Indonesia; Diana in Italy; Optima and Apollo-Soyuz in the Russian Federation; Morven Gold in Pakistan; Boston in Colombia; Belmont, Canadian Classics, and Number 7 in Canada; Best and Classic in Serbia; f6 in Germany; Delicados in Mexico; Assos in Greece; and Petra in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It operates primarily in the European Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. The company is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dividend]

  Philip Morris International (PM) has a market capitalization of $135.05 billion. The company employs 87,100 people, generates revenue of $77.393 billion and has a net income of $9.154 billion. Philip Morris International�� earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $14.827 billion. The EBITDA margin is 19.16 percent (the operating margin is 17.89 percent and the net profit margin 11.83 percent).

• [By Sean Williams]

  The end result of these multiple actions has been an ongoing reduction in smoking rates over the past four decades and tougher times for U.S. tobacco producers such as Altria (NYSE: MO  ) and Reynolds American (NYSE: RAI  ) . In fact, a tough domestic sales climate was one reason Altria decided to spin off its overseas operations into Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM  ) in 2008. By separating its business, the hope was that investors would have a better understanding of the fundamental forces driving Altria and Philip Morris.

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) was down, falling 1.02 percent to $82.85. Analysts at Bank of America downgraded Philip Morris International from Buy to Neutral and lowered the target price to $87.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  …large stocks can outperform in ��isk on,��rising markets, as well as in bifurcated markets like this year. A period of large cap outperformance is not necessarily a bear market phenomenon. The large cap rally during the dot-com boom is a classic example, as large technology companies led the market. In the ��0s, large multinational growth companies such as Coca-Cola (KO), Pfizer (PFE), and Philip Morris�(PM) led the charge. It is also important to note that during these periods both large and small stocks delivered positive returns.

Top 5 Blue Chip Companies To Watch In Right Now: McDonald's Corporation(MCD)

McDonald?s Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a worldwide foodservice retailer. It franchises and operates McDonald?s restaurants that offer various food items, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages. As of December 31, 2009, the company operated 32,478 restaurants in 117 countries, of which 26,216 were operated by franchisees; and 6,262 were operated by the company. McDonald?s Corporation was founded in 1948 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  McDonald's
  No matter how many times McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) is in the headlines for its unhealthy food, the company always seems to come back to form. There's just something about the smell of McDonald's that brings in the customers.

Top 5 Blue Chip Companies To Watch In Right Now: Chevron Corporation(CVX)

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in petroleum, chemicals, mining, power generation, and energy operations worldwide. It operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment involves in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as holds interest in a gas-to-liquids project. The Downstream segment engages in the refining of crude oil into petroleum products; marketing of crude oil and refined products primarily under the Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex brand names; transportation of crude oil and refined products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car; and manufacture and marketing of commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives. It a lso produces and markets coal and molybdenum; and holds interests in 13 power assets with a total operating capacity of approximately 3,100 megawatts, as well as involves in cash management and debt financing activities, insurance operations, real estate activities, energy services, and alternative fuels and technology business. Chevron Corporation has a joint venture agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corp. and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in May 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is based in San Ramon, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Perry]

  Don�� let that scare you off, though. MCD is down a meager 2.7% in 2014, and even less since the last time it was featured on our list. On a more positive note, the $3.24 annual dividend makes for a very nice 3.4% yield. With the stock now trading just 1.5% above its 52-week low, this should be seen as an attractive opportunity to own one of the world�� most recognizable brands and dividend stocks.

  Dow Dividend Stocks #6: Chevron (CVX)

  Dividend Yield:�3.4%
  YTD Performance:�-6.9%
  52-Week Return: +0.9%

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Some stocks didn't manage to recover from early losses, however. Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) finished the day down 0.8%, extending its losses over the past few days. Given crude oil's price gain of nearly $1 per barrel today, most of Chevron's energy-company peers managed to post at least modest rebounds today, even though the sector has underperformed the broader market throughout the rally of the past six months. Investors might be concerned that the unfreezing of the company's assets in Argentina might lead Chevron to make greater investment in the country, potentially exposing it to future nationalizations of assets that could end up costing Chevron even more in lost assets. Avoiding political risk will be key for the company as it navigates various world energy markets.

• [By Dan Carroll]

  Earnings season is in full swing, and a full third of companies on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) is set to report last quarter's data this week. From industrial giants such as Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT  ) to Big Oil icons like ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM  ) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) , seemingly every sector of the blue-chip index is on pace to capture investors' attention in the next few days. Let's take a look at what you should be watching out for as 10 of America's most prominent stocks face their biggest test so far of 2013.

• [By Isaac Pino, CPA]

  Since acquiring Texaco in 2001, Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) has been embroiled in a legal battle related to Texaco's operations in Ecuador in the 1960s. The Fool discussed the background of the case, which revolves around environmental contamination due to an oil spill, in the article, "Exclusive Fool Interview: A Look at Both Sides of Chevron's Nightmare Legal Battle." To learn firsthand how this case has evolved and where it stands today, we conducted interviews with both parties to the case ��plaintiffs and defendants. The following interview took place in late 2012 with Graham Erion, an attorney for the Ecuadorian plaintiffs who are suing Chevron.