Johnson & Johnson (JNJ - option chain) shares are rising today after the company announced that its blood-thinner rivaroxaban, which it is developing with Bayer AG, was more effective in a study than the standard treatment warfarin in preventing stroke in patients with irregular heart rhythm. The results could bring the treatment one step closer to regulatory approval in the US. While JNJ is not up a big chunk today, this stock is usually very steady, so this 1% move is actually more significant thatn it looks. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on JNJ.

Continue reading Johnson & Johnson Lifts on Blood Thinner Results

Johnson & Johnson Lifts on Blood Thinner Results originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reportedly, a U.S. House committee found a bit more about Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) recalls than it wanted during a recent investigation into last year's recalls. Remember, Johnson & Johnson had a massive recall of some of its over-the-counter (OTC) medicines.

Turns out that the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform announced Tuesday that it obtained an e-mail highlighting an agreement between the FDA and Johnson & Johnson that would allow the company to "conduct an unpublicized recall of adult Motrin." Motrin is produced by Johnson & Johnson's McNeil consumer medicines, and this is the unit that was allowed to carry out the "phantom recall."

Continue reading Johnson & Johnson, the FDA and a Phantom Recall

Johnson & Johnson, the FDA and a Phantom Recall originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 22 Sep 2010 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) : 'Dirt Cheap Valuation'

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) : 'Dirt Cheap Valuation' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Jun 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Fear is back and it can be seen in the internals. So what is one to do? What we always do: identify quality, establish value, and take advantage of opportunity when it presents itself," suggests Kelley Wright.

The editor of Investment Quality Trends -- an advisory service that assesses blue chip stocks by analyzing their historic dividend yield levels -- adds, "While all ships go out with the tide, value is eventually rewarded. Remember, we are in this for the long haul.

"Our current Timely Ten -- featured below -- is our reasoned expectation based on our methodology and experience for what we believe will perform best over the next five years. Do we believe that all 10 will go up simultaneously or immediately? Of course not.

Continue reading The Timely Ten: Blue Chip Buys from IQ Trends

The Timely Ten: Blue Chip Buys from IQ Trends originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The editor of The Moneypaper explains, "The pair developed a Net Current Asset Value (NCAV) model to determine if a company was worth its market price. Their formula subtracts all liabilities, including short-term debt and preferred stock, from a company's current asset balance"

Continue reading A Value Shopper's List of Graham and Dodd Stocks

A Value Shopper's List of Graham and Dodd Stocks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Serious Money: Intuitive Surgical Hits New Highs

Serious Money: Intuitive Surgical Hits New Highs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Looking for dividend-paying blue chip stocks? Chuck Carlson is a leading expert on dividend reinvestment plans.

In The DRIP Investor, he looks at the 10/10 Club -- stocks that have boosted their payouts by 10% a year for at least 10 years. He explains,"The table below features seven stocks that belong to the exclusive '10/10' club:

Continue reading The 10/10 Dividend Club

The 10/10 Dividend Club originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) has vast holdings, but its strategy is simple: Support a deep pipeline of new drugs and medical devices with an aggressive acquisition strategy and cost controls," notes blue chip investor Richard Moroney.

In his Dow Theory Forecasts, he adds, "And despite the recession, J&J has kept its financial footing, remaining one of the few companies with the top credit rating of AAA." Here's his long term outlook.

"This year the U.S. pharmaceutical market is expected to contract for the first time in 50 years as fewer people visit doctors or start new therapies for chronic conditions.

"Beyond 2009, an economic recovery should reinvigorate J&J, though it is too early to determine whether health-care reform will help or harm the company.

Continue reading Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): A triple A play

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): A triple A play originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Health-care stocks have been volatile of late, as the prospects for significant healthcare reform are impacting the group," notes Chuck Carlson.

In The DRIP Investor, he explains, "Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) has not been immune to the weakness. And while these shares could remain under pressure in the short run, the company's prospects are significantly brighter than the typical health-care stock."

"First, Johnson & Johnson's diversified business portfolio, which includes pharmaceuticals, medical technology, and consumer products, should help to smooth out results and cushion declines in any one area.

Continue reading Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): 'A buy for any portfolio'

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): 'A buy for any portfolio' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 29 Apr 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) posts better than expected earnings

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) posts better than expected earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) started off the new earnings season with disappointing results that helped to stifle the recent rally. Was that enough of a sign of what's to come? No, probably not. But the earnings reports start to fly in earnest this week, which should provide a more detailed picture of the state of things.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters anticipate that some of the biggest names will prove to be holding their own. Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is expected to post a profit of $4.91 per share, marginally higher than a year ago, and Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE: JNJ) expected $1.22 per share profit is slightly lower year over year. Even Mattel Inc.'s (NYSE: MAT) estimated loss of $0.13 per share is the same as in the year-ago period.

Continue reading The week in preview: The new earnings season ramps up

The week in preview: The new earnings season ramps up originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 12 Apr 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Long-time healthcare investors can be forgiven their confusion; drug stocks are supposed to be defensive, but many of the largest drugmakers have been pounded," observes Richard Moroney.

Nevertheless, in the blue chip Dow Theory Forecasts, the advisor sees two favorite healthcare and pharmaceutical issues as long-term opportunities: AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ).

Moroney explains, "Healthcare companies' profits are supposed to remain fairly steady regardless of the economic situation. But hospitals' capital spending fell in the December quarter, and many consumers are putting off medical care because they cannot afford it.

Continue reading Healthcare favorites for long-term growth

Healthcare favorites for long-term growth originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG) is a blue-chip Dow component, but that doesn't mean it can't have a challenging quarter or two (or three or four or five, depending on how bad the recession gets).

According to this article, P&G believes its top-line sales revenue won't be as good as previously expected. This is due, in part, to how the dollar has been trading as of late against foreign currencies. However, fear not, shareholders, because earnings per share should be fine and remain the same. Management believes that Q2 will see somewhere between $1.58 and $1.63 per share, and it is looking for the fiscal year to fall between $4.28 and $4.38 per share.

The question is, will management turn out to be correct? If the recession continues to worsen, can this guidance be trusted? Quite honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if estimates were trimmed later on. P&G will see intense competition from generic brands, you can bet on that. But I can't say that P&G shareholders should care that much. After all, P&G, like Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Kraft Foods, Inc. (NYSE: KFT), and PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP), is a consumer-products business that has a strong footprint on the supermarket shelves. It pays a solid dividend, and it's a great core holding suitable for dollar-cost-averaging. This is why one holds a P&G: to take advantage of the times when the stock may be down because of challenging times. You improve your cost basis, and go for a high effective dividend yield over time.

If you're trading P&G, you may want to be careful. For those not trading, I think P&G can still be counted on as being a relatively safe entity to hold. The company is a great generator of cash flow, and you can rest assured that management will be watching its costs and expenses carefully. Sometimes that's not enough, especially in these times of uncertainty, but patient players should remain just that... patient.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.

P&G still a core holding even with top-line challenges originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"We've followed Warren Buffett's advice to 'buy American'," says Mark Skousen; his Hedge Fund Trader eyes Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and FPL Group (NYSE: FPL).

"Johnson & Johnson as well as FPL Group are two strong positions in companies that have suffered a few 'hiccups' during this historic panic selling, but are likely to survive and prosper in the next year.

"First, Johnson & Johnson, the health care and pharmaceutical giant, beat expectations in its most recent earnings report. The company's earnings jumped 30% to $3.3 billion on revenues of $15.9 billion. It currently is selling for only 15 times forward earnings -- a bargain price.

"Second,, FPL Group -- known as Florida Power & Light -- is a large Florida utility company that is holding up well. It, too, is a solid company that now is on sale because of the financial crisis.

"Revenues are down slightly to $15 billion, and earnings dropped 40% during the past year. But Florida Power is still profitable, and at 10 times next year's earnings, it should continue to recover.

"We think it is wise at this time to limit our exposure to the markets, and to keep our powder dry by focusing strictly on a few well-financed utilities and consumer product firms.

"Overall, we consider both Johnson & Johnson and FPL Group to be solid companies selling at a substantial discount to their real value."

Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers a daily look at the latest market commentary and favorite stock picks and investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

J&J and FP&L: 'Solid American values' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

You've got to love 3M (NYSE: MMM). The company, whose colleagues include Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and DuPont (NYSE: DD), reported earnings for the third quarter on Tuesday. The numbers appeared good to me.

3M's revenues increased over 6%. Operating income went up well over 8% (excluding special items). Operating income margins rose 60 basis points. The bottom line went up 10%, coming in at $1.42 per share on an adjusted basis. Analysts were looking for about $1.38 per share, so management certainly beat the experts on Wall Street. One of the great things about this Dow component is its ability to generate a decent stream of cash flow. For the nine-month period, 3M delivered $3.4 billion in operational cash flow. That represented a 25% increase. Capital expenditures remained about the same, so free cash flow also took a really superb hike. Free cash generated came in at $2.4 billion, a 42% increase.

For the year, 3M expects to earn at least $5.40 to $5.48 per share, excluding special adjustments. If 3M hits even the low end of the range, then the stock has to be considered cheap. The blue-chip company, which operates in many different areas, including health care and transportation, and which produces products as varied as adhesive tape and surgical masks, closed on Tuesday at about $60 per share. It's well off the 52-week high of $88.70 and it's not too near the 52-week low of around $50.

I like the yield and the valuation, but I'd like to wait for a bit of a pullback before taking a look at 3M. We're just not in a decidedly upward-trending market, and guidance could change (as it apparently did since the last time I covered 3M). Buying on pullbacks is always smart strategy.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.

3M reports increased profits and improved cash flows originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In the latest annual survey in Barron's of professional investors Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) was rated the world's most respected company," reports Ron Rowland and Brandon Clay.

In Invest With an Edge, the advisors look at the 123-company, which he selects as " a solid healthcare pick in a strong long-term uptrend."

"This New Jersey-based company has come a long way since corner drugstores sold their baby powder. Beginning as a pioneer in sterile medical supplies, they expanded into pharmaceuticals and related consumer products.

"Over the years, they've released ubiquitous brands such as Band-Aid, Rogaine, Listerine, Tylenol, even Splenda. Johnson and Johnson has become a household name.

"However, Johnson & Johnson is a healthcare company with deeper product lines; it is ivided into three segments: Consumer, Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices & Diagnostics.

Continue reading Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): The most 'respected' company

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): The most 'respected' company originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Is the market getting you down? You want it to go up, right? Well, you better settle in and brace yourself for even harder times as an individual investor. That is, if some pundits are correct about the direction of share prices. According to this CNBC page, a Dow of 8,000 is now in play, and gold might be set to strap a rocket on its back and propel itself up to $1,500 per ounce over time. I'm not sure about the gold, but a Dow of 8,000 almost feels like a logical rest stop at this point (but that might be emotion talking). In the end, none of us can tell the future.

I can, however, share with you a wish. And it isn't just my wish. I'm sure there are others out there who have already said this. And, yes, this wish is coming from someone who owns The Walt Disney Corporation (NYSE: DIS), The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO), and General Electric (NYSE: GE). I own them for the long term (except for a separate trading position in GE which completely failed and may turn into another long-term asset), so maybe this wish isn't so mysterious. I want to go back to that "happy" time of October of '87. I want to see the Dow drop over 20% in one day. Preferably, I'd like to see it drop 25%, on Cloverfield-monster-sized volume. How many points would that be? As of this writing, it would be roughly 2,670 points.

What, am I insane? About as insane as the idiots who decided to become risk sponges, I suppose. In all seriousness, we need a crash. We need a reset, a reboot. We need a lot of panic on the street, and a spiking VIX ($VIX.X), to at least begin a bottom formation. If you think we're going to form a bottom without pain, you're wrong. And if you think, at this point, that we can form a bottom without a crash, well then, I won't say you're completely wrong on that count, but I will say that a crash would be better.

Continue reading I want a one-day stock market crash in October

I want a one-day stock market crash in October originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Any further market weakness creates creates another opportunity to acquire some outstanding stocks," suggests Kelley Wright, noted for his focus on blue chip, dividend-paying stocks.

In his Investment Quality Trends newsletter, he looks at the benefits of keeping a long-term focus, the value of dividend districutions to an investor's long-term returns, and his current "timely ten" picks for conservative investor.

"The cash dividend for the Dow is $322.40. One year ago the dividend was $284.06. Amidst all the turmoil in the markets and the economy something must be going right with the Dow 30 companies because the dividend is ever climbing.

"Dividends, as we all know, can only come from the reality of earnings; you can't pay what you don't have. The dividend yield on the Dow is currently 2.66%, which represents an 11% downside to a 3.0% yield and the historically repetitive area of Undervalue.

"Will the Average make it down to that level? No one knows but that isn't the point. At current levels the upside is FAR greater, particularly in many of the stocks in our Undervalued area.

Continue reading For blue chip buyers: 'This too shall pass'

For blue chip buyers: 'This too shall pass' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• According to people familiar with the discussions, the Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) has held discussions with Time Warner Inc (NYSE: TWX) and News Corporation (NYSE: NWS), among others, about joining it in a deal that could lead to the breakup of Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO). Some of the sources said the preliminary talks are unlikely to result in a deal with Yahoo!
• Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is reportedly in exclusive talks to sell its wound-care business Ethicon to the private-equity arm of JP Morgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM), according to the Wall Street Journal. Terms of the potential deal were not disclosed.

• Sources familiar with the inquiry said that the Justice Department has opened a formal antitrust investigation into a deal that would allow Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) to provide some search advertising for Yahoo!. The Washington Post reported that investigators will demand documents from Google and Yahoo!, as well as other large companies in the media and Internet industries.

• Reuters reported that regulators in the European Union are looking at the long-term effects of BHP Billiton Limited's (NYSE: BHP) $170B bid for Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RTP). Sources familiar with the EU questionnaire said regulators have asked competitors and customers about effects of the deal on their businesses through 2015.

Newspaper wrap-up: EU investigating the long-term implications of Rio Tinto deal originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Best stocks to retire on from Fortune 40

Best stocks to retire on from Fortune 40 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.