Dividend Increases

IBM has raised its dividend by 10% to 0.55 a share.Other firms who have raised theirs are 3M,Wal-Mart,Johnson and Johnson,and Exxon Mobil.

Exxon Displaces Wal-Mart

Exxon Mobil displaced Wal-Mart as the number one earner on the Fortune 500 list.Exxon earned 443 billion dollars in 2008,while Wal-Mart brought home 405 billion.Microsoft was third on the list.Overall,the 500 firms posted an earnings decline of 85%-the worst in the list's 55-year history.

Bob Doll's Picks

Bob Doll,Chief Investment Officer at Black Rock,recommends Johnson and Johnson(JNJ).We like its diversification;we like its valuation,Mr.Doll said.Hewlett Packard(HPQ) runs its business carefully,and Exxon Mobil(XOM) is very conservatively run and well managed,according to Bob Doll.