10 Best Dow Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now

Successful value investors often work in relative obscurity, delivering steady, market-beating returns over decades.

Jeremy Grantham is an investor that has been following a value approach to the markets since at least 1977, when he co-founded global investment management firm GMO. Over the years, GMO has grown to manage more than $100 billion in assets but is still relatively unknown.

Grantham applies a classic Graham and Dodd value approach to the markets. Benjamin Graham and David Dodd wrote the original textbook on value investing, Security Analysis, in the 1930s. Warren Buffett would later study under Graham.

 

And while countless investors have read the original and revised editions of Security Analysis, only a few have mastered the concepts. The very best value investors, a group that includes Buffett and Grantham, add a unique perspective to their study.

In the case of Grantham, his success is at least partly due to his ability to spot bubbles. He may know more about bubbles than any other investor. In a recent letter to investors, Grantham wrote, "We have studied more or less all assets for as long as we can find data, and we have found a remarkable total of 330 'bubbles,' 36 of which we call 'major, important bubbles,' which we define as 2-standard-deviation events."

Top 10 Cheapest Stocks To Watch Right Now: Metlife Inc (MET)

MetLife, Inc. (MetLife), incorporated on August 10, 1999, is a provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs, serving 90 million customers in over 50 countries. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, MetLife operates in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. It is organized into six segments: Insurance Products, Retirement Products, Corporate Benefit Funding and Auto & Home (collectively, U.S. Business), and Japan and Other International Regions (collectively, International). In addition, the Company reports certain of its results of operations in Corporate & Other, which includes MetLife Bank, National Association (MetLife Bank) and other business activities. U.S. Business provides insurance and financial services products, including life, dental, disability, auto and homeowner insurance, guaranteed interest and stable value products, and annuities through independent retail distribution channels, as well as at the workplace. Outside the U.S., it operates in Japan and over 50 countries within Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. MetLife is the life insurer in Mexico and also holds positions in Japan, Poland, Chile and Korea. This business provides life insurance, accident and health insurance, credit insurance, annuities, endowment and retirement and savings products to both individuals and groups. In August 2012, it acquired Reynolds Plantation. In January 2013, the Company completed the sale of MetLife Bank, N.A.'s deposit business. Effective July 25, 2013, MetLife Inc acquired Broadstone Laurel Highlands, from Alliance Residential Fund I. In September 2013, MetLife Inc and Thayer Lodging Group acquired the 365-room Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in a joint venture.

Insurance Products

The Insurance Products segment offers a range of protection products and services aimed at serving the financial needs of its customers throughout their lives. These pro! ducts are sold to individuals and corporations, as well as other institutions and their respective employees. It is organized in three businesses: Group Life, Individual Life and Non-Medical Health.

The Group Life insurance products and services include variable life, universal life, and term life products. It offer group insurance products as employer-paid benefits or as voluntary benefits where all or a portion of the premiums are paid by the employee. These group products and services also include employee paid supplemental life and are offered as standard products or may be tailored to meet specific customer needs.

The Individual Life insurance products and services include variable life, universal life, term life and whole life products. Additionally, through its broker-dealer affiliates, it offers a full range of mutual funds and other securities products. The products within both Group Life and Individual Life include Variable Life, Universal Life, Term Life and Whole Life. Variable life products provide insurance coverage through a contract that gives the policyholder the policyholder flexibility in investment choices and, depending on the product, in premium payments and coverage amounts, with certain guarantees. With variable life products, premiums and account balances can be directed by the policyholder into a variety of separate account investment options or directed to the Company�� general account. In the separate account investment options, the policyholder bears the entire risk of the investment results.

Universal life products provide insurance coverage on the same basis as variable life, except that premiums, and the resulting accumulated balances, are allocated only to the Company�� general account. Universal life products may allow the insured to increase or decrease the amount of death benefit coverage over the term of the contract and the owner to adjust the frequency and amount of premium payments.

Term life products provid! e a guara! nteed benefit upon the death of the insured for a specified time period in return for the periodic payment of premiums. Specified coverage periods range from one year to 30 years, but in no event are they longer than the period over, which premiums are paid. Death benefits may be level over the period or decreasing. Decreasing coverage is used principally to provide for loan repayment in the event of death. Premiums may be guaranteed at a level amount for the coverage period or may be non-level and non-guaranteed. Term insurance products are sometimes referred to as pure protection products, in that there are typically no savings or investment elements. Term contracts expire without value at the end of the coverage period when the insured party is still living.

Whole life products provide a guaranteed benefit upon the death of the insured in return for the periodic payment of a fixed premium over a predetermined period. Premium payments may be required for the entire life of the contract period, to a specified age or period, and may be level or change in accordance with a predetermined schedule. Whole life insurance includes policies that provide a participation feature in the form of dividends. Policyholders may receive dividends in cash or apply them to increase death benefits, increase cash values available upon surrender or reduce the premiums required to maintain the contract in-force.

The Non-Medical Health products and services include dental insurance, group short- and long-term disability, individual disability income, long-term care (LTC), critical illness and accidental death & dismemberment coverage. Other products and services include employer-sponsored auto and homeowners insurance provided through the Auto & Home segment and prepaid legal plans. The Company also sells administrative services-only (ASO) arrangements to some employers. The products in this area are Dental, Disability and Long-term Care (LTC). Dental products provide insurance and ASO plans that ass! ist emplo! yees, retirees and their families in maintaining oral health while reducing out-of-pocket expenses and providing superior customer service. Dental plans include the Preferred Dentist Program and the Dental Health Maintenance Organization. Disability products provide a benefit in the event of the disability of the insured. This benefit is in the form of monthly income paid until the insured reaches age 65. In addition to income replacement, the product may be used to provide for the payment of business overhead expenses for disabled business owners or mortgage payment protection. This is offered on both a group and individual basis. LTC products provide protection against the potentially high costs of LTC services. They generally pay benefits to insureds that need assistance with activities of daily living or have a cognitive impairment.

Retirement Products

The Retirement products segment includes a variety of variable and fixed annuities that are primarily sold to individuals and employees of corporations and other institutions. The products in this area are Variable Annuities and Fixed Annuities. Variable annuities provide for both asset accumulation and asset distribution needs. Variable annuities allow the contract holder to make deposits into various investment options in a separate account, as determined by the contract holder. The risks associated with such investment options are borne entirely by the contract holder, except where guaranteed minimum benefits are involved.

Fixed annuities provide for both asset accumulation and asset distribution needs. Fixed annuities do not allow the same investment flexibility provided by variable annuities, but provide guarantees related to the preservation of principal and interest credited.

Corporate Benefit Funding

The Corporate Benefit Funding segment includes a range of annuity and investment products, including, guaranteed interest products and other stable value products, income annuitie! s, and se! parate account contracts for the investment management of defined benefit and defined contribution plan assets. This segment also includes certain products to fund postretirement benefits and company, bank or trust owned life insurance used to finance non-qualified benefit programs for executives. The products in this area are Stable Value Products, Pensions Closeouts, Torts and Settlements, Capital Markets Investment Products and other Corporate Benefit Funding Products and Services. The Company offers general account guaranteed interest contracts, separate account guaranteed interest contracts, and similar products used to support the stable value option of defined contribution plans. It also offers private floating rate funding agreements that are used for money market funds, securities lending cash collateral portfolios and short-term investment funds.

The Company offers general account and separate account annuity products, generally in connection with the termination of defined benefit pension plans, both in the United States and the United Kingdom. It also offers partial risk transfer solutions that allow for partial transfers of pension liabilities and annuity products that include single premium buyouts. It offers strategies for complex litigation settlements, primarily structured settlement annuities. Under the Capital Markets Investment Products, the products offered include funding agreements, Federal Home Loan Bank advances and funding agreement-backed commercial paper. Under the Other Corporate Benefit Funding Products and Services, it offers specialized insurance products designed specifically to provide solutions for non-qualified benefit and retiree benefit funding purposes.

Auto & Home

The Auto & Home segment includes personal lines property and casualty insurance offered directly to employees at their employer�� worksite, as well as to individuals through a variety of retail distribution channels, including independent agents, property and casu! alty spec! ialists, direct response marketing and the individual distribution sales group. Auto & Home primarily sells auto insurance, which represented 67% of Auto & Home�� total net earned premiums in 2011. Homeowners and other insurance represented 33% of Auto & Home�� total net earned premiums in 2011. The products in this area are Auto Coverages and Homeowners and Other Coverages. Auto insurance policies provide coverage for private passenger automobiles, utility automobiles and vans, motorcycles, motor homes, antique or classic automobiles and trailers. Auto & Home offers traditional coverage, such as liability, uninsured motorist, no fault or personal injury protection, as well as collision and comprehensive. Homeowners��insurance policies provide protection for homeowners, renters, condominium owners and residential landlords against losses arising out of damage to dwellings and contents from a variety of perils, as well as coverage for liability arising from ownership or occupancy. Other insurance includes personal excess liability (protection against losses in excess of amounts covered by other liability insurance policies), and coverage for recreational vehicles and boat owners. Most of Auto & Home�� homeowners��policies are traditional insurance policies for dwellings, providing protection for loss on a replacement cost basis. These policies also provide additional coverage for reasonable, normal living expenses incurred by policyholders that have been displaced from their homes.

International

International provides life insurance, accident and health insurance, credit insurance, annuities, endowment and retirement & savings products to both individuals and groups. The Company focuses on markets primarily within Japan, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. It operates in international markets through subsidiaries and affiliates. The Company operates in 22 countries in Latin America, with operations in Mexico, Chile and Argentina. It operates in fou! r countri! es in Asia Pacific with operations in Korea, Hong Kong and Australia. It operates in 35 countries in Europe and the Middle East with operations in Poland, the United Kingdom, France, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as through a consolidated joint venture in India.

Corporate & Other

Corporate & Other contains the excess capital not allocated to the segments, which is invested to optimize investment spread and to fund company initiatives and various start-up and run-off entities. Mortgage products offered by MetLife Bank include forward and reverse residential mortgage loans. Residential mortgage loans are originated through MetLife Bank�� national sales force, mortgage brokers and mortgage correspondents. The residential mortgage banking activities include the origination and servicing of mortgage loans. Mortgage loans are held-for-investment or sold primarily into Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC) or Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA) securities. Deposit products include traditional savings accounts, money market savings accounts, certificates of deposit (CDs) and individual retirement accounts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Wolfe]

  MetLife (MET)

  The guru�� fourth largest holding is in MetLife where he maintains 1,617,399 shares of the company�� stock. This position makes up for 3.4% of his total holdings as well as 0.15% of the company�� shares outstanding.

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Next week investors will be waiting for several key earnings reports including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB), Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK), MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), and Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA).

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  MetLife (MET) has gained 3.1% to $48.53, while�Prudential�(PRU) has climbed 3.1% to $78.29 after Barclays upgraded the stocks to Overweight from Equal Weight Underweight. Analyst Jay Gelb and team explain why:

• [By Amanda Alix]

  When megainsurance company MetLife (NYSE: MET  ) finally closed the sale�of its retail banking operations to General Electric's (NYSE: GE  ) GE Capital this past January, enabling it to deregister as a bank, it likely heaved a figurative sigh of relief. The insurer had jumped through many regulatory hoops in order to get this deal done and free itself of tighter controls being levied on any entity that includes a banking platform.

10 Best Dow Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now: MineralRite Corp (RITE)

MineralRite Corporation, formerly Royal Quantum Group Inc., incorporated on October 22, 1996, is a development-stage company. The Company is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of oil and gas and mineral properties. During the year ended December 31, 2009, the Company acquired a 36% interest in the drilling and development of the Gleason 4-16 well located in Oklahoma. In April 2013, it acquired the entire share capital of Goldfield International Inc.

The Company owns 100% interest in 1,540 acres that consist of 77 claims of prospective uranium property. The prospective uranium property is located adjacent to the Sheep Mountain Mine in Fremont County, Central Wyoming, approximately 90 miles southwest of Casper, Wyoming.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap stocks MineralRite Corp (OTCMKTS: RITE), New China Global Inc (OTCMKTS: NCGI) and Metrospaces Inc (OTCMKTS: MSPC) have all been getting some extra attention lately in various investment newsletters thanks to a few paid promotions. Of course, there is nothing wrong with properly disclosed promotions or investor relations type of activities, but they can and often do backfire on unwary investors and traders alike. So how hot are these three small caps for investors? Here is a quick reality check:

10 Best Dow Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now: ChinaNet Online Holdings Inc.(CNET)

ChinaNet Online Holdings, Inc. offers business-to-business integrated Internet service provider services for small and medium enterprises? sales networks in the People?s Republic of China. Its multi-platform advertising network consists of the Website 28.com, an Internet advertising portal; ChinaNet TV, a television production and advertising unit; and bank kiosk advertising unit, which is primarily used as an advertising platform for clients in the financial services industry. The company, through its Internet portal 28.com, enables companies and entrepreneurs to advertise their business information, brands, products, services, and business opportunities, as well as to build sales channels and develop relationships directly with franchisees, sales agents, distributors, and/or resellers. The 28.com also offers campaign management tools, including lead generation and capture, advanced tracking, search engine marketing and optimization, resource scheduling, and content man agement for the company?s clients. The company, through its ChinaNet TV, creates and distributes television shows comprising advertisements similar to infomercials, as well as promotions for various clients during the allotted time; and produces Web video advertisements for clients to be placed on 28.com. Its bank kiosks provide advertising services and Internet access to perform non-cash banking functions, such as transferring money, purchasing annuities and/or insurance, and paying bills. In addition, it offers cloud-based management tools. As of December 31, 2010, the company provided advertising, marketing, and lead generation services to approximately 1,200 clients in various consumer focused business categories comprising 883 clients. It serves customers in food and beverage; cosmetics and healthcare; footwear, apparel, and garments; home goods and construction materials; and environmental protection equipment industries. The company was founded in 2003 and is headqua rtered in Beijing, China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James E. Brumley]

  It's fun to be right, but being "right" about entering a stock trade is irrelevant if you're not also going to be right about the exit. With that in mind, though yours truly only suggested Chinanet Online Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CNET) yesterday, it's time to go ahead and lock in your gain - your 140%-ish gain - by selling CNET at whatever price you can get for it now..... like right now.

10 Best Dow Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now: Unit Corporation(UNT)

Unit Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the contract drilling, oil and natural gas, and mid-stream businesses in the United States. The company?s Contract Drilling segment engages in land contract drilling of onshore oil and natural gas wells for oil and natural gas companies in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Montana, and North Dakota. Its Oil and Natural Gas segment is involved in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas properties located primarily in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, and North Dakota, as well as in Arkansas, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi, Michigan, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and a small portion in Canada. As of December 31, 2011, this segment had approximately 121 gross proved undeveloped wells. The company?s Mid-Stream segment buys, sells, gathers, processes, and treats natural gas. It operates 3 natural gas treatment plants, 10 operating processing plants, 35 active gathering systems, and 934 miles of pipeline in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The company operates a fleet of 127 drilling rigs. Unit Corporation was founded in 1963 and is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Rapier]

  Having said that, I can’t find anything in the article archives about Unit Corp. (NYSE: UNT). Unit describes itself as a diversified energy company engaged in the exploration for and production of oil and natural gas, the acquisition of producing oil and natural gas properties, the contract drilling of onshore oil and natural gas wells, and the gathering and processing of natural gas.

10 Best Dow Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now: Vail Resorts Inc. (MTN)

Vail Resorts, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates resorts in the United States. The company operates in three segments: Mountain, Lodging, and Real Estate. The Mountain segment operates eight ski resort properties, including the Vail Mountain, Breckenridge Ski, Keystone, Beaver Creek, Heavenly Mountain, Northstar, Kirkwood Mountain, and Canyons resorts; and two urban ski areas, such as Afton Alps and Mount Brighton Ski areas, as well as provides ancillary services, primarily ski school, dining, and retail/rental operations. Its resorts offer various recreational activities comprising skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, snowtubing, sightseeing, mountain biking, guided hiking, children's activities, and other recreational activities, as well as ski and snowboard lessons, equipment rental and retail merchandise services, dining venues, and private club services. This segment also leases its owned and leased commercial space; and provides real estate brokerage services. Th e Lodging segment owns and/or manages a collection of luxury hotels under the RockResorts brand, and other lodging properties; various condominiums located in and around the company�s ski resorts; destination resorts; and golf courses, as well as offers resort ground transportation services. This segment operates approximately 5,100 owned and managed hotel and condominium rooms. The Real Estate segment owns, develops, markets, and sells real estate properties in and around the company�s resort communities. Vail Resorts, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is based in Broomfield, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  Craig Warga/Bloomberg via Getty Images You can never know in advance all the news that will move the market in a given week, but some things you can see coming. From earnings reports to a new "Hobbit" film, let's take a look at the business news that will break in the week ahead. Monday -- Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow: Ski resorts are open for the season, and we'll get a great early read on how the business is holding up when Vail Resorts (MTN) reports fresh financials after Monday's market close. True to its name, Vail Resorts operates a ski property in Vail as well as nearby slopes in Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado. It also owns resorts in six different snowy states. Don't expect a quarterly profit out of Vail Resorts. The months of August, September, and October are naturally forgettable for ski resorts. Vail expects to generate four times as much revenue during the next three months as it did during the period that ended in October. However, Vail Resorts should be able to offer a glimpse about how the new ski season is starting to shape up. It has enough advance booking information to know what folks are willing to pay this year for a trek out to the slopes. Tuesday -- For Whom the Bell Tolls: It's once again great time to be a real estate developer. Home prices are moving higher, and those increases are moving at a headier clip than the costs to build new digs. We'll get a good snapshot of the housing industry when Toll Brothers (TOL) reports on Tuesday. The builder of upscale properties is typically blunt about its assessment, and naturally the news has been good in recent quarters as home buyers aren't walking away from their contracts, and asking prices keep inching up. Hovnanian (HOV) -- another developer that offers more accessibly priced properties -- reports two days later. Analysts see revenue surging 56 percent at Toll and 19 percent at Hovnanian. It's good to be a builder right now, but that won't remain that way i

10 Best Dow Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now: Telecom Italia S.P.A.(TI)

Telecom Italia S.p.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides fixed-line and mobile telecommunications, Internet, and media services. The company also operates in office and system solutions. Its portfolio ranges from consumer-focused convergent communications services to business-oriented advanced ICT solutions. The company?s integrated range of offerings, proprietary platforms, and network architecture leverage the potential of fixed-line and mobile broadband to offer convergent solutions for communication, Web surfing, always-in-touch services, and serve as a gateway to the digital world from the home, the office, and on the move, from fixed-line telephone, cell phone, PC, or TV. Its business portfolio covers various categories of business needs, from freelance professionals to SMEs, corporations, institutions, and public government bodies. The company?s Web offerings combine Italy?s Virgilio portal with Web 2.0 ventures, such as Yalp!, a TV community where users p ublish their own content and create their own TV channels. Its media operations span traditional broadcasting over analogue and digital networks, and mobile broadcasting through TIM/MTV partnership vehicle, MTV Mobile. The company has operations in Italy, Latin America, Germany, Holland, and the Mediterranean basin. As of December 31, 2009, it provided fixed telecommunications services with approximately 16.1 million physical accesses in Italy. The company?s wholesale customer portfolio consisted of approximately 6.2 million accesses for telephone services; and broadband portfolio had approximately 8.7 million accesses in Italy, as well as 30.8 million mobile telephone lines. Telecom Italia was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Milan, Italy.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By DAILYFINANCE]

  Steven Senne/AP NEW YORK -- Target (TGT) massive data breach over the holidays helped push its fourth-quarter profit down 46 percent. The discount retailer also said Wednesday that sales fell 5.3 percent as the breach scared off customers. The nation's second-largest discounter also offered a profit outlook below Wall Street expectations as the costs of the breach that affected millions of credit and debit card customers linger. The discounter, based in Minneapolis, said it earned $520 million, or 81 cents a share, for the three months that ended Feb. 1. That compares with a profit of $961 million, or $1.47 a share a year earlier. Revenue fell to $21.5 billion from $22.7 billion. Revenue at stores open at least a year, an important retail measurement, fell 2.5 percent. Analysts had expected a profit of 80 cents on revenue of 21.5 billion, according to FactSet estimates. The breach resulted in $17 million of net expenses in the fourth quarter, Target said, with $61 million of total expenses partially offset by the recognition of a $44 million insurance receivable. Shares of Target rose 99 cents to $57.50 in premarket trading Wednesday as earnings results beat Wall Street estimates by a penny. The stock has fallen about 10 percent since the company disclosed the breach in mid-December. "As we plan for the new fiscal year, we will continue to work tirelessly to win back the confidence of our guests. We are encouraged that sales trends have improved in recent weeks," Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president and CEO of Target, said in a statement. The results underscore the big challenges that Steinhafel faces. Even before the breach, Target has struggled with uneven sales since the recession as its middle-income shoppers are still not comfortable in spending. And the company has also grappled with the perception that its prices are too high. Critics also say that the discounter, known for its exclusive limited partnerships with designers, has lost its

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Telecom Italia (NYSE: TI) was started as Buy at Goldman Sachs, just a day after J.P. Morgan raised it to Neutral from Underperform.

  Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at J.P. Morgan.

10 Best Dow Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now: Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated(COKE)

Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, marketing, and distribution of nonalcoholic beverages, primarily products of The Coca-Cola Company. The company offers sparkling beverages, such as energy drinks; and still beverages, including bottled water, tea, ready-to-drink coffee, enhanced water, juices, and sports drinks. It holds cola beverage agreements and allied beverage agreements, under which it produces, distributes, and markets sparkling beverage products of The Coca-Cola Company in certain regions. The company also distributes and markets still beverages of The Coca-Cola Company, such as POWERade, vitaminwater, and Minute Maid Juices To Go, as well as produces, distributes, and markets Dasani water products under still beverage agreements. In addition, it holds agreements to produce and market Dr Pepper. Further, the company distributes and markets various other products, including Monster energy productsand Sund rop, as well as its own products, such as Country Breeze tea, diet Country Breeze tea, and Tum-E Yummies, a vitamin C enhanced flavored drink, Bean & Body, and Simmer and Bazza energy tea. Additionally, it produces beverages for other Coca-Cola bottlers; and provides restaurants and other immediate consumption outlets with fountain products. The company sells and distributes its products directly to retail stores and other outlets, including food markets, institutional accounts, and vending machine outlets. It operates in North Carolina, South Carolina, south Alabama, South Georgia, middle Tennessee, western Virginia, and West Virginia. The company was founded in 1902 and is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jesse Solomon]

  Other bellwethers scheduled to report earnings this week include Coca-Cola (COKE), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, Fortune 500), and General Electric (GE, Fortune 500).

• [By Dan Dzombak]

  In the U.S., Coke announced that it will sell some of its internal bottling operations to its five U.S. independent bottlers: Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (NASDAQ: COKE  ) , Coca-Cola Bottling Company United, Swire Coca-Cola USA, Coca-Cola Bottling Company High Country and Corinth Coca-Cola Bottling Works. No details were released, but the company did say it expects to close the deals in 2014.