Top Dow Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now

Combined with the long holiday weekend giving investors time to relax and forget about the Fed-induced fears that caused the markets to fall last week and two positive economic data points, market participants pushed the major indexes to extend some very impressive winning streaks today.

After closing higher by 106 points, or 0.69%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) has now increased in value every Tuesday for the past 20 weeks. And the Nasdaq�has increased the last 10 straight Tuesdays after it ended today higher by 0.86%. Although the S&P 500� (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC  ) doesn't have quite the same streak, it also rose higher by 0.63% today and now rests at 1,660, while the Dow has broken the 15,400 mark and sits at 15,409.

One of the two data points came from the Conference Board, which released information indicating that consumer confidence has risen to a five-year high in May. After hitting 69 in April and economists expecting only a 71, the report released today had the confidence index hitting 76.2 for the month of May. The other positive report was pertaining to housing and came from the Case-Schiller index, which showed home prices rose once again in March, and have now increased 11% on a year-over-year basis. �

Top Dow Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now: Ardea Biosciences Inc.(RDEA)

Ardea Biosciences, Inc., a biotechnology company, focuses on the discovery and development of small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of gout and cancer in the United States. Its product candidates include Lesinurad (RDEA594), an inhibitor of the URAT1 kidney transporter, which is in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of gout; BAY 86-9766 (RDEA119), a mitogen-activated ERK kinase (MEK) inhibitor that is in Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of cancer; and RDEA3170, an URAT1 kidney transporter inhibitor, which is in Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of gout. The company has a development and commercialization license agreement with Bayer Healthcare AG to develop and commercialize MEK inhibitors for various indications. Ardea Biosciences, Inc. is based in San Diego, California.

Top Dow Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now: BHP Billiton Limited(BHP)

BHP Billiton Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified natural resources company worldwide. The company engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas; mining and refining of bauxite into alumina, and smelting of alumina into aluminum metal; and mining of copper, silver, lead, zinc, molybdenum, uranium, gold, diamonds, and titanium minerals, as well as development of potash deposits. It also involves in the mining and production of nickel products, manganese ore, and manganese metal and alloys, as well as in the mining of iron ore, metallurgical coal, and thermal coal. BHP Billiton Limited sells its copper, lead, and zinc concentrates, and alumina to smelters; copper cathodes to wire rod mills, brass mills, and casting plants; uranium oxide to electricity generating utilities; rough diamonds to diamond buyers and diamond manufacturers; nickel products to stainless steel, specialty alloy, foundry, chemicals, and refractory ma terial industries; metallurgical coal to steel producers; and energy coal to power stations, power generators, and industrial users. The company, formerly known as BHP Limited, was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Hsu]

  The miner has agreed to purchase the iron-ore contract mining division of contractor Leighton Holdings, which services BHP Pilbara operations. This will allow the mining company to switch to an owner-operator model, leading to reduced cost and increased safety oversight.

  Iron ore accounts for about 40% of BHP’s earnings, and the move here is a good one for the company.

  In addition, BHP chairman Jacques Nasser recently discussed in an interview with China newswire Xinhua that his company is confident about sustained growth in China. Nasser said the global market turmoil has not changed the company’s view.

  Nasser said: "China will continue to grow. I was there recently, and I walked away believing their focus was right, that we may not see 10, 11, 12% growth anymore, but we will see 7, 8, 9% growth, and the texture of the growth may change." Buy BHP.

Top Income Stocks To Buy Right Now: Electronic Arts Inc (EA)

Electronic Arts Inc., incorporated in 1982, develops, markets, publishes and distributes game software content and services that can be played by consumers on a variety of video game machines and electronic devices (platforms). Its offers products, such as video game consoles, such as the Sony PLAYSTATION 3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii; personal computers, including the Apple Macintosh (the Company refers to personal computers and the Macintosh together as PCs); mobile devices, such as the Apple iPhone and Google Android compatible phones; tablets and electronic readers, such as the Apple iPad and the Amazon Kindle, and Internet, including social networking sites, such as Facebook. In August 2011, it acquired PopCap Games Inc. (PopCap), a developer of casual games for mobile devices, tablets, PCs, and social networking sites.

The Company has created, licensed and acquired a portfolio of brands, which span a diverse range of categories, including action-adventure, casual, family, fantasy, first-person shooter, horror, science fiction, role-playing, racing, simulation, social, sports, and strategy. The Company�� portfolio of brands includes wholly owned brands, such as Battlefield, Mass Effect, Need for Speed, The Sims, Bejeweled, and Plants v. Zombies. Its portfolio also includes sports-based brands, such as Madden NFL and FIFA, and titles-based on other brands, such as Star Wars: The Old Republic. It provides a variety of online-delivered products and services, including through its Origin platform. Its packaged goods products are also available through direct online download through the Internet. The Company also offers online-delivered content and services that are add-ons or related to its packaged goods products, such as additional game content or enhancements of multiplayer services. It provides other games, content and services that are available only via electronic delivery, such as Internet-only games and game services, and games for mobile devices.

The Comp! any operates development studios (which develop products and perform other related functions) in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. It also engages third parties to assist with the development of its games at their own development and production studios. Internationally, the Company conducts business through its international headquarters in Switzerland and has wholly owned subsidiaries worldwide, including offices in Europe, Australia, Asia and Latin America. The Company�� studios and development teams are organized around its Label structure. Each Label operates globally with dedicated game development and marketing teams. These Labels are supported by the Company�� Global Publishing Organization that is responsible for the distribution, sales, and marketing of its products, including planning, operations, and manufacturing functions.

EA Games

EA Games is home to a number of the Company�� studios and development teams, which together create a portfolio of games and related content and services marketed under the EA brand in categories, such as action-adventure, role playing, racing and first-person shooter games. The EA Games portfolio includes a number of franchises, such as Battlefield, Dead Space, Medal of Honor and Need for Speed. EA Games titles are developed primarily at the following EA studios, Criterion, DICE, EA Los Angeles, Visceral, and EA Montreal. EA Games also contracts with external game developers, to provide these developers with a variety of services, including development assistance, publishing, and distribution of their games.

EA SPORTS

EA SPORTS develops a collection of sports-based video games and related content and services marketed under the EA SPORTS brand. EA SPORTS games range from simulated sports titles with realistic graphics based on real-world sports leagues, players, events and venues to more casual games with arcade-style gameplay and graphics. The Company�� EA SPORTS franchises include FIFA, Fig! ht Night,! Madden NFL, NCAA Football, NHL Hockey, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour. EA SPORTS games are developed primarily at the Company�� EA Canada studio in Burnaby, British Columbia, and its EA Tiburon studio located in Orlando, Florida.

BioWare

BioWare develops role-playing games, focused on stories, characters and worlds to discover. BioWare�� portfolio includes the MMO role-playing game Star Wars: The Old Republic and the Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises. BioWare operates in Texas, California, Canada and Ireland.

Maxis

Maxis (formerly EA Play) are focused on creating games and related content and services for a mass audience. Maxis products include wholly owned franchises, such as The Sims, SimCity, MySims, and Spore. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012 (fiscal 2012), the Company released titles in The Sims 3 franchise, and together with Playfish, The Sims Social game on Facebook. Maxis oversees internal studios and development teams located in California, Utah, Beijing, China and Guildford, England, and works with third-party developers.

PopCap

PopCap develops easy-to-learn games. PopCap games, including Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies, Zuma, Peggle, and Bookworm are gameplays. PopCap games are developed primarily in Seattle, Washington.

Social/Mobile Studios

The Company�� Social/Mobile studios is focused on developing interactive games for play on mobile devices and Internet platforms, including social networking sites, such as Facebook. Through EA Mobile, the Company is a global publisher of games for mobile devices. Its customers purchase and download the Company�� games through a mobile carrier�� e-commerce service and mobile application storefronts accessed directly from their mobile devices. EA Mobile develops games for mobile devices at studios located in the United States, Canada, Romania, Australia, India and Korea. Through Playfish, it offers free-to-play social games, in! cluding T! he Sims Social, Pet Society, EA Sports FIFA Superstars and Madden NFL Superstars that can be played on platforms, such as Facebook, Google, iPhone and Android. Playfish generates revenue through sales of digital content and Internet-based advertising.

The Company, through its Pogo online service, offers games, such as card, puzzle and word games on www.pogo.com, as well as on Facebook and other platforms. In addition to paid subscriptions, Pogo also generates revenue through Internet-based advertising and sales of digital content. In addition, it has a licensing agreement with Hasbro, which provides the Company with the rights to create digital games for all platforms based on most of Hasbro�� toy and game intellectual properties, including MONOPOLY, SCRABBLE (for United States and Canada), YAHTZEE (excluding the Nordic countries), NERF, and LITTLEST PET SHOP. Hasbro games are developed by its EA Mobile, Pogo and Social studios.

The Company competes with Activision Blizzard, Take-Two Interactive, THQ, Ubisoft, Disney, Capcom Mobile, DeNA, Gameloft, Glu Mobile, Gree, Rovio, Zynga, Big Fish, Nexon, Tencent and Facebook.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jeff Brown]

  Electronic games are hot — just ask anyone with a teenager glued to a PlayStation, Xbox or Wii. But the market is evolving, with console and PC players drifting away from less popular titles in favor of blockbusters such as 'Medal of Honor,' 'Madden NFL,' 'FIFA' and 'Battlefield,' all developed by Electronic Arts (EA). Over time, the trend will translate into lower sales for the industry as a whole, says Standard & Poor's, which has a 'strong sell' recommendation on EA.

  Blame the extraordinary cost of developing a superstar game, which must have intense action and stunning animation, as well as more — and more-realistic — dialogue. 

  A better economy could prompt consumers to spend more on games, and EA may be successful with a new generation of titles for mobile devices and social-networking sites, two areas seen as the future of gaming. But these new types of games are less profitable, and competition to create mobile games is tough because new firms can easily meet the simpler technical requirements of small devices.

  The Redwood City, Cal., company has recovered from the lean 2008-2011 period, during which it lost money each year. But even though 2012 revenues were near the peak reached in 2009, per-share earnings of 23 cents paled next to the record of $1.95 in 2004. The stock, at $17.58, trades for 16 times estimated profits for the year ahead.

   

  Signaling the depth of EA's problems, CEO John Riccitiello resigned unexpectedly on March 18, not long after release of a survey showing industry sales down 27% in February. 'In our view,' says Argus Research, 'EA's problems are long-term, industry-wide issues, and may not be resolvable by a new CEO.'