International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM)

Their technology and patents are incredibly sttrong

http://www.ibm.com

I'd like to see a higher yield, but if you build a position on the way down (below $200) you should be able to achieve that. One of America's biggest and best names. A solid and safe (if unspectacular) play.

Their commitment to the 5yr roadmaps from a business as well as financial perspective make them a fantastic long term play with solid growth potential as well as dividends for value.

They were already a large player in the BI space and just became a frontrunner (http://www.esg-global.com/blogs/the-big-blu-data-bi-analytics-juggernaut/) in addition to partnering with companies like Hadoop and universities to address the shortage of data scientists.

Also, cost/benefit analysis shows IBM PureData Systems are better than Terradata (a leading competitor and SA Pick) -- http://ibm.co/10IwPOo

Consistent, reliable dividend payer that has proven that it can adapt itself to the changing business environment, despite being such a large company.

Brick and stone

IBM's Patents based on Research and Development answer the question.

Will recover from recent earnings loss

As the economy improves , copper demand will swing back to demand - price to go up. It is very low now, may fall a little further before rocketing up.

Clear competitive advantage in their mainframe operating systems. Extremely high switching costs.

Watson gives me the impression that IBM is always pushing technology forward.

What I like about IBM is that they don't fear change, they embrace it. This is one of the cheapest large caps in the market.

Nobody ever went wrong buying IBM (stock, for the long term). An amazing company by almost any standard I can think of. That said, this won't be hitting my Stock Advisor scorecard anytime soon, I don't think, as there are just too many other companies I can foresee outperforming this one. But it's still darn good enough for one of my green thumbs! Outperform.

more 2013 round picks:
underperform shorts on tickers:
amt, ibm

outperform buys on tickers:
aa, appl

In it to generate cash flow for stakeholders. Slow and Steady = happy retirement. Also a top 25 pick

Have held this stock my entire adult life and have yet to be disappointed. IBM has a knack for adapting to market conditions and when all the doubters are loudest, they impress. The have continually put up great numbers and grown their dividend. Have made over 200% on this personally (new to CAPS) and I have no plans to abandon ship now

Another undervalued large cap tech stock. EPS of $4.35 in 2001, $14.20 in 2012. Strong balance sheet. Strong growth.

Strong upper management and tons of new technology and software

I have owned IBM stock for 50 plus years and it has been a great outperformer for most of that time. Warren Buffet and I agree that it is in a favorable position to keep up doing so for the next few years at least!