Updating AMERICAN EXPRESS CO., AT&T CORP. and DUN & BRADSTREET CORP.

Article Excerpt

AMERICAN EXPRESS CO. $57 (www.americanexpress.com) earned $4.09 a share in 2011, up 22.1% from $3.35 in 2010. Revenue rose 8.6%, to $30.0 billion from $27.6 billion. The company had 76.7 million credit and charge cards in use at the end of 2011, up 7.1% from 71.6 million a year earlier. Average spending per card rose 12.2% in 2011. Buy. AT&T CORP. $32 (www.att.com) is thinking about selling most of its Yellow Pages telephone directory business. That would free up cash that AT&T can use to expand its wireless and high-speed Internet networks. Buy. DUN & BRADSTREET CORP. $84 (www.dnb.com) has temporarily suspended its Chinese marketing subsidiary following allegations that its data collection practices violate China’s consumer privacy laws. This business only supplies 1% of Dun & Bradstreet’s sales, so the shutdown will have little impact on the company. Buy. Buy…