I'm looking for the strongest, most potential to exist for 20+ year companies. They must be drippable.

I'm thinking Exxon, GE, Bank of America, Coke, Dow besides that I am out of ideas?

I might say P&G also, perhaps Honda.

I have been in XOM for 29 years when I used to work there.  They have raised the dividend every single year.   they make a ton of cash no matter what the price of oil, i dont think you can go wrong with that one.

John Deere (DE)

People gotta eat.

They would be an awesome company to work for, just out of curiosity could you perhaps IM me how exactly the esop plan worked out for you? Percentage off, free shares or what exactly? Also what did you do there?

Yeah, I think JD, and Cat would be good too because people need big machines, especially farm equiptment. Good pics so far. Anyone have a shipping company for long term, or would it be best to follow the index/etf on ocean shippers? I think UP would be a good company?

XOM is a very good company, they are very conservative. they are a company ARFCOMers would be proud of believe me.  They dont do anything to be politically correct - for example they have resisted providing employee benefits for transgendered, gays, an lesbians for years.  not that I have anything against those types, whatever floats your boat, but XOM does not bend with the political winds.

They dont believe in spending alot on alternative fuels programs, They have a token alternative fuels program just to say they have one.  They are getting alot pressure to expand from the far left but resist bc it doesnt make economic sense for the shareholder.  They arent like BP with this flashy ad campaign about alternative energy.  XOM could care less about alternative energy.  XOM knows petroleum and nat gas are here to stay and thats what makes shareholders money and thats all they care about is making money, as much as they can , for the shareholder.

Rex Tillerson was on the TodayShow  or GMA when gas was $4.00 and was asked if he would consider lowering gas prices to give consumers a break - he said "are you kidding me?  My job is to make money for the shareholder, thats all i care about."

These guys are hard core oil men out to make profit for the shareholder and nothing else  - thats their total focus and objective in life.  When I worked there I was a drilling engineer in Midland Texas in the Mid-Continent division.  My job was to make hole - "turn to the right" as we called it in the Permian and Anadarko Basins in W Texas and OK.  We did everything by the book.  No short cuts, lots of training courses in Houston.  

As far as their ESOP I dont remember how it worked and it has changed I am sure.  I got out in 1983 and worked there only 3 years.  If you want to get in the DRIP, get a broker to buy some stock for you and go from there.

sorry for the long post but sounded like you wanted to get a feel for company

No not at all don't be sorry just what I was looking for infact. I am looking forward to getting some exxon for my portfolio, as they will be around for a loong time. I do like them because they are natty gas, and oil, not all this flashy crap that punished bp and others like you stated. They are about making money and I am all for that. What sort of classes did you take to become a drilling engineer? Like what degree? Did you get good money?


Thanks a bunch bud!

i buy xom shares direct  every month through computershare.  there are no fees.  i think chevron is a better company though.  they increase dividends by a larger percentage than xom every year.  the management is maybe the best in the world, and i think they are more in tune to the future of energy than xom.

Sir, I hate to tell you but there in no better company then EXXON. They don't mess around in renewables, they produce money from oil and gas. They have been sitting and capping fields during the lower prices because they don't have to sell, as they make large amounts of profit. Unlike BP and others who do politcal gathering renewable energy stuff. Exxon has paid divs since I think 1889. One of my favorite companies, however GE is before them.

he has a good point, I dont claim exxon to be the best major integrated oil co.   Chevron is certainly very good as well, including Oxy and some others.  Exxon is not perfect by any stretch, i like em bc I used to work there and no what their about and their company culture, but they are very large and sometimes not as nimble as they could be.    

the projects they develop go through a rigorous sanctioning process to insure they meet a certain ROI, they are very strict about this and it causes them to take fewer risks, while it insures the projects usually succeed opportunities are sometimes missed.  they are very risk averse which is part of their culture.

I forgot to answer your question - I have a degree in civil engineering,   I dont know what the starting pay would be now, they have a ton of benefits like all the large companies these days.  You can read all about that stuff on there website.  I remember we used to get a raise every 6 months which I thought was pretty cool.  They hire alot of petroleum engineer grads from OU and Texas A&M.  Civil engrg is a broad field which allows you to get into alot of different professions.

Thanks I'll look into it. Yeah you are right regarding the quickness/risk that the company will take though.