A: Fluor Corp., $40.53, symbol FLR on New York (Shares outstanding: 170.2 million; Market cap: $7.0 billion; www.fluor.com), is a global provider of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services, an off-site fabricator of building components, and a project manager.

The company operates through three principal business segments: Energy Solutions, Urban Solutions, and Mission Solutions.

The Energy Solutions segment provides EPC services for the oil and gas, fuels, chemicals, liquefied natural gas and power markets.

The Urban Solutions segment provides a variety of services, such as consulting, program management and EPC services, to several markets--advanced technologies and manufacturing, healthcare, mining and metals, infrastructure, and project staffing.

The Mission Solutions segment provides high-end technical services to the U.S....

A: Veeva Systems Inc., $199.89, symbol VEEV on New York (Shares outstanding: 161.6 million; Market cap: $32.6 billion; www.veeva.com), is a leading provider of cloud solutions for the global life sciences industry. The company’s offerings span cloud software, data, and business consulting and are designed to meet the unique needs of its customers—from research and development through commercialization.

Veeva’s products are aimed at helping life sciences companies develop and bring products to market faster and more efficiently, market and sell more effectively, and maintain compliance with government regulations.

The San Francisco-based company has more than 1,432 customers, ranging from large pharmaceutical firms to biotech startups.

Veeva operates in a number of areas....

A: MGM Resorts International, $39.99, symbol MGM on New York (Shares outstanding: 317.0 million; Market cap: $13.2 billion; www.mgmresorts.com), is a global gaming and entertainment company....

The Big Bang Theory (the theory about the origin of the universe, not the TV show) first appeared about 100 years ago, and since the 1970s has come to be widely accepted by most cosmologists. By the end of the 20^th century, the theory was virtually unquestioned.

On Christmas Day, 2021, the world’s most powerful space telescope was launched in a joint effort of the North American and European Space Agencies (NASA and ESA)....

OPERA LTD. (ADR), $13.34, symbol OPRA on Nasdaq, offers a web browser with 304 million monthly active users. In addition to its browser, it provides news through its AI-powered newsreader.

Opera started up in 1994. The company has long positioned itself as an alternative to browsers pre-installed on computers and devices, such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari.

The company generates revenues from three operating segments: Advertising (58% of revenue), Search (41%), and Technology Licensing and Other Revenue (1%)....

BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORP., $73.17, is a buy. The company (symbol BSX on New York) develops and markets medical devices used in minimally invasive procedures. Its products are used for angioplasty (blood vessel repair), blood clot filtration, cardiac rhythm management, catheter-aided ultrasound imaging, and many other surgical procedures....

GENUINE PARTS CO., $159.93, New York symbol GPC, is a buy.

The company is a leading seller of replacement auto parts. It has about 10,000 company-owned stores (mainly operating under the famous NAPA banner) and independent outlets in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand....

ALPHABET INC., Nasdaq symbols GOOG $173.69 [class C: non-voting] and GOOGL $171.95 [class A: one vote per share], is your #1 Aggressive buy for 2024.

The company is the parent of Google, the world’s leading Internet search engine—it handles over 80% of global search requests....

CANADIAN PACIFIC KANSAS CITY LTD., $111.63, Toronto symbol CP, is your #1 Conservative Buy for 2024.

The company took its current form in April 2023 when it acquired U.S.-based railway Kansas City Southern.

CP paid $31 billion U.S. in cash and shares for KCS....

You can’t fake a record of dividends....