Travelers ( TRV), the sole insurance company among the thirty Dow Industrials, only joined the Blue Chips in mid-2009.

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Another blue-collar mid-westerner from a swing state, Tom Vilsack , the governor of Iowa, also looks a safe pair of hands.

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So popular, in fact, that the market's red chip index has rocketed over 80% since hitting bottom in mid-January, compared to the blue-chip Hang Seng Index's 40% gain over the same period.

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