Blue chip stocks are considered stable, low-risk investments. They are the largest companies trading in the stock market. The blue chip refers to the blue chips used in poker. They are the highest value chips available. Blue chip stocks pay consistent dividends that increase over time. When the economy is coming out of recession, blue chip stocks are not expected to recover as quickly as small cap stocks but they are also not expected to be as impacted going into recession. Blue chip stocks have been around for years and, in most cases, decades. They include companies such as Coke, IBM, Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Intel.