Which companies are really blue chip

Which companies are really blue chip? Telstra? The banks? BHP? Blue chip companies in the US are turning in some of the worst earnings performances of the season - Coke's third quarter disappointed on almost every metric, AT&T lowered its revenue forecast, IBM fell 10% after it admitted that its revamped business plan was way off track and forecast a drop in earnings. Even and Procter and Gamble said it was looking to cut unprofitable brands - surely a bad sign in a business where brand value is way more complex than just one shampoo's profitability. S&P Capital IQ posted data showing a third of the companies in the Dow Jones Index posted shrinking or flat revenue over the past year. And revenue growth for almost half the industrials was lower than the US inflation rate of 1.7%. So what does blue chip really mean in Australia, and the world? (VIEW LINK)