The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that the decline of former dividend-darling BCE has shaken the faith of many investors in blue-chip stocks. Globe columnist Norman Rothery writes that the market sniffed out trouble at the telco, causing its shares to fall since hitting a high in 2022 before its dividend was recently slashed to less than half of its former size. While investors should not expect perfection from blue-chip stocks, the episode leaves many to wonder how companies qualify for blue chip status in the first place. Size is the easiest to deal with and Mr. Rothery's focus begins with the largest 100 stocks on the Toronto Stock Exchange by market capitalization. The very largest of the 100 candidates is currently Royal Bank with a market cap near $240-billion and the smallest is OR Royalties with a still sizable market cap near $6-billion. Simply buying an equal-dollar amount of the largest 100 stocks on the TSX provided a nice lift to investors because the 100-stock portfolio gained an average of 9.26 per cent annually over the 25 years to the end of April, 2025, when rebalanced monthly. In comparison, the S&P/TSX Composite Index gained an annual average of 6.80 per cent over the same period.