Top 5 Consumer Service Stocks To Watch For 2014

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Best Industrial Conglomerate Stocks To Own For 2015: Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc.(WEN)

The Wendy's Company operates as a quick-service hamburger company in the United States. The company, through its subsidiary, Wendy's International, Inc., operates as a franchisor of the Wendy's restaurant system. As of December 26, 2011, the Wendy's system comprised approximately 6,500 franchise and company restaurants in the United States and the United States territories, as well as in 26 other countries worldwide. The company was formerly known as Wendy's/Arby's Group, Inc. and changed its name to The Wendy's Company in July 2011. The Wendy's Company was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Mike Deane]

  Before the opening bell on Monday, fast food chain Wendy’s (WEN) released its preliminary Q4 earnings. The company also announced that its board has approved a $275 million stock repurchase. The company is releasing its official results on February 27.

  WEN Preliminary Unaudited Earnings

  In North America, Wendy’s saw a 3.1% increase in same restaurant sales, which is up from a 0.2 percent decrease in last year’s Q4. Consolidated quarterly earnings fell despite the company’s improving restaurant sales, due to Wendy’s having less company operated restaurants. The earnings came in at $592.2 million, down from $629.9 million in last year’s same quarter. The company’s operating profit was also down, coming in at $24.1 million compared to $32.3 million in last year’s Q4. WEN adjusted earnings per share were between 10 cents and 11 cents (the company does not have a hard number due to the company not completed its tax closing procedures). For the full year, Wendy’s revenues came in at $2.487 billion, down from $2.505 billion last year. Operating profit for the full year was up to $130.3 million from $122.7 million last year.

  CEO Commentary

  Wendy’s president and CEO, Emil Brolick, had the following comments about the company’s earnings release:�”Wendy’s庐 made tremendous strategic and financial progress in 2013. We gained significant traction with consumers through ‘A Cut Above’ brand positioning, accelerated Wendy’s brand transformation with Image Activation and refined our Company-operated restaurant portfolio through System Optimization. These efforts contributed to improving metrics and solid financial performance, highlighted by 2013 North America Company-operated same-restaurant sales growth of 1.9 percent, record average annual sales of $1.51 million at North America Company-operated restaurants, and overall Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Earnings P

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Another under-$10 stock that's starting to move within range of triggering a major breakout trade is Wendy's (WEN), which operates quick-service restaurants specializing in hamburger sandwiches throughout the U.S. This stock has been on fire so far in 2013, with shares up sharply by 57%.

  If you take a look at the chart for Wendy's, you'll notice that this stock has been trending sideways and consolidating for the last two months, with shares moving between $8.11 on the downside and $8.88 on the upside. This consolidation has been occurring just above WEN's 50-day moving average of $8.23 a share. Shares of WEN are now starting to spike higher and move within range of triggering a major breakout trade above the upper-end of its recent range.

  Market players should now look for long-biased trades in WEN if it manages to break out above its 52-week high at $8.88 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above that level with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 6.61 million shares. If that breakout hits soon, then WEN will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets of that breakout are $12 to $15 a share.

  Traders can look to buy WEN off weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below its 50-day moving average at $8.23 a share, or below more support at $8.11 a share. One can also buy WEN off strength once it clears its 52-week high at $8.88 a share with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

• [By Nicole Seghetti]

  Competition is intensifying between Nos. 5 and No. 6�on the list, Burger King (NYSE: BKW  ) and Wendy's (NASDAQ: WEN  ) , respectively. Following McDonalds' lead, both are undergoing restaurant renovations. Wendy's reported lousy earnings in the most recent quarter, mostly due to heavy remodel spending. Burger King is following Mickey D's another way -- by copying McDonalds menu. And, also like McDonalds, Wendy's is placing particular emphasis on value-centric consumers. The company has beefed up advertising of its lower-priced items more aggressively this year. Even though CEO Emil Brolick sees the value side of the business as a challenge, Wendy's plans to further hype up its stable of $0.99 menu items.

• [By Alyssa Oursler]

  Since Jan. 1, McDonald’s stock has climbed only 11% vs. 19% for the S&P 500 and 17% for the Dow. On top of that, fast-food rivals Wendy’s (WEN) and Burger King Worldwide (BKW) have climbed 54% and 20%, respectively, with only Yum Brands (YUM) falling behind.

Top 5 Consumer Service Stocks To Watch For 2014: BG Group PLC (BRGXF.PK)

BG Group plc (BG Group) is a natural gas company. The Company is engaged in the exploration, development and production of natural gas and oil. It operates in three business segments: Exploration and Production (E&P), Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Transmission and Distribution (T&D). Effective January 1, 2012, the Company was managed across three regions: Americas and Europe; Africa, Central and South Asia, and Australia and East Asia, supported by Global Energy Marketing and Shipping (GEMS) and BG Advance. The Company has interests in 25 countries on five continents. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company acquired an interest in, and operatorship of, offshore blocks L10A (BG Group 40%) and L10B (BG Group 45%) in Kenya. During 2011, the Company acquired additional Marcellus shale properties in partnership with EXCO Resources, Inc. (EXCO). In June 2013, BG Group PLC announced that it has completed the sale of its 65.12% holding in Gujarat Gas Company Limited (GGCL). Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Heather Ingrassia]

  On Thursday, August 15, GasLog (GLOG) announced that it had ordered two new 174K cbm Tri-Fuel Diesel Electric LNG carriers from Samsung Heavy Industries. These carriers are expected to be delivered in 2016 which is the same year the company will begin seven-year charters with BG Group (BRGYY.PK) (BRGXF.PK).

Top 5 Consumer Service Stocks To Watch For 2014: KCG Holdings Inc (KCG)

KCG Holdings, Inc., incorporated on December 26, 2012, is an independent securities firm. The Company offers investors a range of services designed to address trading needs across asset classes, product types and time zones. It has three operating segments: Market Making, Global Execution Services, and Corporate and Other. On July 1, 2013, the Company announced the completion of the merger whereby Knight Capital Group, Inc. (Knight) and GETCO Holding Company, LLC (GETCO) were combined as part of KCG Holdings, Inc., a new holding company.

Market Making

The Company�� Market Making segment principally consists of market making in global equities and listed domestic options. As a market maker, the Company commits capital for trade executions by offering to buy securities from, or sell securities to, institutions and broker-dealers. The Market Making segment primarily includes client, and to a lesser extent, non-client market making activities in which the Company operates as a market maker in equity securities quoted and traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market; the over-the-counter (OTC) market for New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NYSE Amex Equities (NYSE Amex), NYSE Arca listed securities, and several European exchanges. As a complement to electronic market making, the Company�� cash trading business handles specialized orders and also transacts on the OTC Bulletin Board, marketplaces operated by the OTC Markets Group Inc. and the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange. The segment also provides trade executions as an equities Designated Market Maker (DMM) on the NYSE and NYSE Amex. The Market Making segment also includes the Company�� option market making business which trades on all domestic electronic exchanges.

Global Execution Services

The Company�� Global Execution Services segment offers access through its electronic agency-based platforms to markets and self-directed trading in equities, options, fixed income, foreign ! exchange and futures. The Global Execution Services segment generally does not act as a principal to transactions that are executed within this segment however, it will commit capital on behalf of clients, as needed, and generally earns commissions for acting as agent between the principals to the trade. Global Execution Services includes equity sales and trading (including exchange traded funds (ETFs)), reverse mortgage origination and securitization and asset management. This segment also facilitates client orders through program, block, and riskless principal trades and provides capital markets services, including equity offerings, as well as private placements. The Global Execution Services segment also includes the futures commission merchant (FCM) business, which consists of certain assets and liabilities that the Company acquired or assumed from the futures division of Penson Financial Services, Inc.

Corporate and Other

The Corporate and Other segment invests in strategic financial services-oriented opportunities, allocates, deploys and monitors all capital, and maintains corporate overhead expenses and all other income and expenses that are not attributable to the other segments. The Corporate and Other segment houses functions that support the Company�� other segments, such as self-clearing services, including stock lending activities.

The Company competes with BGC Partners (BGCP), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), CME (CME), GFI Group Inc. (GFIG), ICE (ICE), ITG (ITG), Forex Capital Markets (FXCM), MarketAxess (MKTX), National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ), and NYSE.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sam Mamudi]

  Knight, which in July joined with Getco LLC to form KCG Holdings Inc. (KCG) after losing more than $460 million because of the error, agreed to settle charges stemming from mistakes made on Aug. 1, 2012, according to a statement today from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The regulator said Knight violated the SEC�� market access rule, instituted in 2010 to prevent these kinds of trading missteps.

Top 5 Consumer Service Stocks To Watch For 2014: Vista Gold Corp (VGZ)

Vista Gold Corp. (Vista), incorporated on November 28, 1983, is engaged in the evaluation, acquisition, exploration and advancement of gold exploration and potential development projects. The Company's holdings include the Mt. Todd gold project in Australia; the Guadalupe de los Reyes gold/silver project in Mexico; the Concordia gold project in Mexico; the Awak Mas gold project in Indonesia; the Long Valley gold project in California, and mining claims in Utah. On April 6, 2011, the Company announced the completion of the combination involving Midas Gold, Inc., Vista's wholly owned subsidiary, Vista Gold U.S. Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Idaho Gold Resources, LLC., whereby each party contributed their respective gold assets in the Yellow Pine-Stibnite District in Idaho to a new Canadian private company named Midas Gold Corp. (Midas Gold). In October 2013, the Company announced that it has sold the Los Cardones gold project in Baja California Sur, Mexico, to the Invecture Group (Invecture) and RPG Structured Finance S.a r.l.

Mt. Todd Gold Project

The Company holds the Mt. Todd gold project through its wholly owned subsidiary, Vista Gold Australia Pty. Ltd. The project is located 56 kilometers by road northwest of Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia, and approximately 250 kilometers south of Darwin. On September 6, 2011, the Company announced the results of its mineral resource estimate for the Batman deposit at the Company�� Mt. Todd gold project in Northern Territory, Australia.

Guadalupe de los Reyes Gold/Silver Project

The Company�� Guadalupe de los Reyes project is located in the State of Sinaloa, in western Mexico, approximately halfway between the cities of Mazatlan and Culiacan. The property is held through 37 federal mining concessions totaling about 6,310.9 hectares. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company received the initial results of its Phase I surface sampling program completed at its Guadalupe de los Reye! s gold/silver project in Sinaloa, Mexico. In June 2011, it initiated the first phase of a two-phase exploration program. The initial results from Phase I confirmed the surface continuity of gold/silver bearing veins over a combined strike length of 14 kilometers. During October 2011, the Company received the permits for its planned drilling program at the Guadalupe de los Reyes gold/silver project, and drilling on a 12-hole core program had started.

Concordia Gold Project

The Concordia gold project is located 55 kilometers southeast of the city of La Paz, in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. The project area covers over 3,710 hectares and is consists of 15 mining concessions. Vista holds the Concordia gold project through its wholly owned, Mexican subsidiary, Desarrollos Zapal, S.A. de C.V. (DZ Mexico). On February 7, 2012, the Company announced that the Company had entered into an Earn-in Right Agreement (the Earn-in Right Agreement) with Mexico-based Invecture Group, S.A. de C.V. (Invecture) with respect to Vista's Concordia gold project in Baja California Sur, Mexico.

Awak Mas Gold Project

The the Awak Mas gold project is held through its indirect wholly owned subsidiary, PT Masmindo Dwi. The Awak Mas property is situated on the southern side of the Central Sulawesi Metamorphic Belt within a 50-kilometer-long, north-northeast trending fault-bounded block of basement metamorphic rocks and younger sediments. On June 13, 2011, the Company�� wholly owned subsidiary, Vista Gold (Barbados) Corp. (Vista Barbados) entered into an additional option agreement (Additional Option Agreement) with Pan Asia Resources Corp. (Pan Asia). The Additional Option Agreement provides Pan Asia with the opportunity to earn an additional 20% interest in its Awak Mas gold project in Indonesia after it has earned a 60% interest in the project pursuant to the joint venture agreement between Vista Barbados and Pan Asia that was executed in December 2009. In September 20! 11, the A! dditional Option Agreement and JV Agreement were assigned from Pan Asia to Awak Mas Holdings Pty.

Long Valley Gold Project

The Long Valley gold project is located in the Inyo National Forest, about 7 miles east of the town of Mammoth Lakes, in Mono County, California. The property consists of 95 contiguous, unpatented mining claims that cover an area of approximately 1,963 acres. The Long Valley gold project is held through its indirect wholly owned subsidiary Vista Gold California LLC.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  A couple of days ago when gold and the SPDR Gold Trust ETF (NYSEARCA:GLD) were getting back into a bullish groove, I advocated Randgold Resources Ltd. ADR (NASDAQ:GOLD) as the better way to play gold's rebound. GOLD had fought its way back above a key ceiling, and was poised to take off... much more so than GLD was. To tell you the truth though, Randgold Resources Ltd. wasn't actually my first choice. The gold mining name I wanted to suggest was a little smaller - Vista Gold Corp. (NYSEMKT:VGZ). In the meantime, VGZ has forged out enough of the bullish progress I saw brewing then to merit a mention now.