Top 5 Recreation Stocks For 2014

Top 5 Recreation Stocks For 2014: Biglari Holdings Inc (BH)

Biglari Holdings Inc. is a holding company engaged in a range of diverse business activities. The Company, along with its subsidiaries, is engaged in investment management and the franchising/operating of restaurants. The Company's wholly owned subsidiaries include Steak n Shake Operations, Inc. (Steak n Shake), Western Sizzlin Corporation (Western) and Biglari Capital Corp. (Biglari Capital). Biglari Holdings, as a capital allocating vehicle, is also in the business of owning other businesses in whole and in part. In February 2014, Biglari Holdings Inc and Alpha Media Group announced that the wholly owned subsidiary of Biglari Holdings has acquired MAXIM.

On April 30, 2010, the Company completed the acquisition of Biglari Capital Corp. (Biglari Capital). On March 30, 2010, the Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Grill Acquisition Corporation, completed the acquisition of Western.

Steak n Shake

The Company is engaged in t he ownership, operation, and franchising of Steak n Shake restaurants. Steak n Shake is a American brand serving burgers and milk shakes. Steak n Shake offers its patrons full-service dining with counter and dining room seating, as well as drive-thru and carry-out service. During the fiscal year ended September 29, 2010 (fiscal 2010), counter and dining room sales represented approximately 60% of the sales mix, while sales for off-premises dining represent approximately 40% of the sales mix.

Western Sizzlin

The Company is engaged in the franchising of restaurants. Western Sizzlin offers full service dining of signature steak dishes, as well as other classic American menu items. Western Sizzlin also operates other concepts, Great American Steak & Buffet, and Wood Grill Buffet consisting of hot and cold food buffet style dining.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Ben Levisohn]

Shares of Cracker Barrel have gained 0.9% to $113.29 and Biglari Holdings (BH), Sandar Biglari’s holding company, has fallen 0.4% to $516.96, on a day when DineEquity has advanced 1% to $85.03, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (RRGB) has risen 0.5% to $76.64 and Denny’s (DENN) is up 0.7% at $7.45.

[By Michael Lewis]

Buffett-inspired Biglari Holdings (NYSE: BH  ) is not nearly as followed as its model business, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B  ) , but investors in the latter would be wise to keep an eye on the moves of this restaurant-focused holdings company.

[By Dan Caplinger]

As in past years, most of the attention around Cracker Barrel's stock lately has come from the ongoing battle between the company and Biglari Holdings (NYSE: BH  ) , which owns roughly 20% of Cracker Barrel's shares. Back in February, the company offered to buy back Biglari's stock in hopes that it could avoid a third consecutive proxy fight to try to get Biglari CEO Sardar Biglari onto the board of directors. But Biglari rejected Cracker Barrel's offer.

source from Top Stocks Blog:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-5-recreation-stocks-for-2014.html

Hot Recreation Stocks To Buy For 2014

Hot Recreation Stocks To Buy For 2014: Sealand Natural Resources Inc (SLNR)

Sealand Natural Resources Inc. (SLNR), incorporated on May 13, 2011, is a research and new product development company that manufactures, markets and sells new age functional beverages (SealandBirk), organic nutriceuticals, health supplements, medicinal raw materials and health food worldwide. SLNR specializes in research of natural new product development and mass market consumer product distribution. Its Products include Sealand BIRK, Sealand Living and Sealand research and development (R&D). Sealand Living Anew products offer supply of healing nutrients to athletic training.

Anew omega premium is a food supplement consists of shark cartilage powder, fish bone powder, and omega three polyunsaturated fatty acids. Anew omega premium is designed to reduce the decomposition, to stimulate resynthesis of the joint cartilage and to reduce pain. Omega Premium consists of shark cartilage powder, codfish backbone powder, and fish oil powder. Anew nutripeptin is a food supply. Sealand BIRK consists of five flavors original, elderflower, raspberry, blueberry, ginger and lime.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Last Friday, SLNR previously surged (+0.27%) up +0.02 at $7.43 with 425 shares in play at the close (ref. google finance July 26, 2013 – Close).

  Sealand Natural Resources Inc. previously reported it has reached a distribution agreement with Nature’s Best.

  Nature’s Best, in business since 1969, is the largest privately owned wholesaler-distributor of health and natural food products in the Natural Products Industry. Nature’s Best provides a full-line of Certified Organic, Natural and Specialty products to retail stores throughout the Central, Southern and Western U.S., Alaska, Hawaii and Asia. Nature’s Best specializes in Retail Marketing Support, Web Service! s, Business Analysis Tools and Sales/Category Management Consulting.

• [By CRWE]

  Today, The Company remains (0.00%) +0.000 at $7.35 with 125 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 10:01AM EDT July 22, 2013).

  Sealand Natural Resources Inc. previously reported it has reached a distribution agreement with Nature’s Best.

  Nature’s Best, in business since 1969, is the largest privately owned wholesaler-distributor of health and natural food products in the Natural Products Industry. Nature’s Best provides a full-line of Certified Organic, Natural and Specialty products to retail stores throughout the Central, Southern and Western U.S., Alaska, Hawaii and Asia. Nature’s Best specializes in Retail Marketing Support, Web Services, Business Analysis Tools and Sales/Category Management Consulting.

• [By CRWE]

  Today, SLNR has shed (-0.14%) down -0.01 at $7.27 with 125 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 11:13AM EDT June 28, 2013), but don't let this get you down.

  Sealand Natural Resources Inc. previously reported recent company milestones as of May 31, 2013.

  Lars Poulsen, Chief Executive Officer of Sealand Natural Resources Inc., commented, "Sealand BIRK beverage has made significant progress on a number of important fronts. Sealand BIRK is a ‘first mover,’ in the market place offering a unique organic harvested beverage, packed with micro nutrients, no added sugar, less than 60 calories with health hydration attributes for consumers. In the market today, only extremes are available for consumers, ranging from water to high sugar, high calorie, nutritionally-deficient beverages. We organically harvest and deliver Sealand BIRK beverages for consumers that encourage improved health, while being clear that our products have key differentiating factors that set us apart from the competition.

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10 Best Restaurant Stocks To Own Right Now

10 Best Restaurant Stocks To Own Right Now: Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc (PLKI)

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc, formerly AFC Enterprises, Inc. incorporated on July 27, 1992, develops, operates, and franchises quick-service restaurants (QSRs or restaurants) under the trade names Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen (collectively Popeyes). Within Popeyes, it manages two business segments: franchise operations and ompany-operated restaurants. Within the QSR industry, Popeyes distinguishes itself with a Louisiana style menu, which features spicy chicken, chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders, fried shrimp and other seafood, red beans and rice and other regional items. As of December 25, 2012, the Company operated and franchised 2,104 Popeyes restaurants in 47 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Cayman Islands and 26 foreign countries. As of December 25, 2012, of its 1,634 domestic franchised restaurants, approximately 70% were concentrated in Texas, California, Louisiana, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Georgia , Virginia and Mississippi. Of its 425 international franchised restaurants, approximately 60% were located in Korea, Canada, and Turkey. Of its 45 Company-operated restaurants, approximately 80% were concentrated in Louisiana and Tennessee. In November 2012, the Company acquired 27 restaurants in Minnesota and California.

As of December 25, 2012, the Company had 340 franchisees operating restaurants within the Popeyes system. During the fiscal year ended December 25, 2012 (fiscal 2012), the Popeyes system opened 141 restaurants, which included 75 domestic and 65 international restaurants. During fiscal 2011, the Popeyes system permanently closed 75 restaurants, resulting in 66 net restaurant openings, compared to 65 net openings. As of December 25, 2012, it leased 12 restaurants and subleased 44 restaurants to franchisees. In addition, it ! leased three properties to unrelated third parties. Of the restaurants leased or subleased to franchisees, 29 were located i n Texas and 16 were located in Georgia. On November 7, 2012,! the Company entered into a new agreement with the King Features Syndicate Division of Hearst Holdings, Inc., licensor of the Popeye the Sailorman and associated cartoon characters.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  Alamy Fried chicken and waffles is a staple menu item at countless soul food and comfort food restaurants, but that's not stopping Burger King (BKW) from trying to give the meal a fast-food spin. Burger King is testing a new sandwich in the Northeast that takes the breaded chicken patty used in its Classic Crispy Chicken Sandwich from its King Deals Value Menu and replaces the bun with a split waffle. Burger King's Chicken & Waffle Sandwich isn't as hearty as the meal that it's based on. It's selling for as little as $2.29. But the chain's latest attempt to turn heads with a unique menu item will at least attract curious nibblers if it does decide to broaden the offering across the country. Waffling About Burger King isn't the first popular chain to attempt to reinvent this classic dish. As Nation's Restaurant News points out, last summer, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen (PLKI) offered Chicken Waffle Tenders -- consisting of chicken tenders dipped in a vanilla maple-scented waffle batter, served with a honey maple dipping sauce. DineEquity's (DIN) IHOP did it three years ago by combining its chicken strips with Belgian waffle quarters. Yum! Brands (YUM) tried to breathe new life into its breakfast business last summer by testing a Waffle Taco -- an egg, sausage, and waffle breakfast sandwich. Even if it doesn't succeed -- and some of the early taste tests haven't been very flattering to the chain's new sandwich -- it's at least comforting to see that Burger King isn't just copying McDonald's (MCD) the way that it has for the past couple of years. Burger! King fol! lowed McDonald's in offering fancy coffee drinks, fresh fruit smoothies, and popcorn chicken. It has gone on to roll out doppelgangers of the Egg McMuffin and McRib sandwiches. In November, it introduced the Big King, which any patron will quickly recognize as a body double to the Big Mac. Then again, it's not as if following McDonald's lead is such a clever idea right now. The world's largest re

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Single-Payer System Would Be a Boon to the Economy, Public Citizen Report Says

New System Would Boost Economy, Reduce Costs and Eliminate Unfair Burdens on Companies That Provide Health Insurance Benefits

WASHINGTON, D.C. � A publicly funded, universal health care system would aid businesses by engendering a more dynamic economy, taming costs and freeing businesses that provide health insurance of the costs of administering benefits and subsidizing the nation�s health care, a Public Citizen report released last week concludes.

�Small businesses have rated the cost of health insurance as their top concern for a quarter century, and large businesses struggle with health care obligations that their international competitors do not have to worry about,� said Taylor Lincoln, research director of Public Citizen�s Congress Watch division and author of the report. �If it weren�t for entrenched partisan alliances, business leaders would have demanded that Congress relieve them of health care burdens long ago.�

Publicly funded universal health care systems � such as the Canadian �single-payer� system, in which the government pays for all covered services � exist in nearly every developed country in the world. In the United States, universal care systems could be implemented either at the federal or state levels. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 includes language permitting states to apply for waivers that would enable them to institute universal care systems beginning in 2017. Vermont has passed legislation declaring an intention to do just that.

Public Citizen�s report, �Severing the Tie That Binds,� outlines three ways a universal health care system would benefit businesses.

First, it would end �job lock� and other economic distortions stemming from our health care financing system that hinder the freedom of individuals to pursue new ventures. Despite common perceptions that the United States is an entrepreneurial bastion, we have among the lowest rates of self-employment and small businesses among industrialized countries, researchers at the Center for Economic and Policy Research reported in 2009.

The researchers hypothesized that the dismal numbers in the United States were due to the high costs that individuals and small businesses here must pay for health care, which those in countries with universal access to health care do not face. By facilitating more entrepreneurship, a universal health care system here would likely boost economic growth, leaving businesses with a larger pool of potential customers.

Second, a universal care system would significantly dampen future increases to health care costs � and perhaps reduce costs � even as it greatly increased access to care. Numerous studies have concluded that the United States spends much more on administrative functions, such as billing and interactions with insurance companies, than other wealthy countries. Meanwhile, pharmaceuticals and procedures in the United States cost much more here than elsewhere.

A universal care system would reduce administrative costs by expanding economies of scale, streamlining processes and cutting insurance companies� marketing costs and profits from our national health care bill. At the same time, costs for drugs and procedures would be kept in check by increased transparency, as well as increased governmental bargaining power and rate-setting authority.

Third, although a publicly funded, universal care system would likely rely on significant revenue from businesses (such as through a payroll tax), there is reason to believe that total health care-related costs for businesses now providing benefits would decline, in part because a new system would spread costs more fairly.

Businesses that provide health care benefits would no longer have to essentially subsidize those that do not by covering the unreimbursed cost for care provided to the uninsured. Businesses also would be spared the costs of administering health care benefit programs. Meanwhile, funding formulas for universal care may reduce the overall share of national health care costs borne by the business sector by garnering revenue from a broader array of sources.

Elements of the solutions laid out in Public Citizen�s report already exist at the state level or are under consideration. For 35 years, Maryland has set across-the-board rates for hospital care, including care funded by Medicare and Medicaid. This program has saved tens of billions of dollars. In 2014, the scope of Maryland�s program was broadened by establishing overall caps on hospital budgets to counter the economic incentive to provide a greater volume of care. Establishing rate-setting authority and capping overall hospital budgets are hallmarks of the cost-savings mechanisms in universal care systems.

Vermont in 2011 passed legislation that called for it to create a �universal and unified health system� that would take advantage of provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that permit states to apply for waivers to craft their own health care systems beginning in 2017.

�The states might be flying below the radar, but they have a chance to implement solutions that should have widespread appeal,� said Lisa Gilbert, director of the Congress Watch division of Public Citizen. �If businesses leaders allow common sense to guide them, we think they will join the campaign for universal care.�

The Neoliberal Turn in American Health Care

The failings of the Affordable Care Act are rooted in a long shift away from the idea of a truly universal health care.

Last year�s three-ring Congressional shutdown circus � for many little more than a desperate rearguard action by an isolated rightwing fringe to undo the fait accompli of Barack Obama�s health care reform � reinforced with each passing day the gaudy dysfunction of the American political system. But we miss something crucial if we construe the perseverance of Barack Obama�s 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) as nothing more than the overdue victory of commonsense health care reform over an irrelevant and intransigent right, or, even more, as the glorious culmination of a progressive dream for American universal health care long deferred.

For many commentators, though, this is precisely what the ACA represents. With the law�s passage in March 2010 and its survival in the face of a constitutional review by the Supreme Court, they have concluded that the battle �over universal health coverage,� as one writer for the Washington Post put it, �is basically over.� Unfortunately, the evidence does not permit such a sanguine conclusion.

Most plainly, when we consider the provisions and limitations of the law, it becomes clear that though it may help many, the ACA fails fundamentally to create what so many had hoped for: a system of universal health care. Leaving millions still uninsured and many more �underinsured� � a well-described and researched phenomenon in which the possession of health insurance still leaves individuals and families with dangerous financial liability when illness strikes � the ACA falls well short of the standard of universal health care as it is understood elsewhere in the social democratic world.

But more broadly, when we consider the ACA through the lens of political economy, an even more concerning narrative emerges, one that says even less about the triumph of social democracy and more about the sharp shift of the political center and the disintegration of the New Deal left. For the law fundamentally leaves intact a system of health care predicated, as we shall see, on key neoliberal health care beliefs, for instance the �moral hazard� of free care, the primacy of health consumerism, and the essentiality of the private health insurance industry.

Continue reading…

The Neoliberal Turn in American Health Care

The failings of the Affordable Care Act are rooted in a long shift away from the idea of a truly universal health care.

Last year�s three-ring Congressional shutdown circus � for many little more than a desperate rearguard action by an isolated rightwing fringe to undo the fait accompli of Barack Obama�s health care reform � reinforced with each passing day the gaudy dysfunction of the American political system. But we miss something crucial if we construe the perseverance of Barack Obama�s 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) as nothing more than the overdue victory of commonsense health care reform over an irrelevant and intransigent right, or, even more, as the glorious culmination of a progressive dream for American universal health care long deferred.

For many commentators, though, this is precisely what the ACA represents. With the law�s passage in March 2010 and its survival in the face of a constitutional review by the Supreme Court, they have concluded that the battle �over universal health coverage,� as one writer for the Washington Post put it, �is basically over.� Unfortunately, the evidence does not permit such a sanguine conclusion.

Most plainly, when we consider the provisions and limitations of the law, it becomes clear that though it may help many, the ACA fails fundamentally to create what so many had hoped for: a system of universal health care. Leaving millions still uninsured and many more �underinsured� � a well-described and researched phenomenon in which the possession of health insurance still leaves individuals and families with dangerous financial liability when illness strikes � the ACA falls well short of the standard of universal health care as it is understood elsewhere in the social democratic world.

But more broadly, when we consider the ACA through the lens of political economy, an even more concerning narrative emerges, one that says even less about the triumph of social democracy and more about the sharp shift of the political center and the disintegration of the New Deal left. For the law fundamentally leaves intact a system of health care predicated, as we shall see, on key neoliberal health care beliefs, for instance the �moral hazard� of free care, the primacy of health consumerism, and the essentiality of the private health insurance industry.

Continue reading…

Top Gas Utility Companies To Buy For 2014

Top Gas Utility Companies To Buy For 2014: Pepsico Inc.(PEP)

PepsiCo, Inc. engages in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of foods, snacks, and carbonated and non-carbonated beverages worldwide. The company operates in four divisions: PepsiCo Americas Foods (PAF); PepsiCo Americas Beverages (PAB); PepsiCo Europe; and PepsiCo Asia, Middle East, and Africa (AMEA). The PAF division offers Lay?s and Ruffles potato chips, Doritos and Tostitos tortilla chips and dips, Cheetos cheese flavored snacks, Fritos corn chips, Quaker Chewy granola bars, and SunChips multigrain snacks in North America; Quaker oatmeal, Aunt Jemima mixes and syrups, Cap?n Crunch cereal, Quaker grits, and Life cereal, as well as Rice-A-Roni, Pasta Roni, and Near East side dishes in North America; and various snack foods under Doritos, Marias Gamesa, Cheetos, Ruffles, Emperador, Saladitas, Sabritas, and Lay?s brands in Latin America. The PAB division provides carbonated soft drinks, beverage concentrates, fountain syrups, and finished goods under Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, 7UP, Tropicana Pure Premium, Electropura, Sierra Mist, Epura, and Mirinda brands; ready-to-drink tea, coffee, and water products through joint ventures with Unilever and Starbucks; and sells concentrate to authorized bottlers, and branded finished goods directly to independent distributors and retailers. This division also manufactures third-party brands, such as Dr Pepper, Crush, Rock Star, and Muscle Milk. The PepsiCo Europe division offers Frito Lay Snacks, Pepsi-Cola beverages, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana juices, and Quaker foods in Europe. The AMEA division provides snack food under the Lay?s, Kurkure, Chipsy, Doritos, Smith?s, Cheetos, Red Rock Deli, and Ruffles brands; Quaker-brand cereals and snacks; and beverage concentrates, fountain syrups, and finished goods under the Pepsi, Mirinda, 7UP, and Mountain Dew brands. PepsiCo, Inc. was founded in 1898 ! and is headquartered in Purchase, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  For years it was the case that Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was a key defensive stock to own in a bad market. It is a Dow Jones Industrial Average component after all. In the recession, Coke products became treated as optional items to buy. And now the health concerns over sugar-fizz water are weighing on Coca-Cola. The same applies to PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) as its chief rival. The difference between them is that Pepsi is also a snack food play.

• [By Douglas A. McIntyre]

  The balance of the top 10 are ones which almost any consumer could identify. In order of four through ten: Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Harley Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG), Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS), PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP), American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP), Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).

• [By Jim Jubak]

  If those traders are right, and food commodity prices are headed much higher, it would be bad news for consumers and for consumer companies such as McDonald's (MCD) and PepsiCo (PEP) that have to pay higher prices.

• [By John Kell and Lauren Pollock var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); ]

  Nelson Peltz‘s Trian Fund Management LP called on PepsiCo Inc.'s(PEP) board to meet shareholders without the company’s management, as the activist shareholder continued its push for a spinoff of the snack and drink company’s struggling beverage business.

source from Top Stocks Blog:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-gas-utility-companies-to-buy-for-2014.html

5 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Watch Right Now

5 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Watch Right Now: McDonald's Corporation(MCD)

McDonald?s Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a worldwide foodservice retailer. It franchises and operates McDonald?s restaurants that offer various food items, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages. As of December 31, 2009, the company operated 32,478 restaurants in 117 countries, of which 26,216 were operated by franchisees; and 6,262 were operated by the company. McDonald?s Corporation was founded in 1948 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ravagadus]

  The breakfast wars are heating up nicely in the form of a three-way challenge between McDonald's (MCD), Yum Brands (YUM) Taco Bell and Starbucks (SBUX). The fight is on to lure unsuspecting customers from One Breakfast table to another.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD) traded up 1.02% today at $97.14. The company said it would offer free coffee at breakfast time for a two-week period beginning next Monday. Investors apparently like the idea that the company is responding to new competitive breakfast offerings. The 52-week range for the stock is $92.22 to $103.70. Trading volume for the shares was about 25% below the daily average of around 5.3 million shares traded.

• [By Bloomberg Businessweek]

  Alamy McDonald's (MCD) may recently have struggled to lure customers, but it still does far more business at each location than rival burger chains. The average McDonald's restaurant in the U.S. drew $2.6 million in revenue last year. Average sales for No. 2 chain Burger King (BKW): $1.2 million, according to data from its largest franchisee, Carrols Restaurant Group (TAST). What accounts for this more-than-a-million gap? "Everything from marketing and site selection to product initiatives and franchisee selection have been historical factor! s," said Nick Setyan, vice president in charge of equity research at Wedbush Securities, in an email. Here are four factors that drive higher sales volumes at McDonald's: 1. McDonald's gets more customers during off-peak hours. Look no further than the strength of its breakfast business relative that of Burger King, says Darren Tristano, executive vice president at restaurant consultancy Technomic. Egg McMuffin is part of the fast-food vocabulary in a way Burger King can't match. And beverage and snack offerings such as McCafe and wraps have helped increase McDonald's sales between meals. The dramatic impact from off-peak business explains why chains such as Taco Bell (YUM) are entering the battle for morning customers, while others such as Starbucks (SBUX) are seeking more afternoon and evening business. 2. The power of the Happy Meal. McDonald's has the largest share of kids meal sales in the fast-food industry and gets about 10 percent of total sales from Happy Meals, the most commonly advertised child-oriented fast-food item on television. Burger King, meanwhile, is still trying to win back "parties with kids and seniors and women," said Josh Kobza, Burger King's chief financial officer, at a conference last year. One way to do that: "We got rid of the creepy king character that tended to scare away women and children." 3. McDonald's has an edge on efficiency. Despite recent operational challenges at McDonald's,

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