Top 5 Retail Stocks To Invest In 2014

Women's fashion leader bebe (NASDAQ: BEBE  ) has a new face on its board of directors. The specialty retailer announced Monday it has named Narry Singh to join the board, noting his contributions in the world of digital entertainment.

bebe CEO Steve Birkhold said: "Throughout his distinguished career, Narry has combined visionary thinking with an ability to execute on strategy and build growing businesses. His expertise in digital commerce, in particular, will help to reinforce bebe's position as an innovator in the digital space." In 2012, bebe made investments in its digital channels a key component of�an omni-channel expansion.

Singh was most recently the "chief business guru" of Outfit7, a leading mobile entertainment company known for its�Talking Friends�mobile app, which he helped build to more than 650 million users in more than 100 countries.

Top 5 Retail Stocks To Invest In 2014: Susser Holdings Corporation(SUSS)

Susser Holdings Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates convenience stores in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. The company operates in two segments, Retail and Wholesale. The Retail segment operates convenience stores that offer merchandise, food service, and motor fuel, as well as provides other services, including car washes, lottery, ATM, money orders, prepaid phone cards and wireless services, and movie rentals. As of January 1, 2012, it operated 541 convenience stores under the Stripes brand name. The Wholesale segment distributes motor fuel to its retail convenience stores, contracted independent operators of convenience stores, unbranded convenience stores, unattended fueling facilities, and other end users in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. The company also offers environmental, maintenance, and construction management services to the petroleum industry; and sells and installs motor fuel dispensers and tanks, as well as provides a range of environmental consulting services, such as hydrocarbon remediation, and Phase I and II site assessments for its stores and outside customers. Susser Holdings Corporation is based in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Top 5 Retail Stocks To Invest In 2014: 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 ETF_Authority]

  McDonald’s Corporation (MCD), together with its subsidiaries, operates as a foodservice retailer worldwide. The company has raised distributions for 35 years in a row. The 10 year annual dividend growth rate is 26.50%/year. The last dividend increase was 14.75% to 70 cents/share. Analysts are expecting that McDonald's will earn $5.73/share in 2012. I expect that the quarterly dividend will reach 77 cents/share in 2012. Yield: 2.80%

Top 5 International Companies To Own For 2014: J.C. Penney Company Inc. Holding Company(JCP)

J. C. Penney Company, Inc., through its subsidiary, J. C. Penney Corporation, Inc., operates department stores in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company sells family apparel and footwear, accessories, fine and fashion jewelry, beauty products, and home furnishings. It also provides various services, such as styling salon, optical, portrait photography, and custom decorating. The company also sells its products through its Internet Web site, jcp.com. J. C. Penney Company, Inc. has strategic alliance with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. As of December 7, 2011, it operated approximately 1,100 department stores. The company was founded in 1902 and is based in Plano, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Nelson]

  JC Penny is what they call a consumer discretionary stock.  These are companies that do well during good economic times because they sell stuff that people don’t absolutely need.  I like JC Penny in particular because they have not been doing well.  Yes, that’s right.  I like them because of their failure.  That is because they are turning their failure into an opportunity and the best success stories start out that way.  In their failure, they have hired a master retailer to become it’s next CEO.  Ron Johnson has been the brains behind Apple’s spectacular success with their retail stores.  He also has a design background, which you can see when you walk into an Apple store.  If you wonder what his potential contributions could be, just walk into one of their stores and get the Apple experience.  Johnson is an innovator and I think he’s going to lead a retailing revolution.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  One stock that's quickly moving within range of triggering a major breakout trade is J.C. Penney(JCP), which sells merchandise and services to consumers through its department stores and Direct channels. This stock has been hit hard by the sellers during the last six months, with shares off by 15.2%.

  If you take a look at the chart for J.C. Penney, you'll notice that this stock has been uptrending strong for the last month, with shares soaring higher from its low of $13.55 to its recent high of $17.88 a share. During that uptrend, shares of JCP have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of JCP within range of triggering a major breakout trade.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in JCP if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $17.88 to its gap down day high from February at $18.34 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 19.62 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then JCP will set up to re-fill its previous gap down zone above $18.34 that started above $21 a share. Some possible upside targets if JCP gets into that gap with volume are $21 to $23 a share.

  Traders can look to buy JCP off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right around $16 a share, or near its 50-day at $15.63 a share. One could also buy JCP off strength once it takes out those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop right below $17 a share.

  This stock has big time short-squeeze potential, since the current short interest as a percentage of the float for JCP is extremely high at 24.3%. The bears are going to be very nervous if JCP trades into that gap with volume, so be ready to play it if it does.

Top 5 Retail Stocks To Invest In 2014: Sears Holdings Corporation(SHLD)

Sears Holdings Corporation operates as a specialty retailer in the United States and Canada. The company?s Kmart segment operates stores that sell merchandise under Jaclyn Smith and Joe Boxer labels; and Sears brand products, such as Kenmore, Craftsman, and DieHard. This segment?s stores provide consumer electronics, seasonal merchandise, outdoor living, toys, lawn and garden equipment, food and consumables, and apparel, as well as operate in-store pharmacies. Its Sears Domestic segment operates stores that sell merchandise under the Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard, Lands? End, Covington, Apostrophe, and Canyon River Blues brand names. This segment?s stores provide appliances, consumer electronics, tools, sporting goods, outdoor living, lawn and garden equipment, home fashion products, automotive products, apparel, footwear, jewelry, accessories, health and beauty products, pantry goods, household products, and toys. The Sears Domestic segment also provides clothing, acces sories, footwear, and soft luggage; appliances and services to commercial customers in single-family residential construction/remodel, property management, multi-family new construction, and government/military sectors; premium appliance and plumbing fixtures to architects, designers, and new construction or remodeling customers; parts and repair services for appliances, lawn and garden equipment, consumer electronics, floor care products, and heating and cooling systems; and home improvement services. The company?s Sears Canada segment engages in the retail of apparel and other softlines. Sears Holdings Corporation operates approximately 2,172 full-line stores and 1,338 specialty retail stores in the United States; 500 full-line and specialty retail stores in Canada, as well as operates 17 floor covering stores, 1,734 catalog pick-up locations, and 108 travel offices; and kmart.com and sears.ca Websites. The company was founded in 1899 and is based in Hoffman Estates, Illi nois.

Top 5 Retail Stocks To Invest In 2014: Caseys General Stores Inc.(CASY)

Casey?s General Stores, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates convenience stores under the Casey?s General Store, HandiMart, and Just Diesel names in 11 Midwestern states, primarily Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois. Its stores offer foods, beverages, dairy and bakery products, sandwiches, fountain drinks, donuts, cookies, brownies, Danish rolls, ham and cheese sandwiches, pork and chicken fritters, sausage sandwiches, chicken tenders, popcorn chicken, breakfast croissants and biscuits, breakfast pizza, hash browns, quarter-pound hamburgers and cheeseburgers, and potato cheese bites. The company?s stores also provide nonfood items, which include tobacco products, health and beauty aids, school supplies, house wares, pet supplies, photo supplies, and automotive products. In addition, it offers gasoline or gasohol for sale on a self-service basis. As of July 31, 2011, the company operated 1,665 stores. The company was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Ankeny, Iowa.