Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE:NEM), the world’s second biggest gold producer, announced this weekend that it would be selling its royalty interests to Franco-Nevada Corp – one of its subsidiaries that it plans to spin off. The sale of the interests and other “non-core” investments is expected to net $950 million that it plans to use to fund the development of its mining business.

“We remain focused on our core gold operations and intend to reinvest the proceeds to increase gold price leverage for our shareholders,” said CEO Richard O’Brien. “We are extremely pleased with the outcome.” The proceeds should allow the company to expand its existing mines and make acquisitions to replace depleted reserves and boost production.

Newmont already has active mines in Nevada, Indonesia, Australia/New Zealand, Ghana and Peru. The company reported net income of $397 million, or 88 cents per share, during the last fiscal quarter. Meanwhile, the company’s consolidated gold sales slipped to 1.614 thousand ounces from 1.698 thousand ounces during the prior year’s quarter. Equity gold sales were also down as the average gold price quarter over quarter rose from $611 per ounce to $681 per ounce.

Many shareholders are looking at the new spin off, however, as the key investment opportunity. Spin offs tend to outperform the overall market during the first two years as a public entity. This is due to several reasons and is very well documented by researchers that have studied the phenomena. In fact, the research behind this is so solid that an ETF has been created to take advantage of this deal (CSD). In the end, both of these developments make NEM a stock worth watching!

Related Companies
Apollo Gold Corporation (AGT)
Hecla Mining Company (HL)
Southern Copper Corporation (PCU)

Wendy’s International (NYSE:WEN) shareholders are in for another surprise after Citigroup and Merrill Lynch have reportedly withdrawn their funding for Nelson Peltz’s bid for the company. Meanwhile, JP Morgan and Lehman Brothers have also supposedly declined to offer bidders staple financing on the transaction. The activist investor will still have funding from Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank; however, increased trouble among the banking sector may prompt those two banks to withdraw their support as well.

There has been a lot of speculation that the Wendy’s bid would end unsuccessfully anyway. The auction for the burger chain ran into trouble earlier this year after it failed to attract any meaningful bids. However, Nelson Peltz’s Triarc Cos made an unexpectedly low offer for the company at the bottom of its $37 to $41 per share range that it suggested the company is worth. Currently, Wendy’s shares are trading at just $28 each, however, making the offer somewhat attractive at this point.

So, what does this all mean for Wendy’s shareholders? Well, troubles among the large investment banks may have caused some problems, but there appears to be at least a few other banks that may be interested in offering additional financing if necessary. In fact, sources told Reuters that there are several other banks that are available to fill the gap. Overall, it appears that the bid may remain in tact as the auction process continues to wind down. This makes WEN a stock worth watching!

Related Companies
McDonalds Corporation (MCD)
Triarc Companies, Inc. (TRY)
Rubio's Restaurants Inc. (RUBO)

The idea of $100 per barrel oil may not seem so crazy following actions this weekend by Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. The leader believes that the CIA or some other branch of the USA is attempting to influence elections in his country in order to turn popular opinion of him, which is already weighed. Consequently, he noted in a letter that he is prepared to cut the supply of oil to America if he finds evidence to support his claims – evidence which may not have to be real.

Venezuela currently provides the USA with approximately 1.3 million barrels of oil and other petroleum products per day and any cut in this number could significantly jump oil prices. Those that believe he would not take such action believe that it would hurt his economy too much to do so as many social programs he has in place depend on the country’s rich oil revenues. However, many others believe that the leader may just be crazy enough to pull it off – at least for a short time.

Let’s put this into prospective. Last week, there was an explosion on a pipeline connecting Canada’s oil with the United States that jumped oil over $4 despite the fact that it could be repaired in a matter of days. The idea of 1.3 million barrels going missing for an undefined period of time could make a substantially larger impact on the price and potentially bring it past $100 a barrel if not much higher.

So, how likely is this cut? Well, Hugo Chavez recently proposed a series of changes to his country’s constitution that would essentially convert the country into a totalitarian state from a democracy. Much of his public support stems from social programs that are highly dependent on oil revenues to sustain. So, many argue that any cut in this funding – even if for a short time – would harm the income from these operations. Meanwhile, others insist that he could turn this around and blame the United States for any economic damages that came as a result.

In the end, we know that Hugo Chavez is probably crazy enough to make such a cut but it would come at a steep cost and be somewhat risky. This means that the cut would probably not last for long. Regardless, the inevitable rise in oil prices may be of great concern for investors who are already worried about cuts in consumer spending and the economy as a whole. Combined, these factors make the political situation in Venezuela worth watching!