10 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Buy Right Now

LONDON --�BT� (LSE: BT-A  ) (NYSE: BT  ) �made a surprise announcement today that it will make its new sport channels available at no extra cost to customers of BT broadband, seen as a direct threat to�BSkyB's (LSE: BSY  ) �expensive subscription services to its sports channels.

Upon the release of the news, BT chief executive Ian Livingstone commented:�"U.K. Sports fans have had a rough deal for too long. Many have been priced out of the market but we will change this by giving away BT Sport for free with our broadband."

BT will broadcast 38 Premier League games a season for three years from August 2013, including 18 "first pick" games, whereby the company will have the option of the weekend's biggest games. They will also show FA Cup and Europa League matches after buying most of ESPN U.K.'s operation and sports rights, as well as broadcasting MotoGP races and UFC fights among other sporting events.

The company continues to show its intent to challenge BSkyB in the paid-for television arena, bolstered by big names joining its sports operations such as anchor Jake Humphrey, chief football reporter Ray Stubbs, as well as the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Michael Owen, David James, Steve McManaman, and Owen Hargreaves as football experts, not to mention household names like Clare Balding, Tim Lovejoy, and Craig Doyle fronting other sports shows.

10 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Buy Right Now: Guggenheim Enhanced Equity Income Fund (GPM)

Old Mutual/Claymore Long-Short Fund (the Fund) is a diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund�� primary investment objective is to provide a high level of current income and current gains. The Fund�� secondary investment objective is to provide long-term capital appreciation. The Fund invests in a portfolio of equity securities and by selling securities short in the S&P 500 Index that it believes will under perform relative to the average stock in the S&P 500. The Fund will also write (sell) call options on equity indexes and, to a lesser extent, on individual securities held in the Fund�� portfolio.

The Fund�� investment adviser is Claymore Advisors, LLC. Analytic Investors, Inc. (Analytic) is the Fund�� sub-adviser. It invests in various sectors, including financials, information technology, industrials, healthcare, consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, materials, utilities and telecommunications.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chuck Carnevale]

  Next, I turned to an evaluation of gross profit margin (gpm), net profit margin (npm), return on assets (roa), return on equity (roe) and return on invested capital (roi). The example below only includes gross and net profit margin, however, I review data on all the metrics stated above.

10 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Buy Right Now: Enzo Biochem Inc. (ENZ)

Enzo Biochem, Inc., an integrated life sciences and biotechnology company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of diagnostic and research products based on genetic engineering, biotechnology, and molecular biology. The company operates in three segments: Clinical Labs, Life Sciences, and Therapeutics. The Clinical Labs segment offers routine and esoteric clinical laboratory tests or procedures used in general patient care by physicians to establish or support a diagnosis, monitor treatment or medication, and search for an otherwise undiagnosed condition. This segment operates a full-service clinical laboratory, a network of approximately 30 patient service centers, a laboratory, and a full-service phlebotomy and in-house logistics department. The Life Sciences segment manufactures, develops, and markets products and tools to life sciences, drug development, and clinical research customers. It provides proteins, antibodies, peptides, small molec ules, labeling probes, dyes, and kits, which offer tools for target identification/validation, high content analysis, gene expression analysis, nucleic acid detection, protein biochemistry and detection, and cellular analysis to life science researchers. This segment provides its products to scientific experts primarily in the field of cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurological disorders, diabetes and obesity, endocrine disorders, infectious and autoimmune disease, hepatotoxicity, and renal injury. The Therapeutics segment researches and develops therapeutic drug candidates in the areas of gastrointestinal, infectious, ophthalmic, and metabolic diseases. The company sells its products through its direct sales force; and a network of distributors worldwide. Enzo Biochem, Inc. was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Enzo Biochem Inc. (NYSE:ENZ) is a pioneer in molecular diagnostics, leading the convergence of clinical laboratories, life sciences and therapeutics through the development of unique diagnostic platform technologies that provide numerous advantages over previous standards.

Best Companies To Invest In Right Now: Lojas Renner SA (LREN3)

Lojas Renner SA is a Brazil- based company primarily involved in the operation of department stores. The Company divides its business into two segments. The Retail segment is engaged in sale of women's, men's and children's apparels, underwear and shoes, as well as sportswear and other department stores' articles in the domestic market. The Company also sells household articles, bedding and bath items, furniture and decoration articles. The Financial products segment is involved in the intermediation of financial services, including brokerage of personal loans, sales financing, brokerage of insurance and bonds, and credit card processing, among others. The Company operates through a numerous subsidiaries, including Dromegon Participacoes Ltda, Renner Administradora de Cartoes de Credito Ltda, Renner Empreendimentos Ltda and Maxmix Comercial Ltda. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ney Hayashi]

  Anhanguera Educacional Participacoes SA (AEDU3) tumbled after Brazil�� antitrust regulator signaled it may limit the education company�� merger with competitor Kroton Educacional SA. (KROT3) Lojas Renner SA (LREN3) led retailers higher after a report showed Brazil�� industrial production expanded faster than expected in October, easing concern that growth is faltering.

10 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Buy Right Now: Affymetrix Inc.(AFFX)

Affymetrix, Inc. engages in the development, manufacture, sale, and servicing of consumables and systems for genetic analysis in the life sciences and clinical healthcare markets primarily in the United States, Europe, Japan. The company provides integrated GeneChip microarray platform, which includes disposable DNA probe arrays (chips) consisting of nucleic acid sequences, certain reagents for use with the probe arrays, a scanner and other instruments used to process the probe arrays, and software to analyze and manage genomic or genetic information obtained from the probe arrays. It also offers GeneTitan, an instrument system that runs genotyping and gene expression array plates; and GeneAtlas, an instrument for low-to-medium throughput that provides hybridization and array processing with microwell-based labware, as well as a line of multiplex assays to serve the discovery and the validation markets. In addition, the company provides reagent kits, including ExoSAP-IT fo r a reagent for the clean-up of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products used in downstream applications, such as DNA sequencing or single-nucleotide polymorphisms analysis; and HotStart-IT reagents that utilize a novel primer binding protein to inhibit primer dimer formation with results in sensitive and consistent amplification for PCR. Its products are used primarily in genotyping and gene expression applications. The company sells its products directly to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agrichemical, diagnostics, and consumer products companies; academic research centers, government research laboratories, private foundation laboratories, and clinical reference laboratories in North America and Europe, as well as through life science supply specialists acting as authorized distributors in Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific regions. Affymetrix, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Breaking news

  Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) reported a 5% gain in its April same-store sales. Costco's US same-store sales climbed 5%, while international sales rose 2% in April. Analysts were estimating a 3.2% gain in April same store sales. To read the full news, click here. Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH) reported an 18% drop in its first-quarter profit. Dish's quarterly earnings slipped to $175.9 million, or $0.38 per share, versus $215.6 million, or $0.47 per share, in the year-ago period. To read the full news, click here. Affymetrix (NASDAQ: AFFX) and Leica Biosystems announce the launch of Affymetrix' fully automated RNA in situ hybridization assays ViewRNATM eZ Assays on the Leica BOND RX staining platform. To read the full news, click here. Priceline Group (NASDAQ: PCLN) reported a 36% gain in its first-quarter earnings. Priceline's quarterly profit surged to $331.2 million, or $6.25 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $244.3 million, or $4.76 per share. To read the full news, click here.

  Posted-In: Morgan Stanley US Stock FuturesNews Eurozone Futures Global Pre-Market Outlook Markets

• [By James E. Brumley]

  Every year, more than 100,000 white papers on the topic of cancer and cancer treatments are published. Right now, there are over 500 new cancer drugs in development, and those therapies are part of more than 10,000 different clinical trials currently underway. That's all in addition to the already-approved cancer drugs, and the volumes of information we already know about oncology. What's it mean? It means the cancer-treating energy often suffers from information overload, which in turn means patients aren't getting the best care they could get. The solution is a tool built by a little company called CollabRx Inc. (NASDAQ:CLRX). The validation for that solution comes from much bigger companies Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE:DGX) and Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX).

• [By Rich Duprey]

  It's in the genes
  Elsewhere in the market, however,�Affymetrix (NASDAQ: AFFX  ) tumbled more than 13% after preannouncing first-quarter earnings that missed even its own expectations. It blamed "headwinds" in its gene expression business everywhere it does business, though it suffered a particular shortfall in Japan. The Fool's Sean Williams thinks that may indicate more than a one-off performance issue because of the global nature of the miss Affymetrix suffered.

10 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Buy Right Now: Bouygues SA (BOUYF.PK)

Bouygues SA is a France-based group that operates in two sectors: Telecommunications and Media, and Construction. The Construction division comprises three core subsidiaries: Bouygues Construction, specializing in building and public works activities, notably in the areas of electrical engineering, and facility maintenance; Bouygues Immobilier, a property development company, whose activities include the development of residential, corporate and commercial properties, and the execution of urban development schemes, and Colas, engaged in the construction and maintenance of transport, urban development and leisure infrastructure. The Telecommunications and Media division of the Group comprises two companies: TF1, specializing in audiovisual and cinema production, the acquisition and sale of audiovisual rights, and the publishing and distribution of compact discs, among others, and Bouygues Telecom, which offers mobile telephone and broadband Internet services. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Mike Arnold]

  I normally don't look at charts much, but comparing Orange to its competitors in the French telecommunications market is quite fascinating. As one can see, incumbents Bouygues (BOUYF.PK) and Vivendi (VIVHY.PK) (owner of SFR) saw similar price declines. The market, on the other hand, rapidly bid up the price of new entrant Iliad SA (ILIAF.PK), as a result of forecasts for Iliad to capture significant mobile market share (which it did, around 10%). The wide divergence in price relative to changes in underlying value favor going long the incumbents, including Orange. Because this time it's different.

10 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Buy Right Now: iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF (JKL)

iShares Morningstar Small Value Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Morningstar Small Value Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of stocks issued by small-capitalization companies that have exhibited value characteristics as determined by Morningstar, Inc.'s (Morningstar) index methodology. Index constituents are drawn from the pool of liquid, United States-domiciled stocks that trade publicly on the NYSE, the AMEX or NASDAQ.

The Morningstar index methodology defines small-capitalization stocks as those stocks that form the 7% of market capitalization between the 90th and 97th percentile of the market capitalization of the stocks eligible to be included in the Morningstar US Market Index (a market index that represents approximately 97% of the market capitalization of publicly traded United States stocks). The Fund uses a representative sampling strategy in seeking to track the Index.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Todd Shriber, ETF Professor]

  Unusual volume (at least 5X ADV): QuantShares US Market Neutral Anti-Beta ETF (NYSE: BTAL), iShares 10+ Year Credit Bond ETF (NYSE: CLY), iShares Morningstar Small Value ETF (NYSE: JKL) and the PowerShares Dynamic Energy ETF (NYSE: PXI).

10 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Buy Right Now: ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ACAD)

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on drug discovery and clinical development of novel treatments for central nervous system disorders. The company has a portfolio of four product candidates, including pimavanserin, which is in Phase III clinical development as a treatment for Parkinson's disease psychosis. It is also developing AGN-XX/YY, a product candidate in Phase II for chronic pain; and AC-262271, a product candidate in Phase I for glaucoma in collaboration with Allergan, as well as AM-831, a product candidate in IND-track development in collaboration with Meiji Seika Kaisha, Ltd. In addition, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. is developing two preclinical programs in the area of Parkinson?s disease. The product candidates in the company?s pipeline emanate from discoveries made using its proprietary drug discovery platform. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By George Budwell]

  Acadia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACAD  ) is picking up steam heading into the New Year by closing up over 8% last week. Acadia shares have been on a wild ride, shooting up 457% year to date. Nonetheless, gravity has begun to take its toll on Acadia this quarter, with shares heading lower by more than 6%. Last week's jump helped to stave off the recent slump, but it illustrates the current volatility in Acadia right now.

10 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Buy Right Now: PIMCO Income Strategy Fund II(PFN)

PIMCO Income Strategy Fund II is a closed-ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Allianz Global Investors Fund Management LLC. It is co-managed by Pacific Investment Management Company LLC. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It invests in securities of companies operating across the diversified sectors. The fund invests in floating-rate debt instruments primarily high-yield senior floating-rate loans. It employs fundamental analysis with top-down approach to create its portfolio. The fund conducts an in-house research to make its investments. It was formerly known as PIMCO Floating Rate Strategy Fund. PIMCO Income Strategy Fund II was formed on June 30, 2004 and is domiciled in the United States.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Gerard Lewis]

  Pimco Income Strategy II Fund (PFN) - 15% Allocation

  Pimco has a mind-boggling number of fixed-income offerings, all, at least by reputation, influenced by the philosophies of legendary "bond king" Bill Gross. PFN is the pick here, though, because it yields about 9.5% while selling at roughly 2% below NAV. And it's personally managed by Mr. Gross.

10 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Buy Right Now: Tractor Supply Company(TSCO)

Tractor Supply Company operates retail farm and ranch stores in the United States. Its stores offer a selection of merchandise, including equine, pet, and animal products, such as items required for their health, care, growth, and containment; hardware, truck, towing, and tool products; seasonal products, including lawn and garden items, power equipment, gifts, and toys; maintenance products for agricultural and rural use; and work/recreational clothing and footwear. The company operates its retail stores under the Tractor Supply Company and Del?s Farm Supply names, as well as a Website under the TractorSupply.com name. As of December 31, 2011, it operated 1,085 retail farm and ranch stores in 44 states. The company serves recreational farmers and ranchers, as well as tradesmen and small businesses. Tractor Supply Company was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Mike the PhD]

  Historically the stock prices of Deere (DE) and other agricultural equipment firms and retailers like Case-New Holland (CNH), Titan Machinery (TITN), AGCO (AGCO), Tractor Supply (TSCO), Valmont (VAL), and Lindsay (LNN) have tended to closely track the price of corn. When corn prices go up, farmers tend to make more money, and they spend that money on new equipment from Deere and other firms. This relationship is especially strong for Deere and Corn, but it holds true for all of the stocks above to some extent. (Correlation coefficients between all of the stock prices above and corn are statistically significant to at least the 5% level, see my blog here for more details.)

10 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Buy Right Now: Tumi Holdings Inc (TUMI)

Tumi Holdings, Inc. (Tumi), incorporated in September 2004, offers a range of travel and business products and accessories in various categories. The Company designs its products for, and markets its products to, professionals, travelers and individuals. As of December 31, 2011, the Company distributed its products worldwide in over 70 countries through approximately 1,600 points of distribution. The Company sells its products worldwide to consumers through both direct and indirect channels and manages its business through four operating segments: Direct-to-Consumer North America, Direct-to-Consumer International, Indirect-to-Consumer North America and Indirect-to-Consumer International.

Tumi utilizes an array of channels, including retail, wholesale and e-commerce. The Company�� retail stores are located in retail venues worldwide, including New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Paris, London, Rome, Tokyo, Munich, Moscow, Milan and Barcelona. The Company designs its products in its United States design studios. The Company sells its products directly to consumers through a worldwide network of approximately 100 company-owned locations, consisting of full-price stores located in retail malls or street venues, outlet stores in outlet malls and its e-commerce Websites. During the year ended December 31, 2011, Direct-to-Consumer sales consisted approximately 48% of its net sales.

The Company sells its products indirectly to consumers through various channels that include partner stores (wholesale accounts operated by local distributors or retailers that carry only Tumi products), its worldwide wholesale distribution network of specialty luggage retailers, department stores and business-to-business channels, retail concessions within department stores and third-party e-commerce sites, such as Amazon.com, Zappos.com. Indirect-to-Consumer sales consisted of approximately 52% of its net sales during 2011. Tumi offers travel and business products, as well as accessories. Travel produc! ts include wheeled and soft carry-on luggage, garment bags, totes, duffels, wheeled packing cases and travel kits. Business products include business cases, day bags and totes. Its accessories include agendas and planners, passport cases, umbrellas and travel accessories, such as electric current adapters, key fobs, packing accessories, toiletry kits and foldable travel totes. Its accessories also include belts, outerwear and sunglasses and eyewear.

Direct-to-Consumer North America

The Company sells its products directly to consumers through a network of 83 company-owned retail stores consisting of full-price stores and outlet stores located in retail malls or street venues. It also sells its product directly to consumers through its e-commerce Website.

Direct-to-Consumer International

As of December 31, 2011, the Company sold directly to consumers through a network of 14 company-owned full-price and outlet stores in street venues and select malls in international locations. It also sells its products directly to consumers through its two international e-commerce Websites.

Indirect-to-Consumer North America

As of December 31, 2011, the Company sold to wholesale customers in North America through approximately 700 doors, including specialty luggage retailers, department stores and business-to-business channels. Many of its wholesale customers also operate their own e-commerce Websites through which it sells. The Company�� products are also sold in partner stores operated by local distributors or retailers that carry only Tumi products.

Indirect-to-Consumer International

The Company sells its products to wholesale customers through approximately 800 doors, approximately 59% of which are in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, 39% of which are in the Asia-Pacific region, and 2% of which are in the Central and South America region. It has distribution channels in Australia, China, Europe, Hong Kon! g, the Mi! ddle East, South Africa, South Korea, Southeast Asia and Taiwan. Its products are also sold in partner stores operated by local distributors or retailers that carry only Tumi products. The Company also operates concessions in department stores throughout Europe and the Middle East. Many of its wholesale customers also operate their own e-commerce Websites through which they sell its products.

Tumi competes with Rimowa, Samsonite, Bally, Burberry, Dunhill, Ferragamo, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Montblanc, Porsche, Prada, Victorinox, Briggs and Riley, Mandarina Duck, Piquadro, Porter, Ace Brand, and Coach.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Michael Lewis]

  Luxury luggage brand Tumi (NYSE: TUMI  ) , a little more than one year since its IPO, has failed to achieve much in the way of capital appreciation. The company came out of the gates with a rich valuation, heavily influenced by the then-recent success of other high-line brands such as Michael Kors. Tumi is growing, and will continue to grow -- much of its performance (or lack thereof) in the market has been the typical story of overvaluation and overhype. In the just-released earnings, there is plenty of evidence of a fundamentally strong company with a long runway for growth, even if Wall Street analysts were expecting a little more. With a long-term mind-set, is Tumi a good stock?

• [By Luke Jacobi]

  Tumi Holdings (NYSE: TUMI) was also up, gaining 6.09 percent to $20.55 after the company signed a licensing agreement with David Peyser Sportswear.