Hot Services Stocks To Invest In 2015

At several points in time, it looked as if the fracas between Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) and monoline insurer MBIA (NYSE: MBI  ) would never be settled, as first MBIA sued B of A, then the bank sued MBIA. At long last, the two have settled on the issue of $3 billion of disintegrating loans on which MBIA was forced to pay, and the deal comes not a moment too soon to save the bacon of each company -- each for different reasons.

MBIA nearly fell into the abyss
Crippled by huge payouts and no cushion to fall back upon, MBIA has been limping along, hoping against hope that settlement monies from the likes of Bank of America would appear in time to save the company from seizure by the New York Department of Financial Services. Though other banks, such as Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS  ) , have settled their respective suits regarding decomposing loans with the mortgage insurer, B of A steadfastly refused to ante up.

Best US Companies To Watch In Right Now: 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 WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  Getty Images From a door-to-door selling icon stocking up on blush after a disappointing quarter to several hotel chains checking in with strong occupancy trends, here's a rundown of the week's smartest moves and biggest blunders in the business world. Hotels -- Winners Hoteliers were apparently hopping during the first quarter. Despite the iffy weather and the equally iffy economy, the leading chains reporting this week posted surprisingly robust activity. Revenue per available room is a key metric because it tracks occupancy levels as well as prevailing overnight rates. The industry's doing well when RevPAR is positive, and that's just what we saw with this week's reports. Choice Hotels (CHH), Marriott (MAR), and Hyatt (H) clocked in with RevPAR increases of 5.6 percent, 6.3 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively. Twitter (TWTR) -- Loser Shares of Twitter hit an all-time low this week after the company posted disappointing user growth. Sure, the "all-time low" remark needs to be accompanied by the caveat that Twitter has only been trading publicly for less than six months. It's still a grim milestone for last year's most anticipated debutante. Twitter's revenue growth was fine, propelled by the recent success of its monetization initiatives. Its outlook was upbeat. However, the one thing that haunted investors this week was that Twitter had just 14 million more unique monthly visitors than it had a quarter earlier. That kind of sequential uptick would've impressed at most companies, but Twitter trades at a juicy premium to the market. #Letdown. J.C. Penney (JCP) -- Winner The struggling department store operator isn't out of the woods just yet, but at least one supplier is offering up encouraging insight. PVH (PVH) was presenting at an investor conference in Miami earlier in the week when its CEO offered up an encouraging perspective. "The Penney's business is running on or ahead of plan and given what their sales trends are," said CEO Manny Chirico,

• [By DAILYFINANCE]

  Frank Franklin II/AP NEW YORK -- Macy's reported a disappointing profit for its second quarter and cut its outlook for the year Wednesday, with the department store operator citing shoppers' reluctance to spend for a slip in sales. Its shares fell 3.4 percent to $46.85 in premarket trading. During the past year, its stock is up almost 27 percent. Macy's (M), which operates its namesake stores and Bloomingdales, is grappling with a yo-yo economic recovery that's making people more careful about their purchases heading into the heart of the key back-to-school selling period. Like other retailers, the Cincinnati-based company is grappling with a yo-yo economic recovery that's making people more careful about their purchases heading into the heart of the key back-to-school selling period. "To see Macy's miss by a wide margin is troublesome, speaking volumes about the health, or lack thereof, of middle America," wrote Brian Sozzi, chief equities strategist for Belus Capital Advisors. For the period ended Aug. 3, Macy's says it earned $281 million, or 72 cents a share. That's short of the 78 cents a share analysts expected. A year ago, the company earned $279 million, or 67 cents a share. Revenue slipped to $6.07 billion, also short of the $6.26 billion analysts expected, according to FactSet. Revenue at stores open a year, a key metric because it strips out the impact of newly opened and closed locations, slid 0.8 percent. Macy's now expects sales at stores open at least a year to climb between 2 percent and 2.9 percent, down from its previous guidance of a 3.5 percent increase. While jobs are easier to get and the turnaround in the housing market is showing promise, the improvements haven't been enough to get most Americans to spend more. Most are juggling tepid wage gains with higher costs of living. On Wednesday, Macy's nevertheless said it was encouraged by its early read on the back-to-school season heading into the third quarter. But other retailer

• [By Douglas A. McIntyre]

  Beyond its China operations, Fast Retailing will have to take the huge risk of M&A activity to get it deeper into America. It will be difficult to find a company that is “affordable.” That is, unless Fast Retailing is willing to face the long odds of buying a deeply troubled retailer like Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) or J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP). Each is available for a small ratio of market value to revenue. But, each is considered beyond repaid.

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  J.C. Penney aims to provide the latest apparel and household products to consumers and companies across most of the United States and Puerto Rico. The company�reported sales at stores open at least a year climbed by 10.1 percent in the month of November, marking a strong start to the holiday season for the beleaguered retailer. The stock has struggled in recent years, but is now surging higher. Over the last four quarters, earnings are improving and revenues have been declining, which has left investors happy about recent earnings announcements. Relative to its peers and sector, J.C. Penney has been a weak year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what J.C. Penney does this quarter.

Hot Services Stocks To Invest In 2015: Carriage Services Inc (CSV)

Carriage Services, Inc. (Carriage), incorporated in December 1993, is a provider of death care services and merchandise in the United States. The Company operates in two business segments: funeral home operations and cemetery operations. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated 159 funeral homes in 25 states and 33 cemeteries in 12 states. The Company provides funeral and cemetery services and products on both an at-need (time of death) and preneed (planned prior to death) basis. During the year ended December 31, 2011, Carriage completed two of the six acquisitions of funeral home businesses, one in Kentucky and the other in New York. In September 2011, the Company acquired Franklin & Downs Funeral Homes. In October 2011, the Company acquired Carman Funeral Home and Roberson Funeral Home, both in Northeast Kentucky. In February 2012, the Company acquired James J. Terry Funeral Home, Inc. On February 21, 2012, the Company acquired a funeral home business in Pennsylvania. In June 2012, the Company acquired Lawton Ritter Gray Funeral Home, Gray Funeral Home and Sunset Memorial Gardens in Lawton and Grandfield, Oklahoma. In December 2012, the Company acquired Cumby Family Funeral Service. In November 2013, Carriage Services Inc acquired Heritage Funeral Homes & Cremation Service.

Funeral Home Operations

The funeral homes offer a range of services (traditional burial and cremation) to meet a family�� death care needs, including consultation, the removal and preparation of remains, the sale of caskets and related funeral merchandise, the use of funeral home facilities for visitation and services, and transportation services. It provides burial and cremation services and sells related merchandise, such as caskets and urns. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated 159 funeral homes in 25 states.

Cemetery Operations

The Company�� cemetery products and services include interment services, the rights to interment in cemetery sites (including gr! ave sites, mausoleum crypts and niches) and related cemetery merchandise, such as memorials and vaults. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated 33 cemeteries in 12 states.

The Company competes with SCI, Stewart and StoneMor Partners L.P.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  The first thing to realize about StoneMor is that arcane and flexible accounting rules make it important to dig beneath its GAAP earnings. Growth throughout the industry has been substantial, as up-and-coming Carriage Services (NYSE: CSV  ) continued to stay on pace for double-digit sales growth as it rapidly expands its reach. Even well-established player Matthews International (NASDAQ: MATW  ) managed to grow revenue by nearly 14% in the quarter that ended in March, although its earnings fell slightly from the year-ago quarter. Still, StoneMor's sales haven't been able to rise as quickly as its peers, with its previous report including just a 6% gain in revenue.

Hot Services Stocks To Invest In 2015: Etablissementen Fr Colruyt NV (COLR)

Etablissementen Fr Colruyt NV, also known as Colruyt Group, is a Belgian company primarily engaged in retail and wholesale of food products. The Company's retail trade division includes the direct supply of products to retail customers operating through brands Colruyt, DreamBaby, BIO-planet, DreamLand and ColliShop, among others. The Company supplies to wholesalers and affiliated independent merchants in Belgium, France and Luxembourg. It also provides printing solutions (photo Fuji Colruyt). Colruyt Group also has a corporate activities division, which combines support services, processes and systems and central administration, among others. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Corinne Gretler]

  Colruyt (COLR) gained 8.3 percent to 40.08 euros, the largest jump since June 27, 2012. Belgium�� biggest discount food retailer said full-year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization amounted to 699.8 million euros ($910 million), beating the average 684 million-euro analyst projection in a Bloomberg survey. The company also raised its dividend to 1 euro a share, exceeding the Bloomberg Dividend Forecast of 98 cents.

Hot Services Stocks To Invest In 2015: UnitedHealth Group Incorporated(UNH)

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated provides healthcare services in the United States. Its Health Benefits segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services to national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; and non-employer based insurance options for purchase by individuals. It also provides health and well-being services for individuals aged 50 and older; and for services dealing with chronic disease and other specialized issues for older individuals, as well as health plans for the beneficiaries of acute and long-term care Medicaid plans. This segment offers its services through a network of 730,000 physicians and other health care professionals, and 5,300 hospitals. Its OptumHealth segment provides health, financial, and ancillary services and products that assist consumers through personalized health management solutions; benefit administration, and clinical and network management; health-based financi al services; behavioral solutions; and specialty benefits, such as dental, vision, life, critical illness, short-term disability, and stop-loss product offerings. The company?s Ingenix segment offers database and data management services, software products, publications, consulting and actuarial services, business process outsourcing services, and pharmaceutical data consulting and research services. Its Prescription Solutions segment provides integrated pharmacy benefit management services comprising retail network pharmacy contracting and management, claims processing, mail order pharmacy services, specialty pharmacy, benefit design consultation, rebate contracting and management, drug utilization review, formulary management programs, disease therapy management, and adherence programs to employer groups, union trusts, managed care organizations, Medicare-contracted plans, Medicaid plans, and third party administrators. The company was founded in 1974 and is based in Minne tonka, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s(UNH) fourth-quarter income improved 15%, as the health insurer’s enrollments grew and its Optum segment’s revenue soared. Shares slipped 2.5% to $72.98 premarket.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Today�� big mover among the Dow 30 stocks was UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH). Shares were trading up 3.13% at $73.46 in a 52-week range of $52.51 to $77.33 shortly before the closing bell. Healthcare stocks, especially insurers, as a group performed well today UnitedHealth�� volume was about 20% above the daily average of around 49 million shares traded.

Hot Services Stocks To Invest In 2015: MoneyGram International Inc (MGI)

MoneyGram International, Inc. (MoneyGram) incorporated on December 18, 2003, is a global payment services company. The Company�� products include global money transfers, bill payment solutions and financial paper products. MoneyGram conducts its business through its wholly owned subsidiary MoneyGram Payment Systems, Inc. (MPSI). The Company operates in two segments: Global Funds Transfer and Financial Paper Products. The Company�� global money transfer and bill payment services are its primary revenue drivers. The Company offers its money transfer services on the Internet via its MoneyGram Online service in the United States, United Kingdom and through agent Websites in Italy, Saudi Arabia and Japan. It also offers money transfer services via mobile phone, kiosks, ATM, receive cards and direct-to-bank account products in various markets worldwide. Effective July 8, 2013, MoneyGram International Inc acquired Latino Services, an Atlanta-based provider of money transfer services.

Global Funds Transfer

The Company�� Global Funds Transfer segment provides money transfer and bill payment services to consumers, who are often unbanked or underbanked. Unbanked consumers are those consumers who do not have a traditional relationship with a financial institution. Other consumers who use its services are convenience users and emergency users who may have a checking account with a financial institution, but prefer to use the Company�� services on the basis of convenience or to make emergency payments. MoneyGram offers services to consumers through third-party agents, including retail chains, independent retailers and financial institutions.

The Company provides Global Funds Transfer products and services utilizing a range of point-of-sale platforms. Its platforms include AgentConnect, which is integrated into an agent�� point-of-sale system, and DeltaWorks and Delta T3, which are separate software and stand-alone device platforms. Through its FormFree service, cust! omers may contact its call center and a representative will collect transaction information over the telephone, entering it directly into its central data processing system.

The Company offers money transfers to consumers in a choice of local currency, United States dollars or euros, in certain countries. MoneyGram�� bill payment services allow consumers to make urgent bill payments, pay routine bills, or load and reload prepaid debit cards. These industries include the credit card, mortgage, auto finance, telecommunications, corrections, satellite, property management, prepaid card and collections industries.

Financial Paper Products

The Company�� Financial Paper Products segment provides money orders to consumers through its retail and financial institution agent locations in the United States and Puerto Rico, and provides official check services for financial institutions in the United States. It sells money orders under the MoneyGram brand and on a private label or co-branded basis with certain of its retail and financial institution agents in the United States. During the year ended December 31, 2012, MoneyGram issued money orders through its network of 54,000 agent and financial institution locations in the United States and Puerto Rico. The Company generates revenue from its official check outsourcing services by charging per item and other fees, as well as from the investment of funds underlying outstanding official checks. As of December 31, 2012, the Company also provided official check outsourcing services at approximately 7,300 branch locations of more than 1,200 financial institutions.

The Company competes with The Western Union Company.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Teresa Rivas]

  As The Wall Street Journal reports, Wal-Mart�� prices do appear to undercut rivals. The market certainly seems to be nervous, sending Western Union (WU) 5% lower on Thursday, while MoneyGram International (MGI) suffered a 17.7% drop.

Hot Services Stocks To Invest In 2015: Alternative Energy Partners Inc (AEGY)

Alternative Energy Partners, Inc. (AEGY), incorporated on April 28, 2008, is engaged in providing support services for medical marijuana. In May, 2013, the Company acquired the PharmaJanes. In May, 2013, it also acquired Simple Prepay merchant payment solution from iEquity Corp.

The Simple Prepay system was developed to offer dispensaries, collectives, and delivery services for medical cannabis. Combined with the PharmaJanes on-line and smart phone ordering platform, medical marijuana patients will be able to order, process and pay for their authorized needs.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  On Monday, small cap marijuana stocks Alternative Energy Partners Inc (OTCBB: AEGY) and Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions (OTCMKTS: REFG) surged 117.86% and 17.95%, respectively, while tech stock Portlogic Systems Inc (OTCMKTS: PGSY) sank 20%. However, it appears that only one of these small cap stocks has been the subject of disclosed paid promotions or investor relation activities. So what will these three small caps do today and the rest of the week? Here is a quick look to help you decide on a trading or investing strategy: