Hot Services Stocks To Own Right Now

Recently, brand consultancy Interbrand came out with its report on the 50 most valuable U.S. retail brands of 2013. Read on to find out the top 10.

So how did Interbrand determine their value? In short, Interbrand looks at three key aspects. First is the financial performance of the branded products or services. Interbrand only considers companies with publicly available data that are creating economic value (meaning a positive EBITDA) and generating a minimum of 50% of their sales from their retail stores (this excludes Apple).

The other two aspects Interbrand considers are the role of the brand in the purchase decision process and the strength of the brand -- meaning, "the ability of the brand to create loyalty and, therefore, to keep generating demand and profit into the future."

Here are Interbrand's 10 most valuable U.S. retail brands of 2013:

Rank

Company

Brand Value
(in billions)

Top 10 Promising Stocks To Buy For 2015: Carbonite Inc (CARB)

Carbonite, Inc. (Carbonite), incorporated on February 10, 2005, focuses on the development and marketing of personal computer backup software that enables users to backup, access, and restore data files online. Carbonite is a provider of online backup solutions for consumers and small and medium sized businesses (SMBs). The Company provides secure online backup solutions with anytime, anywhere access to files stored on its servers, which it calls the Carbonite Personal Cloud. In November 2012, the Company acquired Zmanda, Inc.

The Company�� backup solutions works automatically uploading encrypted copies of its customers��files to the Carbonite servers. The Company's customers can browse and share their photos, videos, and documents anytime, anywhere using a Web browser or its free iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android apps. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had subscribers in more than 100 countries, with subscribers based in the United States representing 94% of its total revenue for 2012.

The Company competes with CrashPlan, Mozy, SOS Online Backup, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, DropBox, SugarSync, Box and others.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Carbonite (Nasdaq: CARB  ) is expected to report Q2 earnings around July 12. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

  The 10-second takeaway
  Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Carbonite's revenues will grow 27.5% and EPS will remain in the red.

Hot Services Stocks To Own Right Now: Alliance One International Inc (AOI)

Alliance One International, Inc., incorporated on October 19, 1994, is a leaf tobacco merchant. The Company is engaged in purchasing, processing, packing, storing and shipping tobacco to manufacturers of cigarettes and other consumer tobacco products globally. The Company deals primarily in flue-cured, burley, and oriental tobaccos that is used in international brand cigarettes. The Company�� revenues are primarily comprised of sales of processed tobacco and fees charged for processing and related services to these manufacturers of tobacco products. The Company does not manufacture cigarettes or other consumer tobacco products.

Tobacco is primarily purchased directly from suppliers with small quantities still sold at auction. In non-auction markets, the Company purchases tobacco directly from suppliers and the Company assumes the risk of matching the quantities and grades required by its customers to the entire crop it must purchase under contract. The Company purchases tobacco in more than 35 countries. During the year ended March 31, 2013 (fiscal 2013), approximately 30% of the Company�� purchases of tobacco were from the South America operating segment, approximately 5% were from the Value Added Services operating segment and approximately 65% from the Other Regions operating segment.

The Company processes tobacco to meet each customer's specifications as to quality, yield, chemistry, particle size, moisture content and other characteristics. Unprocessed tobacco is a semi-perishable commodity that generally must be processed within a relatively short period of time to prevent fermentation or deterioration in quality. The Company processes tobacco in more than 35 owned and third-party facilities around the world including Argentina, Brazil, China, Zimbabwe, Jordan, Guatemala, India, Tanzania, the United States, Malawi, Thailand, Germany, Indonesia, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey. These facilities encompass all export locations of flue-cured, burley and oriental tobaccos! . In addition, the Company has entered into contracts, joint ventures and other arrangements for the purchase of tobacco grown in substantially all other countries that produce export-quality flue-cured and burley tobacco. The Company also sells a small amount of processed but unthreshed flue-cured and burley tobacco in loose-leaf and bundle form to certain customers. In 2013, Alliance One delivered approximately 41% of its tobacco sales to customers in Europe and approximately 19% to customers in the United States. In 2013, these Belgium sales accounted for 20% of sales to customers in Europe. The Company ships tobacco to manufacturers of cigarettes and other consumer tobacco products located in approximately 90 countries around the world as designated by these manufacturers.

The Company competes with Japan Tobacco, Inc. (JTI), Philip Morris International, Inc. (PMI), and Imperial Tobacco Group PLC.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Emerson]

  Camtek was an automated optical inspection (AOI) company that designed and manufactured inspection systems for printed circuit boards (PCB). Further, they were in the process of designing systems to inspect semiconductors as well. The logic for investing in AOI companies was simple: Many circuit boards still employed visual inspection and circuits were getting smaller every year.

• [By Sally Jones] ng>Predictability: 1 out of 5 Stars

  Down 12% over 12 months, Alliance One International Inc. has a market cap of $251.53 million; its shares were traded at around $2.86, which is 2.4% above its 52-week low. The P/E ratio is 65.10, and the P/B ratio is 0.80.

  Alliance One is a tobacco leaf supplier serving the world's largest cigarette manufacturers. The company purchases, processes, packs, stores and ships tobacco to manufacturers of cigarettes and other consumer tobacco products throughout the world. Alliance One deals mainly in tobacco types used in international brand cigarettes. As a tobacco leaf merchant, Alliance One purchases tobacco grown in over 45 countries and serves cigarette manufacturers in over 90 countries.

  The company reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2013, with a net loss of $36.9 million, down further from a net loss in the same quarter last year of 30.7 million. The net loss translates to $(0.42) per basic share for the reporting quarter.

  Historical share pricing, revenue and net income:

  [ Enlarge Image ]

  Guru Action: As of June 30, 2013, Seth Klarman holds 7,669,969 shares, valued at $29.14 million, and weighting his portfolio at 0.72%. In the second quarter, he sold 461,625 shares at an average price of $3.74 for a loss of 23.5%.

  In six quarters of double-digit losses, Klarman has averaged a loss of 31% on 5,800,000 shares bought at an average price of $4.17 per share. He has averaged a loss of 38% on 1,798,473 shares sold at an average price of $4.59 per share.

  Seth Klarman is one of six gurus holding AOI as of June 30, 2013, and there is recent insider trading.

  Kinross Gold Corporation (KGC)

  Predictability: 1 out of 5 Stars

  Down 54% over 12 months, Kinross Gold Corporation has a market cap of $5.32 billion; its shares were traded at around $4.66, 2.8% above its 52-week low. The P/B ratio is 0.80. The dividend yield is 3.44%.

  Kinross Gold Corporati

Hot Services Stocks To Own Right Now: Fiserv Inc.(FISV)

Fiserv, Inc. and its subsidiaries provide various financial services technology solutions. Its solutions include electronic commerce systems and services, such as transaction processing, electronic bill payment and presentment, business process outsourcing, document distribution services, and software and systems solutions. The company operates in two segments, Payments and Industry Products, and Financial Institution Services. The Payments and Industry Products segment provides electronic bill payment and presentment services, and debit and other card-based payment products and services to meet the electronic transaction processing needs of the financial services industry. It also offers Internet banking, investment account processing services for separately managed accounts, card and print personalization services, and fraud and risk management products and services. The Financial Institution Services segment provides account processing services, item processing services , loan origination and servicing products, cash management and consulting services, and other products and services that support various types of financial transactions. The company serves banks, thrifts, credit unions, investment management firms, leasing and finance companies, retailers, merchants, and government agencies. It has operations in the United States, Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, France, India, Indonesia, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Poland, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. Fiserv, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  On Tuesday, the regional banker, which does business in 16 states throughout the American South, Midwest, and Texas, announced it's inked a deal with online banking software Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV  ) to revamp its online banking and bill-pay system to enhance the customer experience.

Hot Services Stocks To Own Right Now: BJ's Restaurants Inc.(BJRI)

BJ?s Restaurants, Inc. owns and operates casual dining restaurants in the Unites States. The company operates restaurants under the BJ?s Restaurant & Brewery, BJ?s Restaurant & Brewhouse, BJ?s Pizza & Grill, or BJ?s Grill names, which offer deep-dish pizzas, handcrafted beers, appetizers, entrees, pastas, sandwiches, specialty salads, desserts, non-alcoholic beverages, wine, other craft beers, and spirits. As of February 27, 2012, it owned and operated 116 restaurants comprising 10 BJ?s Restaurant & Brewery restaurants, 98 BJ?s Restaurant & Brewhouse restaurants, 7 BJ?s Pizza & Grill restaurants, and 1 BJ?s Grill. The company operates restaurants in California, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Nevada, Florida, Ohio, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Indiana, Louisiana, and Washington. BJ?s Restaurants, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is based in Huntington Beach, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Steve Symington]

  It's fine to boast a restaurant concept with mouthwatering growth prospects, but BJ's Restaurants, (NASDAQ: BJRI  ) has found putting all the pieces together to deliver that growth is a tall order.

Hot Services Stocks To Own Right Now: Auxilio Inc (AUXO)

Auxilio, Inc. (Auxilio), incorporated on August 29, 1995, is engaged in the business of providing fully outsourced print management services to the healthcare industry. The Company is engaged in the business of providing fully-outsourced managed print services to the healthcare industry, working exclusively with hospitals throughout the United States. It provides solutions, a program and savings. It helps hospitals and health systems reduce expenses and create manageable, dependable document image management programs by managing their back-office processes. The process is initiated through a detailed assessment. The assessment is a strategic, operational and financial analysis that is performed at the customer�� premises using a combination of processes and technology for data collection and report generation. The Company�� customers include hospitals and integrated health delivery networks (IDN). Its subsidiaries include Auxilio Solutions, Inc. and e-Perception Technologies, Inc.

The Company helps hospitals and health systems to create image management programs by managing their back-office processes. The process is initiated through a detailed Image Management Assessment (IMA). The IMA is a strategic, operational and financial analysis that is performed at the customer�� premises using a combination of processes and Web-based technology for data collection and report generation. After the assessment and upon engagement, it charged the customer on a per print basis.

The Company competes with Xerox, Canon, Konica Minolta, Ricoh and Sharp.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Today, AUXO surged (+3.26%) up +0.030 at $.950 with�200 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 9:30AM EDT August 23, 2013).

  AUXILIO, Inc. previously reported financial results for its quarter ended June 30, 2013.

  For the three months ended June 30, 2013, AUXILIO reported that recurring service revenues increased by $1.4 million from new contracts closed between May 2012 and April 2013; however revenues were $9.8 million, a decrease of 8% when compared to revenues of $10.7 million in the same period of 2012, due to a drop in equipment revenue. Equipment sales were $800,000 as compared to $3.1 million for the same period in 2012. Cost of revenues were $8.2 million for the three months ended June 30, 2013, as compared to $9.3 million for the same period in 2012. This drop was due to the drop in equipment sales offset by additional staffing and service costs from the higher recurring service revenue. Gross profit for the second quarter of 2013 was $1.6 million, or 17% of sales, compared to $1.4 million, or 13% of sales, for the same period of 2012. This improvement is a direct result of the large growth in new facilities that we added in 2012 coupled with the reduction in costs as AUXILIO�� program matures within these new accounts.

Hot Services Stocks To Own Right Now: MedCAREERS Group Inc (MCGI)

MedCareers Group, Inc., incorporated on December 30, 2004, focus is to develop and build value through its wholly owned subsidiary Nurses Lounge (www.nurseslounge.com), an online professional network and communication source for nurses and organizations connected to the nursing community. On August 10, 2010, MedCareers acquired the workabroad.com Website from Steve Elisberg (Workabroad.com Website).

The Nurses Lounge is a professional network for nursing professionals providing relevant content and information and professional networking. Nurses can subscribe to Lounges created by nursing schools, nurse associations, employers, specialties and more to receive email updates of relevant news, events and other info. Professional networking is a place for nurses to connect with colleagues and network on a professional level.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Last Friday, small cap stocks MedCAREERS Group Inc (OTCMKTS: MCGI), USmart Mobile Device Inc (OTCMKTS: UMDI) and Drinks Americas Holdings, Ltd (OTCMKTS: DKAM) were all over the place with the first two sinking 54% and 48.05%, respectively, while the last one rose 10.81%. It should be mentioned that all three small cap stocks have been the subject of paid promotions albeit none of these stocks have been over promoted. So where can investors and traders expect these stocks to head this week? Here is a quick look at what you might expect:

  MedCAREERS Group Inc (OTCMKTS: MCGI) Gets Additional Commitments to Join Its Subsidiary

  Small cap MedCAREERS Group aims to develop and build value through its wholly-owned subsidiary Nurses Lounge, Inc., an online professional network and communication source for nurses that offers a 21st century solution to recruitment and information that cannot be accomplished on a static nursing school or association website. On Friday, MedCAREERS Group sank 54% to $0.0575 for a market cap of $3.03 million plus MCGI is up 161.4% since the start of the year and down 93.9% over the past five years according to Google Finance.

• [By Peter Graham]

  While small cap green or renewable energy type of stocks have been the flavor of the month for many stock promoters (and sometimes still are), small cap health care stocks like PPJ Enterprise (OTCMKTS: PPJE), Plantation Development Corp (OTCMKTS: BRMA) and MedCAREERS Group Inc (OTCMKTS: MCGI) have also started to get some notice lately ��perhaps because Obamacare has been topping the news lately. However, are these small cap health care stocks a better bet for investors or for their promoters? Here is a quick reality check and a checkup: