Hot Consumer Service Companies To Own In Right Now

Experienced investors know that often, you have to try to reconcile apparently contradictory information in order to draw valid conclusions on which to base your investment decisions. Today's consumer-oriented economic data presents a good example of this phenomenon: The University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index rose to its highest level in nearly six years, but personal income and spending figures both declined slightly, defying expectations. One key to resolving the dissonance is in the continued lack of inflation we've seen lately, which has made it less important for consumers to get substantial pay raises in order to keep up their consumption levels. Investors didn't react strongly, and the Dow Jones Industrials (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) is within a point of breakeven as of 10:50 a.m. EDT.

Within the Dow, Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG  ) has fallen 1.6% as a natural victim of declining consumer spending. The company is apparently looking to restructure its internal business divisions into four new groups, expanding beyond its current beauty and grooming unit and household-care businesses. Subdividing those broad categories could create more internal competition to drive innovation, but investors seemed unconvinced that the move would lead to a quick turnaround in the company's flagging growth in recent years.

Top 10 Long Term Companies To Buy Right Now: Rollins Inc. (ROL)

Rollins, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides pest and termite control services to residential and commercial customers in North America. It offers pest control services, and protection against termite damage, rodents, and insects to homes and businesses, including hotels, food service establishments, food manufacturers, retailers, and transportation companies. The company also provides pest management and sanitation services and products to the food and commodity industries. It operates under the brand names of Orkin and PCO Services brand names, as well as under the Acurid service mark. The company also offers its services in Central America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Asia, the Mediterranean, and Europe. As of December 31, 2010, it had 56 domestic franchises and 16 international franchises. The company, formerly known as Rollins Broadcasting, Inc., was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Pest and termite control company Rollins (ROL) raised its quarterly dividend 16.6% to 10.5 cents per share, payable on Mar. 10 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 10.
  ROL Dividend Yield: 1.44%

• [By Alex Planes]

  A new kind of buyout
  The first leveraged buyout in American history �took place on June 19, 1964, when Rollins Broadcasting (NYSE: ROL  ) made a $62.4 million bid to acquire nationwide exterminator Orkin. The deal, later called "Jonah swallowing the whale" by BusinessWeek, saw a company with $7.9 million in annual revenue and $600,000 in annual net income put up virtually none of its own money to acquire a company with $37.3 million in annual revenue and $3 million in annual net income. Rollins/Orkin (the pairing has worked out for nearly five decades) quotes the particulars of the deal on its website:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Pest control service provider�Rollins (NYSE: ROL  ) announced yesterday its third-quarter dividend of $0.09 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past two quarters after raising the payout 12.5% from $0.08 per share.

Hot Consumer Service Companies To Own In Right Now: Lance Inc.(LNCE)

Snyder?s-Lance, Inc. manufactures, markets, and distributes snack food products primarily in the United States. Its products include pretzels, sandwich crackers, kettle chips, cookies, potato chips, tortilla chips, other salty snacks, sugar wafers, nuts, and restaurant style crackers. The company sells its products principally under the Snyder?s of Hanover, Lance, Cape Cod, Krunchers!, Jays, Tom?s, Archway, Grande, Stella D?oro, O-Ke-Doke, EatSmart, and Padrinos brand names. It also purchases and sells cakes, meat snacks, and candy under its brands, as well as partner brand products for resale. Snyder?s-Lance, Inc. sells its products through direct-store-delivery network, distributors, and direct sales to grocery/mass merchandisers, convenience stores, club stores, discount stores, food service establishments, drug stores, schools, military and government facilities, recreational facilities, offices, and other independent retailers. The company was formerly known as L ance, Inc. and changed its name to Snyder?s-Lance, Inc. in December 2010. Snyder?s-Lance, Inc. was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina with additional offices in Hanover, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Planes]

  At a quarter the size of Snyder's-Lance (NASDAQ: LNCE  ) , Diamond could actually be a buyout candidate in its own right, assuming its larger competitors can come to trust its accounting. It would be an easy acquisition for either Kellogg or General Mills� (NYSE: GIS  ) , neither of which has any notable nut or popcorn brands to speak of.

Hot Consumer Service Companies To Own In Right Now: Wacker Chemie AG (WCH)

Wacker Chemie AG is a Germany-based company engaged in chemical industry. The Company operates through four business segments: WACKER SILICONES, which produces silicone products, ranging from silanes through silicone fluids, emulsions, elastomers, sealants and resins to pyrogenic silicas; WACKER POLYMERS, which offers a range of polymeric binders and additives; WACKER POLYSILICON, which provides polysilicon, and WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS, which is the life science division of the Company, offers solutions and products for the food, pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. The Company offers its products for a range of sectors, including consumer goods, food, pharmaceuticals, textiles and the solar, electrical/electronics, basic-chemical industries, medical technology, biotech and mechanical engineering, automotive and construction. The Company also supplies silicon wafers to the semiconductor industry. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonathan Morgan]

  Wacker Chemie AG (WCH), the fourth-largest producer of polysilicon, jumped 9 percent to 56.22 euros, its largest increase since December.

  Banks Decline

  Commerzbank slumped 3.7 percent to 8.18 euros, for the biggest loss on the benchmark index.

Hot Consumer Service Companies To Own In Right Now: Goldsearch Ltd (GSE)

Goldsearch Limited (Goldsearch) is an Australia-based minerals company. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012 (fiscal 2012), the Company was engaged in the exploration of gold and other minerals and investment activities. It operates in five segments: Mineral Exploration Sweden, Minerals Exploration Australia-Victoria, Minerals Exploration Australia-Other, Investments and Administration. Its other projects include the Mary Kathleen joint venture in Queensland and the Musgrave joint venture in South Australia. It held 16,000 square kilometres of tenements within the Musgrave Ranges of northwestern South Australia that were in joint venture between Goldsearch and Independence Group. During fiscal 2012, the Company held investments in Morning Star Gold NL (MCO) and Musgrave Minerals Ltd (MGV). On June 30, 2012, the Company had sold off its total investment in Independence Group NL (IGO). Its subsidiaries include: Caytale Pty Limited, Chiljill Pty Limited and Miltonpak Pty Limited. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Another environmental services player that looks ready to trigger a near-term breakout trade is GSE Holdings (GSE), which provides geosynthetic containment solutions for environmental protection and confinement applications. This stock has been hammered by the bears so far in 2013, with shares down big by 55%.

  If you take a look at the chart for GSE Holdings, you'll notice that this stock recently ripped sharply higher back above its 50-day moving average of $2.32 a share with heavy upside volume. Following that move, shares of GSE have started to trend sideways between $2.60 on the downside and $2.95 on the upside. Shares of GSE are now starting to move within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade above the upper-end of its recent range.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in GSE if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $2.79 to $2.95 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 221,545 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then GSE will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $3.50 to $4 a share.

  Traders can look to buy GSE off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below support at $2.60 or below its 50-day moving average at $2.32 a share. One could also buy GSE off strength once it takes out those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

Hot Consumer Service Companies To Own In Right Now: Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX)

Market Vectors Steel ETF (the Fund) seeks to replicate as closely as possible the price and yield performance of the NYSE Arca Steel Index (STEEL or the Index) by investing in a portfolio of securities that generally replicates STEEL. STEEL, calculated by the NYSE Alternext, is a modified market capitalization-weighted index consisting of publicly traded companies predominantly involved in the production of steel products or mining and processing of iron ore. The Index includes companies primarily involved in a variety of activities related to steel production, including the operation of manufacturing mills and fabrication of steel products. Companies eligible for inclusion in Index should be engaged in solar power and related products and services, deriving at least 66% of revenues from it with market cap exceeding $100 million, and should have three-month trading volume equal to or greater than $1 million per day. Its investment advisor is Van Eck Associates Corporation. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  On Monday, Goldman Sachs upgraded the whole steel sector from Cautious to Neutral and specifically upgraded small cap and mid cap steel stocks AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE: AKS), United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) and Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) to Buy with price targets of $6, $30 and $22, respectively, but should you go for one of these individual steel stocks or for the Market Vectors Steel ETF (NYSEARCA: SLX)? To begin with, Goldman Sachs says that the�supply-demand fundamentals for steel are starting to look more appealing as some supply has been taken out plus they have a very bearish view on input costs (as in iron ore)���which bodes well for steel producers in the long run. Moreover, recently filed trade cases could provide some tailwind���if they are successful.�Of course a rising tide can lift all ships, but Goldman Sachs suggests that you go for the following�small cap or mid cap steel stocks:�

Hot Consumer Service Companies To Own In Right Now: Super Micro Computer Inc.(SMCI)

Super Micro Computer, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops and provides high performance server solutions based on modular and open-standard architecture. The company offers a range of rackmount, workstation, storage, graphic processing unit, and blade server systems, as well as subsystems and accessories used by distributors, original equipment manufacturers, and end customers to assemble server systems. It provides server options with single, dual, and quad CPU capability supporting Intel Pentium and Xeon multi-core architectures; and server systems based on AMD dual and quad Opteron. The company also offers server subsystems and accessories, including server boards, and chassis and power supplies. In addition, it sells other system accessories, such as microprocessors, memory, and disc drives. The company sells its server systems, and server subsystems and accessories through distributors, including value added resellers, system integrators, and original equip ment manufacturers, as well as through its direct sales force primarily in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Super Micro Computer, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Super Micro Computer Inc.'s(SMCI) fiscal second-quarter profit more than doubled as the servers maker reported a double-digit jump in sales and higher gross margins. The latest results topped Super Micro’s expectations and the company issued a rosy outlook for the fiscal third quarter. Shares surged 12% to�$20.79 premarket.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Super Micro Computer (Nasdaq: SMCI  ) reported earnings on April 23. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended March 31 (Q3), Super Micro Computer missed estimates on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

• [By John Kell var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach(func]

  Shares of Super Micro Computer Inc.(SMCI) jumped 17% to $22.09 premarket after the servers maker reported better-than-expected profit and sales growth for the fiscal third-quarter. Super Micro also issued a rosy outlook for the fiscal fourth quarter.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI) shares were also up, gaining 11.50 percent to $21.13 after the company reported upbeat FQ3 results and issued a strong Q4 forecast.