Top Consumer Service Companies To Own For 2015

With shares of American International Group�(NYSE:AIG) trading around $44, is AIG an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let�� analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

AIG is�an international insurance company, serving customers in more than 130 countries. AIG companies serve commercial, institutional, and individual customers through property-casualty networks of any insurer. In addition, AIG companies are providers of life insurance and retirement services. AIG�� segments include Chartis, SunAmerica Financial Group, Aircraft Leasing, and Other Operations. The company suffered greatly during the 2008 Financial Crisis but is now on the road to recovery. Insurance companies will continue to rise to demand as new and exisiting risks continue to be of concern for businesses and consumers worldwide.

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T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Strong

Top Consumer Service Companies To Own For 2015: Ulta Salon Cosmetics and Fragrance Inc (ULTA)

Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. (Ulta), incorporated on January 9, 1990, is a beauty retailer, which provides one-stop shopping for prestige, mass and salon products and salon services in the United States. During the year ended January 28, 2012 (fiscal 2011), the Company opened 61 new stores. It operates full-service salons in all of its stores. Its Ulta store format includes an open and modern salon area with approximately eight to 10 stations. The entire salon area is approximately 950 square feet with a concierge desk, skin treatment room, semi-private shampoo and hair color processing areas. Each salon is a full-service salon offering hair cuts, hair coloring and permanent texture, with salons also providing facials and waxing.

The Company offers products in the categories, such as cosmetics, which includes products for the face, eyes, cheeks, lips and nails; haircare, which includes shampoos, conditioners, styling products, and hair accessories; salon styling tools, which includes hair dryers, curling irons and flat irons; skincare and bath and body, which includes products for the face, hands and body; fragrance for both men and women; private label, consisting of Ulta branded cosmetics, skincare, bath and body products and haircare, and other, including candles, home fragrance products and other miscellaneous health and beauty products. The Company has combined its three operating segments: retail stores, salon services and e-commerce, into one reportable segment.

The Company competes with Macy��, Nordstrom, Sephora, Bath & Body Works, CVS/pharmacy, Walgreens, Target, Wal-Mart, Regis Corp., Sally Beauty and JCPenney salons.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Amal Singh]

  Some companies in the beauty and personal care segment have one important characteristic -- a recession-proof nature, which is a result of everyone's desire to look beautiful and young. This brings us to Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance (NASDAQ: ULTA  ) and Sally Beauty Holdings (NYSE: SBH  ) . Both have performed quite well over the last few years, as shown in the chart below, even during the recession (the gray area being the recession period). Their performance stands in stark contrast to that of�Regis (NYSE: RGS  ) , which has seen its top line drop continuously after peaking in 2008.

Top Consumer Service Companies To Own For 2015: United Natural Foods Inc.(UNFI)

United Natural Foods, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, distributes natural, organic, and specialty foods, as well as non-food products in the United States. It carries approximately 60,000 products, consisting of national brand, regional brand, private label, and master distribution products in 6 product categories: grocery and general merchandise, produce, perishables and frozen foods, nutritional supplements, bulk and food service products, and personal care items. The company serves approximately 17,000 customer locations primarily located across the United States, which include independently owned natural products retailers, supernatural chains, conventional supermarkets, and food service centers. Its other distribution channels include international mass market chains and buying clubs. The company also owns and operates natural products retail stores. As of August 1, 2009, it had 13 natural products retail stores located primarily in Florida. In addition, the com pany engages in the international importing, roasting, packaging, and distribution of nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and snack items. It sells these items in bulk in its own packaged snack lines, EXPRESSnacks, Woodfield Farms, and Woodstock Farms, as well as through private label packaging arrangements. The company was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Notable earnings releases expected on Monday include:

  United Natural Foods(NASDAQ: UNFI) is expected to report second quarter EPS of $0.56 on revenue of $1.64 billion, compared to last year�� EPS of $0.46 on revenue of $1.45 billion. Urban Outfitters(NASDAQ: URBN) is expected to report fourth quarter EPS of $0.55 on revenue of $928.43 million, compared to last year�� EPS of $0.56 on revenue of $856.83 million. Hill International(NYSE: HIL) is expected to report fourth quarter EPS of $0.01 on revenue of $134.74 million, compared to last year�� loss of $0.04 per share on revenue of $110.77 million.

  Economics

• [By Jacob Roche]

  But beyond Whole Foods, there's United Natural Foods (NASDAQ: UNFI  ) , the industry's chief distributor of organic food products. In fact, a third of the company's sales come from Whole Foods, so the two companies' fates are tightly interwoven. United Natural released third-quarter earnings Tuesday and raised its full-year guidance, and there was a bit of good news and a bit of bad news to go around.

10 Best Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now: Texas Industries Inc (TXI)

Texas Industries, Inc., incorporated on April 19, 1951, is a supplier of construction materials in the southwestern United States. The Company operates in three segments: cement, aggregates and consumer products. Its cement segment produces gray portland cement and specialty cements. The Company�� cement production and distribution facilities are concentrated primarily in Texas and California. Its aggregates segment produces natural aggregates, including sand, gravel and crushed limestone. The Company�� consumer products segment produces ready-mix concrete. It is also a supplier of natural aggregates and ready-mix concrete in Texas and northern Louisiana and in Oklahoma and Arkansas. As of May 31, 2013, the Company had 123 manufacturing facilities in five states.

Cement Segment

The Company produces specialty cements, such as masonry and oil well cements. Its cement production facilities are located at Midlothian, Texas, south of Dallas/Fort Worth, Hunter, Texas, between Austin and San Antonio, and Oro Grande, California, near Los Angeles. It also operates a cement terminal and packaging facility at its Crestmore plant near Riverside, California, and the Company operates its gray portland cement grinding facility on an as needed basis. During the fiscal year ended May 31, 2013 (fiscal 2013), it produced approximately 4.3 million tons of finished cement. The Company shipped approximately 4.4 million tons during fiscal 2013, of which 3.8 million tons were shipped to outside trade customers.

Aggregates Segment

The Company�� operations are conducted from facilities primarily serving the Dallas/Fort Worth and Austin areas in Texas; the southern Oklahoma area, and the Alexandria and Monroe areas in Louisiana. The Company produced approximately 14.2 million tons of natural aggregates during fiscal 2013. It shipped approximately 14.8 million tons of natural aggregates during fiscal 2013, of which 11.3 million tons were shipped to outside trade customers! . The Company shipped approximately 1.0 million cubic yards of lightweight aggregates during fiscal 2013, of which approximately 0.9 million cubic yards were shipped to outside trade customers.

Consumer Products Segment

The Company�� ready-mix concrete operations are situated in three areas in Texas (the Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton area of north Texas, the Austin area of central Texas and from Beaumont to Texarkana in east Texas), in north and central Louisiana, and in southwestern Arkansas. It is also a 40% partner in a joint venture that has ready mix concrete operations in the northern part of central Texas area centered around Waco, Texas. It shipped approximately 2.8 million cubic yards of ready-mix concrete during fiscal 2013. The Company manufacture and supply a substantial amount of the cement and aggregates raw materials used by our ready-mix plants. The Company also marketed its Maximizer packaged concrete mixes in southern California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Analysts expect Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI) to post its Q1 earnings at $0.01 per share on revenue of $233.63 million. Texas Industries shares gained 1.82% to close at $67.52 yesterday.

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Competitively advantaged holdings continued to demonstrate the value of moats at FedEx (FDX), Melco, and Texas Industries (TXI). These holdings were among our largest contributors to performance, and they exemplify activity prevalent across most of our holdings throughout the year.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI) was down, falling 4.36 percent to $65.78 after Longbow Research downgraded the stock from buy to neutral.

  Commodities
  In commodity news, oil traded down 1.37 percent to $97.07, while gold traded up 1.73 percent to $1,223.10. Silver traded up 3.69 percent Thursday to $20.09, while copper fell 0.34 percent to $3.39.

Top Consumer Service Companies To Own For 2015: ServiceNow Inc (NOW)

ServiceNow, Inc., incorporated in June 2004, is a provider of cloud-based services to automate enterprise information technology (IT) operations. The Company�� service includes a suite of applications built on its platform that automates workflow and integrates related business processes. It focuses on transforming enterprise IT by automating and standardizing business processes and consolidating IT across the global enterprise. Organizations deploy its service to create a single system of record for enterprise IT. It helps transform IT organizations from reactive, manual and task-oriented, to pro-active, automated and service-oriented organizations. Its on-demand service enables organizations to define their IT strategy, design the systems and infrastructure. It provides a set of integrated applications that are configurable and can be implemented and upgraded. In July 2013, ServiceNow Inc announced that it has acquired Mirror42.

The Company offers its service under a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), business model. Its suite of applications was developed to address core ITIL processes, as well as additional business processes, and runs on a single extensible platform. Its platform includes workflow automation, notification, assignment and escalation, third-party integration capabilities, reporting and administration capabilities. Its cloud-based service is designed to be deployed in a modular fashion, allowing customers to solve immediate business needs and access new application functionality as needs evolve. Its service automates the documentation, categorization, prioritization, assignment, notification and escalation of IT and other business processes. Additionally, its service automates routine and repeatable data center operations, such as rebooting a server, cloning a database or deploying a virtualized environment.

The Company�� services include core ITIL applications and extended IT applications. Its incident management manages the process of restoring a failed se! rvice to an operational state; problem management manages the process of resolving the root cause of recurring service outages or issues affecting multiple users; change management manages the proposal and approval process for changes to be made to the IT infrastructure; release management assigns, manages and monitors the various tasks comprising the actual implementation or execution of a proposed change; configuration management database (CMDB), serves as the inventory repository of all hardware, software and network equipment comprising the IT infrastructure; service catalog displays the various goods and services an IT department makes available to the rest of the organization; knowledge management stores and displays knowledge articles or documents for use by the IT staff or broader supported employee base; service portfolio management presents business services offered to the enterprise by the IT organization in consumer-oriented fashion, and service level agreement management monitors and manages progress being made by IT staff on the completion of assigned tasks which have specific due dates.

The Company�� project and portfolio Management tracks and manages projects planned or being worked on by the IT staff. IT Cost Management tracks and monitors staff work time, project-related expenses and labor costs. IT Asset and Contract Management tracks the financial elements of IT infrastructure. Software development lifecycle Management tracks and manages new features and functions to be developed in upgrades or new software applications. Field Service Management manages the process of dispatching field based technicians and routing of field-based spare parts to a customer location. Social IT provides users with a collaboration capability to interact with a set of users to enable IT self-service, as well as a chat functionality for one-to-one online communication with IT staff. Discovery discovers the various hardware and software assets comprising the IT infrastructure, as well as mapp! ing the o! perational dependencies between those assets, and then populates and maintains that inventory in the CMDB application. Runbook Automation is designed to execute routine and repeatable projects in the datacenter.

The Company provides technical training and implementation services to customers through its professional services and through a network of certified partners. Its professional services include customer guidance on implementation, as well as integration and implementation projects, and can include the development of custom applications.

The Company competes with BMC Software, Inc., CA, Inc., Hewlett-Packard Company and International Business Machines Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW) was started as Buy with a $55 price target at Canaccord Genuity.

  Siemens A.G. (NYSE: SI) was raised Buy from Hold in overseas coverage by Societe Generale.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Michael Cintolo]

  ServiceNow (NOW) makes Cloud-based software that keeps work flowing, consolidates data, automates the administration of new computers, and lets the IT department monitor activities.

Top Consumer Service Companies To Own For 2015: CCR SA (CCRO3)

CCR SA is a Brazil-based holding company primarily engaged in the operation of highways. The Company's businesses are divided into five main operating segments: Highway which includes concessions such as AutoBAn, ViaOeste, NovaDutra, RodoNorte, SPVias, Ponte, ViaLagos, RodoAnel Oeste, Transolimpica and Renovias; Subway which includes ViaQuatro, Sea Transportation which includes Barcas concession; Airport Concessions which include Quiport, Aeris and CAP, and all companies related to these concessions; and Services/Holdings which is related to sub-holdings CPC and CCR Espana, among others. It is involved in the collection of toll fees on highways and is responsible for repairing, conserving, maintaining and operating of these highways. It is responsible for national highways network in Brazilian states of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Parana. Additionally, it is active in automotive inspection services, automatic toll payment and automatic vehicle identification systems operation. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ney Hayashi]

  Toll-road operator CCR SA (CCRO3) added 3.1 percent to 16.75 reais, snapping a five-day rout that drove shares 11 percent lower. Competitor EcoRodovias Infraestrutura e Logistica SA gained 1.7 percent to 14.75 reais today.

Top Consumer Service Companies To Own For 2015: Market Vectors Brazil Small-Cap ETF (BRF)

Market Vectors Brazil Small-Cap ETF (the Fund) seeks to replicate as closely as possible the price and yield performance of the Market Vectors Brazil Small-Cap Index (the Index). The Index is a rules-based, modified market capitalization-weighted, float-adjusted index consisting of publicly traded small-capitalization companies that are domiciled and primarily listed on an exchange in Brazil, or that generate at least 50% of their revenues in Brazil. The Index is the exclusive property of 4asset-management GmbH, which has contracted with Standard & Poor��, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. to maintain and calculate the Index. The Fund is passively managed and may not hold each Index component in the same weighting as the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is Van Eck Associates Corporation. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Market Vectors Brazil Small-Cap ETF (NYSEArca: BRF) has performed closely with the larger ETF group, with a drop of almost 4% so far in 2014. By its name, you can assume it tracks small-cap stocks. It aims to track the Market Vectors Brazil Small-Cap Index. At $28.51, its 52-week trading range is $27.99 to $44.17.

Top Consumer Service Companies To Own For 2015: Nuveen Tax-Advantaged Total Return Strategy Fund (JTA)

Nuveen Tax-Advantaged Total Return Strategy Fund operates as a diversified and closed-end management investment company. The fund primarily invests in dividend-paying common stocks. It also invests in senior loans, U.S corporate bonds, notes and debentures, convertible debt securities, as well as high yield debt securities. Its portfolio primarily includes investments in oil and gas, diversified telecommunication, services, diversified financial services, tobacco, insurance, aerospace and defense, metals and mining, commercial banks, electric utilities, thrifts and mortagage finance, and paper and forest product sectors. Nuveen Tax-Advantaged Total Return Strategy Fund was organized in 2003 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dividends4Life]

  According to a Gabelli Funds report, managed distribution policies offer several advantages, including:1. Lower difference between the fund�� market price and its NAV per share.2. Provides support during periods when the stock market is in a decline.3. Provides a measurable performance target for the investment adviser.Below are several high-yield funds from CEFA that have a managed distribution policy (yields as of December 16):Aberdeen Australia Eqty (IAF)- Distribution Yield: 10.4%- Income Yield: 3.46%Bexil Advisers LLC� (DNI)- Distribution Yield: 11.1%- Income Yield: 3.56%BlackRock En Capital&Inc (CII)- Distribution Yield: 8.78%- Income Yield: 2.34%Cornerstone Strat Value (CLM)- Distribution Yield: 18.77%- Income Yield: 1.83%Cornerstone Total Return (CRF)- Distribution Yield: 19.10%- Income Yield: 0.85%Delaware Inv Div & Inc (DDF)- Distribution Yield: 6.70%- Income Yield: 5.26%Gabelli Equity Trust (GAB)- Distribution Yield: 7.58%- Income Yield: 1.54%Gabelli Utility Trust (GUT)- Distribution Yield: 9.45%- Income Yield: 2.84%MFS Special Value Trust (MFV)- Distribution Yield: 9.60%- Income Yield: 5.73%Nuveen Tx-Adv TR Strat (JTA)- Distribution Yield: 6.70%- Income Yield: 3.12%TCW Strategic Income (TSI)- Distribution Yield: 10.54%- Income Yield: 7.88%Zweig Total Return (ZTR)- Distribution Yield: 7.27%- Income Yield: 1.95%As noted in the Gabelli report, a managed distribution policy may create confusion regarding the true current yield since the reported yield includes the return of capital portion. You can see the disparity above between the income yield and the distribution (reported) yield.If you are looking for a sustainable and growing dividend, you may want to consider some blue-chip dividend stocks such as these with a Free Cash Flow Payout less than 50%, 50+ years of consecutive dividend increases and a 2%+ yield:3M Co. (MMM) is a diversified global company provides enhanced product functionality in electronics, health care, industrial, consumer

Top Consumer Service Companies To Own For 2015: UniCredit SpA (UCG)

UniCredit SpA is an Italy-based holding company engaged in the financial sector. The Company�� division model is based on four pillars: Customer Centricity, A Multi-Local Approach, Global Product Lines, and Global Service Lines. The Customer Centricity area focuses on the Retail, Corporate & Investment Banking and Private Banking areas. The Centralized Multi-Local Approach takes responsibility for the distribution networks and customer relationships. The Global Products Lines are responsible for developing the products and services across all geographic areas. The Global Service Lines which supply the network coverage functions and product factories with specialized services, including Banking Back Office, Information and Communication Technology, Credit Collection, Procurement Services, Real Estate and Shared Service Centers. On October 28, 2013, the aggregate sale by UniCredit SpA of Fondiaria Sai SpA equal to 6.7% was complied. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tom Stoukas]

  UniCredit (UCG), Italy�� largest bank, lost 1.3 percent to 4.71 euros. Intesa Sanpaolo, which appointed Carlo Messina as chief executive officer to replace Enrico Tommaso Cucchiani yesterday, fell 3.5 percent to 1.53 euros. Mediaset SpA, the broadcaster controlled by Berlusconi, dropped 4.5 percent to 3 euros, the lowest price since July 3.

• [By Jonathan Morgan]

  UniCredit SpA (UCG) added 2.2 percent to 4.26 euros. Italy�� biggest bank said second-quarter net income climbed to 361 million euros from 169 million euros a year earlier. That was in line with the 360 million-euro average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The Milan-based bank posted a 254 million-euro return from the buyback of 4.2 billion euros of senior securities in April, according to a statement today.

• [By Corinne Gretler]

  Norsk Hydro (NHY) ASA slumped the most in one year after Vale SA sold a stake in the aluminum maker. UniCredit SpA (UCG) and Infineon Technologies AG added at least 1 percent each after posting quarterly profit that beat projections. Henkel AG rose 2.1 percent as third-quarter profit beat analysts��estimates.

• [By Alexis Xydias]

  Banks led the rally over the past four months, with Paris-based Societe Generale SA (GLE) and UniCredit SpA (UCG), Italy�� biggest lender, surging more than 45 percent.

Top Consumer Service Companies To Own For 2015: OriginOil Inc (OOIL)

OriginOil, Inc., incorporated on June 1, 2007, is a technology company. The Company is primarily involved in research and development activities, and sales of pilot and demonstration equipment. The Company has developed an energy production process for harvesting algae and cleaning up oil and gas water. To develop the energy and ancillary markets, the Company sells smaller-scale equipment, such as the Algae Appliance. The Company�� process, CLEAN-FRAC, represents a generation of water treatment that is chemical free. The Company's water cleanup technology, Electro Water Separation (EWS), is a chemical-free process that extracts organic contaminants from large quantities of water. Its products include EWS Algae, EWS Algae A4, EWS Algae A60, EWS Algae A200, EWS Petro P160, and EWS Aqua Q60.

The Company intends to embed its technology into larger systems through licensing and joint ventures. The Company is in the process of pursuing secondary licensing opportunities outside of energy, including aquaculture. EWS Algae A4 is an entry-level algae harvester designed to make it easier and faster for producers and researchers to try and buy the Company's harvesting technology. EWS Algae A60 is a pilot scale algae harvester providing a low energy, chemical-free, continuous flow wet harvest system to dewater and concentrate the microalgae. EWS Petro Model 160 is designed to remove organics, such as crude oil, and suspended solids and bacteria from process water, such as produced or frac flowback water at a continuous flow rate of one barrel per minute or 160 liters per minute in continuous, chemical free operation. EWS Aqua Q60 is a commercial fish farming pond water treatment system, designed to clean pond water of ammonia, bacteria and aquatic animal pathogens in a continuous loop.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Today, OOIL�has shed (-3.12%) down -0.01 at $.31 with 95,929 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 2:04PM�EDT October 15, 2013).

  OriginOil, Inc. previously reported it has signed its first pay-per-barrel agreement with Industrial Systems, Inc. (ISI) for a water treatment system integrating OriginOil�� process as the first stage of treatment.

  Delta, Colorado-based ISI has agreed that it will operate the Model P160 as part of its overall frac flowback water cleanup service, and pay OriginOil a fee for each barrel processed.