Hot Services Stocks To Invest In Right Now

If you don't like your cell phone service, you can usually switch, and aggressive competition that includes a promise by two major carriers to pay your contract termination fees has made this easier than ever. If you don't like your bank, there are probably a dozen within driving distance that would be happy to have you. Don't like the airline you flew on for your last vacation? Just book with someone else next time.

But if you don't like your cable TV or Internet provider (and in many cases these services are bundled by the same company), you're pretty much stuck with it. Since these services are necessarily limited by the reach of their service network, the best way for big cable companies to grow in recent years has been to simply buy smaller cable companies.

The limit of that consolidation might finally be tested by last night's news that Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA  ) (NASDAQ: CMCSK  ) has made an offer to buy Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC  ) for $45.2 billion. According to Reuters, the new company would boast roughly 30 million video subscribers after divesting about 3 million. That's more than half of the 56.4 million American cable video subscribers last reported by the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), and it's still about a third of the total pay-TV market when DISH Network's 20 million subscribers and DirecTV's�14 million subscribers are added to the tally.

5 Best High Tech Stocks To Watch For 2015: Infoblox Inc (BLOX)

Infoblox Inc. (Infoblox), incorporated in May 2003, is an automated network controller. The Company�� network functions include Internet protocol (IP) address management, device configuration, compliance, network discovery, policy implementation, security and monitoring. The Company�� appliance-based solution combines real-time IP address management with the automation of key network control and network change and configuration management processes in purpose-built physical and virtual appliances. It is based on its software that is scalable and automates vital network functions, such as IP address management, device configuration, compliance, network discovery, policy implementation, security and monitoring. It offers two families of products: Trinzic Enterprise and Trinzic NetMRI. The Trinzic Enterprise product family enables real-time IP address management and automates key network control processes. The Trinzic NetMRI product family automates network change and configuration management processes.

Trinzic Enterprise Family

The Company derives its product revenue from its Trinzic Enterprise family of products. The components of its Trinzic Enterprise family, are Trinzic Enterprise, Trinzic IPAM for Microsoft, Trinzic Reporting and Trinzic IPAM Insight. Its Trinzic Enterprise product is an appliance that is designed to for continuous operation of network control. Trinzic Enterprise offers file delivery services via the File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP), and Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), time synchronization services via the Network Time Protocol (NTP) and Logging services via Syslog.

Trinzic IPAM for Microsoft provides a single, Web-based management interface for the centralized management of DNS, DHCP and multiple IP address pools running on Microsoft servers without any installation of software on Microsoft servers. It also provides Microsoft server management capabilities, such as centralized IP address management! , DNS changes and individualized, role-based access control. Trinzic Reporting provides long-term reporting, trending, analysis and tracking capabilities to report network utilization, isolate performance problems, implement DHCP and DNS capacity planning and identify security threats. Trinzic Reporting automates tasks associated with collecting, tabulating and correlating data and displays the information through its Web-based management interface. Trinzic IPAM Insight allows automated discovery of network device configuration information used in automation and compliance reporting.

Trinzic NetMRI Family

The Company�� Trinzic NetMRI products components of include Trinzic Network Automation, Trinzic Network Compliance, Trinzic Switch Port Manager and Trinzic PCI Insight. Its Trinzic NetMRI product automates network change and configuration management processes. Trinzic NetMRI enables information technology organizations to automate network changes, gain visibility into the impact of changes occurring on the network, manage network configurations, archive network configurations and meet a range of compliance requirements for both physical and virtual machines. Trinzic NetMRI discovers and monitors network infrastructure devices to determine critical network information. It uses this information to analyze network stability, to identify unauthorized devices and to take inventory of network devices for inventory management and/or troubleshooting. Trinzic Network Automation automates network configuration functions.

Trinzic Network Compliance automates the network compliance process, meeting corporate security requirements and providing the necessary information and control for internal and external compliance mandates. Trinzic Network Compliance also automatically alerts IT personnel in the event of a failure to meet compliance guidelines and permits the establishment and deployment of specific end customer requirements with click and drag simplicity, supporting ! complianc! e mandates such as those under the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).

Trinzic Switch Port Manager enables its end customers to identify the number of switch ports, manage them precisely and locate the next available switch port. It helps provide views and management of switches with both current and historical IP addresses, MAC addresses, VLAN mappings and network device topology information. It also shows where devices have been connected, when they connected and where they are currently connected so that the network administrator can easily track authorized devices and find rogue devices that can pose security risks and create network instability. Trinzic PCI Insight is an integrated offering that bundles Trinzic Network Compliance, Trinzic IPAM Insight from its Trinzic Enterprise family of products and consulting services and enables its end customers to optimize their PCI DSS compliance.

The Company competes with BMC Software, Inc., EMC Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company and International Business Machines Corporation, Alcatel-Lucent, BT Group plc and BlueCat Networks, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  What: Shares of Infoblox (NYSE: BLOX  ) have popped today by as much as 18% after the company reported earnings.

  So what: Revenue in the fiscal third quarter came in at a record $58 million, topping the Street's $56 million forecast. Non-GAAP earnings per share totaled $0.11, also ahead of the $0.06-per-share adjusted profit that investors were expecting. CEO Robert Thomas said the company's value proposition -- helping networks become more automated and secure -- is driving its outperformance.

Hot Services Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Seven & i Holdings Co Ltd (SVNDY)

Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. is a Japan-based holding company. The Company operates in six business segments. The Convenience Store segment operates convenience stores under the name 7-Eleven through direct operation and franchising. The Super Store segment operates general supermarkets, food supermarkets and specialty stores. The Department Store segment operates department stores with a focus on Seibu. The Food Service segment is engaged in the restaurant business, the contract food business and the fast food business. The Financial-related segment is engaged in the banking service, credit card and electronic money services. The Others segment is engaged in the information technology (IT) business. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Jubak]

  If you're a trader, you try to catch these ups and downs. If you're a longer term trader, you sort of go with Japanese equities. The one that I've got in Jubak's Picks is Toyota Motor, (TM), which trades in New York as an ADR. You can also go with something like Torre Industries (TRYIF), which trades as an ADR in New York as well as on the Tokyo exchange. They're the world's largest maker of carbon fiber, good play on exports to the aircraft and car industries. Or you can do something like Seven & I (SVNDY), the Japanese company that owns 7-Elevens around the world. So, those would be my ways to play a weak yen if you want to use Japanese equities for the week and the year ahead.

Hot Services Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Vector Group Ltd (VGR)

Vector Group Ltd is a holding company. The Company operates in Tobacco and Real Estate. The Tobacco segment consists of the manufacture and sale of cigarettes. The Real Estate segment includes the Company�� investments in consolidated and non-consolidated real estate businesses. The Company is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States through its Liggett Group LLC (Liggett) and Vector Tobacco Inc. (Vector Tobacco) subsidiaries, and the real estate business through its New Valley LLC (New Valley) subsidiary, which is seeking to acquire additional operating companies and real estate properties. New Valley has real estate-related investments, including Douglas Elliman Realty, LLC (Douglas Elliman Realty) (50% interest), New Valley Oaktree Chelsea Eleven LLC (40% interest) and Fifty Third-Five Building LLC (50% interest), Sesto Holdings S.r.L (7.2% interest), MS/WG 1107 Broadway Holdings LLC (1107 Broadway) (5% interest), NV SOCAL LLC (26% interest) and HFZ East 68th Street (18% interest), where other partners hold interests.

As of February 15, 2012, 52 of the 54 units in the Chelsea Eleven LLC real estate development had been sold. During the year ended December, 31, 2011, New Valley invested in MS/WG 1107 Broadway Holdings LLC for an approximate indirect 5% interest. In September 2011, MS/WG 1107 Broadway Holdings LLC acquired the 1107 Broadway property in Manhattan, New York. In February 2011, New Valley invested in Lofts 21 LLC for an approximate 12% interest. In October 2011, New Valley invested in Hill Street Partners LLP (Hill) for an approximate 17.39% interest. Hill purchased a 37% interest in Hill Street SEP (Hotel Taiwana), which owns a hotel located in St. Barts, French West Indies. The hotel consists of 30 suites, six pools, a restaurant, lounge and gym. The purpose of the investment is to renovate and the sell the hotel in its entirety or as hotel-condos. In December 2011, New Valley invested in a condominium conversion project for an approximate 1! 8% interest. The building is a 12-story, 105,000 square foot residential rental building located on 68th Street between Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue in Manhattan, New York.

Tobacco Operations

Liggett is the operating successor to Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company. During 2011, Liggett was a manufacturer of cigarettes in the United States. Liggett�� manufacturing facilities are located in Mebane, North Carolina where it manufactures most of Vector Tobacco�� cigarettes pursuant to a contract manufacturing agreement. As of December 31, 2011, Liggett and Vector Tobacco have no foreign operations. The Company�� tobacco subsidiaries manufacture and sell cigarettes in the United States. Liggett produces cigarettes in approximately 118 combinations of length, style and packaging. Liggett�� brand portfolio includes PYRAMID, GRAND PRIX , LIGGETT SELECT , EVE and USA and various Partner Brands and private label brands.

Liggett Vector Brands LLC (LVB), which coordinates its tobacco subsidiaries��sales and marketing efforts, along with certain support functions, has an agreement with Circle K Stores, Inc., which operates more than 3,300 convenience stores in the United States under the Circle K and Mac�� names, to supply MONTEGO, a deep discount brand, exclusively for the Circle K and Mac�� stores. The MONTEGO brand was offered under LVB's Partner Brands program. LVB also has an agreement with Sunoco Inc., which operates approximately 675 Sunoco APlus branded convenience stores in the United States, to manufacture SILVER EAGLE. SILVER EAGLE, a deep discount brand, is exclusive to Sunoco and was the second brand to be offered under LVB's Partner Brands program. Liggett also manufactures BRONSON cigarettes as part of a multi-year Partner Brands agreement with QuikTrip, a convenience store chain with more than 580 stores.

New Valley LLC

New Valley is engaged in the real estate business and is seeking to acquire additional real estate properties an! d operati! ng companies. New Valley owns a 50% interest in Douglas Elliman Realty, LLC, which operates residential brokerage company in the New York City metropolitan area. New Valley also holds an investment in a 450-acre approved master planned community in Palm Springs, California (Escena), holds investment interests in various real estate projects in Manhattan, New York, southern California and Milan, Italy through both debt and equity investments.

Douglas Elliman Realty, LLC

Douglas Elliman Realty is engaged in the real estate brokerage business through its two subsidiaries which conduct business as Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate. The two brokerage companies have 62 offices with approximately 3,975 real estate agents in the metropolitan New York area. The Long Island brokerage operation, is the residential brokerage company on Long Island with 44 offices and approximately 1,850 real estate agents. During 2011, the Long Island brokerage operation closed approximately 6,163 transactions. Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate acts as a broker in residential real estate transactions.

Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate also offers relocation services to employers, which provide a variety of specialized services primarily concerned with facilitating the resettlement of transferred employees. These services include sales and marketing of transferees��existing homes for their corporate employer, assistance in finding homes, moving services, educational and school placement counseling, customized videos, property marketing assistance, rental assistance, area tours, international relocation, group move services, marketing and management of foreclosed properties, career counseling, spouse/partner employment assistance, and financial services. Clients can select these programs and services on a fee basis according to their needs. DE Capital Mortgage LLC primarily originates loans for purchases of properties located on Long Island, New York City and Westchester. Approx! imately o! ne-half of these loans are for home sales transactions, in which Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate acts as a broker.

Douglas Elliman Realty is also engaged in the management of cooperatives, condominiums and apartments though its subsidiary, Residential Management Group, LLC, which conducts business as Douglas Elliman Property Management and is a manager of apartments, cooperatives and condominiums in the New York metropolitan area. Residential Management Group provides service third-party fee management for approximately 350 properties, representing approximately 47,000 units in New York

The Company competes with Philip Morris USA Inc., Reynolds America Inc., Lorillard Tobacco Company, Commonwealth Brands, Inc., Century-21, ERA, RE/MAX, Coldwell Banker, GMAC Home Services and NRT LLC.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Dzombak]

  Vector Group (NYSE: VGR  ) is the third-highest-yielding dividend stock in June with a trailing yield of 9.9%. The company has two main businesse: tobacco and real estate. The company manufactures and sells cigarettes through its Liggett Group and Vector Tobacco subsidiaries under the Pyramid, Grand Prix, Liggett Select, and Eve brands. The company is the fourth-largest cigarette manufacturer in the U.S. behind giants Altria (NYSE: MO  ) , Lorillard, and Reynolds American. There are some advantages to being small. Vector has a cost advantage stemming from the settlement between Vector and the U.S.: The company does not have to make annual payments unless its market share exceeds 1.65% of the U.S. market. As such, the company positions its brands as discount cigarettes to capitalize on its advantage.

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, cigarette maker Vector Group (NYSE: VGR  ) has received a distressing two-star ranking.

• [By alicet236]

  Vector Group Ltd. (VGR): President and CEO Howard M Lorber sold 300,000 Shares

  President and CEO of Vector Group, Ltd. (VGR) Howard M Lorber sold 300,000 shares on Dec. 19 at an average price of $16.3. Vector Group Ltd. is a Delaware Corporation. It operates as a holding company and is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States through its subsidiaries, Liggett Group LLC and Vector Tobacco Inc. Vector Group. It has a market cap of $1.55 billion; its shares were traded at around $16.38 with and P/S ratio of 1.44. The dividend yield of Vector Group stocks is 9.54%. Vector Group Ltd. had an annual average earnings growth of 15.60% over the past 10 years.

• [By Alex Planes]

  At the time of the breakup, the American Tobacco Trust controlled or held significant interests in 65 subsidiary companies in the United States, as well as two British companies. These interests were eventually separated into 14 different tobacco companies, of which four became an American tobacco oligopoly to replace the monopoly: R. J. Reynolds (now Reynolds American), Liggett and Myers (now Vector Group (NYSE: VGR  ) ), Lorillard (NYSE: LO  ) , and a diminished American Tobacco.

Hot Services Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Cencosud SA (CNCO)

Cencosud SA (Cencosud) is a Chile-based holding company primarily engaged in the retail sector. The Company�� activities include the management and operation of a network of supermarkets, home centers, department stores and shopping malls, which operate under such names as Jumbo, Disco & Vea, Santa Isabel, Easy, Paris, Blaisten and GBarbosa, among others. The Company�� business also comprises the provision of consumer financial services and insurance brokerage, as well as it operates family entertainment centers and a travel agency. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, the Company has operations established in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru. As of December 31, 2010, the Company was a 25.74%-owned affiliate of Inversiones Quinchamali Limitada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Will Ashworth]

  In terms of growth, Asia is where the company is achieving its greatest success. Operating joint ventures in China, India and Japan, Aegon’s gross deposits in new markets grew 31% in fiscal 2013 to $19.8 billion. Its underlying earnings before tax have grown 28% over the last two fiscal years, with fee-based earnings representing a much bigger part of its business than in the past. That�� a good thing, because fee-based earnings don�� have nearly the same bite if things go south than assets on your own balance sheet. Its operations outside of Europe are getting stronger, providing the diversification necessary to survive financial hiccups. As far as insurers go, AEG is one of the best cheap stocks worth owning.

  Cheap Stocks to Buy: Cencosud S.A. (CNCO)

  Cencosud is one of the largest retailers in Latin America. It operates grocery stores, home improvement stores and department stores in five countries including Chile, its home base. Its stock is down 51% over the past year for several reasons, including a deal falling through that would have seen it sell 51% of its credit card operations in Chile and Argentina to Itau Unibanco (ITUB) and using the proceeds to reduce its heavy debt load. Add to that a major devaluation of the peso in Argentina, where it generates a quarter of its overall revenue, and you have investors in a full-on panic.

Hot Services Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Biosev SA (BSEV3)

Biosev SA, formerly LDC Bioenergia SA, is a Brazil-based company active in the sugar and energy business. It is primarily engaged in the sugarcane processing. The Company produces sugar and ethanol, and supplies its products to domestic and international markets. Its refined sugar is sold under the Estrela brand name on the Brazilian retail market. The ethanol products comprise: hydrous ethanol, anhydrous ethanol and neutral ethanol. Other products from its plants include animal feed, dry yeast, molasses powder and bioelectricity from sugarcane bagasse. The Company�� customers include Nestle, Coca-Cola, AmBev, Kraft, Dori and Unilever, among others. The Company's production units are present in five Brazilian states: Mato Grosso do Sul, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Paraiba and Rio Grande do Norte. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lucia Kassai]

  Biosev SA (BSEV3), Louis Dreyfus Holding BV�� Brazil unit, tumbled in its debut after giving investors in its initial public offering a money-back guarantee.

Hot Services Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Cardtronics Inc.(CATM)

Cardtronics, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides automated consumer financial services through its network of automated teller machines (ATMs) and multi-function financial services kiosks. As of December 31, 2011, it offered services to approximately 52,900 devices across its portfolio, which included approximately 46,000 devices located in 50 states of the United States, as well as in the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; approximately 3,500 devices throughout the United Kingdom; approximately 2,800 devices throughout Mexico; and approximately 600 devices in Canada. The company also deployed approximately 2,200 multi-function financial services kiosks in the United States. Its ATMs and financial services kiosks offer cash dispensing and bank account balance inquiry services, as well as other consumer financial services, including bill payments, check cashing, remote deposit capture, and money transfer services. In addition, the compan y provides various forms of managed service solution, including monitoring, maintenance, cash management, customer service, and transaction processing services. Further, it partners with national financial institutions to brand its ATMs and financial services kiosks with their logos. As of December 31, 2011, the company had approximately 15,400 company-owned ATMs under contract with financial institutions to place their logos on those machines. Additionally, it provides financial institutions with surcharge-free program through its Allpoint network, as well as owns and operates an electronic funds transfer transaction processing platform that provides transaction processing services to its network of ATMs and financial services kiosks, and ATMs owned and operated by third parties. The company was formerly known as Cardtronics Group, Inc. and changed its name to Cardtronics, Inc. in January 2004. Cardtronics, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [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 Cardtronics (Nasdaq: CATM  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.