5 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Invest In 2015

David Ryder/Bloomberg via Getty Images WASHINGTON -- Average U.S. rates for fixed mortgages edged higher this week for the third straight week but remained low by historical standards. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average for the 30-year loan rose to 4.53 percent from 4.48 percent last week. The average for the 15-year loan increased to 3.55 percent from 3.52 percent. Mortgage rates peaked in August at 4.6 percent amid expectations the Federal Reserve would reduce its $85 billion a month in bond purchases. The purchases push mortgage and other long-term rates lower. Last month the Fed deemed the economy strong enough for it to reduce the monthly purchases by $10 billion. Mortgage rates are sharply higher than they were a year ago when the 30-year fixed rate was 3.35 percent and the 15-year was 2.65 percent. That's contributed to a decline in home sales over the past three months. Still, the average for the 30-year loan has been below 5 percent for nearly three years, a trend that has made home-buying more affordable. Separately, the Commerce Department reported Thursday that U.S. construction spending rose in November at the strongest pace in more than four years, driven by solid gains in home construction and commercial projects.

5 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Invest In 2015: Acme United Corp (ACU)

Acme United Corporation, incorporated in 1882, is a worldwide supplier of cutting, measuring and safety products to the school, home, office, hardware and industrial markets. It markets and sells under five main brands - Westcott, Clauss, Camillus, PhysiciansCare and Pac-Kit. The Company has grouped its operations into three segments based on the Company's geographical organization and structure: United States, which includes its Asian operations; Canada and Europe. On February 28, 2011, the Company purchased all of the assets of The Pac-Kit Safety Equipment Company, which is a manufacturer of first aid kits for the industrial, safety, transportation and marine markets. In June 2012, the Company acquired selected assets of The C-Thru Ruler Company. In August 2013, the Company purchased a manufacturing and distribution center in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

The Company's operations are in the United States, Canada, Europe (located in Germany) and Asia (located in Hong Kong and China). The operations in the United States, Canada and Europe are primarily engaged in product development, marketing, sales, administrative and distribution activities. The operations in Asia consist of sourcing, product development, production planning, quality control and sales activities.

Cutting

Principal products within the cutting device category are scissors, shears, guillotine paper trimmers, rotary paper trimmers, rotary cutters, knives, hobby knives and blades, utility knives, pruners, loppers, saws, manicure products, medical cutting instruments and pencil sharpeners. During the year ended December 31, 2011, products introduced included an expanded line of heavy duty school and office iPoint pencil sharpeners. Other recent product introductions included Westcott TrimAir paper trimmers with patented titanium coating and a blade change system for rotary and personal trimmers, Westcott Ultra Soft Handle scissors with anti-microbial product protection, True Professional sewing shear! s, as well as a line of iPoint pencil sharpeners utilizing the Company's non-stick coating. The Company also added to its KleenEarth family of recycled products by modifying the production process to allow for multi-colored products as opposed to the traditional black. During 2011, Clauss introduced the AirShoc line of titanium coated non stick garden tools.

Measuring

Principal products within the measuring instrument category are rulers, and math tools. During 2011, product introductions included Westcott branded compasses, protractors, rulers and math kits with anti-microbial product protection.

Safety

Principal products within the safety product category are first aid kits, personal protection products and over-the-counter medication refills. The Company markets these products under the PhysiciansCare brand.

The Company competes with Fiskars Corporation, Helix International Ltd. and Johnson and Johnson.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bristol Voss]

  Acme United (NYSE: ACU) is a global supplier of cutting, measuring and safety products to consumer and industrial markets. It has neatly tracked the S&P small-cap index and shown the least volatility of the three stocks. While its $43.7 million market cap is the lowest of the three, its nearly $14 share price is the highest. It has a forward P/E of 9.2, and its dividend yield is the best of the three at 2.3%. In its most recent quarter, Acme posted a 7% increase in net income and a 3% rise in earnings.

5 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Invest In 2015: Ferchem Egypt Fertilizers and Chemicals (FERC)

Ferchem Egypt Fertilizers and Chemicals is an Egypt-based company engaged in the establishment and operation of a factory for mixing and packaging of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides and hormones, as well as other agricultural related activities. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Jubak]

  Cheniere also has received other good news on Corpus Christi. To get a permit for the unrestricted export of liquefied natural gas, a facility has to win approval from the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). DOE has accelerated its permit process, but FERC approval has become a major bottleneck, since the commission needs to coordinate studies from several other agencies before it can complete its review. Cheniere has recently received a scheduling notice from FERC, which looks to put that facility on track for a permit ruling by the end of 2014 or early 2015.

5 Best Regional Bank Stocks To Watch Right Now: Rudolph Technologies Inc.(RTEC)

Rudolph Technologies, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells process control defect inspection, metrology, and process control software systems to microelectronics device manufacturers. The company provides yield management solutions for use in wafer processing and final manufacturing through a range of standalone systems for macro-defect inspection, test systems, and transparent and opaque thin film measurements. It also offers a range of process control software solutions for semiconductor, solar, and LED manufacturing. It provides products for various applications in the areas of macro-defect detection and classification, diffusion, etch, lithography, CVD, PVD, and CMP. The company sells its products and solutions to logic, memory, data storage, and application-specific integrated circuit device manufacturers. It sells its products in the United States, Taiwan, China, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Europe. The company was founded in 1940 and is based in Fla nders, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Emerson]

  Orbotech (ORBK) and Rudolph Technologies (RTEC) Sizable Net-Nets in the AOI Sector

  As noted previously, I rode the elevator up and then back down on Camtek (CAMT), a tiny Israeli automated optical inspection (AOI) company. By late 2008 the company had fallen to below $1 per share. Both of Camtek�� larger rivals, RTEC and ORBK, had dropped to absurdly low levels by November 2008. I used the opportunity to switch out of CAMT and some of my other losing propositions in favor of these superior companies. In the process, I created a large amount of tax loss carry-forwards which would allow me to minimize my future taxation when I decided to sell these cyclical entities.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  When judging a company's prospects, how quickly it turns cash outflows into cash inflows can be just as important as how much profit it's booking in the accounting fantasy world we call "earnings." This is one of the first metrics I check when I'm hunting for the market's best stocks. Today, we'll see how it applies to Rudolph Technologies (Nasdaq: RTEC  ) .

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Basic guidelines
  In this series, I examine inventory using a simple rule of thumb: Inventory increases ought to roughly parallel revenue increases. If inventory bloats more quickly than sales grow, this might be a sign that expected sales haven't materialized. Is the current inventory situation at Rudolph Technologies (Nasdaq: RTEC  ) out of line? To figure that out, start by comparing the company's inventory growth to sales growth. How is Rudolph Technologies doing by this quick checkup? At first glance, not so great. Trailing-12-month revenue increased 17.6%, and inventory increased 32.2%. Comparing the latest quarter to the prior-year quarter, the story looks potentially problematic. Revenue dropped 8.9%, and inventory grew 32.2%. Over the sequential quarterly period, the trend looks worrisome. Revenue dropped 23.3%, and inventory grew 10.8%.

5 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Invest In 2015: ProShares UltraShort QQQ (QID)

ProShares UltraShort QQQ (the Fund), formerly UltraShort QQQ ProShares, seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse daily performance of the NASDAQ Index-100 Index. The NASDAQ-100 Index represents the largest non-financial domestic and international issues listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market. To be eligible for inclusion, companies cannot be in bankruptcy proceedings and must meet certain additional criteria, including minimum trading volume and seasoning requirements.

The NASDAQ-100 Index is calculated under a modified capitalization-weighted methodology. The Fund takes positions in securities and/or financial instruments that, in combination, should have similar daily return characteristics as 200% of the daily return of the index. The NASDAQ-100 Index is a price return index. The Fund�� investment advisor is ProShare Advisors LLC.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  The so-called Hindenburg Omen predicting a major market crash is increasingly popping into the headlines; but regardless of whether or not you believe in the prophecy,�short ETFs like ProShares UltraShort S&P500 ETF (NYSEARCA: SDS), ProShares Short Dow30 ETF (NYSEARCA: DOG) and�ProShares UltraShort QQQ ETF (NYSEARCA: QID) can off you some protection or insurance. We have also periodically added short ETFs to our�SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio as a�hedge against short-term�market downturns or�short-term trend reversals and right now, we have the ProShares UltraShort S&P500 ETF in our portfolio.

5 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Invest In 2015: Linde AG (LIN)

Linde AG is a German company engaged in the gases and engineering sector. It operates two divisions: Gases and Engineering, as core divisions, as well as Gist. The Gases Division includes Healthcare, producing medical gases; and Tonnage, as its two global business units; as well as the two business areas Merchant and Packaged Gases, offering liquefied and cylinder gases, and Electronics. The Company�� products are used in the energy sector, for steel production, chemical processing, environmental protection and welding, as well as in food processing, glass production and electronics. The Engineering division offers planning, project development and construction of turnkey industrial plants used in fields, such as petrochemical and chemical industries, in refineries and fertilizer plants, to recover air gases, to produce hydrogen and synthesis gases, to treat natural gas, and in the pharmaceutical industry. As of August 13, 2012, the Company acquired Lincare Holdings Inc. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Shares of LIN Media LLC (NYSE: LIN) got a boost, shooting up 30.67 percent to $28.08 after Media General (NYSE: MEG) announced its plans to buy Lin Media LLC for $1.6 billion.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Shares of LIN Media LLC (NYSE: LIN) got a boost, shooting up 21.92 percent to $26.20 after Media General (NYSE: MEG) announced its plans to buy Lin Media LLC for $1.6 billion.

• [By Monica Wolfe]

  Gabelli started the week by reducing his position in LIN Media (LIN). The guru reduced his position by -1.36%. Gabelli sold a total of 23,007 shares at an average price of $16.88 per share. Gabelli now holds on to a total of 1,666,208 shares of LIN Media, representing 3.06% of the company�� shares outstanding.

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap media stock�LIN Media LLC (NYSE: LIN) might not be a household name, but there is a good chance you might be watching the company�� programs because like the Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc (NASDAQ: SBGI) and Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc (NASDAQ: NXST), its helping to consolidate the media industry plus its making investment in other forms of media like social media. The stock has also outperformed those two peers along with the�PowerShares Dynamic Media Portfolio ETF (NYSEARCA: PBS).