5 Best Services Stocks To Invest In 2014

The brouhaha over mortgage servicing mishaps and snafus doesn't seem to be having much effect on Bank of America's (NYSE: BAC  ) share price, particularly with all of the drama surrounding the Federal Open Market Committee's meeting, which did a bit of market roiling all on its own.

However, a lawsuit under way in Boston, alleging that B of A deliberately derailed loan modifications offered under the government's Home Affordable Modification Program, as well as the underwhelming National Mortgage Settlement monitor's report released this week, have been attracting media attention.

Both of these issues are likely to have a negative effect on B of A's already tarnished customer-service reputation and might wind up costing the big bank additional wads of cash, if California state Representative Maxine Waters has her way.

HAMP incentive payments at issue
Waters, a�ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, recently sent a letter to several government entities, including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve, and the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Alerted by an article in Bloomberg concerning the homeowners' lawsuit, Waters notes that Bank of America was the recipient of $992 million in HAMP loan modification incentives -- not to mention the oodles of cash it was handed as part of TARP.

Best Building Product Companies To Own In Right Now: Seaspan Corporation(SSW)

Seaspan Corporation owns and operates the containerships that are engaged in the deep-sea container transportation business in Hong Kong. The company charters its containerships pursuant to long-term, fixed-rate time charters to various container liner companies. As of December 31, 2009, it owned and operated a fleet of 42 containerships. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Majuro, the Marshall Islands.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Equities Trading UP
  Seaspan (NYSE: SSW) shot up 10.52 percent to $21.75 after the company announced the termination of its public offerings of common shares and convertible notes.

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Seaspan Corp.(SSW) said it plans to offer 3.5 million Class A common shares, and expects to use the proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include funding vessel acquisitions. The containership owner recently had about 64.9 million shares outstanding, according to FactSet. Shares fell 8% to $21.55 premarket.

• [By Jack Adamo]

  Predictably, Seaspan (SSW) suffered a big drop in normalized EPS for 2013, due to the conversion of all its Class A preferred stock to common stock, plus another secondary common stock offering, which, together, increased the common stock share count by 33%.

5 Best Services Stocks To Invest In 2014: California Grapes International Inc (CAGR)

California Grapes International, Inc., formerly China Food Services, Corp., incorporated in 1992, conducts its primary business operations as an importer, exporter and distributor of staple, organic, specialty, and gourmet foods and beverages, catering to the Asian Pacific Rim. The Company owns and operates Golden Dragon Food & Beverage Import & Export Company of Hong Kong, Ltd. (GDHK) in central Hong Kong and Beijing Flying Golden Dragon International Trading Co., Ltd. in China (BFGD). Golden Dragon Holdings, Inc. has agreements with the United State food manufacturers. It acts as a buying agent for GDHK, negotiating vendor contracts and services with the United States food and beverage industry partners.

The Company focuses to offer wholesale food distribution to grocery chains and independent food stores throughout China. The Company focuses on purchasing goods directly from manufactures in the United States, Latin America and Europe, and distributes these products to distributors, grocery stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets throughout China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ovenerio]

  As we can see in the next chart, the stock price has an upward trend in the five-year period. If you had invested $10.000 five years ago, today you could have $18.598, which represents a 13.2% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

5 Best Services Stocks To Invest In 2014: 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.

5 Best Services Stocks To Invest In 2014: Stamps.com Inc.(STMP)

Stamps.com Inc. provides Internet-based postage solutions. The company offers solutions to mail and ship various mail pieces, including postcards, envelopes, flats, and packages. Its products and services include the United States Postal Service (USPS)-approved PC Postage Service that enables users to print electronic stamps directly onto envelopes, plain paper, or labels using personal computer, printer, and Internet connection; and PhotoStamps, a patented form of postage, which allows consumers to turn digital photos, designs, or images into valid United States postage. The company also sells NetStamps labels, shipping labels, other mailing labels, postage printers, scales, and other mailing and shipping-focused office supplies through its mailing and shipping supplies store, as well as offers back-end integration solutions, an electronic postage for transactions to manage the front-end process. In addition, it offers Stamps.com branded insurance enabling users to insure their mail or packages; and official USPS package insurance. Stamps.com Inc. serves individuals, small businesses, home offices, medium-size businesses, and large enterprises. The company was formerly known as StampMaster, Inc. and changed its name to Stamps.com Inc. in December 1998. Stamps.com Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  By almost any measure, Stamps.com Inc. (NASDAQ:STMP) is a solid investment. Revenue and profits are on the rise, and are projected to grow again in 2014. Stamps.com has also developed a penchant for earnings beats. And, at a trailing P/E of 18.3 and a forward-looking P/E ratio of 15.7, it's not like STMP shares cost a relative fortune. Yet, STMP is starting to look like a major liability where it could hurt shareholders the most... on the chart.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Then there is that lucky or unlucky outcome of price hikes. The public will pay more for stamps, making you and me the losers in this. The question to ask is whether or not Stamps.com Inc. (NASDAQ: STMP) just get a built-in revenue booster per customer on a static basis?

• [By Alex Planes]

  Investors love stocks that consistently beat the Street without getting ahead of their fundamentals and risking a meltdown. The best stocks offer sustainable market-beating gains, with robust and improving financial metrics that support strong price growth. Does Stamps.com (NASDAQ: STMP  ) fit the bill? Let's take a look at what its recent results tell us about its potential for future gains.

• [By Michael Lewis]

  While the United States Postal Service may be limping toward extinction, postage itself is far from a dying business. Web-based Stamps.com (NASDAQ: STMP  ) had worried investors and analysts for some time that demand would soften along with the USPS decline, but it's done nearly the opposite. In its most recent quarter, Stamps.com broke company records and showed strong promise in the future. The announcement delighted investors, sending the stock up more than 13% immediately following. But with a relatively rich valuation, the company may only be a buy for opportunistic, growth-happy investors. Here's what you need to know.