5 Best Services Stocks To Own Right Now

I recently had the opportunity to interview Tom Werner, CEO of solar leader SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR  ) . The company has had improving fundamentals this year but the industry is still highly competitive, so I was interested to find out how SunPower plans to hold off the competition in the future. Below are the highlights from the interview.

Has the industry reached a steady state?
I asked Werner if the industry has reached a steady state now that subsidies are falling away and solar power is competing with the cost of electricity from the grid in some locations. He was hesitant to call it a steady state but thinks a winning formula is starting to emerge.

Werner's view is that companies who can make the transition from selling solar panels to selling energy will be the ones who win in the future. For SunPower, that means offering solar power, monitoring solutions, and leasing services today. As the industry evolves, we'll be talking about a complete energy offering including batteries, efficiency optimization products, and a whole suite of solutions from SunPower. This could be sold to a residence or a commercial building, opening a world of possibilities for the companies who can offer complete solutions.

10 Best Biotech Stocks To Own For 2015: United Continental Holdings Inc.(UAL)

United Continental Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of passenger and cargo air transportation services. As of February 24, 2011, it operated a total of approximately 5,675 flights a day to 372 airports on 6 continents from their hubs in Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Tokyo, as well as in Washington, D.C. The company was formerly known as UAL Corporation and changed its name to United Continental Holdings, Inc. on October 1, 2010. United Continental Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By GuruFocus]

  United Continental Holdings Inc (UAL): Chairman, President and CEO Jeffery A. Smisek Bought 9,054 Shares

  Chairman, President and CEO of United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) Jeffery A. Smisek bought 9,054 shares on 08/27/2013 at an average price of $28.46. United Continental Holdings Inc. was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware on Dec. 30, 1968. United Continental Holdings Inc. has a market cap of $10.13 billion; its shares were traded at around $28.46 with a P/E ratio of 10.00 and P/S ratio of 0.35.

• [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]

  Last Thursday, United Continental (NYSE: UAL  ) filed an investor update, providing some more insight into the company's likely Q2 results. The update was generally positive from a revenue perspective, suggesting that United is seeing relatively good demand for the summer travel season. However, the analyst community still has unrealistically high expectations for United, in light of the company's unfavorable cost structure.

5 Best Services Stocks To Own Right Now: Maxygen Inc.(MAXY)

Maxygen, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing improved versions of protein drugs in North America and Europe. The company utilizes its MolecularBreeding directed evolution technology platform, along with ancillary technologies, and protein modification expertise to pursue the creation of biosuperior proteins. It engages in the discovery, research, and development of MAXY-G34 product candidates for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Redwood, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Geoff Gannon]

  1. Steel Excel (SXCL)
  2. FormFactor (FORM)
  3. Imation (IMN)
  4. Tuesday Morning (TUES)
  5. Pacific Biosciences (PACB)
  6. Maxygen (MAXY)
  7. Westell (WSTL)
  8. Volt Information Sciences (VISI)
  9. Yasheng Group (YHGG)

5 Best Services Stocks To Own Right Now: Morvest Business Group Ltd (MOR)

Morvest Business Group Limited (Morvest) is a South Africa-based company. The company is an outsourcing and technology services and solutions company. The Company operates in three segments: Business Support Services focuses on consulting professional services and outsourcing services; ICT Solutions focuses on the application implementation and infrastructure services and Retail and Consumer Services, which is engaged in renders management services to the Company. As of May 31, 2012, the Company�� subsidiaries include, Morvest Shared Services (Pty) Limited, Foster Melliar (Pty) Limited, Morvest Human Capital Management (Pty) Limited, Morvest Professional Services (Pty) Limited, ITQ Business Solutions Group (Pty) Limited, Morvest Information Communication and Technology Limited and Morvest Mithratech (Pty) Limited. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  MorphoSys (MOR) is a German biotechnology company with proprietary technology to develop human antibodies for specific diseases. Over the quarter, the company signed two licensing deals (with GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Celgene Corp., not held by the fund) for its proprietary compounds, providing outside validation for its technology as well as upfront cash and future royalty payments.

5 Best Services Stocks To Own Right Now: Star Bulk Carriers Corp.(SBLK)

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. operates as a shipping company providing seaborne transportation solutions in the dry bulk sector worldwide. Its vessels transport major bulks, which include iron ore, coal, and grain; and minor bulks, such as bauxite, fertilizers, and steel products. The company has an operating fleet of 15 dry bulk carriers consisting of 7 Capesize and 8 Supramax dry bulk vessels with a combined cargo carrying capacity of 1,625,945 deadweight tons. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Athens, Greece.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Star Bulk Carriers (SBLK) provides worldwide transportation of drybulk commodities through its vessel-owning subsidiaries for a range of customers and minor bulk cargoes including iron ore, coal, grain, cement and fertilizer. This stock closed up 7.9% at $10.58 in Monday's trading session.

  Monday's Volume: 243,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 64,367
  
  Volume % Change: 228%

  From a technical perspective, SBLK jumped sharply higher here right above some near-term support at $9.47 with above-average volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last two months and change, with shares moving higher from its low of $5.37 to its recent high of $11.53. During that move, shares of SBLK have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of SBLK within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if SBLK manages to take out its 52-week high at $11.53 and then once it clears some past resistance at $11.98 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in SBLK as long as it's trending above near-term support at $9.47 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 64,367 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then SBLK will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are its next major overhead resistance levels at $14 to $15.

• [By Igor Greenwald]

  Last month, Oaktree Capital (OAK), managed by another distressed investing icon, Howard Marks, disclosed a huge 21.9% stake in Star Bulk Carriers (SBLK).