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The industrial services industry features staffing and outsourcing companies, janitorial services companies, laundry services companies, information services companies and corrections services companies. The timeliness, capital structure and financial information for each company are provided.

The industrial services industry includes janitorial services, employment agencies and consumer products companies. It also includes uniform manufacture and rental companies, information services, correction services, management services, laundry services and security services. Most of the companies are showing an upward trend in their stock prices.

Profit declines for landfill operations, waste hauling, and recycling have made environmental industry stocks volatile for the first six months of 1996. However, there is demand for water purification services, especially from the food, drug, and semiconductor industries, and the Environmental Protection Agency is also contracting for remediation work. Some stocks in this industry are timely for 1996, and investors should seek shares of the leading companies.

Potential investors in the environmental services industry should examine individual stocks for timely choices. Different segments of the industry are experiencing different conditions, with many of the waste hauling companies hurt by declining profits, and smaller companies in the hazardous waste treatment industry profiting from the rapid consolidation of the industry. Ionics is well positioned out to 2001 in the expanding water purification service segment.

Price drops for corrugated cardboard and old newspaper have hurt earnings for waste-haulers in the 4th qtr of 1995. They will benefit in 1996 from EPA waste-volume and landfill regulations, as well as from a growing economy, however. Demand has increased for water purification due to ultrapure water requirements in the food and other industries, but remedial services may not do well. Investors must select timely leaders among these stocks.

Stocks of the environmental industry are rising due to good revenues and earnings since 1994. Acquisitions, restructuring, and price relief are also benefitting results. Higher recycled paper prices are aiding the recycling sector, new operational requirements are bolstering landfills, and water treatment is in demand. Investors need to select timely stocks that have gained operating efficiency and technological leadership.

Earnings are recovering for the environmental industry in 1995, especially for landfill operations and waste hauling companies. The increase in volume will only be moderate, however, for the next three to five years and earnings increases will be slow. The hazardous waste sector is mixed, but there is greater demand for water purification. Investors will find some attractive stocks for the next three to five years.

Environmental service stocks have been depressed since 1990 due to weak earnings and prices. Mergers, corporate restructuring, and stronger demand has led to better financial performance since 1994, especially in water treatment and hazardous waste stocks. Improved timeliness for these companies, such as Ionics and OHM, should help their values increase for the next three to five years.

The environmental industry stocks have improved in 1994, with different segments of the industry performing better than others. Waste hauling and landfill operations are profiting from increased landfill tipping fees and the rising amount of waste volume handled. The hazardous waste area offers a mixed bag of investment opportunities, as solid waste disposal costs rise higher than liquid wastes. Water purification services are growing more popular.

Environmental industry securities have been hurt by weak prices caused by overcapacity at landfills. But the supply/demand differential has begun to narrow, except among hazardous waste companies. The latter are being hurt by the growing use of inexpensive cement kilns. At the opposite extreme, water treatment firms are doing well. The three- to five-year stock potential of the group as a whole is positive.

Overall performance in the environmental industry has dropped from the record earnings levels set in 1990. Traditional hazardous waste companies have faced competition from new technologies and an industrial move toward liquid waste. The outlook for solid waste disposal appears to be improving slightly after three years of reduced earnings. Currently, however, the only advisable investment within the environmental industry is water purification services.

The diverse environmental services industry offers good investment options in the water treatment and air purification sector but as a whole is not timely. The hazardous waste business suffers from overcapacity, while municipal recycling operations have brought down margins for solid waste disposal firms. Water treatment firms with favorable prospects out to 1997-99 include Air and Water Technologies, Wheelabrator's and Ionics.

The environmental services industry presents a mixed picture to the potential investor. Collectively, the industry's stocks have been falling since 1990. However, long-term prospects are brighter in areas such as waste-to-energy conversion, lead by Wheelabrator Technologies and Ogden Projects. Meanwhile, hazardous waste disposal companies are suffering because increasingly clean production methods are eliminating the need for them.

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