Nearly half a million Americans depend on kidney dialysis to keep them alive and one in three of those patients gets their treatment from a company called DaVita (DVA). High demand has this Denver-based health care company growing faster than ever.

“When your kidney fails, you die unless you’re one of the fortunate few who get transplanted,” explains DaVita’s Chairman and CEO Kent Thiry. “When we go to the bathroom, we urinate out the toxins in everything that we eat and drink and breathe. When your kidney doesn’t work, you can’t get rid of those toxins.”

DaVita has nearly 2,000 dialysis centers throughout the country. Patients typically visit a center three times a week for three to four hours. As Thiry explains, patients are then hooked up to a machine that removes their blood, cleans it, and puts it back into their body.

That process is where DaVita makes most of its money, but last year’s $4.4 billion acquisition of “HealthCare Partners” has helped the company expand past kidney care too.

But getting a return on that investment will be no small feat given well established competitors like Universal Health Services (UHS), Athena Health (ATHN) and HCA Healthcare (HCA). The competition hasn't dampened Thiry's aspiration to completely overhaul the American health care system.

In a world where everyone is connecting online, doctors and hospitals have been struggling to streamline decades of disconnected data. Electronic health records (EHR) are the way of the future. A 2011 McKinsey & Company study suggested that the health care industry could save $300 billion a year with the better data management that EHR provides. San Francisco-based Practice Fusion is trying to fix the data problem and is a leader in the industry, putting you health records online and making them accessible to doctors.

CEO Ryan Howard launched the company in 2005 after running into his own problems transferring his health records. "In 1999 I drove from New Hampshire to San Francisco, and I realized during the transition that I had a struggle getting my health records," he explains. "As I dug into this further I realized that the average patient sees 19 different doctors in their lifetime and that there's 200,000 deaths a year because this information is not available."

Practice Fusion handles every step of your doctors visit beginning with scheduling your appointment. When you arrive and a nurse takes your vitals, like weight, blood pressure, allergies, and your ailment, that is added to the Practice Fusion system, creating a personalized medical record that can be shared with any doctor that may need it. It's even connected to most pharmacies so when you leave the office your medication will be ready to pick up.

"It's the most efficient place for [pharmaceutical companies ] to come and have a dialog with doctors. The laboratories, it's the most efficient place for them to come and connect with doctors," says Howard.

And perhaps the best part, it's free for doctors and patients. As for profit, it's all about the data.

When you turn on the faucet of your kitchen sink or bathroom shower, it's easy to forget that behind the water is a really big business. From finding a clean source, to purifying it, and getting it into your home, there are plenty of ways to profit from good old H2O. And the demand for safe, clean water in every corner of the world has never been higher.

We were reminded of its importance last week with the United Nation's 20th annual World Water Day. Connecticut Water Services (CTWS) marked the occasion by ringing the closing bell at the Nasdaq marketsite. Their CEO, Eric Thornburg notes that World Water Day "commemorates the impact that water has on the lives of people all over the world. And of course in the U.S. we’re very proud of that impact, because people can take a drink of water and not have a second thought about its safety or freshness. But in other parts of the world you can’t do that. There are over a billion people around the globe that do not have access to safe drinking water."

But from that global crisis flows opportunity. Investors are catching on to the value of water and many believe it could be the next great commodity to invest in.

The S&P Global Water Index (CGW) outperformed the benchmark S&P 500 index last year rising 21% against the S&P's 16% gain. PowerShares Water Resources fund (PHO), the largest ETF in the sector, saw a 23% jump in 2012 as well, and Thornburg's Connecticut Water Services, despite facing some near-term price pressure, is up 20% in the last five years.

"I think the real investment opportunity is in the infrastructure and the systems that treat and protect this resource," Thornburg says. "Purifying the water and pumping it and storing it and having it available when it's needed, that's really our business."

Ask anyone who lives in or tries to get around in a major city and they'll tell you any number of stories about a hellish commute, difficulty getting a cab in the rain, or navigating a tricky subway system. This is exactly why on-demand car service, "Uber" is getting the green light to expand in cities all around the world. Their goal is simple: turn your travel headache into a luxury experience while they make a profit.

"At the beginning, me and my co-founder just wanted to push a button and get a ride and we wanted it to be a classy ride," says CEO Travis Kalanick. "Go to a restaurant, get out, push a button, within five minutes an S-class rolls up and everybody’s like, 'how the hell did that happen?'"

Using an app on your mobile device you request a ride and a couple taps of the finger later a black town car is dispatched to your location. It's a simple idea that has caught on in a big way. The company began in San Francisco and in about two and a half years has grown to 30 cities around the world. From New York and Chicago to Paris and London. Just last month the company entered the Asian market, launching in Singapore.

Service fares begin with a base fee. From there, similar to standard cab fares, if you travel above 11 miles per hour fees are based on distance. If traffic slows you down fees are based on the time you spend in the car. Prices also fluctuate based on demand in the city you're in.

The average rider's of pocket cost is about 40-50% more than a standard cab, but so far customers aren't having any problem paying for the convenience.

A new wave of hospitality is sweeping the multi-billion dollar travel industry. Thanks to the internet people aren’t just ditching their travel agents, they’re ditching traditional resorts and hotels too.

Airbnb is one of the start-ups leading the revolution. Their website connects travelers with locals. So instead of staying in that high-priced hotel, you can stay in an actual house or apartment.

CEO Brian Chesky says they’re not re-inventing the vacation, just bringing back an old trend. “People keep thinking this is some bold new idea,” he says, “but actually up until 100 years ago, or say World War II, when people traveled staying in a home was actually very normal.”

Chesky and his friends/co-founders, Joe Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk, stumbled on the idea six years ago when they couldn’t pay rent.

“An international design conference was coming to San Francisco,” Chesky recalls, “all the hotels were sold out and [I said], what if we created a bed and breakfast for the conference. Unfortunately I didn't have any beds but Joe had three air beds. We inflated them and we called it the 'Air Bed and Breakfast.' We ended up hosting three people from around the world, we made enough money to make our rent, but more importantly it was like we got to travel without leaving our home.”

Airbnb's Rapid Growth

A year later a company was born. Airbnb listings have grown from 10,000 at the end of 2009 to 300,000 across 192 countries today. Those listings include everything from posh New York City apartments to tree houses in Costa Rica to Igloos in France.

Customers pay right through Airbnb’s website and the company takes a cut before paying the owner.

But the journey hasn’t been easy. The company had a tough time finding early financial backers and faced legal and safety issues from the start.

After dropping below $5 a share during the depths of financial crisis, shares of AutoNation (AN) are hitting all-time highs at nearly $50. True believers who invested in the struggling auto industry during the dark days of 2008 are now seeing stellar returns.

In our special series Breakout Profiles, we explore what's next for our nation's largest auto dealer.

For starters, they can change the way car dealers have done business for the last 100 years. AutoNation is in the process of branding all of its more than 200 stores nationwide. Once finished, every dealership in its network will be under the company flag.

AutoNation's goal is to create brand efficiencies in advertising and to standardize the customer experience. The risk is that consumers won't take to buying cars from a mass-merchant, in turn abandoning the family-run dealership they've done business with for years. AutoNation only has one shot at making the change effectively — or it will hurt their brand for years. The company's Chairman & CEO Mike Jackson isn't worried about the challenge.

"We've invested $3.7 billion in expanding facilities and new technology, in processes, in acquiring different car lines to give a broader offering," Jackson says in the attached video. "So we've been preparing for this day for 13 years, and we're ready."

The stock has been a huge winner for investors over the last four years, but what they should do now? If they take their cue from Jackson, investors will buy the stock. The company has been a massive buyer of its own stock over the last 10 years, putting AutoNation not just in the car business, but also in the role of fund manager, of sorts.

A revolution is underway in the battle for your living room. Referred to as cutting the cord, more people are switching from subscription cable and satellite TV to streaming services, also called over-the-top services, like Netflix (NFLX). Industry watchers like Business Insider believe a generational shift is underway, with younger viewers leaving television in favor of wireless internet that allows them to stream content to mobile devices.

Tech giants Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL) have taken notice and are also in the game of trying to change the way we view television. But a smaller tech company is giving them all a run for the money. In our first episode of “Breakout Profiles” we’re introducing you to Aereo — the only company streaming live local television to users.

With strong financial backing from media titan Barry Diller, chairman of IAC and known widely for creating the Fox Broadcasting Company and USA Broadcasting, the company got off the ground quickly, and launched in March 2012.

Right now, the Internet-based service is only operating in New York City. It delivers 31 channels in three different languages — ranging from NBC and CBS to Telemundo and SinoVision — right to smartphones, tablets, PCs and even existing television sets.

In order to offer more flexibility than traditional pay-TV, there’s no subscription required. Membership plans range from $1 a day to $8 a month. And if you spring for the entire year, it’ll cost you a total of $80 --which is what many of us pay for cable each month.

“The idea that you have to buy everything in this consolidated package is what we are really trying to go after,” says Chet Kanojia, founder and CEO of Aereo. “I don’t know many 35 [years old] and under today that are desperately calling the cable company and saying ‘gosh I want that cable package.’”

Kanojia explains in the attached video that getting even a small percentage of viewers to cut the cable cord will go a long way in transforming the industry.