Maple Leaf Foods has recovered nicely since it fell to $6.54 in October 2008 following a listeriosis outbreak and a massive recall of meat products.

Since the recall, the company has been settling lawsuits and investing in new food-safety equipment and procedures. These costs have weighed on its recent earnings. However, Maple Leaf’s long-term outlook is improving, thanks to its focus …read more »

We hardly ever recommend buying new issues when they are first sold to the public, and often stay away from them for months, if not years, afterward. That’s because new issues often come to market when it’s a good time for the company and/or its insiders to sell, but that’s not necessarily a good time for you to buy.

Spinoffs …read more »

I hope you are enjoying and profiting from my daily updates on TSI Network.

Aside from the daily updates, TSI Network offers a range of other benefits, including over 2,000 articles on individual investments and how you can use our time-tested approach to maximize and protect your profits.

Finding what you’re looking for couldn’t be easier. TSI Network gives you a …read more »

When analyzing any new investment, including value stock picks, one key question we ask early on is, “What can this cost us if something goes wrong?” (You can learn more about our value-investing approach to selecting stocks in our new free report, “Canadian Stock Market Basics: How to Trade Stocks and Make Good Investments in Canada.”)

There is no simple rule …read more »

MAPLE LEAF FOODS INC. $9.17 (Toronto symbol MFI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 129.3 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.2; SI Rating: Average) produces fresh and prepared beef and poultry under the Maple Leaf and Schneider brands.

It also owns 89.8% of CANADA BREAD CO. LTD. $41 (Toronto symbol CBY; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: …read more »

ECONOMIC INVESTMENT TRUST $59.64 (Toronto symbol EVT) holds a well-diversified portfolio of high-quality Canadian, U.S. and foreign stocks.

The $378-million fund’s largest holdings include E-L Financial, Algoma Central Railway, Chevron, Nissan Motor, Royal Dutch Shell, BNP Paribas, Pfizer, ConocoPhillips, Allianz SE, BASF SE, ING Group and Vodafone Group plc.

The fund holds 55.4% of its portfolio in Canada, followed by the U.S. …read more »

One of the most common investment platitudes you’ll ever hear is that investors should “have a plan (or system) and stick to it.”

This is good advice if your alternative is to invest without any sort of plan. However, unlike the time-tested value investing approach, many of today’s investment plans are not worth sticking with.

Value investing: Look beyond financial …read more »

CANADIAN GENERAL INVESTMENT TRUST $12.25 (Toronto symbol: CGI) mainly invests in shares of Canadian companies. Its discount to its net asset value now stands at 22%. The trust now holds a high 16.3% of its assets in cash, up from just 0.5% a year ago.

THIRD CANADIAN GENERAL INVESTMENT TRUST $22 (Toronto symbol: THD) holds 68% of its assets in units …read more »

Some investment observations are so basic and indisputable that in my opinion they deserve to be referred to as “laws”. One good example is what I call “McKeough’s Law on New Issue Timing,” which is this: New issues come to market when it’s a good time for the company and/or its insiders to sell, but that’s not necessarily a good …read more »

The Successful Investor value investing approach follows the basic model set by the old-fashioned Graham/Dodd approach. Basically, it tries to identify well-financed companies that are well-established in their businesses and have a history of earnings and dividends. They are likely to survive any economic setback that comes along, and thrive anew when prosperity returns, as it inevitably does.
When we recommend …read more »

ACCORD FINANCIAL CORP. $6.19 (Toronto symbol ACD; SI Rating: Speculative) (416-961-0007; www.accordfinancial.com; Shares outstanding: 9.4 million; Market cap: $58.2 million) is in the factoring business in Canada and the U.S. Factoring is the purchase of a company’s accounts receivable at a discount. Accord profits by collecting these, though it also assumes the risk. Accord can also handle a company’s credit-checking, …read more »

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD. $36 (Toronto symbol CP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 167.7 million; Market cap: $6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; SI Rating: Above Average) ships freight over a 25,000-kilometre rail network between Montreal and Vancouver. In the United States, its subsidiaries connect its Canadian lines to major hubs in the midwest and northeast. Alliances …read more »

CP’s shares soared to a high of $90 in July 2007. They have since fallen 60%, to $36. The stock was probably overpriced at $90 and 21 times earnings. But it now trades at 9.1 times this year’s forecast earnings, and it yields 2.8%.

This well-established company is a mainstay of the Canadian economy. It’s a rare low-risk treat to be …read more »

TEMPLETON EMERGING MARKETS FUND $7.87 (New York symbol EMF; CWA Fund Rating: Speculative) is a closed-end fund that invests in equities from emerging economies. Franklin Templeton manages the fund.

Templeton Emerging Market Fund’s holdings are spread around the world. Although volatile, the fund gives investors access to countries like Brazil, China, India and others that still have strong growth prospects.

The $187.6-million …read more »

NEW GERMANY FUND $5.90 (New York symbol GF; CWA Fund Rating: Speculative) is a closed-end fund that invests mostly in small and mid-cap German equities. The fund’s manager is Deutsche Asset Management.

The $198-million fund’s 52 holdings operate in Germany (91%) and the Netherlands (9%).

The New Germany Fund’s top holdings are Fresenius (health care equipment & supplies), 6.8%; European Aeronautical Defense …read more »

KOREA FUND $18.27 (New York symbol KF; CWA Fund Rating: Speculative) is a closed-end fund that invests at least 80% of its assets in Korean equities. Currently, all of its assets are in South Korean stocks. RCM Asia Pacific manages the fund.

Korea Fund’s top holdings are Samsung Electronics at 9.9%; KT&G Corporation (a cigarette maker), 4.7%; KT Corporation (telecommunications), 4.2%; …read more »

We’ve long advised that investing outside of Canada and the United States can expose you to increased volatility and risk. The sharp downturn in many foreign markets during the current global slowdown proves this. But there are still regions or countries that offer lots of growth potential.

We still think that for most investors, the best way to invest in these …read more »

WEYERHAEUSER CO. $26 (New York symbol WY; Conservative Growth Portfolio; Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 211.3 million; Market cap: $5.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; WSSF Rating: Average) is looking to lower its annual expenses by $375 million including cutting its workforce by 3%, as weak housing markets have hurt demand for its lumber. In 2008, it lost $5.57 a share (or …read more »

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. $44 (Toronto symbol CNR; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 464.9 million; Market cap: $20.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.5; SI Rating: Above Average) operates the largest freight-rail network in Canada, and serves 16 U.S. states. It hauls consumer and industrial goods, which accounted for 21% of its 2008 revenue, forest products (19%), grain …read more »

ECONOMIC INVESTMENT TRUST $50 (Toronto symbol: EVT) holds a well-diversified portfolio of high-quality Canadian, U.S. and foreign stocks.

The $510.3-million fund’s largest holdings include E-L Financial, Algoma Central Railway, Chevron, Nissan Motor, Royal Dutch Shell, Altria Group, Pfizer, ConocoPhillips, Allianz SE, BASF SE, ING Group and Vodafone Group plc.

The fund breaks down geographically as follows: Canada, 55%; U.S., 14.2%, Europe, 19.6%, …read more »

TRUE ENERGY TRUST $1.25 (Toronto symbol TUI.UN; SI Rating: Speculative) (403-264-8875; www.trueenergy.ab.ca; Units outstanding: 78.5 million; Market cap: $98.1 million) produces oil and gas, mostly in Alberta and Saskatchewan. About 65% of output is gas.

In the three months ended September 30, 2008, production fell 6.4%, to 11,263 barrels of oil equivalent per day, from 14,096 barrels. The decline came because …read more »

TRILOGY ENERGY TRUST $5.41 (Toronto symbol TET.UN; SI Rating: Speculative) (403-290-2900; www.trilogyenergy.com; Units outstanding: 95.4 million; Market cap: $516.3 million) holds oil and gas properties in the Kaybob and Grande Prairie areas of central Alberta. Trilogy’s production is weighted approximately 80% toward natural gas and 20% to oil.

In the three months ended September 30, 2008, Trilogy’s production rose 3.1%, to …read more »

Oil and gas trusts are mostly down lately, along with crude oil and natural gas prices.

These three trusts are now cheap in relation to their forecast 2009 cash flows, which are based on those lower oil and gas prices.

ZARGON ENERGY TRUST $14.87 (Toronto symbol ZAR.UN; SI Rating: Speculative) (403-264-9992; www.zargon.ca; Units outstanding: 18.4 million; Market cap: $274.1 million) has oil …read more »

THE CHURCHILL CORP. $8 (Toronto symbol CUQ: SI Rating: Speculative) (780-454-3667; www.churchillcorporation.com; Shares outstanding: 17.8 million; Market cap: $142.6 million) offers a range of construction, general contracting, maintenance, insulation, fireproofing, electrical and power-line construction services to clients in the resource extraction, industrial, utility and power-generation industries throughout western Canada.

In the three months ended September 30, 2008, Churchill’s revenues rose 12.4%, …read more »

MAPLE LEAF FOODS INC. $10 (Toronto symbol MFI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 126.3 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.2; SI Rating: Average) continues to make progress with its multi-year restructuring plan. This mainly includes a shift to packaged meats under the Maple Leaf and Schneider brands, which generate higher earnings for it than fresh meats. …read more »

Our long-standing advice is to invest in well established companies and spread your funds out across the five main economic sectors: Manufacturing & Industry, Resources & Commodities, the Consumer sector, Finance and Utilities.

Generally speaking, stocks in the Resources & Commodities sector and the Manufacturing & Industry sectors expose you to above-average volatility, while those in the Finance and Utilities sectors …read more »

EUROPEAN EQUITY FUND $5.46 (New York symbol EEA; CWA Fund Rating: Conservative) invests mainly in large-capitalization European stocks in the 15 countries that use the Euro currency. It may invest up to 20% of its assets in countries that do not use the Euro currency.

The countries that use the Euro currency are Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, …read more »

ENERPLUS RESOURCES FUND $26.42 (Toronto symbol ERF.UN; Shares outstanding: 165.3 million; Market cap: $4.4 billion; SI Rating: Speculative) is one of North America’s largest oil and gas trusts. Production is currently weighted 60% toward natural gas and 40% to oil.

Enerplus continues to focus on building a well diversified portfolio balanced between low-risk, shorter- term assets that generate steady cash flow …read more »

CANADIAN GENERAL INVESTMENT TRUST $10.01 (Toronto symbol: CGI) mainly invests in shares of Canadian companies. Its discount to its net asset value now stands at 28%. The trust now holds a high 19.6% of its assets in cash, up from just 1.4% a year earlier.

THIRD CANADIAN GENERAL INVESTMENT TRUST $20.86 (Toronto symbol: THD) holds 68% of its assets in units …read more »

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. $86 (New York symbol IBM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.3 billion; Market cap: $111.8 billion; WSSF Rating; Above average) is the world’s largest computer company, with operations in over 170 countries. It specializes in large mainframe computers for governments and corporations.

The company now gets over 50% of its revenue from its …read more »

In the early 1990s, IBM began to lose its decades-long dominance over the computer industry to newer companies like Microsoft (software) and Intel (chips). That prompted the company to focus on selling its expertise. It subsequently sold most of its less profitable operations, including its home computer division.

This transformation continues to pay off. Demand for computer services tends to be …read more »

CANADIAN TIRE CORP. $41 (Toronto symbol CTC.A; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 81.5 million; Market cap: $3.3 billion; SI Rating: Above average) operates 473 stores that sell automotive, household and sporting goods. It also operates 82 PartSource stores (auto parts), 364 Mark’s Work Wearhouse stores (casual clothing) and 269 gas stations.

The company continues to profit from its ongoing …read more »

JAPAN SMALLER CAP FUND $6.41 (New York symbol JOF; CWA Rating: Aggressive) invests mainly in less-widely-followed Japanese over-the-counter stocks. The fund’s top holdings are Jupiter Telecom, Rohto Pharmaceutical Co., Moshi Moshi Hotline, Inc., Seven Bank, Ltd., Kuraray Co., Ltd. and Air Water Inc.

Japan Smaller Cap Fund sells for a 12% discount to the current value of its assets.

Japan Smaller Cap …read more »

Japanese stock markets remain volatile, along with global markets. As well, a slowing U.S. economy continues to hurt Japan’s major export industries. However, we think that Japan’s interest rate cuts and $51 billion stimulus package will help stock prices rebound.

JAPAN EQUITY FUND $4.51 (New York symbol JEQ; CWA Rating: Aggressive) invests mostly in large capitalization stocks on the Tokyo Stock …read more »

ABERDEEN ASIA-PACIFIC INCOME $4.39 (Toronto symbol FAP; Shares outstanding: 52.1 million; Market cap: $228.6 million; CWA Rating: Income) is a closed-end fund that invests mainly in Australian debt instruments. It also invests in U.S.-dollar-denominated Asian and Latin American bonds, and in bonds denominated in currencies from those countries. Right now it has 30.8% of its assets in Asian and Latin …read more »

UNITED CORPORATIONS $47 (Toronto symbol: UNC) (165 University Ave., 10th Floor, Toronto, ON M5H 3B8. 416-947-2583. Buy or sell through a broker) invests in a wide variety of average-quality to above-average quality Canadian and foreign stocks.

At last report, 35.3% of the fund’s $1.0 billion portfolio was invested in Canadian equities, 23.7% in the U.S., 20.2% in Europe, 6.3% in the …read more »

NEW IRELAND FUND $9.20 (New York symbol IRL; Shares outstanding: 5.1 million; Market cap: $47.2 million; CWA Rating: Aggressive) invests in Irish companies. The fund’s manager is the Bank of Ireland, which dates back to 1783.

The Irish economy has slowed along with lower housing prices in the country, plus a slowdown in exports. Longer term, the country’s openness to foreign …read more »

INDIA FUND $19.58 (New York symbol IFN; Shares outstanding: 42.5 million; Market cap: $832.5 million; CWA Rating: Aggressive) invests mainly in large-capitalization Indian stocks. The manager of the fund is the Blackstone Group.

India’s growth has exceeded 9% annually over the last few years. The global slowdown and credit problems will hurt the Indian economy, but growth could still be as …read more »

SINGAPORE FUND $8.19 (New York symbol SGF; Shares outstanding: 9.4 million; Market cap: $76.7 million; CWA Rating: Aggressive) is fully invested in Singapore stocks. The manager is the Development Bank of Singapore.

Singapore’s economy is dependent on exports to major markets such as the U.S., China and Japan. It should prosper anew when these market recover.

The Singapore Fund’s top holdings are: …read more »

SWISS HELVETIA FUND $11.39 (New York symbol SWZ; Shares outstanding: 33.2 million; Market cap: $378.6 million; CWA Rating: Conservative) invests mainly in large-capitalization Swiss stocks. The fund’s manager is Hottinger Group, which, as Banque Hottinger, dates back to 1786.

The Swiss government has moved quickly to restore confidence in its banking system. This includes taking a 9% interest in banking giant …read more »

Turmoil in financial markets and slowing economies have hurt stock markets worldwide. But when government measures to counter the credit crisis begin to take effect, and when economic growth resumes, top-quality foreign stocks should rebound.

Here are four closed-end funds trading on the New York Exchange at discounts to their net asset value. Three are buys, and one is a hold.

SWISS …read more »

GENERAL MILLS INC. $64 (New York symbol GIS; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 334.1 million; Market cap: $21.4 billion; WSSF Rating: Above average) is the second-largest cereal maker in the United States after Kellogg. Leading brands include Cheerios, Total and Wheaties. The company also makes a variety of other foods, including baking mixes (Betty Crocker), dinner mixes (Hamburger …read more »

PEPSICO INC. $54 (New York symbol PEP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $86.4 billion; WSSF Rating: Above average) aims to improve its long-term profitability with a new restructuring plan that should cut its expenses by $1.2 billion over the next three years. That will put PepsiCo in a better position to handle rising costs …read more »

These two growth stock picks face slowing growth caused by weakness in the economy, but fuel is a key cost for both of them, so these growth stock picks stand to gain from the recent plunge in oil prices.

ARKANSAS BEST CORP. $28 (Nasdaq symbol ABFS; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 25.3 million; Market cap: $708.4 million; …read more »

GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. $19 (New York symbol GE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 10.0 billion; Market cap; $190.0 billion; WSSF Rating: Above average) earned $0.45 a share in the third quarter of 2008, down 10% from $0.50 a year earlier. That’s mostly due to a 33% drop in profits at GE’s finance division, which accounts for …read more »

Among other bargain stocks, we’ve discovered a diversified Canadian food processing company whose brands have a lot of enduring value, and whose core business, meat processing, represents 70 percent of total sales.

We figure that no matter what the economy does, people will always need to eat. So, we doubt that consumer spending on groceries will decline very much. The key …read more »

ECONOMIC INVESTMENT TRUST $75.50 (Toronto symbol: EVT) holds a well-diversified portfolio of high-quality Canadian, U.S. and foreign stocks.

The $589.8 million fund’s largest holdings include E-L Financial, Algoma Central Railway, Chevron, Nissan Motor, Royal Dutch Shell, Altria Group, Dow Chemical, ConocoPhillips, Allianz SE, Arcelor Mittal, ING Groep, Vodafone Group plc, Renault, Xstrata plc and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial.

The fund breaks down geographically …read more »

TEMPLETON EMERGING MARKETS FUND $15.32 (New York symbol EMF; CWA Fund Rating: Speculative) is a closed-end fund that invests in equities from emerging economies. The fund’s manager is Franklin Templeton.

Templeton Emerging Market Fund provides broad geographic diversification. Although volatile, it provides access to fast-growing economies such as Brazil, China, India and others.

The $445.4 million fund’s regional allocation is Asia (58.2%), …read more »

NEW GERMANY FUND $10.41 (New York symbol GF; CWA Fund Rating: Speculative) is a closed-end fund that invests mostly in middle-market (small and mid-cap) German equities. The fund’s manager is Deutsche Asset Management.

The $378 million fund’s 51 holdings are currently in Germany (95%) and the Netherlands (5%). The New Germany Fund’s focus on mid-tier German stocks provides investors with access …read more »

KOREA FUND $15.09 (New York symbol KF; CWA Fund Rating: Speculative) is a closed-end fund that invests at least 80% of its assets in Korean equities. Currently, 99% of its assets are in South Korean stocks. The fund’s manager is RCM Asia Pacific.

The fund’s top holdings are Samsung Electronics at 9.1%; Posco (steel), 6.5%; KT&G Corporation (cigarette maker), 4.3%; Shinhan …read more »