J.P. MORGAN CHASE & CO. $34 (New York symbol JPM; Income Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 3.9 billion; Market cap: $132.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 2.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.jpmorganchase.com) is one of the world’s largest financial-services companies, with 5,400 retail bank branches in the U.S. It also offers credit cards, wealth-management and investment-banking services.

In the three months …read more »

WELLS FARGO & CO. $26 (New York symbol WFC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 5.3 billion; Market cap: $137.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.wellsfargo.com) provides a wide variety of financial services through roughly 9,000 branches in the U.S. It also operates in Canada, the Caribbean and Central America. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway …read more »

LOBLAW COMPANIES $38.50 (Toronto symbol L; Shares outstanding: 298.5 million; Market cap: $11.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 2.2%; www.loblaw.ca) started selling mobile phones and prepaid plans under the President’s Choice Mobile brand in 2005. It sells these products through self-serve kiosks in about half of its 1,000 supermarkets.

Loblaw now plans to open full-service mobile phone shops in …read more »

MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $32.72 (Toronto symbol MBT; Shares outstanding: 65.5 million; Market cap: $2.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.2%; www.mts.ca) plans to deploy Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless technology in 2012. LTE networks are up to five times faster than its current high-speed wireless systems.

The company did not reveal the cost of these upgrades. However, this technology …read more »

AMERICAN EXPRESS CO. $51 (New York symbol AXP, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $61.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 1.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.americanexpress.com) earned $1.2 billion, or $1.03 a share, in the three months ended September 30, 2011, up 13.0% from $1.1 billion, or $0.90 a share, a year earlier. Loan-loss provisions …read more »

CAE INC. $9.67 (Toronto symbol CAE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 257.2 million; Market cap: $2.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cae.com) makes military and airline flight simulators. It also runs pilot-training schools.

CAE continues to apply its simulator expertise to new fields, such as medical training. It recently bought Florida-based Medical …read more »

TORSTAR CORP. $8.97 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 79.5 million; Market cap: $713.1 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 5.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.torstar.com) publishes The Toronto Star, which is Canada’s largest daily newspaper by circulation. The company also publishes three other daily newspapers and over 100 weeklies, mainly in southern Ontario. Torstar’s newspaper …read more »

THOMSON REUTERS CORP. $29 (Toronto symbol TRI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 836.8 million; Market cap: $24.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 4.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.thomsonreuters.com) has two main divisions: Markets (which supplied 57% of Thomson Reuters’ 2010 revenue and 48% of its earnings), sells news and information products to banks and other financial institutions. …read more »

CANADA BREAD CO. LTD. $43 (Toronto symbol CBY; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 25.4 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 1.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadabread.ca) is Canada’s second-largest producer of baked goods, after Weston Bakery. It also makes pastas and sauces. Its main brands include Dempster, Tenderflake and Olivieri.

Canada Bread’s sales rose from …read more »

MAPLE LEAF FOODS INC. $11 (Toronto symbol MFI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 144.4 million; Market cap: $1.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.3; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mapleleaf.ca) is Canada’s largest food-processing company. It mainly makes its products, which include fresh and prepared meats and poultry, under the Maple Leaf and Schneider brands. This business accounts for …read more »