Dorel Industries (Toronto symbol DII.B) makes a wide range of products, including ready-to-assemble home and office furniture; juvenile products, such as car seats, strollers, high chairs, toddler beds and cribs; home furnishings, including chairs, tables, bunk beds, futons and step stools; and recreational products, including bicycles. It has 4,700 employees, and plants in 19 countries.

We analyze Dorel in Stock Pickers …read more »

Baxter International Inc., New York symbol BAX, has two divisions: Medical Products (57% of sales) makes intravenous pumps, syringes and kidney-dialysis equipment; and BioScience (43%) makes vaccines and drugs.

Overseas markets account for 60% of its sales. As well, about half of Baxter’s sales are single-use medical products that hospitals and clinics must continually reorder.

Baxter’s sales in the first quarter of …read more »

If you’re a member of our Inner Circle service or a subscriber to one of our newsletters—or if you’re thinking of becoming a subscriber—you’ll want to make sure you “like” our Facebook page right away.

That’s because, every Wednesday afternoon, you learn “what’s on Pat’s mind”. That’s when Pat gives you a special advance preview of what he’s working on for …read more »

C.R. Bard Inc, symbol BCR on New York, makes medical devices in four main areas: vascular products (28% of sales) such as stents and catheters; oncology products (27%) that detect and treat various types of cancer; urology products (26%) such as drainage and incontinence devices; and surgical tools (16%). Other medical products supply the remaining 3%.

We analyze C.R. Bard in …read more »

Chances are that the May 2 election results will lead to a period of investor-friendly legislation in Canada, with growth in the economy and a healthy stock-market atmosphere. Just one example: With a Conservative majority in Parliament, we may soon see higher contribution limits for both RRSPs and Tax-Free Savings Accounts.

My view is that there’s a beneficial but widely overlooked …read more »

Western Union, symbol WU on New York, provides money-transfer and foreign-exchange services in over 200 countries and territories.

You can get our full stock market trading advice on Western Union in our Wall Street Stock Forecaster newsletter.

In the 2011 first quarter, Western Union reported revenue of $1.3 billion. That’s up 4.1% from $1.2 billion in the comparable 2010 period.

The company …read more »

We downplay market-timing and stock-price predictions in our advice. Instead, we focus on investment quality. But we adjust our recommendations to reflect our view of current market risk.

When risk seems high, we lean toward “hold” instead of “buy”, or “sell” instead of “hold”.

In June 2006, we advised selling a dozen former buys. We weren’t trying to pinpoint a …read more »

Reitmans (Canada) Ltd., symbol RET.A on Toronto, owns 968 women’s clothing stores across Canada.

We analyze Reitmans in Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter for aggressive investing in today’s stock market.

These include 364 Reitmans, 161 Penningtons, 158 Smart Set, 121 Addition Elle, 75 Thyme Maternity, 67 RW & Co. and 22 Cassis stores. Reitmans continues to actively monitor its regional markets, and …read more »

When a company splits its shares, it is simply cutting itself up into a different number of pieces, without changing its fundamental value. It simply wants its stock to trade in a price-per-share range that seems reasonable to investors.

Stock market trading: How a share split works

If a stock’s price rises much beyond $50 a share in Canada (or $100 a …read more »

We’ve long relied on these 4 tips when picking stocks to recommend in our investment newsletters and services. We think they can help you pick winners in today’s stock market, too.

1. Always ask yourself, “What can go wrong with this investment?” What upcoming event/technology/political trend could derail its profitability? In other words, don’t fall in love with a stock just because

…read more »