Hidden value is one of the key factors we look for when we choose stocks to recommend in our newsletters and investment services, including Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our advisory that covers the U.S. stock markets.

(In a recent Wall Street Stock Forecaster hotline, we updated our buy/sell/hold advice on a technology stock that uses one of our favourite hidden assets …read more »

INTUITIVE SURGICAL $365.98 (Nasdaq symbol ISRG; SI Rating: Average) (515-507-5000; www.intuitivesurgical.com; Shares outstanding: 39.2 million; Market cap: $14.3 billion; No dividends paid) has more than doubled for us since we first recommended the stock at $150 last June.

The company makes the “da Vinci,” a computerized surgical system for use in heart surgery and other procedures. The da Vinci is safer …read more »

NISSAN MOTOR $17.25 (Nasdaq symbol NSANY; SI Rating: Above Average) (310-771-3111; www.nissan.ca; Shares outstanding: 2.3 billion; Market cap: $39.0 billion) has set a price for its LEAF electric vehicle, which will be the first electric car to be widely sold in the U.S.

Nissan plans to ship the LEAF to selected U.S. dealers in December, and sell the car nationwide in …read more »

MOSAID TECHNOLOGIES INC. $22.18 (Toronto symbol MSD; SI Rating: Extra Risk) (613- 599-9539; www.mosaid.com; Shares outstanding: 11.8 million; Market cap: $260.9 million; Dividend yield: 4.5%) mainly licenses patented semiconductor (computer chip) and telecommunications technology, including patents for technology used in smartphones and laptops. The company complements this business by developing its own memory and other technologies. In total, Mosaid holds …read more »

GENNUM CORP. $7.15 (Toronto symbol GND; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 35.4 million; Market cap: $253.1 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.6; Dividend yield: 2.0%; SI Rating: Average) makes equipment that stores, manipulates and transfers video signals. It also makes chips that improve the flow of data inside computer networks.

In its first quarter, which ended February 28, 2010, …read more »

AASTRA TECHNOLOGIES $33.27 (Toronto symbol AAH; SI Rating: Speculative) (905-760-4200; www.aastra.com; Shares outstanding: 13.9 million; Market cap: $462.5 million; Dividend yield: 2.4%) develops and markets products and systems for accessing communication networks, including the Internet.

In the three months ended December 31, 2009, Aastra’s earnings per share jumped to $1.11. A year earlier, the company earned $0.10 a share. Despite the …read more »

GENNUM CORP. $6.06 (Toronto symbol GND; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 35.4 million; Market cap: $214.5 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield: 2.3%; SI Rating: Above Average) makes equipment that stores, manipulates and transfers video signals. It also makes chips that make computer networks work more quickly.

Gennum mainly sells its products to television broadcasters. However, the …read more »

Hidden value is one of the key factors we look for when we choose stocks to recommend in our newsletters and investment services, including Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter that covers the U.S. stock market.

By hidden value, we mean valuable assets that are not getting the attention they deserve from investors. When a company’s assets are wholly or partially …read more »

AUTODESK INC. $28 (Nasdaq symbol ADSK; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 229.7 million; Market cap: $6.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.8; No dividends paid; WSSF Rating: Average) makes computer-assisted design software that lets engineers and architects analyze their products’ performance early in the design process. That saves time and money, and improves the quality of the final …read more »

SYMANTEC CORP. $17 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 806.2 million; Market cap: $13.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; No dividends paid; WSSF Rating: Average) makes software that protects computers from viruses and intruders.

Computer sales have risen with the recent launch of Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system. Symantec has deals to pre-install its Norton Anti-Virus …read more »

ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $35 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 524.1 million; Market cap: $18.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 6.0; No dividends paid since June 2005; WSSF Rating: Average) makes Abode Acrobat, which lets users easily create, edit and share electronic documents in the popular PDF format. As well, graphic designers use Adobe’s Creative Suite …read more »

MICROSOFT CORP. $29 (Nasdaq symbol MSFT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 8.8 billion; Market cap: $255.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.2; Dividend yield: 1.8%; WSSF Rating: Above Average) is the world’s largest software company. Its Windows operating system runs 90% of the world’s computers. As well, the company’s Office suite of programs dominates the business-software field. Together, …read more »

An improving global economy should push up software sales in 2010. As well, software makers typically earn higher profit margins than other technology companies, so even a modest sales increase would sharply lift these companies’ earnings.

Even so, the software industry remains highly volatile. To cut your risk, you should stick with well-established software companies, such as these four. All are …read more »

APPLE INC. $201 (Nasdaq symbol AAPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 906.8 million; Market cap: $182.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.8; No dividends paid; WSSF Rating: Average) will start selling its new iPad tablet computer in late March in the U.S.

Apple could sell 6 million iPads in the first year. When you account for the cost of …read more »

FAIR ISAAC CORP. $23 (New York symbol FICO; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 46.5 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 0.4%; WSSF Rating: Average) sells products and services that help businesses around the world make better decisions on customer creditworthiness. Its main business is its FICO software, which lets creditors use a …read more »

FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION $21.80 (New York symbol FICO; SI Rating: Average) (415-472-2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 46.5 million; Market cap: $1.0 billion; Dividend yield 0.4%) reports that its revenue fell 7.3% in the three months ended December 31, 2009, to $151.5 million from $163.5 million a year earlier. That’s because tight credit markets have hurt the financial institutions that are its …read more »

CGI GROUP INC. $14 (Toronto symbol GIB.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 292.7 million; Market cap: $4.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; No dividends paid; SI Rating: Extra Risk) is Canada’s largest provider of computer-outsourcing services.

In CGI’s first quarter, which ended December 31, 2009, its earnings rose 13.0%, to $80.7 million from $71.4 million a year earlier. …read more »

We’ve chosen IBM as our Stock of the Year for 2010. That’s no guarantee of gains, of course. But it does tell you we feel IBM seems to offer above-average if not great returns this year, but with below-average risk.

In the past decade, IBM has transformed itself from a computer maker to a computer-services provider. That’s because selling its expertise …read more »

APPLE INC. $208 (Nasdaq symbol AAPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 906.3 million; Market cap: $188.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.1; No dividends paid; WSSF Rating: Average) has gained 2,089.5% since we first recommended it at $9.50 (adjusted for splits) in our November 2000 issue.

Back then, the iPod was still a year away and Apple was struggling …read more »

SONY CORP. ADRs $33 (New York symbol SNE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $33.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 1.4%; WSSF Rating: Average) plans to start selling TV sets than can project three-dimensional (3D) images.

Demand for these sets will probably be small, at least at first. But Sony has a long …read more »

Technology has made extraordinary advances in the past decade, yet lots of investors lost money when they invested in it.

Often, that was because they invested too early. In their eagerness to get in on the “ground floor,” they bought tech stocks based mainly on potential improvements in the technology. But they failed to consider the political, financial and practical …read more »

SYMANTEC CORP. $18.71 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; SI Rating: Average) (1-408-517-8000; www.symantec.com; Shares outstanding: 810.6 million; Market cap: $15.2 billion; No dividends paid) makes software that protects computers from viruses and electronic attacks. The popular Norton anti-virus program is its best-known product.

In the three months ended October 2, 2009, Symantec earned $294 million, or $0.36 a share. That’s down 5.8% …read more »

TRIMBLE NAVIGATION $24 (Nasdaq symbol TRMB; SI Rating: Speculative) (408-481-6914; www.trimble.com; Shares outstanding: 120.4 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; No dividends paid) makes GPS devices and technology for four main markets:

1) Engineering and construction accounts for the largest share (50%) of Trimble’s sales.

2) Agricultural GPS products (28% of sales) help farmers cut costs and increase yields. For example, GPS allows …read more »

RUGGEDCOM INC. $21.01 (Toronto symbol RCM; SI Rating: Speculative) (1-888-264-0006; www.ruggedcom.com; Shares outstanding: 12.1 million; Market cap: $255.0 million; No dividends paid) has announced that one of its clients bought over $2.1 million U.S. of equipment for use in wind farms in China. That’s a record order for the company.

RuggedCom makes computer-networking equipment that is used in harsh environments. Its …read more »

TELUS CORP. $32.34 (Toronto symbol T.A; Shares outstanding: 335.6 million; Market cap: $10.9 billion; SI Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 5.9%) expects its revenue to rise by 2% to 5% in 2010, to between $9.8 billion and $10.1 billion.

Most of the gain will come from its wireless division, which accounts for half of Telus’s revenue and earnings. This division recently …read more »

TERADATA CORP. $32 (New York symbol TDC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector: Shares outstanding: 171.2 million; Market cap: $5.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.3; No dividends paid; WSSF Rating: Average) makes computers and software that capture and store large amounts of a business’s data, including its sales and inventory. Teradata then analyzes this information and identifies buying habits and …read more »

VERIGY LTD. $11.97 (Nasdaq symbol VRGY; SI Rating: Extra Risk) (1-800-447-8378; www.verigy.com; Shares outstanding: 58.8 million; Market cap: $704.3 million; No dividends paid) designs and makes test systems that are used in the production of computer chips. Verigy’s technology helps chipmakers cut down on errors and improve the reliability of their products. It has installed more than 4,500 of its …read more »

AMAZON.COM $128.36 (Nasdaq symbol AMZN; SI Rating: Extra Risk) (206-266-1000; www.amazon.com; Shares outstanding: 433.0 million; Market cap: $55.6 billion; No dividends paid) is now selling its Kindle e-book reader in Canada. The reader costs $279 U.S., plus shipping.

Canadian Kindle users can wirelessly download files from Amazon’s Kindle store, which contains over 300,000 books. Most bestsellers and new releases will be …read more »

AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES INC. $30 (New York symbol A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 346.0 million; Market cap: $10.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; WSSF Rating: Average) makes testing systems that help improve the quality of electronic products, such as cellphones, set-top boxes and high-speed Internet equipment.

The company gets 50% of its revenue from these systems, which it …read more »

AT&T INC. $27 (New York symbol T; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 5.9 billion; Market cap: $159.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; WSSF Rating: Average) sells traditional telephone services to 45.7 million consumer and business customers in 13 states. Its wireless division has 81.6 million customers nationwide.

Since 2007, AT&T has been the exclusive U.S. carrier of the hugely popular Apple …read more »

VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC. $32 (New York symbol VZ; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 2.8 billion; Market cap: $89.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; WSSF Rating: Average) has 33.4 million phone customers in 28 states. It also has 89 million wireless users.

The company is the exclusive carrier of Motorola’s new Droid smartphone, which uses the Android operating system developed by Internet …read more »

Agilent was a unit of Hewlett-Packard until 1999, when Hewlett set it up as a separate company and handed it out to its investors as a special dividend or spinoff. The company has since gone through a lot of changes. In 2005, it sold its struggling chip-making operations. In 2006, it spun off Verigy Ltd., its computer-chip-testing business. Meanwhile, it …read more »

HEWLETT-PACKARD CO. $50 (New York symbol HPQ; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 2.4 billion; Market cap: $120.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; WSSF Rating: Above Average) spun off Agilent in November 1999 as part of a plan to focus on its main computer and printer businesses.

The company is expanding its computer-services operations, which help businesses manage their …read more »

VERIGY LTD. $11 (Nasdaq symbol VRGY; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 58.8 million; Market cap: $646.8 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; WSSF Rating: Extra Risk) lost $87 million, or $1.49 a share, in the fiscal year ended October 31, 2009. It earned $71 million, or $1.18 a share, in the prior year. These figures exclude writedowns of …read more »

MTS SYSTEMS CORP. $26 (Nasdaq symbol MTSC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 16.7 million; Market cap: $434.2 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; WSSF Rating: Average) earned $17.4 million, or $1.03 a share, in the fiscal year ended October 3, 2009. That’s down 63.1% from $47.1 million, or $2.68 a share, in the prior year. However, if you …read more »

The best way to profit from rising use of smartphones and other wireless devices is through carriers, such as AT&T and Verizon. That’s because they have more revenue sources than smartphone makers. These include traditional phone, Internet and TV services. This diversity limits their reliance on a single device.

AT&T INC. $27 (New York symbol T; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares …read more »

CANON INC. ADRs $38 (New York symbol CAJ; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $45.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; WSSF Rating: Above Average) is paying roughly $1.1 billion for Oce N.V., a Netherlands-based maker of printers and scanners. Canon earned $408.2 million, or $0.33 per ADR, in the three months ended September 30, …read more »

GARMIN $32.48 (Nasdaq symbol GRMN; SI Rating: Speculative) (913-397-8200; www.garmin.com; Shares outstanding: 200.7 million; Market cap: $6.5 billion) faces an uncertain future because selling prices for its devices are falling and competition is increasing.

Motorola and Verizon Wireless recently announced the first smartphone to feature Google’s Android 2.0 operating system for mobile devices. The new phone will allow users to access …read more »

Technology stocks have always been a more speculative segment of the stock market. But you can turn the odds in your favour by investing in those that have hidden assets, or assets that other investors overlook.

Hidden assets are items that don’t show up on a company’s balance sheet, but can offer dramatic rewards for investors who are able to …read more »

TELUS CORP. (Toronto symbols T $33 and T.A $31; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 318 million; Market cap: $10.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; SI Rating: Above Average) earned $280 million in the three months ended September 30, 2009. That’s down 2.1% from $286 million a year earlier. Earnings per share fell 1.1%, to $0.88 from $0.89, on …read more »

CAE INC. $8.75 (Toronto symbol CAE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 255.6 million; Market cap: $2.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; SI Rating: Average) recently won $55 million of orders for new flight simulators from several new customers, including Malaysia Airlines, Kenya Airways and New Zealand’s Mount Cook Airlines. CAE has sold 10 flight simulators in its …read more »

In the past few years, IBM has steadily moved away from less-profitable “commoditized” products, like printers and home computers. Instead, the company is offering more computer services and software. These generate higher profit margins, and help businesses cut costs and improve productivity. Moreover, the shift is helping IBM make higher profits, even with a slower global economy.

IBM $121.29 (New York …read more »

IBM $121.29 (New York symbol IBM; Shares outstanding: 1.3 billion; Market cap: $159.3 billion; SI Rating: Above Average) is the world’s largest computer company, with operations in over 170 countries. IBM specializes in making large mainframe computers for governments and corporations. The company is also the world’s second-largest software maker, after Microsoft Corp. IBM gets 22% of its revenue from …read more »

BCE INC. $25.79 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 767.2 million; Market cap: $19.8 billion; SI Rating: Above Average) and TELUS CORP. $31.35 (Toronto symbol T.A; Shares outstanding: 335.6 million; Market cap: $10.5 billion; SI Rating: Above Average) have begun selling Apple’s hugely popular iPhone smartphone. Until now, Rogers Communications was the sole Canadian carrier.

Adding the iPhone should help BCE and …read more »

SONY CORP. ADRs $29 (New York symbol SNE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $29.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; WSSF Rating: Average) will let users of its PlayStation 3 video game player instantly view movies and TV shows from Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq symbol NFLX). Netflix operates an online movie-rental service with over 100,000 …read more »

PHILIPS ELECTRONICS N.V. ADRs $25 (New York symbol PHG; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 926.7 million; Market cap: $23.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; WSSF Rating: Average) gets roughly 50% of its revenue by making consumer electronics, such as TV sets, DVD players and kitchen appliances. Netherlands-based Philips also makes lighting equipment (25% of revenue) and medical …read more »

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. $122 (New York symbol IBM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.3 billion; Market cap: $158.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; WSSF Rating: Above Average) is looking to increase its software sales to businesses with a new suite of programs that use the free Linux operating system.

Many businesses put off upgrading their computers when …read more »

FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION $22.22 (New York symbol FICO; SI Rating: Average) (415-472-2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 48.9 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion) sells products and services that help businesses around the world make better decisions on customer creditworthiness.

Its main business is its FICO software, which lets creditors use a customer’s information to calculate a credit score. The lender can then use …read more »

RUGGEDCOM INC. $20.76 (Toronto symbol RCM; SI Rating: Speculative) (1-888-264-0006; www.ruggedcom.com; Shares outstanding: 12.1 million; Market cap: $251.3 million) has purchased Israel-based WiNetworks for $9.0 million U.S. WiNetworks is a privately owned company that designs WiMAX equipment.

WiMAX is a telecommunications technology that can provide wireless broadband access at a distance of up to 50 kilometres from fixed stations, and five …read more »

Giant computer maker Dell Inc. recently caught the attention of a number of tech stock investors when it bought Perot Systems, a computer outsourcing firm.

But it wasn’t the takeover itself that was surprising; it was the tech stock’s $3.9 billion offer for Perot that caused eyeballs to pop. That’s a 60% premium over Perot’s share price at the time …read more »