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IBM $104.62 (New York symbol IBM; Shares outstanding: 1.3 billion; Market cap: $138.2 billion; SI Rating: Above Average) was recently beaten by Oracle Corp. in its bid to buy computer hardware maker Sun Microsystems. IBM never publicly confirmed its interest in Sun, but it seems the two companies could not agree on a price, among other terms.

Even without Sun, IBM’s …read more »

LOBLAW COMPANIES $35.45 (Toronto symbol L; Shares outstanding: 274.2 million; Market cap: $9.7 billion; SI Rating: Above Average) reports 2.9% higher revenue in the three months ended March 28, 2009. Earnings per share jumped 73.9%, to $0.40 from $0.23.

The gain was largely due to the success of Loblaw’s restructuring plan, under which the company fixed its supply networks and installed …read more »

RBC CANADIAN DIVIDEND FUND $37.65 (RBC Funds, P.O. Box 7500, Station A, Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P9. 1-800-463-3863; Web site: www.royalbank.com. No load — deal directly with the bank) invests in well-established, dividend-paying companies. In fact, it invests solely in common stocks. That’s why, despite the fund’s name, we rate it Conservative rather than Income.

The $7.1-billion RBC Canadian Dividend Fund’s top …read more »

GUARDIAN MONTHLY HIGH INCOME II FUND $9.16 (CWA Rating: Income) (BMO Guardian Group of Funds, Commerce Court West, Suite 4100, P.O. Box 201, Toronto, Ontario M5L 1E8. 1-800-668-5613; Web site: www.bmoguardianfunds.com. Available from brokers) is a fund we rate as Income. It invests in royalty and income trusts and real estate investment trusts (REITs). With assets of $479.5 million, this …read more »

TD CANADIAN SMALL-CAP EQUITY FUND $21.56 (CWA Rating: Aggressive) (TD Asset Management, P.O. Box 7500, Station A, Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P9. 1-800-386-3757; Web site: www.tdcanadatrust.ca. No load — deal directly with the bank) is a fund we rate as Aggressive. The fund invests in small to medium-sized companies that its managers feel are undervalued or offer strong growth potential as …read more »

IVY CANADIAN FUND $20.73 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (Mackenzie Financial Corp., 150 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3B5. 1-800-387-0780; Web site: www.mackenziefinancial.com. Load fund — available from brokers) is a good example of a Conservative fund. Ivy Canadian’s managers keep risk low by investing in well-established, high-quality stocks. The fund also invests in politically stable areas, with 47.3% of its …read more »

RENAISSANCE GLOBAL HEALTH CARE FUND $13.79 (CWA Rating: Speculative) (CIBC Asset Management, 1500 University Street, Suite 800, Montreal, Quebec. Web site: www.renaissanceinvestments.com. Available from brokers) invests in companies from across the health-care industry. These may include pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms, and companies that design and make medical equipment.

The $579-million fund’s managers look at a firm’s financial strength, the quality of …read more »

TD HEALTH SCIENCES FUND $13.54 (CWA Rating: Speculative) (TD Asset Management, P.O. Box 7500, Station A, Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P9. 1-800-463-3863; Web site: www.tdcanadatrust.ca. No load — deal directly with the bank) mainly invests in large-capitalization health-care stocks and earlier-stage biotechnology shares in the U.S. The fund’s managers believe these firms will benefit from increased health spending spurred by an …read more »

ISHARES MCSI CANADA INDEX FUND $20.94 (American Exchange symbol EWC; buy or sell through brokers) is like a market-cap-based index fund, but its managers tinker with the index-fund formula in order to try and improve performance. They do this using their proprietary Morgan Stanley Capital International Canada Index. The U.S.-based fund also has to work around Canadian foreign-ownership restrictions. iShares …read more »

NASDAQ-100 TRUST SHARES $35.03 (Nasdaq Exchange symbol QQQQ; buy or sell through brokers), or “Qubes,” hold the stocks that represent the Nasdaq 100 Index, which is made up of the 100 largest, most heavily traded stocks on the Nasdaq exchange.

The index contains firms from a number of major industries, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It …read more »