New businesses enhance their prospects

The shares of Finning and Toromont have moved down lately in response to lower commodity prices. However, recent acquisitions put both companies in a strong position to expand their earnings when commodity prices rebound.
FINNING INTERNATIONAL INC. $25 (Toronto symbol FTT; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry… Read More

CAE’s strong reputation pays off

CAE INC. $26 (Toronto symbol CAE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 266.3 million; Market cap: $6.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cae.com) continues to win pilot-training contracts.
For example, it recently won a deal to train pilots for U.K.-based… Read More

Cost savings spur dividend hike

NUTRIEN LTD. $65 (Toronto symbol NTR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 612.7 million; Market cap: $39.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.nutrien.com) took its current form on January 1, 2018, through the merger of Agrium (old symbol AGU) and rival… Read More

Good time to buy Canada’s big banks

The shares of Canada’s big five banks have moved down recently, mainly due to fears that a slowing economy and rising interest rates will cut demand for new loans. However, each of the five continue to lower their costs and expand outside of Canada. That… Read More

Focus on long-term value

Many investors think of our “stocks of the year” as sure-fire picks that are bound to be among the year’s biggest winners. Some of our past selections have lived up to that billing, but that’s not what I expect of them. Instead, I look for… Read More

Benefit from our top picks for 2019

Once again, we highlight three #1 stocks for 2019, with one for each of our portfolios—Conservative, Aggressive and Income.
All three offer a strong combination of long-term growth at a reasonable price. That should help them rise above the current stock market uncertainty to thrive this… Read More

Russia needs change to spur gains

Russia has a huge economy, considerable natural resources, especially oil and gas, and a large labour force. Its emergence from communist rule in 1990 and the large-scale privatization of government-owned entities raised hopes that it would become one of the top-performing emerging economies.
Despite the strong… Read More

Russia ETF reflects country’s significant risk

Declining commodity prices and international sanctions have hurt the Russian economy. But despite that, the country has proved surprisingly resilient. The economy is on a modest growth path, government finances are in reasonable shape, inflation is under control and the currency has stabilized.
Here is one… Read More

Profit from rising infrastructure spending

Governments around the world know the benefits that flow from the development of better infrastructure. However, their stretched budgets and a reluctance to increase taxes constrain their ability to initiate these projects. This provides opportunities for private companies to develop and manage these assets.
Here are… Read More

These ETFs aim for stable returns

One of the key lessons from financial market history is that stocks perform better than almost any other asset class over long periods. There will inevitably be periods of heightened volatility or even sustained market downturns. But at the same time, a focus on high-quality,… Read More