Scott Clayton

Scott is an associate editor at TSI Network. He is the lead reporter and analyst for Dividend Advisor, Power Growth Investor and Canadian Wealth Advisor and a member of the Investment Planning Committee. Scott began his investment and financial career working with Pat McKeough at The Investment Reporter in the 1980s. Subsequently, he worked at the Financial Post Corporation Service for 10 years. He joined TSI Network in 1998. He is a Bachelor of Economics graduate of York University, and he also has an M.B.A. from the Schulich School of Business.

Posts by the author
How To Invest
5 Facts About Investing in Stocks You Should Know to Maximize Profits
Discover five facts about investing in stocks that will help you make better investment decisions over the long term. Learn more in this article now.
4 min read
Scott Clayton
Growth Stocks
Successful Investors Use These Key Tips to Find the Best Growth Companies to Invest In
4 min read
Scott Clayton
Growth Stocks
How to Find the Best Growth Stocks to Invest in Right Now
4 min read
Scott Clayton
China Economic Development image - Courtesy of Michael R Perry; original: http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelrperry/6044277113/
ETFs
Exchange traded funds: Two ETFs that profit from Chinese growth
China Economic Development image - Courtesy of Michael R Perry; original: http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelrperry/6044277113/
Chinese stocks are up over 30% since September 2011. That’s largely because investors believe that a global recovery will raise China’s exports and improve its domestic economy. As well, the country’s inflation rate is easing. That gives it more options to boost growth, including cutting interest rates. Here are two Chinese exchange traded funds (ETFs) that we cover in Canadian Wealth Advisor newsletter. One holds publicly traded Chinese stocks available to foreign investors, and the other holds small cap Chinese stocks....
2 min read
Scott Clayton
Growth Stocks
ETFs
Exchange traded funds: Tapping into blue chip stocks with two Canadian ETFs
exchange traded funds - stock image
You may find that exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have a place in your portfolio. Unlike many other financial innovations, they don’t load you up with heavy management fees or tie you down with high redemption charges if you decide to withdraw. Instead, they give you a low-cost, flexible, convenient alternative to mutual funds. They have another advantage. Since shares are only added or removed when the underlying index changes, there’s a low turnover. That means you aren’t faced with the capital gains bills generated by the yearly distributions most mutual funds pay out to their unitholders....
3 min read
Scott Clayton
Growth Stocks
Tech stocks: Adobe Systems posts mixed results and steps up R&D spending
Adobe Systems Ltd., symbol ADBE on Nasdaq, makes software that lets computer users create, edit and share documents in the popular PDF format. As well, graphic designers use Adobe’s software to create print publications and web pages. The company also makes Adobe Flash, which lets web site developers make web pages more interactive by adding animation and video. In its third quarter, which ended September 2, 2011, the tech stock’s earnings fell 15.2% to $195.1 million, or $0.39 a share. A year earlier, it earned $230.1 million, or $0.44 a share. Without one-time items, earnings per share would have risen 1.9%, to $0.55 from $0.54. That beat the consensus estimate of $0.54 a share. Revenue rose 2.3%, to $1.01 billion from $990.3 million. That missed the consensus revenue estimate of $1.03 billion....
1 min read
Scott Clayton
Mining Stocks
Uranium stocks: CanAlaska holds unit sale to expand exploration in Athabasca Basin
CanAlaska Uranium Ltd., symbol CVV on Toronto, has agreed to sell up to 3,150,000 units for $0.69 each. Each unit consists of one common share and one half of a warrant. One whole warrant will let the holder buy an additional common share for $0.83. CanAlaska will receive roughly $2.2 million from the unit sale. That’s equal to 22% of this uranium stock’s $10.1 million market cap. It will use the cash to further explore and develop its 21 uranium projects in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin region, sometimes referred to as the “Saudi Arabia of uranium.”

Uranium stocks: CanAlaska has one of the largest positions in the Basin

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1 min read
Scott Clayton
How To Invest
Canadian stocks: WestJet adds more capacity and more passengers
Canadian Stock WestJet Airlines Ltd., symbol WJA on Toronto, reported that its load factor rose to 83.3% in August 2011 from 82.2% in August 2010.
1 min read
Scott Clayton
Growth Stocks
Growth stocks: Major Drilling profits from high gold and base metal prices
Major Drilling, symbol MDI on Toronto, is a large contract-drilling firm that mainly serves the mining industry. In the three months ended July 31, 2011, Major’s revenue rose 49.9%, to $164.2 million from $109.5 million a year earlier. Earnings per share jumped 257.1%, to $0.25 from $0.13. During the quarter, many of Major’s customers increased their drilling activity to take advantage of record gold prices and high base metal prices. Gold mining firms supply 48% of Major’s revenue, followed by base metal and uranium miners (35%), and energy, coal and environmental drillers (17%)....
1 min read
Scott Clayton
How To Invest
Canadian investments: As earnings rise, Couche-Tard moves deeper into U.S.
Alimentation Couche-Tard, symbol ATD.B on Toronto, is the largest convenience-store operator in Canada, with over 2,000 outlets. It is also one of the Canadian investments with the biggest presence in the U.S., at nearly 3,700 U.S. stores. The Canadian stores operate under the Couche-Tard and Mac’s banners, while the U.S. stores mainly use the Circle K brand. Last month, Couche-Tard announced that it has agreed to buy 33 On the Run convenience stores in southern Louisiana from ExxonMobil (symbol XOM on New York) for an undisclosed amount. Couche-Tard will buy the land and buildings for 27 of these locations and will assume or enter into leases for the six remaining sites. According to the company, these stores are all highly visible and are located on well-travelled roads....
1 min read
Scott Clayton
Mining Stocks
Mining stocks: Cameco makes hostile bid for exploration firm
Cameco Corp., symbol CCO on Toronto, has launched a hostile takeover bid for Hathor Exploration (symbol HAT on Toronto). Cameco is offering $520 million, or $3.75 a share, for this uranium exploration company. Hathor’s main exploration properties are on the east side of the Athabasca Basin. This region in northern Saskatchewan and Alberta contains all of Canada’s producing uranium mines, and accounts for 23% of the global production of uranium. Right now, Hathor is exploring for uranium at its Midwest Northeast project, which is close to producing properties that are currently owned by Cameco and AREVA of France....
1 min read
Scott Clayton
How To Invest
Canadian stocks: Bombardier looks to CSeries jets to boost aerospace sales
Bombardier Inc., Toronto symbols BBD.A $4.56 and BBD.B, recently reported better-than-expected earnings. However, the company may have to cut its regional-jet production, due to slowing demand. That caused the stock to fall. In the three months ended July 31, 2011, Bombardier’s earnings rose 56.7%, to $210 million, or $0.12 a share (all amounts in U.S. dollars). A year earlier, the company earned $134 million, or $0.07 a share. The latest earnings easily beat the consensus estimate of $0.10 a share. Revenue rose 17.4% to $4.7 billion. Revenue at the Canadian stock’s railcar division (which supplies 56% of its overall revenue) rose 26.0%, mainly due to strong demand from public-transit systems in Europe. This business received $3.9 billion of new orders in the quarter, down from $4.3 billion a year earlier. Its order backlog is now $33.9 billion, up from $33.5 billion on January 31, 2011....
1 min read
Scott Clayton
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