Zhongpin Inc., symbol HOGS on Nasdaq, is a China-based company that processes meat and other foods. Zhongpin specializes in pork and pork products, as well as fruit and vegetables. It sells 358 meat products, including chilled pork, frozen pork and prepared meats, as well as 34 fruit and vegetable products. Zhongpin focuses on prepared meat, with its higher profit margins, rather than bulk pork. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, the stock pick’s revenue jumped 39.9%, to $285.8 million from $204.3 million a year earlier. Earnings rose 27.1%, to $16.9 million from $13.3 million. Earnings per share rose 23.7%, to $0.47 from $0.38, on more shares outstanding. That beat the consensus earnings forecast of $0.45....

Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a new or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you specific investment advice. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental piece of investing strategy, and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Today’s tip: “What you must know about short selling stocks” Attractive opportunities for short selling come along from time to time, but it’s a hard way to make money. That’s because short sellers face a number of unique disadvantages that don’t apply to buyers....

Broadridge Financial Services Inc., symbol BR on New York, serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications, securities processing and transaction clearing. It mails and processes 66% of all proxy votes. The company earned $32.6 million in the three months ended March 31, 2011. That’s up 5.8% from $30.8 million a year earlier. The stock pick’s earnings per share rose 13.6%, to $0.25 from $0.22, on fewer shares outstanding. That beat the consensus estimate of $0.20 a share. Revenue rose 7.4%, to $527.1 million from $490.8 million. That also beat the consensus revenue estimate of $521.0 million. The stock pick’s acquisitions were the main reasons for these gains: In December 2010, it paid $19.5 million for Forefield Inc., which makes web-based software that allows financial advisors to deliver educational and marketing materials to clients. In January 2011, Broadridge paid $201 million for Matrix Financial Solutions Inc., which processes trades and provides administrative services to mutual funds....

Owning your primary residence can be a great financial deal. Mortgage payments amount to forced savings, a home is an inflation hedge, and capital gains are tax-free. However, you can easily fritter away your Canadian real estate investing gains by excessive upgrading, or frequent moving. Here are 4 reasons why:

1. Neighbourhoods limit home prices: Suppose nearby homes sell for $350,000 to $400,000. You spend $60,000 on your $375,000 home. Your new deck, furnace, etc. only raise your home’s value by $25,000, to the area’s top price of $400,000. As well, your renovations may not appeal to all buyers. For example, they may be more interested in room and lot size, the home’s layout or other factors.
2. Additions have limited appeal: A new second floor or extra room may suit your needs, but will likely raise your home’s value by only half the cost of the extra room or floor. Additions are more costly and less functional than original construction, and buyers may have different needs than you.

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Toromont Industries Ltd., $30.60, symbol TIH on Toronto, operates two divisions: the equipment group distributes a broad range of Caterpillar and industrial equipment; the compression group builds natural-gas compression units. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, the Canadian stock pick’s revenue jumped 38.3% to $588.0 million from $425.3 million a year earlier. Enerflex Systems, which Toromont bought for $613 million in January 2010, was the main reason for the increase. Enerflex brought new oil and gas compression customers to Toromont. It also expanded Toromont’s international presence. Earnings rose 13%, to $0.26 a share from $0.23 a share. Order bookings were up 27% in the latest quarter from a year earlier. The company’s total backlog now stands at $1 billion, up 59% from a year ago....

You may have an old stock certificate or two in your files, issued by an unfamiliar firm. Perhaps you bought the stock yourself, or inherited it. The stock market pick’s certificate may be registered in your name, or in the name of an earlier owner — the friend or relation who left it to you, or a total stranger. One way to determine the value of a certificate like this, if any, is to try to deposit it in an account with a discount broker. If the issuing company’s corporate charter has been cancelled, the discount broker will reject the certificate and return it to you. If the stock has been taken over by another company, the discount broker will try to collect the securities or cash that the buying company paid for it.

Why you never find high-quality stock market picks in the bottom of the junk drawer

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Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a new or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you specific advice on how to spot good investments. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental piece of investing strategy, and shows you how you can put it into practice right away.

Today’s tip: “3 ways to miss out on good investments.”

Here are 3 classic errors that can seriously hinder your returns, and cause you to miss out on good investments. All investors make them from time to time.

1. Too little diversification among the 5 sectors: Manufacturing and Resource stocks involve extra risk, Canadian Finance and Utilities involve lower risk, and Consumer falls in the middle. Sectors go in and out of investor favour, depending on economic conditions, corporate earnings, and investor whim. But in the long run, winners and losers appear in all five.
   
   If you stick to one or two sectors, you may get lucky and all of your picks will turn out to be good investments. Or, all your stocks may wind up out of favour and depressed. If you have to sell, you’ll do so at a low. So, spread your money out to eliminate luck. That way, you’ll always have exposure to the year’s most profitable investments, a key to successful investing.
   

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PASON SYSTEMS, symbol PSI on Toronto, rents equipment that its customers use to monitor and manage land-based oil rigs. The stock market pick also provides communication systems, such as its satellite system, which companies use to remotely collect data from their drilling operations. Pason serves oil and gas companies and drilling contractors throughout Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Argentina. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, Pason’s revenue jumped 50.0%, to $84.7 million from $56.4 million a year earlier. The company’s Canadian operations benefited from a cold winter that allowed rig movement on frozen ground until the end of March. Earnings climbed 125.3%, to $17.9 million, or $0.22 a share, from $7.9 million, or $0.10 a share. Stronger oil and gas industry drilling and higher selling prices for the company’s equipment pushed up results....

Most investors are aware of the usual stock market investing risk factors, such as falling profits, dividend cuts, police investigations, etc. But it pays to stay alert for more subtle signs of coming problems. Here are 3 hints that a company could soon be facing big trouble. (How to spot hints of trouble in your stocks is just one of the strategies we cover in our free report, “Stock Market Investing Strategy: Pat McKeough’s Conservative Investing Guide for Making Money & Cutting Risk.” Click here to download your copy now.)

1. Strong reactions to outside criticism: When outsiders criticize a company’s accounting and the criticism is unjustified, most corporate insiders simply ignore it. But if insiders have something to hide, they may squawk loudly — that is, threaten to sue critics of their accounting practices, in hopes of shutting them up....

Aastra Technologies, symbol AAH on Toronto, develops and markets products and systems for accessing communication networks, including the Internet. Its technology is centered around business telephone systems, and includes products that integrate traditional and mobile phones. Aastra is one of the aggressive stock market picks we analyze in our Stock Pickers Digest newsletter. The company reports that its sales fell 4.9%, in the three months ended March 31, 2011, to $162.7 million from $171.1 million a year earlier. Earnings fell sharply, to $200,000, or $0.01 a share, from $4.1 million, or $0.29 a share, a year earlier....