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Finding out what old stock certificates are actually worth can be disappointing to say the least. Here is some stock market advice to make sure you never hold a worthless stock certificate.

Stronger sales and earnings will help Leon’s Furniture Ltd. take over Sears Home locations in B.C. and build on its acquisition of The Brick.

Make the best use of dividends for a strong, fast-growing portfolio—our free report is the complete guide to successful dividend investing.

Cintas Corp. raised its dividend for the 32nd year in a row and recorded a 68% jump in earnings over the last five years

Leaving your children and loved ones inheritance money is a wonderful gesture. But proper planning needs to be in place in order for your wealth to transfer smoothly.

Parkland Fuel will raise its dividend in 2016 and continue to expand with the purchase of 17 Esso stations and the franchise rights for On the Run convenience stores.

Envelope-maker Supremex rapidly expanded revenue and earnings through acquisition but also focused on a growing market—packaging for online shopping orders.

Extendicare Inc. continues to focus on the growing Canadian market as it expands its operations, revenue and cash flow

Our new free report tells you how to pick the best ETFs in an increasingly crowded field—and names 11 of the top ETFs we have as buys.

McCoy Global is laying off workers and consolidating its production in one facility to cut costs

Goldcorp has sold assets and cut its production and dividend to preserve cash until gold prices rebound

EBAY INC. $24 (Nasdaq symbol EBAY; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $28.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.3; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ebay.com) operates online auction websites in over 30 countries....

PAYPAL HOLDINGS INC. $41 (Nasdaq symbol PYPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $49.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.4; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www. paypal.com) processes online transactions, including purchases made through eBay’s auction websites. In the past few years, it has expanded into retail stores and mobile payments. On July 20, 2015, eBay investors received one Pay- Pal share for each eBay share they held. They only become liable for capital gains taxes when they sell their new shares. Operating as a separate firm allows PayPal to pursue alliances with more retailers and cut its reliance on eBay. For example, it recently expanded its deal with Chinese online retailer Alibaba to include business-to- business transactions....

ALPHABET INC. (Nasdaq symbols GOOG $741 [class C: non-voting] and GOOGL $760 [class A: one vote per share]; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 688.3 million; Market cap: $517.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 6.8; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.abc.xyz) is the new holding company for Google’s Internet search business and its smaller, riskier operations....

AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES INC. $40 (New York symbol A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 327.8 million; Market cap: $13.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.2; Dividend yield: 1.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.agilent.com) makes testing equipment for medical research labs. In November 2015, the company paid $242 million for Seahorse Bioscience. This firm makes equipment that lab researchers use to measure cellular response to new drugs. That helps pharmaceutical firms develop new treatments for cancer and infectious diseases. The company also enhanced its product line by purchasing Cartagenia, a Belgian firm that makes software for Agilent’s medical-testing equipment. It paid $60 million euros for this business....

KEYSIGHT TECHNOLOGIES INC. $28 (New York symbol KEYS; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 171.3 million; Market cap: $4.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.keysight.com) makes software for testing wireless equipment. Its clients include makers of computer chips (44% of total revenue) and communications gear (33%), as well as aerospace and defence firms (23%). Agilent (see page 33) spun off Keysight as a separate firm on November 1, 2014; shareholders received one Keysight share for every two shares they held. In August 2015, Keysight paid $588 million for U.K.-based Anite. This firm makes wireless equipment testing software. That should improve the performance of Keysight’s testing equipment....

>ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX FUND $20.64 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) is a good low-fee way to buy the top stocks on the TSX. The units are made up of stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index, which consists of the 60 largest, most heavily traded stocks on the exchange. Ex
The index mostly consists of high-quality companies. However, it must ensure that all sectors are represented, so it holds a few we wouldn’t include.

The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 8.1%; TD Bank, 7.1%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 6.0%; Suncor Energy, 4.3%; CN Railway, 4.0%; Valeant Pharmaceuticals, 4.0%; Bank of Montreal, 3.7%; Canadian Natural Resources, 3.4%; Enbridge, 3.0%; Manulife Financial, 3.0%; BCE, 2.9%; CIBC, 2.8%; TransCanada Corporation, 2.7%; Potash Corp., 2.5%; CP Rail, 2.1%; and Goldcorp, 1.9%.
...

MTS SYSTEMS CORP. $59 (Nasdaq symbol MTSC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 14.8 million; Market cap: $873.2 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mts.com) makes equipment and software that manufacturers use to test the behaviour of materials, machines and structures. This helps its clients reduce errors and costs. The company also makes sensors for industrial equipment. MTS’s strong reputation continues to help it win new orders: in its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended January 2, 2016, new orders totaled $168.2 million. That’s up 24.3% from $135.3 million a year earlier. However, MTS’s sales declined 1.5%, to $140.5 million from $142.6 million a year earlier. If you exclude currency rates, sales increased 2.8%....

MCKESSON CORP. $157 (New York symbol MCK; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 229.0 million; Market cap: $36.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.2; Dividend yield: 0.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.mckesson .com) is buying the Rexall chain of 470 drug stores in Canada for $2.2 billion. The company expects to complete the purchase by the end of 2016. McKesson already distributes prescription drugs and other products to Rexall, and this familiarity helps cut the risk of an unpleasant surprise. Excluding integration charges and currency exchange rates, the company expects the new operations will add to its earnings in the first year. McKesson is a hold.

APACHE CORP. $50 (New York symbol APA; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 378.3 million; Market cap: $18.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.apachecorp.com) continues to sell overseas properties to focus on its less-risky onshore oil and gas operations here in North America. As a result, its production in 2015 fell 9.9%, to 486,775 barrels a day from 540,212 in 2014. Due to lower oil and gas prices, it lost $130 million, or $0.34 a share, in 2015 compared to a profit of $2.0 billion, or $5.21. The company plans to spend $1.4 billion to $1.8 billion on capital projects in 2016, down from $4.7 billion in 2015. That should let it continue to pay quarterly dividends of $0.25 a share, for an annualized yield of 2.0%. In 2015, dividend payments totaled $377 million....

DIAGEO PLC ADRs $107 (New York symbol DEO; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; ADRs outstanding: 630.0 million; Market cap: $67.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.4; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.diageo.com) is the world’s largest premium alcoholic beverage company. Its major brands include Guinness stout, Smirnoff vodka, Johnnie Walker whisky and Captain Morgan rum. Diageo recently sold its wine operations in Australia and its Jamaican brewing operations. That freed up cash it can use to expand its main spirits businesses. They include its upcoming deal to buy Australian whisky maker Starward. In the six months ended December 31, 2015, Diageo’s sales fell 5.0% to 5.6 billion pounds from 5.9 billion a year earlier (1 pound=$1.85 Canadian). If you exclude the brands that Diageo recently sold and the negative impact of currency exchange rates, sales gained 1.8%. Earnings per ADR fell 4.7%, to 2.05 pounds from 2.15. (Each American Depositary Receipt represents four common shares.)...

MOLSON COORS BREWING CO. $95 (New York symbol TAP; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 214.4 million; Market cap: $20.4 billion; Price-tosales ratio: 5.6; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.molsoncoors.com) is buying the 58% stake of MillerCoors it doesn’t already own. This business took its current form in 2008 when Molson and SABMiller combined their U.S. brewing operations. SABMiller is now merging with rival Anheuser- Busch InBev to create the world’s largest brewer. To satisfy competition regulators, SABMiller will sell its stake in MillerCoors to Molson for $12.0 billion. Paying for this business will add to Molson’s longterm debt of $2.9 billion, which is equal to 14% of its market cap. However, the deal will add $4.7 billion to its annual revenue. It totaled $3.6 billion in 2015....

QUAKER CHEMICAL CORP. $85 (New York symbol KWR; Income Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 13.2 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.quakerchem.com) make lubricants that keep mechanical parts from rusting. Sales in 2015 fell 3.7%, to $737.6 million from $765.9 million in 2014. That’s mainly due to unfavourable exchange rates and lower demand from steel producers. However, a cost-cutting plan lifted its earnings per share by 4.0%, to $4.43 from $4.26. Quaker needs oil to make its products, so lower crude prices are cutting its costs. Its earnings should improve to $4.58 a share in 2016. The stock trades at a reasonable 18.6 times that forecast....

HP INC. $12 (New York symbol HPQ; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $20.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.2; Dividend yield: 4.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.hp.com) earned $645 million in its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended January 31, 2016. That’s down 15.7% from $765 million a year earlier. Earnings per share fell 12.2%, to $0.36 from $0.41, on fewer shares outstanding. Sales declined 11.6%, to $12.2 billion from $13.9 billion. Personal computer sales (62% of the total) fell 12.8%. Weak demand for new machines forced HP to cut its selling prices. Sales of printers (38%) dropped 17.0%. HP holds cash of $3.7 billion, or $2.12 a share. Its long-term debt of $6.7 billion is a manageable 33% of its market cap....

HEWLETT-PACKARD ENTERPRISE CO. $18 (New York symbol HPE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $30.6 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 1.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.hpe.com) sells computer servers and analytics software to businesses. It saw its earnings fall 14.9% in the quarter ended January 31, 2016, to $731 million from $859 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings declined 12.8%, to $0.41 from $0.47 on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue dipped 2.5%, to $12.7 billion from $13.1 billion. However, excluding currency rates, revenue rose 4%. The company’s long-term debt of $15.2 billion is a high 50% of its market cap. It also holds cash of $8.5 billion, or $4.91 a share. This new firm is in a strong position to profit as more businesses expand their e-commerce activities and buy cloud-based data storage services. The stock trades at 9.6 times the $1.88 a share it will probably earn in 2016. That low p/e reflects uncertainty over the growth of business spending on new technology this year. The $0.22 dividend yields 1.2%....