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ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $93 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 497.8 million; Market cap: $46.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 9.6; No dividends paid since June 2005; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.adobe.com) continues to see strong demand for its subscription services, particularly the Creative Cloud package of photoediting and desktop-publishing programs. In the quarter ended February 29, 2016, the company added 798,000 Creative Cloud subscribers (net of cancellations). This service now has around 7 million users. However, the stock trades at an expensive 33.2 times the $2.80 a share Adobe will likely earn in the year ending November 30, 2016. Moreover, Adobe gets 40% of its revenue from outside the U.S., and the high U.S. dollar is hurting the contribution of its overseas businesses. Adobe is still a hold.

GENERAL MILLS INC. $61 (New York symbol GIS, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 593.4 million; Market cap: $36.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.generalmills.com) plans to change the labels on its packaged food products to indicate if they contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). That’s mainly to comply with new GMO-labelling rules in Vermont. They take effect in July 2016. The change will also help the company prepare for the likelihood of new national labelling standards. General Mills is currently phasing out GMO versions of oats in its cereals. However, it will continue to use GMO crops for other products. That’s because they use corn and wheat, and finding sufficient supplies of non-GMO versions would be difficult....

SYMANTEC CORP. $19 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 652.2 million; Market cap: $12.4 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.symantec.com) has launched a new service that aims to improve the security of Internet websites. Called “Encryption Everywhere,” this software makes it easier for web hosting firms to embed encryption when they create new websites. This will help protect users from cybercriminals and online intruders. Symantec is giving away this software for free. It feels this approach will encourage hosting firms to adopt the technology and eventually buy more security services and software. Just 3% of the world’s websites use encryption technology, so there’s plenty of room to grow. Symantec is a buy.

NEWMONT MINING CORP. $27 (New York symbol NEM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 529.2 million; Market cap: $14.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 0.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.newmont.com) has sold its 19.45% stake in Australian gold mining firm Regis Resources for $182 million. This sale is part of Newmont’s plan to sell less important assets, and use the proceeds to pay down its debt. Since 2013, it has sold $1.9 billion of assets. Newmont cut its long-term debt in 2015 by 6.1%, to $6.1 billion. That’s still a high 43% of its market cap. Newmont is a hold.

STATE STREET CORP. $59 (New York symbol STT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 400.0 million; Market cap: $23.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.9; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.statestreet.com) sells accounting and administrative services to large institutional investors, such as mutual funds and pension plans. State Street’s fee income rises and falls with the value of the mutual funds and other securities it manages. Recent stock market weakness reduced the value of its assets under custody and administration. In addition, low interest rates are hurting the interest income it gets from its loan portfolio. It’s also paying more to comply with tougher securities and banking regulations....

CINTAS CORP. $90 (Nasdaq symbol CTAS; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 108.1 million; Market cap: $9.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 1.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cintas.com) started out by offering laundry services to businesses in 1929. The company is now North America’s largest provider of corporate uniforms, with over 1 million customers. In addition to renting and cleaning uniforms, Cintas also rents out a variety of related products, such as mats, towels, mops and cleaning supplies. In all, these services account for 77% of its revenue. It gets a further 10% selling uniforms. The remaining 13% of its revenue come from selling first aid kits, fire extinguishers, sprinklers and emergency-exit lights. Big gain from Shred-it sale...

ALCOA INC. $9.85 (www.alcoa.com) has suffered lately as slowing industrial activity in China continues to dampen aluminum prices. In response, Alcoa is closing unprofitable smelters. Even so, declining cash flow could hurt its ability to service its debt of $9.1 billion....

BOEING CO. $135 (www.boeing.com) is cutting production of its 777 passenger jet planes. Airlines are ordering fewer new planes, as lower fuel costs have reduced the need to buy new fuel-efficient models. In addition, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating how Boeing accounts for the costs to develop new planes....

Low commodity prices slow Caterpillar dealer Finning International but cost savings and a high dividend make this value stock a buy.

Loblaw Companies Ltd. has integrated Shoppers operations to cut costs, debt and grow earnings, but it will also close less-profitable food stores

Two international ETFs offers low MERs and exposure to strong foreign markets through tax-efficient, high-quality portfolios.

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $27.20 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 317.8 million; Market cap: $8.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.2%; www.riocan.com) is Canada’s largest real estate investment trust (REIT), with interests in 338 shopping malls containing over 92 million square feet of leasable area. That total includes 48 U.S. malls with over 13 million square feet.

In the three months ended March 31, 2015, RioCan’s revenue rose 7.7%, to $331.0 million from $307.4 million a year earlier. Cash flow per unit gained 4.8%, to $0.44 from $0.42.

The trust’s latest acquisitions increased its rental space by 1.7%. It’s also doing a good job of renewing current tenants at higher rates: rents on renewals rose 9.8% in Canada and 8.3% in the U.S.

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ISHARES MSCI AUSTRALIA ETF $22.29 (New York symbol EWA; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that holds the 71 largest Australian stocks. Its MER is 0.48%.

The fund’s top holdings include Commonwealth Bank of Australia, 11.1%; Westpac Banking Corp., 8.4%; BHP Billiton, 7.6%; Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, 7.4%; National Australia Bank, 7.1%; Wesfarmers, 3.9%; CSL Ltd., 3.6%; Woolworths, 2.8%; Woodside Petroleum, 2.2%; Telstra Group, 2.1%; Rio Tinto, 2.0%; Macquarie Group, 1.9%; and Scentre Group, 1.7%.

Australia benefits from its stable banking and political systems and is rich in natural resources. Low commodity prices have hurt its economy, but its proximity to Asian markets with vast potential, including India and China, gives it strong long-term prospects.

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McDonald’s Corp. will sell more of its company-owned restaurants to cut costs, grow revenue and increase share buybacks – that’s in addition to raising its dividend.

ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD $59.93 (Toronto symbol ATD.B: TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-800-361-2612; www.couchetard. com; Shares outstanding: 567.4 million; Market cap: $34.6 billion; Dividend yield: 0.5%) operates 7,979 convenience stores throughout North America.

In Europe, the company operates 2,218 stores across Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden and Denmark), Poland, the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and Russia.

In the three months ended January 31, 2016, Couche-Tard’s sales rose 2.5%, to $9.33 billion from $9.11 billion a year earlier (all figures except share price in U.S....

NEW GOLD $5.06 (Toronto symbol NGD; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (888-315-9715; www.newgold.com; Shares outstanding: 509.5 million; Market cap: $2.5 billion; No dividends paid) has moved up 43% since the start of the year on higher gold prices—and its strong operating performance. New Gold has four mines: the Mesquite project in the U.S.; Cerro San Pedro in Mexico; the Peak mine in Australia; and the New Afton mine in B.C. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, New Gold’s cash flow per share rose 7.1%, to $0.15 from $0.14 a year earlier. (All figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars.) Production rose 24.2% in the latest quarter, to 131,700 ounces from 106,000. That offset falling gold prices in 2015....

WEIGHT WATCHERS INTERNATIONAL $13.70 (New York symbol WTW; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (212-589-2700; www.weightwatchers.com; Shares outstanding: 63.6 million; Market cap: $852.9 million; No dividends paid) offers weight-loss services in 23 countries. The company promotes a program of lifestyle changes through 36,000 weekly meetings and its website. Oprah Winfrey bought 10% of the company in October 2015. She also joined its board of directors. Her goal has been to promote the company and help it reverse a steady decline over the last few years. In the three months ended January 2, 2016, Weight Watchers’ revenue fell 20.8% to $259.2 million from $327.8 million a year earlier. The company lost $0.03 a share in the latest quarter, compared to a profit of $0.09 a year ago....

ATLANTIC TELE-NETWORK $72.81 (Nasdaq symbol ATNI; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (340- 777-8000; www.atni.com; Shares outstanding: 16.1 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; Dividend yield: 1.8%) owns wireless and wireline (traditional telephone and Internet) operations in the U.S. Southwest, New England, New York State, Bermuda, parts of the Caribbean, and Guyana. It also owns solar power plants that sell their electricity under long-term contracts. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, the company’s revenue fell 6.3%, to $82.9 million from $88.5 million a year earlier. The decline was mostly due to the sale of its Turks and Caicos business in early 2015. At the same time, Atlantic spent heavily on its network to support increased traffic. Earnings per share dropped 69.4%, to $0.22 from $0.72, on more shares outstanding....

FAIR ISAAC CORP. $102.33 (New York symbol FICO; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (415-472-2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 31.4 million; Market cap: $3.1 billion; Dividend yield: 0.1%) is now applying its FICO credit-scoring software expertise to other businesses. Fair Isaac plans to soon launch a cybersecurity product that uses artificial intelligence to find abnormal activity on corporate networks. That technology is similar to what banks use to identify fraud. A number of FICO’s existing customers tested the new security product. It was in development for more than two years....

LEON’S FURNITURE LTD. $14.25 (Toronto symbol LNF; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (416-243-7880; www.leons.ca; Shares outstanding: 71.5 million; Market cap: $1.0 billion; Dividend yield: 2.8%) has steadily increased its number of stores, from 27 in 2003 to 80 today. The company more than quadrupled in size overnight with the $700 million purchase of its main rival, The Brick, in March 2013. That chain has 221 locations across Canada and continues to operate separately. Leon’s plans to expand again: it’s taking over the leases on eight Sears Home stores, operated by money losing Sears Canada. It will convert those showrooms to Leon’s stores over the summer....

BMTC GROUP $13.50 (Toronto symbol GBT.A; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (514-648-5757; No website; Shares outstanding: 37.9 million; Market cap: $513.7 million; Dividend yield: 1.8%) has 38 outlets and is one of Quebec’s biggest retailers of furniture, electronics and appliances. The company mainly sells these items through its two affiliates: Brault & Martineau and Ameublements Tanguay. In March 2012, BMTC introduced a new banner, Economax. The chain’s 11 locations offer lower-priced products. The first four stores are former Brault & Martineau liquidation centres. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, BMTC’s sales rose 3.9%, to $190.3 million from $183.2 million a year earlier....

NISSAN MOTOR (ADR) $19.03 (Nasdaq symbol NSANY; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average) (310-771-3111; www.nissan-global.com; ADRs outstanding 2.3 billion; Market cap: $43.8 billion; Yield: 3.1%) plans to buy back as many of 300 million of its common shares, or 6.7% of the total outstanding. The share repurchase will cost as much as 400 billion yen, or $3.5 billion U.S. The company plans to complete those buybacks by December 22, 2016. Nissan earned a record 535 billion yen in its fiscal year ended March 31, 2016. The company also held 860 billion yen in cash on December 31, 2015, and plans to use some of the money to implement that big share buyback....

SIERRA WIRELESS $18.58 (Toronto symbol SW; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (604-231-1100; www.sierrawireless.com; Shares outstanding: 32.3 million; Market cap: $577.9 million; No dividends paid) makes modules that connect products—including smart electricity meters and vehicles—to the Internet. This is known as machine- to-machine networking or, more generally, as the Internet of Things. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, the company’s revenue fell 2.8% from a year earlier. That’s a drop from $149.1 million to $144.8 million (all figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Excluding one-time items, the company earned $2.5 million, or $0.08 a share, down sharply from $9.1 million, or $0.29, a year earlier....

MENTOR GRAPHICS $19.74 (Nasdaq symbol MENT; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (503-685-7000; www.mentor.com; Shares o/s: 117.5 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; Divd. yield: 1.1%) makes systems that improve the design of electronic products and speed up their development. Its systems are used in a range of industries. The auto business is one of the company’s biggest growth areas because of the shift from mechanical to electronic systems: electronics now make up roughly 40% of a car’s cost. In the three months ended January 31, 2016, Mentor’s revenue fell 23.2%, to $337.3 million from $439.1 million a year earlier....

AMAZON.COM $574.27 (Nasdaq symbol AMZN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (206- 266-1000; www.amazon.com; Shares outstanding: 470.8 million; Market cap: $271.7 billion; No dividends paid) continues to build its own shipping network. The company has now finalized a deal to lease 20 Boeing 767 cargo jets from Air Transport Services Group. The new fleet will reduce Amazon’s reliance on carriers such as United Parcel Service and FedEx. The jets will give Amazon direct control over an estimated 15% of the packages it ships in the U.S. each year....