Search

APPLE INC. $93 (Nasdaq symbol AAPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 5.5 billion; Market cap: $511.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.apple.com) gets about two-thirds of its revenue from its iPhone smartphone. The remaining third comes from its Mac computers, iPad tablets, iPod music players and sales of software, movies and music through its iTunes online store. In its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended December 26, 2015, Apple sold 74.8 million iPhones, up just 0.4% from 74.5 million a year earlier. That’s mainly due to slowing demand in China. Users are also waiting for the company to launch a new model later this year....

Computer technology continues to change— and spread— rapidly. We feel the best way to profit from this growth is by investing in well-established companies that lead their markets, like the four we analyze below. All of them have strong earnings and balance sheets. That lets them spend heavily on product development and buy smaller firms with attractive technologies. We have a high opinion of all four, but we see only two as buys right now....

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. $121 (New York symbol IBM, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 970.1 million; Market cap: $117.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 4.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ibm.com) recently paid $130 million for Ustream, a private firm specializing in cloud-based videostreaming services. Its clients include NASA, Samsung, Facebook, Nike and the Discovery Channel. The purchase will help IBM with its plan to bring its analyticssoftware expertise to online video content. This will help its clients make better use of their video libraries and protect their copyrighted material. The company expects the market for cloud-based video services and software to total $105 billion by 2019. IBM is a buy....

BHP BILLITON LTD. ADRs $21 (New York symbol BHP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $33.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 11.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.bhpbilliton.com) will write down its U.S. onshore oil holdings by $4.9 billion (after taxes) in response to the decline in oil prices. In 2011, it spent $20.6 billion on acquisitions of U.S. shale oil and gas properties. The company is also seeing sharply lower prices for its other commodities, including iron ore, metallurgical coal and copper. The resulting decline in BHP’s cash flow will probably prompt it to cut its $2.48 dividend, which yields a high 11.8%. BHP Billiton is still a hold.

On June 29, 2015, the old Gannet spun off its newspaper operation as a separate company that would keep the Gannett name (see box). Gannett’s broadcasting and Internet unit was then renamed Tegna. Under the deal, for every two shares investors held, they received one share of the spinoff company and two shares in Tegna. Both firms are now improving their prospects through acquisitions and new alliances. These deals will also help them maintain their current dividends....

AMERICAN EXPRESS CO. $55 (New York symbol AXP, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 969.0 million; Market cap: $53.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 2.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.americanexpress.com) is one of the world’s largest issuers of payment cards, with 117.8 million cards outstanding in over 130 countries. Amex issues two types of cards: charge cards, which have no preset spending limit and must be paid in full each month; and traditional credit cards, which let users carry a balance. The company is also a bank that accepts deposits and makes loans. It cuts its credit risk by mainly catering to clients with above-average incomes and good credit histories. Amex wrote off just 1.9% of its U.S. loans in 2015, up slightly from 1.8% in 2014. Its international write-off rate crept up to 2.2% from 2.1%....

GANNETT CO., INC. $14 (New York symbol GCI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector: Shares outstanding: 115.4 million; Market cap: $1.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 4.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.gannett.com) publishes daily newspapers in 92 U.S. markets, including its flagship paper, USAToday, and 19 dailies in the U.K. The company recently agreed to buy Journal Media Group (New York symbol JMG), which publishes 15 dailies and 18 weeklies in nine states. The purchase price is $280 million, which includes Journal’s cash holdings. Gannett expects to close the deal in the first quarter of 2016. The purchase will add $0.10 to $0.15 a share to Gannett’s earnings in the first year; the company will likely earn $1.66 a share in 2016, and the stock trades at 8.4 times that estimate. Savings from combining printing plants and other operations should increase Gannett’s earnings by $0.20 to $0.25 a share in the second year. The $0.64 dividend seems secure and yields 4.6%....

CHEVRON CORP. $83 (New York symbol CVX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.9 billion; Market cap: $157.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 5.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.chevron.com) recently signed deals to sell 1.5 million metric tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year to clients in China. These deals will add to the prospects of its Gorgon LNG project off northwestern Australia, which will start up in the next few months. Chevron owns 47.3% of Gorgon and operates the project. It cost $54 billion to build; Chevron’s share of the costs is $25.5 billion. The recent drop in gas prices will hurt Gorgon’s initial profitability. However, it should become a major supplier of gas to Japan, South Korea, India and China. Moreover, its reserves should last at least 40 years....

FEDEX CORP. $128 (New York symbol FDX; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 275.6 million; Market cap: $35.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 0.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.fedex.com) has received approval from U.S. and European regulators for its $4.6-billion purchase of TNT Express NV, a Netherlands-based courier that operates throughout Europe. The deal makes FedEx the second-largest courier in Europe, with 22% of the market. That’s just behind leader United Parcel Services, which has 25%. Regulators in other countries, including China and Brazil, must approve the deal. However, FedEx expects to complete it by June 30, 2016....

ALLIANT ENERGY CORP. $62 (New York symbol LNT; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 113.4 million; Market cap: $7.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 3.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.alliantenergy.com) sells power and natural gas to 1.4 million clients in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. The company has raised its quarterly dividend by 6.8% with the February 2016 payment, to $0.5875 from $0.55. The new annual rate of $2.35 yields 3.8%. Alliant has paid quarterly dividends since 1946 and has raised the annual rate each year since 2004. Alliant Energy is a buy.

WELLS FARGO & CO. $49 (New York symbol WFC; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 5.1 billion; Market cap: $249.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.9; Dividend yield: 3.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.wellsfargo .com) earned $21.6 billion in 2015, down 1.0% from $21.8 billion in 2014. However, earnings per share rose 1.2%, to $4.15 from $4.10, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue gained 2.0%, to $86.1 billion from $84.3 billion. Low interest rates continue to spur demand for residential mortgages, business and car loans while encouraging consumers to make more credit card purchases. The bank also recently bought the commercial lending and leasing operations of General Electric (see page 18). Those businesses offer loans to help manufacturers boost their inventory, as well as other forms of financing. However, Wells Fargo is earning less interest income on its loans, which hurts its earnings. Higher salaries and federal deposit insurance premiums also slowed its profit growth....

GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. $28 (New York symbol GE; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 10.1 billion; Market cap: $282.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; Dividend yield: 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ge.com) has agreed to sell $157 billion in assets of its GE Capital financing division. So far, it has completed transactions equalling $104 billion. These sales are part of GE’s plan to focus on its industrial businesses, including jet engines, power plant equipment, medical gear and locomotives. ...

TENNANT CO. $52 (www.tennantco.com) continues to see strong demand for its floor-cleaning machines featuring its ec-H20 technology; that uses electricity to make tap water act like a detergent. Earnings per share in the third quarter of 2015 rose 7.9%, to $0.68 from $0.63 a year earlier....

DIEBOLD INC. $27 (www.diebold.com) has formed a new joint venture with Inspur Group, a Chinese cloud computing and data centre company. Diebold will own 49% of this business, which will develop automated teller machines (ATMs) and self-serve kiosks for Chinese banks....

FORD MOTOR CO. $12 (www.ford.com) will pay a special dividend of $0.25 a share in March 2016. That’s in addition to its regular quarterly dividend of $0.15; the annual rate of $0.60 yields 5.0%. Buy.

Selling your oil company stocks at the bottom is a bad idea.

Penny stock SQI Diagnostics has developed equipment to speed up disease detection but has no sales

Broadridge Financial Solutions boosts earnings through acquisition and niche investment services.

IPO investing issues typically come to market when it’s a good time for the company or its insiders to sell. That’s often a bad time for you to buy

Sell stocks in a way that consistently improves your portfolio without predicting when to “buy low and sell high.”

If you let share price fluctuations dictate your buying and selling, you’re almost certain to lose money.

An ETF investment can be a great low-fee way to hold shares in multiple companies with a single investment.

WESTJET AIRLINES $18.52 (Toronto symbol WJA; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-877-493-7853; www.westjet.com; Shares outstanding: 123.3 million; Market cap: $2.2 billion; Dividend yield: 3.0%) serves 100 destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe. Its fleet of 108 modern Boeing 737s are 30% more fuel efficient than older jets. In June 2013, the company launched WestJet Encore, its Canadian regional airline. This business now operates 23 Bombardier Q400 NextGen turboprop planes, which seat 78 passengers. The Canadian airline market remains highly competitive, especially with Air Canada expanding its Rouge budget airline to serve more leisure destinations in Europe, the Caribbean, Mexico and the U.S....

SYMANTEC CORP. $18.82 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (650-527-8000; www.symantec.com; Shares outstanding: 675.5 million; Market cap: $12.9 billion; Dividend yield: 3.2%) continues to strengthen its fast-growing cybersecurity business. It’s also selling its data backup and recovery operation. In its fiscal 2016 second quarter, which ended October 2, 2015, Symantec’s earnings fell 9.3%, to $301 million, or $0.44 a share, from $332 million, or $0.48. Sales declined 7.4%, to $1.5 billion from $1.6 billion. Businesses continue to spend heavily to protect their data from online intruders. However, sales to consumers fell as the company shifts users to a cloudbased service. That will make it easier for them to receive security updates and encourage them to renew their subscriptions. Symantec expects to complete these conversions in mid-2016....

AGT FOOD & INGREDIENTS $36.50 (Toronto symbol AGT; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (604-231-1100; www.agtfoods.com; Shares outstanding: 23.8 million; Market cap: $862.3 million; Dividend yield: 1.6%) buys and processes a range of pulses—which include peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas—as well as other specialty crops.

Saskatchewan-based AGT owns 13 processing plants in Canada, nine in Turkey, four in Australia, two in the U.S., one in China and one in South Africa.

In the three months ended September 30, 2015, AGT earned $0.51 a share, up 10.9% from $0.46 a year earlier....