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FINNING INTERNATIONAL INC. $18 (Toronto symbol FTT; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 169.3 million; Market cap: $3.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 4.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.finning.com) sells and services Caterpillar-brand heavy equipment. Its main customers are in the oil, mining, forest-products and construction industries. Weaker commodity prices continue to hurt equipment demand. In response, Finning has laid off 13% of its workforce and closed 11 of its locations in Western Canada. The company is now looking at other ways to lower its costs, such as shipping parts directly to customers instead of through dealerships. Meanwhile, Finning’s earnings fell 42.4% in the three months ended September 30, 2015, to $0.19 a share from $0.33 a year earlier. Without one-time items, the company earned $0.34 a share in the latest quarter....

TELUS CORP. $40 (Toronto symbol T; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 600.1 million; Market cap: $24.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 4.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.telus.com) plans to launch several new cloud computing services that will use Microsoft’s cloud software and Internet equipment from Cisco Systems. The company aims to work closely with its clients to develop cloud-based systems that are secure, fast and easily expandable. More businesses are shifting to a cloud platform, as it lets them avoid the high cost of buying new computers and continuously updating software. Over the next five years, companies will probably spend up to eight times more on cloud services than non-cloud technologies....

ATCO LTD. (Toronto symbols ACO.X [class I non-voting] $34 and ACO.Y [class II voting] $34; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 115.1 million; Market cap: $3.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 2.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.atco.com) operates power plants in Western Canada, the U.K. and Australia. It also builds temporary buildings for construction, mining and energy-exploration firms. Weak commodity prices are hurting demand for electricity and shelters, particularly in Alberta. In response, ATCO is cutting 4% of its global workforce. A new carbon tax in Alberta has also weighed on ATCO’s stock. However, most of the company’s power plants burn natural gas, not coal, which should help reduce the impact of the tax. In addition, ATCO is looking at replacing some of its current facilities with a new hydroelectric plant in northern Alberta....

SHAWCOR LTD. $27 (Toronto symbol SCL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares out- standing: 64.5 million; Market cap: $1.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.shawcor.com) has acquired certain businesses from Flint Field Services....

FORTIS INC. $36 (www.fortisinc.com) has agreed to buy Chevron Corp.’s 93.8% stake in the Aitken Creek underground gas storage facility in northeastern B.C.; BP Canada owns the remaining 6.2%. Fortis will pay $266 million U.S. when it completes the purchase in early 2016....

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $75 (www.rbc.com) earned $9.9 billion in its 2015 fiscal year, which ended October 31, 2015, up 8.6% from $9.1 billion in fiscal 2014. Earnings per share gained 9.4%, to $6.66 from $6.09, on fewer shares outstanding. Strong gains at its retail banking, securities trading and custodial operations offset weaker results at the wealth management and insurance operations....

Mining stocks Alcoa aims to unleash value for investors by spinning off its fast-growing business in engineered aluminium products.

After selling its struggling newspaper business, Thomson Reuters thrives as a purveyor of financial, legal and tax information products.

The Shiller P/E ratio is an example of a single idea that is in fashion with investors, but out of tune with the current investment situation.

Today, we look at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the largest tire maker in the world. Goodyear has recently seen its revenue fall as the strong U.S. dollar has cut into the value of its sales outside of the U.S. However, the company expects earnings to rise over the next year and beyond as cost cuts in Europe and lower costs for materials such as oil and rubber take effect. In addition, a new $550-million plant in Mexico that will make tires for the growing high-performance tire market will add revenue starting in 2017. With a price to earnings ratio of 11.2, Goodyear’s stock is inexpensive. We recommend Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. as a value stock to buy.

GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER CO. (Nasdaq symbol GT; www.goodyear.com) is the world’s largest tire maker, with 50 plants in 22 countries.

In the three months ended September 30, 2015, Goodyear’s revenue fell 10.2%, to $4.18 billion from $4.66 billion a year earlier. The rising U.S. dollar cut the value of the company’s foreign sales (particularly in Europe and Brazil) by $430 million.

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In the 18th century, pioneering economist Adam Smith said that the public tends to overvalue “speculative ventures”. We think this makes excellent investing advice for present day investors in speculative stocks.

When a speculative stock is losing money, it has a great deal of freedom to ponder on its future. With a little imagination, it can always show that anything’s possible, based on a logical series of events that it says will take place as it advances inevitably toward profitability. Meanwhile, it doesn’t need to worry that its price-to-earnings or p/e ratio is too high, since it doesn’t have one—it has no “e”.

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While drilling equipment company McCoy Global has dropped to the penny stock range, we see it as a bargain for aggressive investors

Flow-through limited partnerships offer big tax breaks but may not be the best things for your portfolio.

With this short-term investing strategy, you may be missing out on long-term profits in favour of giving short term profits to your broker

Home Depot continues to benefit from a boom in home renovations and seeks to maintain its strong growth against stiff competition.

United Technologies keeps its dividends rising with smart acquisitions and innovation in the aviation and building systems industries.

Invest like fabled investor Warren Buffett by looking for long-term fundamental value.

We have just released our special report for the tax-loss selling season—our most popular report on capital gains taxes....

Peak Oil theory believers thought we were in danger of running out of oil

SNC-Lavalin readies for more public works contracts, acquires oil and gas-focused contractor

A corporate spin-off and a new issue or IPO are like two sides of a coin—one favourable to investors, the other unfavourable.

Our take on Nordic American Tanker, an energy stock that has had surprisingly good results despite the low price of oil.

It’s easier to launch a promising company than to create a successful business. That’s why only a minority of penny stocks ever go on to significant success. And while penny stocks can be a worthwhile addition to the aggressive portion of a diversified portfolio, you should in general only buy them with money you’re willing to lose.

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Canadian Pacific Railway, Toronto Symbol CP, is one of our long-time favourites. However, we also have a very high opinion of its larger rival, Canadian National Railway—one of North America’s most efficient railways, Toronto symbol CNR.

Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) transports freight over a rail network between Montreal and Vancouver. In the U.S., subsidiaries connect CP’s Canadian lines to major hubs in the Midwest and Northeast. Alliances with other railways extend its reach to Mexico.

Not only was CP our #1 stock pick for 2012, but we recommended CP in our very first issue of The Successful Investor in January 1995. At that time, CP held a variety of businesses beyond railways, such as hotels, coal, and oil and gas. We saw these as undervalued assets. In 2001, CP unlocked some of this hidden value by spinning off these businesses as separate firms....

Our look at Brookfield Property Partners, a growth stock with worldwide properties, a high dividend yield and big plans for more growth.