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ENERPLUS CORP. $8.15 (Toronto symbol ERF; Shares outstanding: 206.2 million; Market cap: $1.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 7.4%) produces an average of 107,429 barrels of oil equivalent a day (57% gas and 43% oil). Its properties are mainly in Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C., North Dakota and Montana, as well as in the Marcellus shale, which passes through Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia.

Enerplus increased its production by 3.3% in the three months ended June 30, 2015, but that wasn’t enough to offset sharply lower oil and gas prices; cash flow per share fell 25.0%, to $0.78 from $1.04. Like Crescent Point, Enerplus has cut exploration spending this year. Its outlays will now total $580 million, down 28.5% from $811.0 million in 2014.

The lower spending, along with Enerplus’s plan to produce less gas in the Marcellus shale until prices rise, will cut its forecast 2015 production to around 105,199 barrels of oil equivalent a day.

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CRESCENT POINT ENERGY CORP. $19.86 (Toronto symbol CPG; Shares outstanding: 498.3 million; Market cap: $9.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 6.0%; www.crescentpointenergy.com) produces oil and natural gas in Western Canada, with a focus on its Bakken light oil development in southeastern Saskatchewan. Its output is 91% oil and 9% gas.

In the three months ended June 30, 2015, Crescent Point’s cash flow fell 17.7%, to $524.3 million from $636.7 million a year earlier. The company raised its daily output by 10.4%, but lower oil and gas prices offset that increase.

Cash flow per share declined 26.5%, to $1.14 from $1.55, because the company issued shares to pay for acquisitions, including $1.5 billion for Legacy Oil + Gas in June 2015.

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CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD. $199.75 (Toronto symbol CP; Shares outstanding: 161.0 million; Market cap: $31.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 0.7%; www.cpr.ca) prefers to use its excess cash to buy back shares instead of raising its $1.40- a-share dividend, which yields 0.7%. That’s because many of its investors live in the U.S. and are subject to withholding taxes on dividends from Canadian firms.

The company could repurchase up to 9.1 million shares under its latest authorization, and it’s now closing in on that limit, so CP has raised it to 11.9 million shares, or 7% of the 161.0 million outstanding as of June 30, 2015.

The company expects to complete these purchases by March 17, 2016.

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ALLIED PROPERTIES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $34.30 (Toronto symbol AP.UN; Units outstanding: 77.9 million; Market cap: $2.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.3%; www.alliedreit.com) owns 146 office buildings, mostly in major Canadian cities. These mainly Class I properties contain over 10.5 million square feet of leasable area. Class I refers to 19th- and early-20th-century industrial buildings that have been converted to retail space. They usually feature exposed beams, interior brick and hardwood floors.

Allied spent $400 million acquiring properties in 2012, $182.4 million in 2013 and $234.9 million in 2014. In the first half of 2015, it added three more for $136.1 million.

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RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $25.78 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 318.8 million; Market cap: $8.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.5%; www.riocan.com) is Canada’s largest real estate investment trust.

In the three months ended June 30, 2015, RioCan’s revenue rose 6.3%, to $322.3 million from $303.2 million a year earlier. Cash flow per unit gained 2.4%, to $0.42 from $0.41.

The trust has now agreed to unwind its 50/50 joint venture with U.S.-based Kimco Realty. This business manages 35 malls across Canada.

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SUN LIFE FINANCIAL $44.38 (Toronto symbol SLF; Shares outstanding: 610.6 million; Market cap: $27.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.4%; www.sunlife.ca) continues to expand in the U.S. At the same time, it’s cutting its risk by focusing on highly profitable niche markets with low capital reserve requirements.



In June 2015, the company bought U.S....

BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $60.29 (Toronto symbol BNS; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $72.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.6%, www.scotiabank.com) is the third-largest of Canada’s five big banks, with $863.1 billion of assets.

In its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended July 31, 2015, the bank earned $1.85 billion, up 2.8% from $1.80 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 3.6%, to $1.45 from $1.40, on fewer shares outstanding.

Revenue fell 5.6%, to $6.1 billion from $6.5 billion, but that was mainly because Bank of Nova Scotia sold most of its shares in mutual fund provider CI Financial (Toronto symbol CIX) in 2014. Earnings at the Canadian banking division (49% of the total) rose 14.9% on improving loan and deposit growth. The international business (30%) saw its earnings rise 10.5%, thanks to strong loan demand in Latin America and favourable currency rates.

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Canadian annuities offer a predictable source of income—but we advise against buying them.

The acquisition of a U.S. packaging firm looks like a perfect fit is for one of our leading value stocks, printer Transcontinental Inc.

The price of natural gas, like the price of oil, is highly volatile—and influenced both up and down by a wide range of factors. So it’s a bad idea to base investment decisions on predictions of future natural gas prices, and their effects on natural gas stock prices, because these predictions are simply not reliable.

However, you can profit nicely over long periods by investing in well-established or well-managed companies that are active in businesses that involve highly volatile commodities like oil and gas. You profit all the more if you buy these companies when they are cheap in relation to earnings and assets.

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