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DIEBOLD INC. $34 (New York symbol DBD; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 64.9 million; Market cap: $2.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 3.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.diebold.com) recently paid an undisclosed sum for Phoenix Interactive Design, a privately held maker of software for automated teller machines. The purchase will add more features to Diebold’s ATMs and make them work better.

Excluding costs to integrate Phoenix and other unusual items, Diebold’s earnings per share rose 20.8% in the first quarter of 2015, to $0.29 from $0.24 a year earlier. However, sales fell 4.8%, to $655.5 million from $688.3 million. Stronger ATM demand in North America, Europe and Asia offset slower sales of other gear in Brazil. Without currency rates, sales rose 1.1%.

Diebold is a buy.

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NORDSTROM INC. $74 (New York symbol JWN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 191.0 million; Market cap: $14.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.nordstrom.com) first expanded to Canada in 2014, when it opened a department store in Calgary. It recently opened a second location in Ottawa.

The company now plans to open four more Canadian stores in the next two years: three in Toronto and one in Vancouver. Meanwhile, it continues to add Nordstrom Rack stores, which sell off-price goods, and expand its e-commerce business.

These developments helped boost Nordstrom’s sales by 9.7% in the three months ended May 2, 2015, to $3.2 billion from $2.9 billion a year earlier. Same-store sales gained 4.4%. However, the extra costs to open and run the new stores cut the company’s earnings per share by 8.3%, to $0.66 from $0.72.

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SNAP-ON INC. $158 (New York symbol SNA; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 58.1 million; Market cap: $9.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.6; Dividend yield: 1.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.snapon.com) makes tools for auto mechanics and sells them through a fleet of franchised vans that visit garages. It also makes specialized tools for industrial customers.

The company continues to benefit as the improving economy gives mechanics more cash to spend on tools. Its sales rose 5.1% in the quarter ended April 4, 2015, to $827.8 million from $787.5 million a year earlier. Without the impact of exchange rates and acquisitions, sales gained 9.9%. Earnings per share rose 15.4%, to $1.87 from $1.62.

The stock hit a record high of $158 in May 2015. It now trades at 19.8 times the $7.98 a share Snap-On will likely earn this year. That’s a somewhat high p/e ratio for a company that serves the cyclical automotive industry. The $2.12 dividend yields 1.3%.

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STANLEY BLACK & DECKER INC. $103 (New York symbol SWK; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 153.7 million; Market cap: $15.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.stanleyblack anddecker.com) is one of the world’s largest makers of hand and power tools for consumers. Its top-selling brands include Stanley, Black & Decker, FatMax and Powerlock. This business supplies 62% of the company’s sales.

Stanley also makes building-security products, such as locks and gates (19% of sales) and specialized tools for industrial users, including auto mechanics and construction firms (19%).

The company has a long history of using acquisitions to diversify its operations. Since 2002, it has spent $6.2 billion buying related firms, excluding its March 2010 purchase of rival toolmaker Black & Decker for $4.5 billion in stock.

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RESTAURANT BRANDS INTERNATIONAL INC. $39 (New York symbol QSR, Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 467.0 million; Market cap: $18.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: n.a.; Dividend yield: 1.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.rbi.com) took its current form on December 12, 2014, after Burger King Worldwide (old symbol BKW) acquired Tim Hortons (old symbol THI).

The company is the world’s third-largest fast-food operator, after McDonald’s and Yum Brands, with 14,387 Burger King outlets and 4,724 Tim Hortons locations in 100 countries. Franchisees own and operate all of these restaurants.

If you assume the takeover occurred at the start of 2014, Restaurant Brands cut its loss to $8.1 million, or $0.04 a share, in the three months ended March 31, 2015, from $226.5 million, or $1.12, a year earlier.

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HEWLETT-PACKARD CO. $34 (New York symbol HPQ; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $61.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 1.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.hp.com) is selling 51% of its data-networking equipment and server business in China. Demand for these products has suffered on fears that the U.S. government is using them to collect data on Chinese companies. Hewlett will receive $2.3 billion when it completes the sale by the end of 2015.

Meanwhile, its earnings fell 5.6% in the quarter ended April 30, 2015, to $1.6 billion from $1.7 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share declined 1.1%, to $0.87 from $0.88, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue fell 6.8%, to $25.5 billion from $27.3 billion.

The company still plans to split into two firms in November 2015: Hewlett-Packard Enterprise will sell computing products, like servers and analytics software, to businesses and governments, while HP Inc. will focus on personal computers and printers. Hewlett expects breakup-related costs of $400 million to $450 million.

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YUM! BRANDS INC. $92 (New York symbol YUM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 432.4 million; Market cap: $39.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.yum.com) aims to spur sales at its U.S. KFC restaurants with several new initiatives, including upgrading stores and launching new menu items. The company also plans a new series of TV and online ads featuring an actor playing Colonel Harland Sanders, the late founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

The stock is up 26% since the start of 2015, partly due to speculation that Yum may spin off its KFC and Pizza Hut chains in China, which account for half of its revenue. Food-safety concerns and strong competition from other fast-food restaurants have hurt Yum’s Chinese operations in the past two years.

Yum Brands is still a hold.

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CAMPBELL SOUP CO. $48 (New York symbol CPB; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 311.8 million; Market cap: $15.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.campbellsoupcompany.com) is the world’s largest maker of canned soups. It also makes Prego canned pasta and sauces, Pepperidge Farm cookies and V8 vegetable juices.

To cut its reliance on canned foods, Campbell is expanding its fresh-food businesses. In 2013, it paid $1.55 billion for Bolthouse Farms, a producer of carrots, dressings and fruit juices. It also acquired leading organic food producer Plum for $249 million.

At the same time, Campbell is cutting costs by eliminating management positions and merging overlapping functions at its divisions. The company expects these moves to save it $200 million a year starting in fiscal 2016.

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CONAGRA FOODS INC. $39 (New York symbol CAG; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 427.1 million; Market cap: $16.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.conagrafoods .com) makes packaged foods, including Chef Boyardee canned pasta, Hunt’s tomato sauce, Peter Pan peanut butter, Orville Redenbacher popcorn and Reddiwip whipped cream.

Consumers supply 70% of ConAgra’s sales. Businesses, including restaurants and other food makers, provide the remaining 30%.

In January 2013, the company bought Ralcorp Holdings, the largest private-label food maker in the U.S., for $4.75 billion.

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GENERAL MILLS INC. $56 (New York symbol GIS, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 596.1 million; Market cap: $33.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 3.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.generalmills.com) is one of the world’s largest food makers. Its top brands include Big G (cereal), Green Giant (canned and frozen vegetables), Pillsbury (baking dough), Old El Paso (tacos), Progresso (soups and salads) and Yoplait (yogourt).

In its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended February 22, 2015, General Mills earned $343.2 million, down 16.4% from $410.6 million a year earlier. Earnings per share declined 12.5%, to $0.56 from $0.64, on fewer shares outstanding.

Without unusual items, such as gains and losses on hedging contracts General Mills uses to lock in certain ingredient prices, earnings per share gained 12.9%, to $0.70 from $0.62.

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MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL INC. $40 (Nasdaq symbol MDLZ; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $64.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.mondelezinternational.com) makes cookies and biscuits (Oreo, Chips Ahoy, Ritz), chocolate bars (Cadbury, Toblerone) and gum and candy (Trident, Chiclets and Halls cough drops).

In May 2014, the company agreed to merge its packaged coffee business with European coffee maker D.E. Master Blenders. Under the deal, Mondelez will contribute its coffee brands, including Jacobs, Gevalia and Tassimo, to a new firm called Jacobs Douwe Egberts. It will get about $4.5 billion in cash and 49% of the new company in return.

Mondelez aims to close the deal by the end of 2015. It will use the cash to buy back shares and pay down its $12.8-billion long-term debt, or 20% of its market cap.

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WAL-MART STORES INC. $75 (New York symbol WMT; Conservative Growth Portfolio: Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 3.2 billion; Market cap: $240.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.walmart .com) aims to spur its online sales with a new plan called ShippingPass that offers U.S. shoppers unlimited threeday shipping for $50 a year. This should help it compete with Amazon’s Prime service, which offers two-day shipping for an annual fee of $99.

Thanks to investments like this, Wal-Mart’s online sales jumped 17% in the first quarter of its 2016 fiscal year, which ended April 30, 2015.

Wal-Mart is also starting to see the benefits of its efforts to improve sales at its U.S. stores, including speeding up checkout lines and opening smaller stores. Same-stores sales in the U.S. (62% of total sales) rose 1.1%, the third straight quarter of growth.

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GOOGLE INC. (Nasdaq symbols GOOG $540 [class C: nonvoting] and GOOGL $554 [class A: one vote per share]; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 682.4 million; Market cap: $368.8 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 5.4; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.google.com) controls about two-thirds of the global Internet search market, mainly because its innovative technology helps users quickly find the information they’re seeking. The U.S. supplies 43% of the company’s revenue.

Google gets 90% of its revenue by selling advertising on its websites. It mainly does this through its AdWords program. Using AdWords, advertisers bid on certain search words or phrases. The company then charges advertisers when users click on their ads.

In addition to search, Google offers other free services and soft- ware, including Gmail (email), YouTube (videos), Google+ (social networking), Chrome (a web browser) and Android (mobile phone software). These services draw more users to Google’s sites, which lets it sell more ads and charge higher ad rates.

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A high dividend yield can signal risk, as with Ares Capital and its high-risk loans funded with shadowy methods like mezzanine debt.

Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle. Every week, his comments on the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. Each week, we offer you a highlight from these Q&A sessions.

Q: Pat: What is your opinion of Unilever going forward? Thank you.

A: Unilever plc (ADR) (symbol UL on New York; www.unilever.com) is one of the world’s largest makers of consumer goods. Asia and Africa supply 43% of its sales, followed by the Americas (33%) and Europe (24%). The company gets 59% of its sales from emerging markets.

Unilever operates through four divisions:

• Personal Care (37% of sales) makes skin and hair care products, deodorants and oral care goods. Top brands include Dove and Lux (soap), Sunsilk (shampoo), Axe (deodorant), Pond’s (skin cream), Vaseline (petroleum jelly) and Close Up (toothpaste).

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Whenever IBM seems to lose momentum, it has the flexibility to adapt to fast-growing businesses, fortify its dividend and reward investors.

Worrying about things that are out of your control can lead to untimely buy or sell decisions that seriously reduce your long-term profits.

Meta Description: Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) give investors a low-fee way to match market indexes, and these two ETFs are the cream of the Canadian crop.

We believe most investors could benefit from holding some foreign investments in their portfolios for added diversification. Still, investing internationally remains riskier than investing in North America. With stocks markets around the globe, you may face language barriers, uncertain investor-protection laws, and in some cases a less pronounced commitment to openness, fairness and other qualities we tend to take for granted in established markets. One of the best ways to make it easier to profit on foreign markets is with American Depositary Receipts (ADRs). An American Depositary Receipt is an investment unit for foreign companies that trade on a U.S. stock market. These units can represent fractions of shares, whole shares, or multiple shares in the foreign company. ADRs can help you simplify your international investing by letting you buy foreign shares on U.S. exchanges without the complications of buying or selling on a foreign exchange, in a foreign currency....

Drugs losing patent protection, adr strives reverse fortunes

ENERFLEX LTD. $14.35 (Toronto symbol EFX; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk)(403-387-6377; www.enerflex.com; Shares outstanding: 78.7 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion; Dividend yield: 2.4%) rents and sells equipment and services for natural gas production, including compression and processing plants, refrigeration gear and power generators.

On June 30, 2014, Enerflex completed its $431- million U.S. acquisition of two businesses owned by privately held Axip Energy Services: an international contract compression and processing subsidiary and a division that provides aftermarket services.

In the three months ended March 31, 2015, Enerflex’s revenue gained 43.0%, to $475.3 million from $332.4 million a year earlier. Earnings per share jumped sharply, to $0.29 from $0.05.

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TOROMONT INDUSTRIES LTD. $31.87 (Toronto symbol TIH; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (416-667- 5511; www.toromont.com; Shares outstanding: 77.5 million; Market cap: $2.5 billion; Dividend yield: 2.1%) distributes a broad range of industrial equipment, including machinery made by Caterpillar Inc. It also makes refrigeration systems through its CIMCO division.

The company completed the spinoff of Enerflex Ltd. (see right) in 2011. Shareholders received shares of both the new Toromont Industries and Enerflex.

In the three months ended March 31, 2015, revenue rose 9.1%, to $340.2 million from $311.7 million a year earlier. Earnings gained 8.1%, to $20.1 million, or $0.26 a share, from $18.6 million or $0.24. The first quarter is typically Toromont’s slowest because of winter shutdowns in the construction industry.

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RESTAURANT BRANDS INTERNATIONAL $41.07 (New York symbol QSR; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (212-333-3810; www.rbi.com; Shares outstanding: 467.0 million; Market cap: $19.2 billion; Dividend yield: 1.0%) is the world’s thirdlargest fast-food operator, after McDonald’s and Yum Brands, with 14,387 Burger King outlets and 4,724 Tim Hortons locations in 100 countries.

Excluding one-time items, Restaurant Brands earned $0.18 a share in the three months ended March 31, 2015, up 38.5% from $0.13 a year earlier. Sales crept up to $932.0 million from $931.6 million, but that’s because the high U.S. dollar cut the contribution from Restaurant Brands’ overseas operations. On a constant-currency basis, sales gained 10.6%.

Same-store sales rose 5.3% at Tim Hortons, thanks to new menu items like Philly steak and cheese and crispy chicken sandwiches. Burger King’s same-store sales rose 4.6%, also thanks to new products, such as a spicy BLT sandwich, and special promotions.

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AMAZON.COM $423.86 (Nasdaq symbol AMZN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk)(206-266-1000; www.amazon.com; Shares outstanding: 465.7 million; Market cap: $196.4 billion; No dividends paid) continues to expand its Amazon Prime service.

Amazon recently formed an alliance with JetBlue that will let Prime members stream movies and TV shows through the airline’s in-plane Wi-Fi system to their mobile devices at no extra cost. They can also listen to over one million songs. Non-members can also access the service for a small fee.

The company launched Prime in 2005. For $99 a year, members get two-day shipping on all of their purchases. U.S. members also get three additional free services: streaming from Amazon Instant Video, streaming from Prime Music and cloud photo storage with Prime Photos.

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AGT FOOD & INGREDIENTS $28.73 (Toronto symbol AGT; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (604-231- 1100; www.alliancegrain.com; Shares outstanding: 23.1 million; Market cap: $669.37 million; Dividend yield: 2.1%) earned $0.42 a share in the quarter ended March 31, 2015, up 162.5% from $0.16 a year earlier. Revenue gained 23.7%, to $385.2 million from $311.3 million. The increases came from recent acquisitions and higher processing activity.

The company recently agreed to pay a total of $26.7 million for the assets of two firms: West Central Road & Rail Ltd. and Prairie Processing (1989) Ltd. These properties, which include five loading sites and a processing facility in Saskatchewan, should let AGT ship more crops and boost its efficiency. The company expects to complete these purchases in June 2015.

AGT Food & Ingredients is a buy.

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