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ISHARES MSCI EMERGING MARKETS INDEX FUND $40.91 (New York symbol EEM; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The fund’s geographic breakdown includes China, 24.8%; South Korea, 14.6%; Taiwan, 12.9%; South Africa, 7.4%; Brazil, 7.2%; India, 7.0%; Mexico, 4.6%; Russia, 3.9%; Malaysia, 3.3%; Indonesia, 2.5%; Thailand, 2.1%; and Turkey, 1.5%.

Its top holdings are Samsung Electronics (South Korea), 3.2%; Taiwan Semiconductor (computer chips), 2.9%; Tencent Holdings (China: Internet), 2.6%; China Mobile, 2.0%; China Construction Bank, 1.8%; Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, 1.6%; Naspers (South Africa: media and Internet), 1.4%; Hon Hai Precision Industry (Taiwan), 1.0%; and Ping An Insurance of China, 1.0%.

Its industry breakdown includes Financials, 28.1%; Information Technology, 19.0%; Consumer Discretionary, 9.3%; Consumer Staples, 8.0%; Energy, 7.8%; Telecommunication Services, 7.3%; Materials, 7.0%; and Industrials, 6.8%.

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PENGROWTH ENERGY $3.26 (Toronto symbol PGF; Shares outstanding: 534.6 million; Market cap: $1.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend: 7.4%; www.pengrowth.com) has started up its Lindbergh oil sands project in Alberta, which should produce 16,000 barrels a day by the end of 2015. Excluding Lindbergh, Pengrowth produced 69,334 barrels of oil equivalent a day in the first quarter of 2015.

As well, for the remainder of 2015, the company has hedged 78% of its oil production at $93.87 (Canadian) a barrel, well above today’s price of $60.16 U.S. It has also hedged 57% of its gas output at $3.72 (Canadian) per thousand cubic feet, compared to the current price of $2.94 U.S. The company’s hedges were worth $354.3 million as of March 31, 2015.

Pengrowth is still a buy.

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INNERGEX RENEWABLE ENERGY $11.65 (Toronto symbol INE; Shares outstanding: 101.1 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield 5.3%; www.innergex.com) operates 26 hydroelectric plants, six wind farms and one solar power facility in Quebec, Ontario, B.C. and Idaho. The company gets 73% of its power from hydroelectric plants. Wind supplies 26% and solar generates 1%.

In contrast to Algonquin, Innergex is growing slowly, mostly by building its own hydroelectric and wind facilities, rather than through acquisitions. Right now, the company has five projects under construction.

But like Algonquin, Innergex makes sure it has firm long-term power-purchase contracts in place before it starts building new plants.

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ALGONQUIN POWER & UTILITIES CORP. $9.58 (Toronto symbol AQN; Shares outstanding: 238.9 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.9%; www.algonquinpower.com) has nearly tripled in size over the past three years through acquisitions. It plans to expand further with more purchases.

The company’s regulated utility businesses now provide water, electricity and natural gas to over 489,000 customers, up sharply from 120,000 three years ago. In addition, its hydroelectric, thermal energy, solar and wind facilities generate 1,150 megawatts, up from 460.

Emera (Toronto symbol EMA), a recommendation of The Successful Investor, our conservative growth advisory, owns 21.0% of Algonquin.

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CRESCENT POINT ENERGY CORP. $28.03 (Toronto symbol CPG; Shares outstanding: 449.5 million; Market cap: $12.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 9.9%; www.crescentpointenergy.com) produces oil and natural gas in Western Canada, with a focus on its Bakken light oil development in southeastern Saskatchewan.

The company is now buying heavily indebted Legacy Oil + Gas (Toronto symbol LEG) for $563 million plus the assumption of $967 million in debt. Activist investors put a lot of pressure on Legacy to complete a deal.

The move will add about 22,000 barrels of oil a day to Crescent Point’s current output of 150,000 barrels. About 15,000 barrels of Legacy’s output is in Crescent Point’s core Bakken area.

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IMPERIAL OIL $49.32 (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $41.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.1%; www.imperialoil.ca) is a major integrated oil company with oil sands projects in Alberta and conventional oil and gas operations across Western Canada. It also operates three refineries and 1,700 Esso gas stations.

Oil prices hit a high of $147 U.S. a barrel in July 2008, but then plummeted to a low of $32 in December 2008 as the recession took hold. Prices climbed back to over $100 in 2010, and remained near there until mid-2014 when oil plunged from $110 to less than half that price by the end of the year. Oil is now at $60 a barrel.

Strong oil prices for most of 2014 let Imperial report cash flow of $5.3 billion, or $6.26 a share. This year, low oil prices will likely push cash flow down by more than half, to $2.6 billion, or $3.02 a share.

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Quick to take the lead in changing trends, Google continues to rate as one of our best tech stocks

Long-term contracts support these high-yielding power firms that we like as two of the fastest growing stocks for conservative investors.

There are two basic approaches to investing in stocks: bottom-up and top-down. Bottom-up investing is the better of the two by far.

Every Monday we feature “A Stock to Sell” as our daily post. With every stock or investment we recommend as a sell, we give you a full explanation of why we advise against investing in it at this time. Today an organic food store operator that has been among the most active stocks in the past year—but has seen its share price tumble.

Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. (symbol SFM on Nasdaq; www.sprouts.com) opened its first organic and natural food store in Arizona in 2002. It now has 200 outlets, mainly in the western U.S.

Sprouts first sold shares to the public at $18.00 each and began trading on Nasdaq in August 2013.

The company has grown quickly in the past few years. In 2011, it merged with Henry’s Holdings, which operated 43 stores. It later purchased 37 outlets operating under the Sunflower Farmers Market banner.

In addition to acquisitions, Sprouts continues to add new stores, opening 10 in the three months ended March 29, 2015. That increased its sales by 18.7% in the quarter, to $857.6 million from $722.6 million a year earlier. Same-store sales (which exclude recently opened and closed outlets) gained 4.8%.

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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. This week, why the world’s largest farm equipment maker isn’t among our U.S. stocks to buy.

Q: How do you see things shaping up for Deere & Co.? Is it a buy? Thanks.

A: Deere & Co. (symbol DE on New York; www.deere.com) started up in 1837 when its founder, John Deere, began making polished-steel plows at his blacksmith shop in Grand Detour, Illinois.

Today, the company is the world’s largest maker of agricultural equipment, with plants in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Spain, South Africa, Mexico and Argentina. In addition to John Deere, its top brands include Frontier, Kemper, Green Systems and SABO.

Deere mainly sells these products through independent dealers and home-improvement chains like Home Depot and Lowe’s. It has three divisions:

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TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC. $54 (Nasdaq symbol TXN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $54.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.3; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.ti.com) gets 65% of its revenue from analog chips, which convert inputs like touch, sound and pressure into signals computers can understand. Manufacturers use these chips in a variety of products, such as cars, medical devices and appliances.

The company gets a further 20% of its revenue by making embedded processor chips, which perform mathematical calculations. Many clients supply their own software for these chips. This gives Texas Instruments an opportunity to form long-term relationships with these users, as it helps them adapt their software to the new chips. That makes these customers less likely to switch to other chipmakers.

Handheld calculators, specialized chips and licensing fees provide the remaining 15% of revenue.

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PEPSICO INC. $95 (New York symbol PEP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.5 billion; Market cap: $142.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.pepsico.com) earned $1.25 billion in the three months ended March 21, 2015, down 1.6% from $1.27 billion a year earlier. The company spent $1.1 billion on share buybacks in the latest quarter. As a result, earnings per share were unchanged at $0.83.

Sales declined 3.2%, to $12.2 billion from $12.6 billion. If you exclude businesses PepsiCo bought and sold in the past year, as well as unfavourable currency exchange rates (overseas markets supply 40% of the company’s sales), revenue rose 4.4%.

PepsiCo is still seeing strong demand for its snack foods, particularly in developing countries. However, soft drink sales have suffered as increasingly health-conscious consumers drink less soda.

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EBAY INC. $62 (Nasdaq symbol EBAY; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $74.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.2; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ebay.com) has settled a long-standing dispute with classified advertising website Craigslist.

In 2004, eBay acquired a 28.4% stake in the privately held company for $32 million. However, Craigslist accused eBay of using its confidential information to launch a rival classified ad service in the U.S. in 2007. Under the settlement, eBay has sold its shares back to Craigslist for an undisclosed amount.

The deal should help speed up eBay’s plan spin off its PayPal online payments division as a separate company later this year. The remaining firm will focus on auction websites.

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Home renovations spurred by an improved real estate market help keep Stanley Black and Decker one on our best stocks to buy in the U.S.

MACY’S INC. $70 (New York symbol M, Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 336.4 million; Market cap: $23.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 2.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.macysinc.com) has formed a partnership with zTailors to provide tailoring services to customers who buy clothes from Macy’s websites.

For an extra fee, a tailor will come to the customer’s home or office for a fitting and complete the alterations within a week. If initial trials in three test cities are successful, Macy’s and zTailors will expand the service to all of the U.S. by the end of 2015.

Macy’s is a buy.

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INTEL CORP. $32 (Nasdaq symbol INTC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 4.7 billion; Market cap: $150.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.7; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.intel.com) has purchased Recon Instruments, a privately held Vancouver firm that makes heads-up displays for sports goggles and other specialized eyewear.

This is a small acquisition for Intel: the $175-million purchase price is just 9% of the $2.0 billion, or $0.41 a share, the chipmaker earned in the three months ended March 28, 2015. However, Recon’s technology will help Intel profit from rising sales of wearable devices, such as wristwatches that monitor heart rates and other biological data.

Intel is a buy.

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HONDA MOTOR CO. LTD. ADRs $33 (New York symbol HMC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $59.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 2.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.honda.com) is Japan’s second largest carmaker and the world’s biggest motorcycle manufacturer.

In its 2015 fiscal year, which ended March 31, 2015, Honda sold 4.36 million vehicles, up 0.9% from 2014. New models increased Asian sales by 10.8%, but sales fell 0.6% in the U.S., 1.2% in Europe and 7.0% in Japan. Motorcycle sales rose 4.4%. Unfavourable currency rates cut revenue by 8.3%, to $105.4 billion from $114.9 billion. Earnings per ADR declined 21.9%, to $2.42 from $3.10 (each ADR equals one common share).

The company expects its car sales to rise 8.0% in fiscal 2016, while motorcycle sales will gain 2.6%. That should lift its earnings to $2.68 per ADR, and the stock trades at 12.3 times that estimate. The $0.80 dividend yields 2.4%.

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TOYOTA MOTOR CO. ADRs $135 (New York symbol TM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $216.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 2.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.toyota.com) is the world’s largest carmaker. In its 2015 fiscal year, which ended March 31, 2015, Toyota sold 8.97 million vehicles, down 1.6% from 2014. North American sales rose 7.4%, thanks to strong demand for sport utility vehicles. European sales gained 1.8%. However, sales fell 8.9% in Japan and 7.5% in other parts of Asia.

Revenue declined 3.4%, to $241.0 billion from $249.5 billion, but revenue improved 6.0% in Japanese yen. Cost cuts and favourable exchange rates boosted earnings per ADR by 4.6%, to $12.31 from $11.77 (each American depositary receipt equals two Toyota common shares).

The company expects its fiscal 2016 sales to decline by 72,000 vehicles, to 8.9 million. Even so, its efficiency improvements should push up its earnings by 2.4%, to $12.60 per ADR. The stock trades at just 10.7 times that estimate. The $3.22 dividend yields 2.4%

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FEDEX CORP. $173 (New York symbol FDX; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 283.8 million; Market cap: $49.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 0.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.fedex.com) delivers packages and documents in the U.S. and 220 other countries through a fleet of 650 planes and 108,000 trucks and other ground vehicles.

The company recently agreed to buy TNT Express NV, a Netherlands-based courier that operates throughout Europe.

FedEx’s main rival, United Parcel Service (UPS), tried to buy TNT in 2012, but antitrust regulators rejected the deal because it would have given UPS too much of Europe’s courier market. Combined, FedEx and TNT would have about 17% of this business, so regulators will likely approve this purchase.

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CISCO SYSTEMS INC. $29 (Nasdaq symbol CSCO; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 5.1 billion; Market cap: $147.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield 2.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cisco.com) has seen falling sales of routers and other computer-networking equipment in China in the past few years.

That’s largely because of fears that U.S. intelligence agencies are secretly using the company’s gear to spy on foreign firms and governments. In the quarter ended April 25, 2015, Cisco’s Chinese sales fell 20% from a year earlier.

The company now aims to reverse the decline by investing in new partnerships with Chinese universities and other institutions. This should help Cisco develop new equipment to compete with products from domestic firms like Huawei Technologies.

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MCDONALD’S CORP. $97 (New York symbol MCD; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 958.5 million; Market cap: $93.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.5; Dividend yield: 3.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.mcdonalds .com) earned $811.5 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015, down 32.6% from $1.2 billion a year earlier. Per-share profits fell 30.6%, to $0.84 from $1.21, on fewer shares outstanding.

The company is closing less-profitable restaurants, simplifying its menus and speeding up its drive-through lanes as part of a new restructuring plan. If you exclude unusual items and the negative impact of currency exchange rates, McDonald’s earned $1.10 a share in the latest quarter.

Sales fell 11.1%, to $6.0 billion from $6.7 billion. A drop in customer traffic cut same-store sales by 2.3%.

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BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS INC. $52 (New York symbol BR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 119.9 million; Market cap: $6.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; Dividend yield: 2.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.broadridge.com) serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications, securities processing and transaction clearing. It processes 90% of all proxy votes in the U.S. and Canada. If you exclude one-time items, Broadridge earned $58.8 million, or $0.47 a share, in its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended March 31, 2015. That’s up 6.7% from $55.1 million, or $0.44 a share, a year earlier.

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DUN & BRADSTREET CORP. $128 (New York symbol DNB; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 36.0 million; Market cap: $4.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; Dividend yield: 1.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.dnb.com) provides credit reports on over 230 million companies. Its clients use this information to make lending and buying decisions.

Dun & Bradstreet gets 64% of its revenue from credit reports. The remaining 36% comes from other information products, like software businesses use to manage websites and customer data.

In 2010, the company sold subsidiary Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. (DBCC) to private investors for $10.0 million. DBCC sells credit reports and related services to U.S. small businesses; it pays licensing fees to use the Dun & Bradstreet brand.

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CONAGRA FOODS INC. $44 (New York symbol CAG; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 427.1 million; Market cap: $18.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.conagrafoods.com) bought Ralcorp Holdings, the largest private-label food maker in the U.S., for $4.75 billion in January 2013.

The purchase has not worked out as well as ConAgra had hoped, as strong competition hurt Ralcorp’s sales and earnings. As a result, the company has had to write down this investment by $2.1 billion.

In response, ConAgra has launched a restructuring plan aimed at improving Ralcorp’s profitability. This strategy includes better packaging, speeding up deliveries and launching new products. It has also cut its private-label prices, which should help improve Ralcorp’s market share.

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