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THOMSON REUTERS CORP. $52 (Toronto symbol TRI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 791.8 million; Market cap: $41.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.3; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.thomsonreuters.com) sells specialized information products in four main areas: financial (53% of 2014 revenue, 39% of earnings); legal (28%, 39%); tax (11%, 12%); and intellectual property and science (8%, 10%). (All amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars.)

The Americas supplied 60% of Thomson’s 2014 revenue, followed by Europe (30%) and Asia (10%).

Many banks and financial services firms cut spending on the company’s products following the 2008 financial crisis. In response, it laid off staff and simplified its operations.

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POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN $42 (Toronto symbol POT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 832.1 million; Market cap: $34.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.3; Dividend yield: 4.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.potashcorp.com) has suffered two recent setbacks. (All amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars.)

First, the Saskatchewan government decided to change the timing of certain tax breaks for new potash mines and expansion projects. The province is also reviewing how it taxes potash producers.

Potash Corp. expects the new rules to cut its pre-tax earnings by $75 million to $100 million (Canadian) in 2015. To put that in context, it earned $1.5 billion, or $1.82 a share, in 2014.

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AGRIUM INC. $132 (Toronto symbol AGU; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 144.0 million; Market cap: $19.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.agrium.com) gets 75% of its sales and 60% of its earnings from its retail stores, which consist of 1,450 locations in North America, South America and Australia. These outlets sell seed, fertilizer and other products to farmers. (All amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars.)

The company gets the remaining 25% of its sales and 40% of its earnings by making nitrogen-based fertilizers from natural gas. It also operates potash and phosphate fertilizer mines. In the past few years, Agrium has built up its retail business through acquisitions. In December 2010, it paid $1.2 billion for AWB Ltd., which operated 220 stores in Australia In October 2013, the company added 210 stores in Western Canada and Australia in a $485-million deal with Viterra Inc.

These acquisitions, along with rising fertilizer prices, pushed up Agrium’s sales by 49.2%, from $10.7 billion in 2010 to $16.0 billion in 2012. Declining fertilizer prices cut its 2013 sales to $15.7 billion, but they improved to $16.0 billion in 2014.

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SYMANTEC CORP. (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; www.symantec.com) sells computer security technology, including antivirus and email filtering software, to businesses and consumers.

In its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended January 2, 2015, Symantec earned $367 million, unchanged from a year earlier. However, per-share earnings rose 1.9%, to $0.53 from $0.52, on fewer shares outstanding.

Revenue slipped 3.9%, to $1.64 billion from $1.71 billion. But if you disregard the negative impact of the high U.S. dollar on the company’s overseas sales, revenue was flat.

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Today’s tip: “Early experiences may lead you to prefer either value investing—trying to buy stocks at bargain prices—or growth investing—looking for rising stocks with further growth ahead. Here’s why you should combine the two. ” If you meet a large number of investors over a large number of years, it may seem they come in two basic categories—one inclined toward value investing, the other more interested in growth. This may be due in part to their early life experiences. Value investing—trying to buy assets at bargain prices—has natural appeal for those who grew up in strained economic circumstances. Growth investing—trying to identify and buy rising stocks when they have further growth ahead—seems to appeal more to those who grew up in prosperous households....

Alimentation Couche-Tard (symbol ATD.B on Toronto; www.couche-tard.com) operates 6,314 convenience stores throughout North America. Canadian outlets operate under the Couche-Tard and Mac’s banners, while the U.S. stores mainly use the Circle K brand.

In Europe, Couche-Tard operates 2,233 stores across Scandinavia, Poland, the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and Russia.

In the three months ended February 1, 2015, Couche-Tard’s sales rose just 1.7%, to $2.33 billion from $2.29 billion a year earlier. The higher U.S. dollar cut the revenue contribution of its European operations.

However, per-share earnings jumped 64.5%, to $0.51 from $0.31. Couche-Tard saw higher profit margins on merchandise and fuel, and it continues to save on interest costs as it pays down the debt it took on to acquire Norway’s Statoil Fuel & Retail gas station chain, which it bought for $2.7 billion in June 2012.

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POWER CORP. $33.52 (Toronto symbol POW; Shares outstanding: 412.6 million; Market cap: $15.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Div. yield: 3.5%; www.powercorporation.com) is a diversified holding company. It holds its financial assets through 65.7%-owned Power Financial.

These financial assets include 68.1% of Great- West Lifeco, one of Canada’s largest life insurers, and 58.7% of IGM Financial, a leading Canadian mutual fund provider.

As well, Power Financial owns 50% of holding company Parjointco, which holds a 55.5% stake in Switzerland-listed Pargesa Holdings SA. Pargesa has 95% of its assets in five large European firms: Imerys (minerals), Total SA (oil), Pernod Ricard (wine and spirits), SGS (inspection, testing and certification services) and Lafarge (cement and building materials). Power Corp. also has investments in Asia.

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ALGONQUIN POWER & UTILITIES $9.36 (Toronto symbol AQN; Shares outstanding: 238.9 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.7%; www.algonquinpower.com) reports that its revenue rose 26.3% in the three months ended December 31, 2014, to $259.3 million from $205.3 million a year earlier. Cash flow per share jumped 22.7%, to $0.27 from $0.22.

The gains mostly came from acquisitions, including California’s Park Water for $327 million U.S. in September 2014.

Growth by acquisition adds risk. But Algonquin cuts that risk by buying profitable utilities like Park Water. It also ensures that its renewable energy projects sell their power under long-term government-guaranteed contracts.

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MANULIFE FINANCIAL $21.51 (Toronto symbol MFC; Shares outstanding: 2.0 billion; Market cap: $42.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 2.9%; www.manulife.ca) sells life and other forms of insurance, as well as mutual funds and investment management services.

In the three months ended December 31, 2014, Manulife’s earnings per share gained 2.9%, to $0.36 from $0.35 a year earlier. Revenue fell slightly, to $7.15 billion from $7.18 billion.

At the end of 2014, Manulife had $691.1 billion of assets under management, up 15.4% from $598.9 billion at the end of 2013. A large part of the increase came from its late 2014 acquisition of U.K.-based Standard Life’s Canadian insurance operations for $4 billion.

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SUN LIFE FINANCIAL $39.03 (Toronto symbol SLF; Shares outstanding: 612.7 million; Market cap: $24.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.7%; www.sunlife.ca) sells life insurance, savings, retirement and pension products to individuals and corporations.

Sun Life has $734.4 billion of assets under management. It mainly operates in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., but it continues to expand in Asia.

In 2013, it sold its riskier, money-losing U.S. annuity business, which sells products that guarantee minimum long-term returns even if markets fall.

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ENCANA $14.14 (Toronto symbol ECA; Shares outstanding: 741.1 million; Market cap: $10.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Div. yield: 2.5%; www.encana.com) has sold 98.5 million shares for $14.60 each to raise $1.44 billion.

The company will use these funds to redeem $1.6 billion worth of notes. As of December 31, 2014, Encana’s long-term debt was $7.3 billion U.S., or a high 90% of its $10.3-billion (Canadian) market cap.

The stock sale has increased Encana’s total shares outstanding by roughly 13%. However, paying down debt will cut the company’s interest costs and help it conserve cash until oil and gas prices rebound. It could also use the savings to make acquisitions at bargain prices.

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PEYTO EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT CORP. $33.96 (Toronto symbol PEY; Shares outstanding: 153.7 million; Market cap: $5.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 3.9%; www.peyto.com) produces and explores for oil and natural gas in Alberta. Its average daily production of 83,251 barrels of oil equivalent is 90% gas and 10% oil.

In the quarter ended December 31, 2014, Peyto’s cash flow rose 34.5%, to $1.13 a share from $0.84 a year ago. That’s because it raised its production by 23.7%, and realized higher gas prices.

Like Crescent Point, Peyto will cut spending this year. Its outlays will now total $560 million to $600 million, down from $690 million in 2014.

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CRESCENT POINT ENERGY CORP. $28.24 (Toronto symbol CPG; Shares outstanding: 443.4 million; Market cap: $12.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 9.8%; 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 92% oil and 8% gas.

In the three months ended December 31, 2014, Crescent Point’s cash flow rose 7.4%, to $572.9 million from $533.3 million a year earlier. The company raised its daily output by 20.5%, which offset lower oil prices and increased its cash flow.

Cash flow per share fell 5.2%, to $1.28 from $1.35, because the company issued shares to pay for acquisitions, including $378.0 million for oil properties from Lightstream Resources in September 2015.

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NEWMONT MINING $21.71 (New York symbol NEM; Shares outstanding: 498.9 million; Market cap: $11.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 0.5%; www.newmont.com) is the world’s second-biggest gold producer after Barrick Gold (symbol ABX on Toronto).

Newmont has mines in North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Africa.

The company’s cash flow per share fell 5.0% in 2014, to $3.45 from $3.63 in 2013. Aggressive cost-cutting failed to offset a 10% decline in realized gold prices.

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BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $63.54 (Toronto symbol BNS; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $76.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.3%, www.scotiabank.com) reported revenue of $5.9 billion in its fiscal 2015 first quarter, which ended January 31, 2015. That was up 3.9% from $5.6 billion a year earlier.

Excluding unusual items, the bank earned $1.36 a share, up 1.5% from $1.34.

Gains at Bank of Nova Scotia’s securitiestrading division offset lower profits in Canadian and international banking.

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ISHARES MSCI CANADA INDEX FUND $27.18 (New York symbol EWC; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds the stocks in the Morgan Stanley Capital International Canada Index. The fund has a 0.49% MER.

The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 7.0%; TD Bank, 8.3%; Valeant Pharmaceuticals, 5.2%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.9%; CN Railway, 4.4%; Suncor Energy, 3.3%; Enbridge, 3.3%; Bank of Montreal, 3.1%; and Manulife Financial, 2.7%.

If you want to own a Canadian index fund, you should buy the iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index Fund (see previous page). You’ll pay about a third of the management fees.

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POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $105.60 (Nasdaq symbol QQQ; buy or sell t h r o u g h b r o k e r s ; www.invescopowershares.com), formerly called Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares, holds stocks that represent the Nasdaq 100 Index, which consists of the 100 largest shares on the Nasdaq exchange, based on market cap.

The Nasdaq 100 Index contains shares of companies in a number of major industries, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain financial companies. The fund’s expenses are about 0.20% of its assets.

The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, Microsoft, Amgen, Google, Cisco Systems, Intel Corp., Amazon.com, Gilead Sciences, Comcast and Facebook.

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SPDR S&P 500 ETF $206.43 (New York symbol SPY; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the stocks in the S&P 500 Index, which consists of 500 major U.S. companies that are chosen based on their market cap, liquidity and industry group.

The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, ExxonMobil, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, J.P. Morgan Chase, Pfizer, General Electric, Berkshire Hathaway and Wells Fargo & Co. The fund’s expenses are just 0.10% of its assets.

If you want exposure to the S&P 500 Index, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF is a buy.

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ISHARES CANADIAN SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX ETF $23.80 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds 30 of the highestyielding Canadian stocks. Its selections are based on dividend growth, yield and payout ratio. The weight of any one stock is limited to 10% of the ETF’s assets. The fund’s MER is 0.55%, and it yields 4.2%.

The fund’s top holdings are CIBC, 8.4%; Bank of Montreal, 6.3%; Royal Bank, 6.1%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.3%; BCE, 5.1%; IGM Financial, 4.7%; Ag Growth International, 4.4%; Laurentian Bank of Canada, 4.3%; TransCanada Corp., 4.2%; and TD Bank, 4.0%.

The ETF holds 53.5% of its assets in financial stocks. The top Canadian finance stocks have sound prospects. However, if you invest in this ETF, be sure to adjust the rest of your portfolio so it won’t be overly concentrated in the financial sector.

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ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX ETF $21.90 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) is a good low-fee way to buy the top stocks on the TSX. The units are made up of stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index, which consists of the 60 largest, most heavily traded stocks on the exchange. Expenses are just 0.17% of assets.

The index mostly consists of high-quality companies. However, it must ensure that all sectors are represented, so it holds a few we wouldn’t include.

The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 7.8%; TD Bank, 7.1%; Valeant Pharmaceuticals, 5.6%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.4%; CN Railway, 4.8%; Suncor Energy, 3.6%; Enbridge, 3.6%; Bank of Montreal, 3.5%; BCE, 3.2%; Manulife Financial, 3.1%; Canadian Natural Resources, 2.9%; Trans- Canada Corp., 2.8%; Brookfield Asset Management, 2.7%; CIBC, 2.6%; and CP Rail, 2.5%.

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TELUS $42.07 (Toronto symbol T; Shares outstanding: 609.0 million; Market cap: $25.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.8%; www.telus.com) continues to expand its health care division, which helps doctors, pharmacies and hospitals convert patient records and other information to electronic formats.

The company recently paid an undisclosed sum for Quebec-based Medesync, a privately held maker of cloud-based software that lets doctors access patient data and other information from any computer or mobile device. Medesync’s software also makes it easier for doctors to schedule checkups, view test results and process billing.

As well, Medesync is linked to over 3,000 Quebec pharmacies, so doctors can submit a patient’s prescription directly.

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VERESEN $16.68 (Toronto symbol VSN; Shares outstanding: 286.1 million; Market cap: $4.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 6.0%; www.vereseninc.com) owns pipelines, power plants and gas-processing facilities across North America.

A major holding is 50% of the Alliance gas line, which runs 3,000 kilometres between Chicago and Fort St. John, B.C. Veresen also owns the Alberta Ethane Gathering System, 42.7% of the Aux Sable NGL plant and the Hythe/Steeprock natural gas gathering and processing complex in the Cutbank Ridge region of Alberta and B.C.

In the quarter ended December 31, 2014, Veresen’s cash flow per share fell 7.1%, to $0.26 from $0.28 a year earlier.

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PEMBINA PIPELINE $40.02 (Toronto symbol PPL; Shares outstanding: 336.0 million; Market cap: $13.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 4.4%; www.pembina.com) owns pipelines that carry half of Alberta’s conventional oil, 30% of Western Canada’s natural gas liquids (NGLs) and almost all of B.C.’s conventional oil.

Pembina also owns extensive facilities to extract, process and store NGLs.

In the quarter ended December 31, 2014, Pembina’s cash flow per share fell 16.9%, to $0.49 from $0.59. However, that’s mainly because lower oil and gas prices cut volumes and profit margins at its NGL extraction business.

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LOBLAW COMPANIES $61.92 (Toronto symbol L; Shares outstanding: 412.5 million; Market cap: $25.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 1.6%; www.loblaw.ca) is Canada’s largest food retailer, with about 1,200 stores. Its banners include Loblaws, Provigo, Fortinos, Real Canadian Superstore and No Frills. George Weston Ltd. owns 46% of the company.

In the three months ended January 3, 2015, Loblaw’s sales jumped 49.4%, to $11.4 billion from $7.6 billion a year earlier. The gain was mainly due to the 1,300-store Shoppers Drug Mart chain, which the company bought in March 2014. Same-store sales rose 3.3% at Loblaw’s supermarkets and 3.8% at Shoppers.

Excluding integration costs and other unusual items, Loblaw’s earnings jumped 146.0%, to $396 million from $161 million. Per-share profits gained 68.4%, to $0.96 from $0.57, on more shares outstanding.

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While this split-share company dabbles in call options, investors would be better off buying the bank and oil stocks it holds separately.