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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.

Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle. Every week, his comments and recommendations on the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. And each week, we offer you one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions. Q: Hi, Pat: I was just wondering if I could get your thoughts on Western Forest Products. Thanks....

Helped by a rise in online shopping and a string of takeovers in international markets, FedEx is taking off.

EXTENDICARE INC. $9.30 (Toronto symbol EXE; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (905-470-5534; www.extendicare.com; Shares outstanding: 87.8 million; Market cap: $798.3 million; Dividend yield: 5.2%) has called a special shareholder meeting for March 8, 2016. The move is in response to a formal request from its largest investor, Toronto-based investment firm Oxford Park Group. In July 2015, Oxford Park acquired 5% of Extendicare, with the intention of pushing the company to enhance shareholder value. As part of that plan, Oxford Park wants to replace seven of Extendicare’s nine directors with its own nominees. It also believes the company’s move into retirement homes from its main business of chronic- and longterm care facilities has added unnecessary risk. Moreover, Oxford Park wants Extendicare to buy back up to $50 million worth of its shares, cut costs to boost its profit margins and tie more of its directors’ and executives’ pay to the company’s performance....

When you feel the urge to sell a stock that’s been a strong performer, your “itchy trigger finger” could erase bigger gains in the future.

Up 243% since it was Canadian Stock of the Year in 2012, CP Rail continues to reap the rewards of a very successful restructuring plan.

“Smart glass” technology lets users control the tint, but Research Frontiers’s sales are still confined to a narrow, high-end market.

NEWELL RUBBERMAID INC. $39 (New York symbol NWL; Aggressive Growth and Income Portfolios, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 269.0 million; Market cap: $10.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 1.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.newellrubbermaid.com) makes plastic storage bins, tools, window blinds, pens and many other household goods.

Newell is up 30.0% since we made it our Stock of the Year for 2014 at $30 in our February 2014 issue. That’s mainly because of its successful multi-year cost-cutting plan, which included closing plants and merging distribution centres.

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J.P. MORGAN CHASE & CO. $63 (New York symbol JPM; Income Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 3.7 billion; Market cap: $233.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield: 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.jpmorganchase.com) earned $5.9 billion in the three months ended March 31, 2015, up 12.2% from $5.3 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 13.2%, to $1.45 from $1.28, on fewer shares outstanding. Without unusual items, Morgan earned $1.58 a share in the latest quarter. Revenue rose 4.1%, to $24.8 billion from $23.9 billion.

Most of these gains came from the bank’s securities-trading division, where earnings jumped 19.4% on stronger volumes. It also saw higher fee income from advising firms on mergers.

These increases helped offset slower growth in retail banking. Low interest rates continue to spur loan demand, but Morgan is earning less interest on the money it lends. At the same time, it has to pay more to attract depositors.

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NEWMONT MINING CORP. $23 (New York symbol NEM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 498.9 million; Market cap: $11.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 0.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.newmont.com) will soon begin work on the first phase of its Long Canyon gold mine in Nevada.

Long Canyon will produce 100,000 to 150,000 ounces a year when it opens in 2017. The midpoint of that range— 125,000 ounces— is equal to 2.6% of the 4.85 million ounces Newmont produced in 2014. The mine should last eight years.

The company will spend $250 million to $300 million on this project. Based on current gold prices, the mine should add $100 million a year to Newmont’s annual operating earnings.

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