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PASON SYSTEMS $18.47 (Toronto symbol PSI; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative)(403-301-3400; www.pason.com; Shares outstanding: 83.4 million; Market cap: $1.5 billion; Dividend yield: 3.7%) rents equipment for monitoring and managing oil and gas rigs. It also sells communication technology, such as its satellite system, which companies use to remotely collect data from their drilling operations. Pason serves oil and gas producers and drilling contractors in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Argentina and Australia.

In the three months ended September 30, 2014, the company’s revenue rose 28.9%, to $134.0 million from $104.0 million a year earlier. Pason saw higher sales of its technology in all of its major markets, but especially in the U.S.

The company earned $26.5 million, or $0.32 a share, in the latest quarter, up from $9.1 million, or $0.11. Earnings rose on the higher revenue and an increased contribution from Pason’s U.S. profits because of the stronger U.S. dollar.

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COMPUTER MODELLING GROUP $12.73 (Toronto symbol CMG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-531-1300; www.cmgl.ca; Shares outstanding: 78.6 million; Market cap: $1.0 billion; Dividend yield: 3.1%) sells software and consulting services that help conventional oil and gas producers create complex 3D models of reservoirs. That lets them squeeze more out of those reservoirs using advanced recovery techniques such as injecting steam or chemicals. Typically, only 25% to 30% of oil and gas is recovered during primary production.

Unconventional producers, using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, of oil and gas-bearing shale, can also use Computer Modelling’s software to determine optimal drilling locations and depths.

In the three months ended December 31, 2014, Computer Modelling’s revenue rose 31.1%, to $25.2 million from $19.2 million a year earlier. Software licensing revenue (92% of the total) rose 34.8%, and consulting and professional services revenue (8%) was virtually unchanged.

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FAIR ISAAC CORP. $81.96 (New York symbol FICO; TSINetwork Rating: Average)(415-472-2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 31.4 million; Market cap: $2.6 billion; Dividend yield: 0.1%) makes FICO Scores, a computer program that helps businesses make better decisions about customer creditworthiness. Fair Isaac also sells software that helps credit card issuers control fraud and analyze cardholders’ spending patterns.

In its fiscal 2015 first quarter, which ended December 31, 2014, Fair Isaac’s revenue rose 2.8%, to $189.6 million from $184.3 million a year earlier.

Earnings per share fell 6.8%, to $0.68 from $0.73. Fair Isaac spent more on research and marketing, and that hurt profits.

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HECLA MINING COMPANY $3.35 (New York symbol HL; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (208-769- 4100; www.hecla-mining.com; Shares outstanding: 367.4 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion) explores for, mines and processes silver and gold in the U.S. and Mexico.

Most of the company’s silver output comes from its Greens Creek mine in Alaska and its Lucky Friday project in Idaho. Hecla’s Casa Berardi mine in Quebec supplies the majority of its gold production.

In the three months ended December 31, 2014, Hecla produced 3.2 million ounces of silver, up 29.1% from 2.5 million ounces a year earlier. Gold output rose 16.1%, to 54,674 ounces from 47,108. Cash flow per share climbed 18.2%, to $0.13 from $0.11.

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CAMECO CORP. $19.80 (Toronto symbol CCO; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk)(306-956-6200; www.cameco.com; Shares outstanding: 395.8 million; Market cap: $7.9 billion; Dividend yield 2.0%) is the world’s largest uranium producer. It supplies 16% of global mine production and has large, high-grade reserves, low-cost operations, significant market share and many mines.

Cameco is also one of the western world’s largest converters of enriched uranium for use in nuclear reactors. In addition, it owns NUKEM, a nuclear-fuel trader and broker.

In the three months ended December 31, 2014, Cameco’s revenue fell 9.0%, to $889 million from $977 million a year earlier. It sold more uranium at higher prices in the latest quarter. However, the yearago quarter included revenue from the company’s 31.6% stake in Ontario’s Bruce Power partnership, which it sold in early 2014.

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p>FIRSTSERVICE CORP. $72.00 (Toronto symbol FSV; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (416-960- 9500; www.firstservice.com; Shares outstanding: 34.5 million; Market cap: $2.6 billion; Div. yield: 0.7%) plans to spin off its Colliers International business into a new firm called Colliers International Group. FirstService will hand out Colliers shares to its own investors. Colliers is one of the world’s top three commercial real estate firms, offering a range of services around the globe. In 2014, it had revenue of $1.7 billion U.S.

After the spinoff, FirstService will carry on with residential property management and improvement, which had $1.1 billion U.S. of revenue in 2014. FirstService shareholders won’t pay income taxes on the transaction until they sell shares of the new FirstService or Colliers International.

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MENTOR GRAPHICS CORP. $24.74 (Nasdaq symbol MENT; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (503-685-7000; www.mentor.com; Shares outstanding: 115.1 million; Market cap: $2.8 billion; Dividend yield: 0.8%) makes hardware and software for improving the design of electronic products and speeding up their development.

For example, Mentor’s software lets automakers use less wiring in a car, identify potential safety issues, and minimize electromagnetic effects on sensitive components.

The company sells its products and services worldwide, mainly to large firms in the communications, technology, military and transportation industries.

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TOROMONT INDUSTRIES LTD. $27.71 (Toronto symbol TIH; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (416-667- 5511; www.toromont.com; Shares outstanding: 77.1 million; Market cap: $2.1 billion; Dividend yield: 2.2%) 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 September 30, 2014, Toromont’s revenue fell 6.2%, to $467.4 million from $498.3 million a year earlier.

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STANTEC INC. $30.05 (Toronto symbol STN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (780-917-7288; www.stantec.com; Shares outstanding: 93.8 million; Market cap: $2.8 billion; Dividend yield: 1.2%) (all figures adjusted for a 2-for-1 share split in November 2014) sells a range of consulting, project-delivery, design and technology services. The company’s clients operate in a variety of industries, including oil and gas, transportation and construction.

In the quarter ended September 30, 2014, Stantec’s revenue rose 12.2%, to $544.2 million from $484.8 million a year earlier. Earnings gained 5.7%, to $48.6 million, or $1.04 a share, from $46.0 million, or $0.99.

Stantec continues to grow by acquisition. It has now completed its purchase of Montreal-based Dessau, a distressed firm that’s one of a number of companies caught up in a Quebec government inquiry into corruption in the construction industry. Under the deal, Stantec won’t be responsible for any of the millions of dollars in fines or penalties Dessau may have to pay.

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DEVON ENERGY CORP. $61.60 (New York symbol DVN; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (405-235- 3611; www.dvn.com; Shares outstanding: 409.1 million; Market cap: $24.4 billion; Dividend yield: 1.6%) is one of the largest U.S.-based oil and natural gas explorers and producers. Its production mix is 46% gas and 54% oil.

The company narrowed its focus with its July 2014 sale of some of its properties to Linn Energy for $2.3 billion. The deal included Devon’s holdings in the Rockies, the onshore Gulf Coast and the Mid- Continent region (which includes Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas).

The sale lets Devon focus on what it views as lowrisk/ high-reward properties, especially the oilproducing assets it bought in Texas’s Eagle Ford shale formation for $6 billion in 2013.

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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.

Gogo Inc. (symbol GOGO on Nasdaq; www.gogoair.com), offers a service that lets passengers with Wi-Fi-enabled devices get online on Gogo-equipped aircraft.

The company offers Internet access on more than 10 major airlines and 2,000 individual airliners. Over 6,000 business jets also use its systems. Gogo charges $59.95 a month or $16 for an all-day pass.

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Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific stock tips as well as questions on investment strategy and the economy. 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. While we reserve our buy-hold-sell advice for Inner Circle members, these excerpts provide a great deal of information and analysis on stocks we’ve covered for members of Pat’s Inner Circle.

This week we had a question from an Inner Circle Member about Golar LNG, which ships liquefied natural gas (LNG). The company operates LNG tankers and oversees projects converting gas into liquid. Pat takes a closer look at Golar’s business and the current state of the LNG trade as it flows from the Middle East to the Pacific. He assesses Golar’s prospects of capturing a greater share of the growing export trade to Asia at a time when shipping rates have fallen due to the global expansion of LNG carrier fleets.

Q: Hello: would you be able to give me your opinion on Golar LNG, in which I have a position.

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Every Thursday we bring you one of our best U.S. stock picks. You get our specific recommendation on the stocks we profile, with a full explanation of how we arrived at our opinion. You will read about stocks making moves you should know about, most often from coverage in our newsletter on U.S. investing, Wall Street Stock Forecaster. This week’s U.S. pick comes from our advisory for more aggressive investors, Stock Pickers Digest.

BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS (New York symbol BR; www.broadridge.com) serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications, securities processing and transaction clearing. The company processes 90% of all proxy votes in the U.S. and Canada.

Broadridge began trading on April 2, 2007, after former parent Automatic Data Processing handed out Broadridge stock to its own investors as a special dividend.

Without one-time items, Broadridge earned $37.0 million, or $0.30 a share, in its fiscal 2015 first quarter, which ended September 30, 2014. That’s down 22.9% from $48.0 million, or $0.39 a share, a year earlier.

The company paid employees higher commissions on new sales and performance bonuses. It also expanded its sales and marketing capabilities.


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Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a beginning or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you specific investment advice. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental piece of investing strategy, and shows you how you can put it into practice right away.

Today’s tip: “If you’re going to dip into your RRSP to raise cash, you can make it a positive transaction that actually strengthens the portfolio within your RRSP.”

Two weeks ago, we wrote about how to achieve a double win—and avoid a double loss—in Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs). View the post here. Last week, we discussed making the right retirement calculations. View the post here.

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Yes, you can collect up to $49,284 in dividends every year, and not pay a single dime in income tax. You simply have to know how to invest with the tax code in mind. You need a guide in front of you that cuts through the maze of Canada’s tax laws and concentrates on the rulings that are most important to investors. You have to know where you can save and where you can gain with smart tax planning. That’s why we put together the TSI Network Tax Guide for Canadian Investors 2015.

Our tax guide is written from an investor’s point of view. This sets it apart from most tax guides. It is invaluable for both tax planning and overall portfolio planning. It puts special focus on the tax laws and tax strategies that mean the most to Canadian investors. We draw on our long experience in investment advice. With this background, we have created a concise guide, complete with seven tables for quick and easy reference.

With this guide, you approach your taxes, and the person you have chosen as your tax preparer or advisor, with a strong base of knowledge. You’ll have the ability to ask your tax accountant the right questions, or even handle your own taxes with confidence.

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Every Tuesday we bring you “Best Canadian Stocks.” You get our specific recommendations on the stocks we profile, with a full explanation of how we arrived at our opinion. You’ll read about stocks making moves you should know about, from coverage in one of our three newsletters featuring Canadian stocks—The Successful Investor, Stock Pickers Digest and Canadian Wealth Advisor.

WESTJET AIRLINES (Toronto symbol WJA; www.westjet.com) serves 91 destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe. Its fleet of 109 modern Boeing 737s are 30% more fuel efficient than older jets.

In June 2013, the company launched WestJet Encore, its Canadian regional airline. This business now operates 14 Bombardier Q400 NextGen turboprop planes, which seat 78 passengers.

In the three months ended September 30, 2014, WestJet’s earnings, excluding one-time items, jumped 30.9%, to a third-quarter record of $85.4 million from $65.1 million a year earlier. Earnings per share gained 32.0%, to $0.66 from $0.50, on fewer shares outstanding. This was WestJet’s 38th consecutive quarter of profitability. Revenue rose 9.2%, to $1.0 billion from $924.8 million.

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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.

Westport Innovations (symbol WPT on Toronto; www.westport.com) develops technology that lets engines operate on gaseous fuels, such as natural gas or hydrogen.

The company also has a 50/50 joint venture with Cummins Inc. (symbol CMI on New York) called Cummins Westport Inc. The partnership sells a range of low-emission alternative-fuel engines for medium-duty trucks.

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Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific stock advice as well as questions on investment strategy and the economy. 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. While we reserve our buy-hold-sell advice for Inner Circle members, these excerpts provide a great deal of information and analysis on stocks we’ve covered for members of Pat’s Inner Circle.

Recently an Inner Circle member asked us about a uranium mining and exploration stock. Uranium Energy Corp. has one producing mine and several development-stage projects in Texas as well as exploration projects elsewhere. Pat examines the prospects for this junior in light of the growing demand from nations that still have millions living without electricity. He balances that against the competitive and regulatory issues that nuclear power faces in the U.S. and Canada as it competes with liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a fuel source.

Q: Hi, Pat: I would like your opinion on Uranium Energy Corp. Thank you.

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BONAVISTA ENERGY $6.56 (Toronto symbol BNP; Shares outstanding: 203.4 million; Market cap: $1.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 6.4%; www.bonavistaenergy.com) explores for oil and natural gas in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. Its production is 69% gas and 31% oil.

In the three months ended September 30, 2014, Bonavista’s cash flow per share fell 1.6%, to $0.60 from $0.61 a year earlier.

Production rose just 1.5%, to 74,720 barrels of oil equivalent a day from 73,632. However, that’s because Bonavista sold heavy-oil projects, which are less of a focus for the company.

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PEYTO EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT CORP. $30.32 (Toronto symbol PEY; Shares outstanding: 153.7 million; Market cap: $4.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.4%; www.peyto.com) produces and explores for oil and natural gas in Alberta. Its average daily production of 77,592 barrels of oil equivalent is 90% gas and 10% oil.

In the quarter ended September 30, 2014, Peyto’s cash flow rose 62.7%, to $1.09 a share from $0.67 a year ago. That’s because it raised its production by 37.7% and realized higher oil and gas prices.

The company is forecast to generate cash flow of $4.80 a share in 2015. That estimate will fall if oil prices stay low for some time, but Peyto’s high weighting in gas will largely offset lower oil prices. Peyto trades at 6.3 times the current forecast, which is reasonable in light of its strong growth prospects.

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H&R REIT $22.71 (Toronto symbol HR.UN; Units outstanding: 274.1 million; Market cap: $6.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 5.9%; www.hr-reit.com) is selling part ownership of 101 industrial properties in Canada and the U.S. for $731 million. In all, these buildings comprise 19.5 million square feet. The buyers include the Canadian Public Sector Pension Investment Board.

H&R will keep a 50% interest in the Canadian properties and a 49.5% stake in the U.S. portfolio. It will keep managing these assets and will receive fees for doing so. H&R will retain full ownership of 14 other industrial properties.

The REIT will use the proceeds to pay down debt and buy more shopping malls and office buildings.

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MARKET VECTORS VIETNAM ETF $18.84 (New York symbol VNM; buy or sell through brokers) holds shares of Vietnamese companies or foreign firms that get a significant amount of their revenue from Vietnam.

The ETF’s top holdings are Masan Group (food, resources and banking conglomerate), 8.7%; Vincom Corp. (real estate), 7.9%; Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, 7.6%; Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank, 6.8%; Gamuda Bhd (a Malaysia-based construction group), 5.3%; Minor International (a Thailand- based firm with hotels and fast-food restaurants in Vietnam), 5.2%; and PetroVietnam Technical Services (oil field services), 4.8%.

Market Vectors Vietnam ETF’s industry breakdown is as follows: Financials, 37.6%; Energy, 16.1%; Consumer Staples, 13.3%; Industrials, 11.6%; Consumer Discretionary, 10.6%; Materials, 4.3%; and Utilities, 3.3%. Its expense ratio is 0.76%.

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ISHARES CHINA LARGE-CAP ETF $42.10 (New York symbol FXI; buy or sell through brokers) is an exchange traded fund that aims to track the FTSE China 50 Index, which is made up of the 50 largest, most liquid Chinese stocks. All of the companies in the index trade on the Hong Kong exchange. Some also trade as American depositary receipts (ADRs) on New York.

The fund’s top holdings are Tencent Holdings, 8.4%; China Construction Bank, 7.9%; China Mobile, 7.7%; Industrial & Commercial Bank, 7.2%; Bank of China, 6.1%; China Life, 4.8%; Ping An Insurance, 4.5%; PetroChina, 4.1%; CNOOC Ltd., 3.9%; China Petroleum and Chemical, 3.7%; Agricultural Bank of China, 2.5%; and China Pacific Insurance, 2.5%.

The fund’s holdings give it the following industry breakdown: Financials, 50.3%; Oil and Gas, 13.8%; Telecommunications, 11.1%; Technology, 9.9%; Consumer Goods, 6.3%; Industrials, 4.2%; and Basic Materials, 2.4%. Its expense ratio is 0.74%.

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PENGROWTH ENERGY $3.35 (Toronto symbol PGF; Shares outstanding: 530.1 million; Market cap: $1.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 14.3%; www.pengrowth.com) has started injecting steam into its Lindbergh oil sands project in Alberta to loosen the tar-like bitumen and pump it to the surface.

Pengrowth believes that Lindbergh’s low operating costs will let it generate positive cash flow, even at today’s depressed oil prices.

As well, now that construction on Lindbergh has ended, the company’s 2015 capital spending will fall sharply from the $740 million to $770 million it probably spent in 2014.

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Every Thursday we bring you one of our best U.S. stock picks. You get our specific recommendation on the stocks we profile, with a full explanation of how we arrived at our opinion. You will read about stocks making moves you should know about, most often from coverage in our newsletter on U.S. investing, Wall Street Stock Forecaster.

In August 2014, Gannett announced it would split into two companies. One will focus on newspapers and their associated websites, and the other will hold its TV stations and stand-alone websites.

The stock is down 11% since the spinoff announcement, mainly because investors are worried about falling advertising revenue.

Still, studies have shown that after the first few months, spinoffs tend to outperform groups of comparable stocks for several years. That’s mainly because companies will only take on the costs of a spinoff when they have reason to believe it will boost the value of both the new and remaining businesses.

GANNETT CO., INC. (New York symbol GCI; www.gannett.com) is the largest newspaper publisher in the U.S., with 82 dailies, including USAToday, its flagship paper.

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