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RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $28 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Units outstanding: 315.4 million; Market cap: $8.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 7.0; Dividend yield: 5.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.riocan.com) owns all or part of 292 shopping centres in Canada, including 15 under development. These holdings account for 84% of the REIT’s rental revenue. The remaining 16% comes from 48 malls in the U.S.

In the past few years, RioCan took advantage of lower property values and interest rates to expand its portfolio. As a result, its revenue jumped 39.8%, from $882 million in 2010 to $1.2 billion in 2014.

Due to gains and losses on property sales, earnings fell from $6.04 a unit (or a total of $1.5 billion) in 2010 to $3.25 (or $873 million) in 2011. Earnings rebounded to $4.57 a unit (or $1.3 billion) in 2012 but declined to $2.10 a unit (or $663 million) in 2014.

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LINAMAR CORP. $75 (Toronto symbol LNR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 65.1 million; Market cap: $4.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 0.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.linamar.com) saw its sales rise 16.0% in 2014, to a record $4.2 billion from $3.6 billion in 2013.

Sales at its powertrain and driveline division (83% of the total) rose 14.7%, thanks to acquisitions and higher new car sales, which increased demand for Linamar’s transmissions and other auto parts. Sales at the industrial products division (17%) gained 23.3%, mainly due to strong demand for the company’s Skyjack selfpropelled, scissor-type elevating work platforms.

Earnings jumped 48.2% during the year, to a record $4.95 a share from $3.34. Linamar’s earnings could rise to $5.54 a share in 2015, and the stock trades at a moderate 13.5 times that forecast. The $0.40 dividend yields 0.5%.

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BLACKBERRY LTD. $13 (Toronto symbol BB; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 528.8 million; Market cap: $6.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; www.blackberry.com) plans to launch four new smartphones in 2015, including the Leap, which features a five-inch high-definition touch-screen display. The Leap features the company’s latest encryption technology, which should appeal to BlackBerry’s corporate and government clients.

The company has also extended its partnership with Samsung Electronics. Under the deal, Samsung will integrate BlackBerry’s mobile security software into its smartphones and tablets.

BlackBerry is a hold.

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SHAWCOR LTD. $35 (Toronto symbol SCL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 64.5 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.shawcor.com) lost $0.32 a share in the fourth quarter of 2014, mainly due to writedowns of its pipelinecoating facilities in Texas and a joint venture in Venezuela. Without these charges, it earned $0.76 a share, up 105.4% from $0.37 a year earlier.

Revenue rose 22.0%, to $500.0 million from $409.8 million, partly because the lower Canadian dollar enhanced its overseas projects’ results.

Lower oil prices will probably slow pipeline construction and hurt demand for ShawCor’s services. However, the company has $766 million worth of orders that it expects to complete in 2015. It is also bidding on other jobs worth a total of $800 million.

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BCE INC. $53 (Toronto symbol BCE; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 840.5 million; Market cap: $44.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 4.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bce.ca) has signed a new deal with Sun Life Financial (Toronto symbol SLF) that will cut some of the risk in its Bell Canada employees’ pension plan.

Retired employees currently receive a monthly payment for the rest of their lives. However, many of these pensioners are living longer than expected, which is increasing BCE’s pension obligations.

Under this new deal, BCE will pay monthly premiums to Sun Life, which will then make monthly payments into the plan for the lifetime of existing pensioners.

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PRECISION DRILLING CORP. $7.69 (Toronto symbol PD; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resource sector; Shares outstanding: 292.8 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 3.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.precisiondrilling.com) plans to spend $467.0 million on capital upgrades in 2015, down 38.1% from $754.9 million in 2014. That’s because lower oil prices have prompted producers to curtail drilling, hurting demand for new rigs.

Even with the lower capital spending, Precision expects to deliver 17 new rigs in 2015 (13 for the U.S., three for Canada and one for Kuwait), up from 15 in 2014. The company has already signed agreements with drillers to operate these rigs, which cuts the risk of these projects.

Due to the drop in oil prices and drilling activity, Precision will probably earn just $0.11 a share in 2015. The stock trades at 69.9 times that depressed estimate. However, Precision’s earnings could recover to $0.25 a share in 2016, and it trades at a more reasonable 30.8 times that forecast.

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FINNING INTERNATIONAL INC. $24 (Toronto symbol FTT; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 172.4 million; Market cap: $4.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.finning.com) is the world’s largest dealer of tractors, bulldozers and trucks made by Caterpillar Inc. (New York symbol CAT). It also sells heavy equipment made by other firms. Finning’s clients are mainly in the mining, forest products and construction industries.

Weaker commodity prices have hurt sales of new equipment and support services in Western Canada. In response, Finning plans to cut 500 jobs, or 9% of its Canadian workforce. The company didn’t say how much it would pay in severance and other costs or how much it expects to save.

In the three months ended December 31, 2014, Finning’s earnings per share rose 14.8%, to $0.62 from $0.54 a year earlier. Without one-time items, mainly positive changes related to new tax laws in Argentina, the company earned $0.55 a share. Overall revenue was flat at $1.8 billion.

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LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD. $61 (Toronto symbol L; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 412.5 million; Market cap: $25.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.loblaw.ca) reported that its sales jumped 49.4% in the three months ended January 3, 2015, to $11.4 billion from $7.6 billion a year earlier.

The gain is mainly due to the Shoppers Drug Mart drugstore chain, which Loblaw 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, 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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vGLOBAL X COPPER MINERS ETF $6.99 (New York symbol COPX; buy or sell through brokers; www.globalxfunds.com) tracks the Solactive Global Copper Miners Index, which includes 20 to 40 international companies that mine, refine or explore for copper. Germany-based Structured Solutions AG created this index.

Canadian firms make up 41.0% of the ETF’s holdings. It also includes companies based in Australia (15.5%), China (5.4%), Peru (5.0%) and Mexico (4.6%). The fund’s MER is 0.65%.

Its top holdings are Hudbay Minerals at 6.4%; Imperial Metals, 6.4%; Antofagasta plc, 5.8%; Teck Resources, 5.6%; Southern Copper, 5.6%; Jiangxi Copper, 5.5%; Lundin Mining, 5.2%; Kazakhmys, 5.2%; Turquoise Hill, 5.1%; Grupo Mexico, 5.0%; and Glencore International, 4.8%.

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GLOBAL X SILVER MINERS ETF $9.11 (New York symbol SIL; buy or sell through brokers; www.globalxfunds.com) tracks the Solactive Global Silver Miners Index.

This index includes 25 international firms that mine, refine or explore for silver. It was developed by Germany-based Structured Solutions AG.

Canadian firms make up 55.1% of the fund’s holdings, but it also includes miners in the U.S. (14.3%) and Mexico (12.3%). Its MER is 0.65%.

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ISHARES S&P/TSX GLOBAL GOLD INDEX FUND $10.63 (Toronto symbol XGD; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) aims to mirror the performance of the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index.

This index is made up of 38 gold stocks from Canada and around the world. The iShares S&P/TSX Global Gold Index Fund’s MER is 0.61%. It began trading on March 23, 2001.

The fund’s top holdings are Goldcorp at 15.8%; Barrick Gold, 13.3%; Newmont Mining, 11.6%; Franco Nevada, 7.2%; Randgold Resources (ADR), 6.3%; Agnico-Eagle Mines, 5.9%; Royal Gold, 4.1%; AngloGold Ashanti (ADR), 4.1%; Eldorado Gold, 3.4%; and Yamana Gold, 3.1%.

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ISHARES INDIA 50 ETF $33.02 (Nasdaq symbol INDY; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) is an ETF that invests in the 50 largest, most liquid Indian securities.

Indian stocks have moved up 34%, to record highs, since the May 2014 election of Narendra Modi as prime minister.

The government has just introduced its first full-year budget, and the $290-billion spending plan includes an additional $12 billion to address one of the country’s most pressing needs—modernizing its transportation, communications and electrical infrastructure.

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ISHARES MSCI AUSTRALIA ETF $23.58 (New York symbol EWA; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that holds the 72 largest Australian stocks. Its MER is 0.49%.

The fund’s top holdings include Commonwealth Bank of Australia, 11.8%; Westpac Banking Corp., 9.3%; BHP Billiton, 8.5%; Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, 7.7%; National Australia Bank, 7.1%; Wesfarmers, 3.9%; CSL Ltd., 3.5%; Woolworths, 3.1%; Rio Tinto, 2.2%; Telstra Group, 2.2%; Woodside Petroleum, 2.1%; Macquarie Group, 1.7%; and Scentre Group, 1.6%.

Australia benefits from its stable banking and political systems. It’s also rich in natural resources, and while low commodity prices have hurt its economy lately, its close proximity to Asian markets with vast potential, including India and China, gives it strong long-term prospects.

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ISHARES MSCI EMERGING MARKETS EASTERN EUROPE INDEX FUND $17.39 (New York symbol ESR; buy or sell through brokers) has 65.6% of its assets invested in Russia, followed by Poland at 27.2%; Czech Republic, 3.6%; and Hungary, 3.2%.

The fund’s top holdings are Gazprom (Russia: gas utility), 13.4%; Lukoil (Russia: oil), 11.2%; Magnit PJSC (Russia: retailing), 5.7%; Sberbank (Russia: bank), 5.3%; MMC Norilsk Nickel (Russia: mining), 4.5%; and Novatek (Russia: natural gas), 3.5%.

The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Eastern Europe Index Fund’s expense ratio is 0.67%.

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ISHARES MSCI BRAZIL INDEX FUND $33.26 (New York symbol EWZ; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that is designed to track the Brazilian stock market.

Its top holdings are Cia Itau Unibanco Holding (banking), 10.3%; AmBev SA (beer and beverages), 8.6%; Banco Brandesco SA, 8.0%; Petrobras (oil and gas), 6.3%; Vale do Rio Doce (mining), 5.6%; BRF SA (food), 4.6%; and Cielo SA (payment processing), 3.4%.

The ETF was launched on July 10, 2000. It has a 0.62% expense ratio.

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ISHARES MSCI CHILE INVESTABLE MARKET INDEX FUND $40.95 (New York symbol ECH; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that aims to track the MSCI Chile Investable Market Index, which consists of stocks that mainly trade on the Santiago Stock Exchange.

The fund’s top holdings are S.A.C.I. Falabella (retail), 10.6%; Enersis SA (electricity), 9.6%; Empresas Copec SA (conglomerate), 7.9%; Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (electricity), 7.2%; LATAM Airlines, 5.0%; Banco Santander Chile (banking), 4.9%; Empresas CMPC (pulp and paper), 4.9%; Banco de Chile, 4.4%; Cencosud SA (retailer), 4.2%; and Quimica y Minera de Chile (mining), 4.1%.

The fund’s industry breakdown is: Utilities, 28.3%; Financials, 18.1%; Materials, 11.8%; Consumer Discretionary, 11.4%; Consumer Staples, 9.3%; Industrials, 8.2%; Energy, 7.7%; Telecommunications, 2.2%; and Information Technology, 2.2%.

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ISHARES MSCI GERMANY FUND $29.42 (New York symbol EWG; buy or sell through brokers) tracks the stocks in the MSCI Germany Index.

This index aims to replicate 85% of the market capitalization of the German stock market. The remaining 15% is unavailable for investment, partly due to limitations on foreign ownership.

The ETF’s top holdings are Bayer (diversified chemicals), 9.9%; Daimler (autos), 7.5%; BASF (chemicals), 7.3%; Siemens (engineering conglomerate), 7.9%; Allianz (insurance), 8.2%; SAP (software), 5.3%; Deutsche Telekom, 4.7%; Deutsche Bank AG, 3.7%; BMW AG, 3.4%; and Volkswagen AG, 3.1%.

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ENCANA CORP. $15.20 (Toronto symbol ECA; Shares outstanding: 741.1 million; Market cap: $11.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 2.3%; www.encana.com) produced 416,700 barrels a day (74% gas, 26% oil) in the three months ended December 31, 2014. That’s down 20.4% from 523,400 barrels a year earlier.

As well, Encana’s realized gas prices, which include the benefit of hedging contracts, fell 4.1%, while oil prices declined 0.9%. As a result, the company’s cash flow per share fell 44.0%, to $0.51 from $0.91.

Encana plans to spend $2.0 billion to $2.2 billion on new projects and upgrades in 2015, down from its earlier forecast of $2.7 billion. Even so, that’s more than its projected cash flow of $1.4 billion to $1.6 billion.

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TD BANK $54.16 (Toronto symbol TD; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $100.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.8%; www.td.com) continues to benefit from gains in retail banking in both Canada and the U.S. The bank is also profiting from last year’s deal with Aimia (Toronto symbol AIM) to become the main credit card issuer for the popular Aeroplan travel-reward program.

As a result, TD’s earnings, excluding one-time items, rose 4.9% in the three months ended January 31, 2015, to $2.12 billion from $2.02 billion a year earlier. Per-share profits gained 5.7%, to $1.12 from $1.06.

Revenue rose slightly, to $7.61 billion from $7.57 billion. The bank set aside $362 million to cover potential bad loans in the latest quarter, down 29.1% from $456 million a year earlier.

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MANITOBA TELECOM $24.73 (Toronto symbol MBT; Shares outstanding: 78.1 million; Market cap: $1.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 6.9%; www.mts.ca) earned $0.31 a share in the three months ended December 31, 2014. That’s a big improvement over the year-earlier quarter, when writedowns and other unusual charges led to a loss of $1.25 a share. Overall revenue fell 0.9%, to $404.8 million from $408.5 million.

The company is now conducting a strategic review to spur long-term profit growth. This could lead to asset sales or other moves, including cutting its $1.70-a-share dividend, which yields 6.9%.

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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. We give you Pat’s buy-hold-sell recommendation as well as his analysis of the stock. This is part of the specific buy, hold and sell advice we offer you in our daily posts. Every week you get “A Stock to Sell” on Monday, “Best Canadian Stocks” on Tuesday, and “U.S. Stock Picks” on Thursday. Q: Hello, Pat. Can I get your thoughts on Under Armour? Thanks....

SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC. $38 (Toronto symbol SNC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 152.5 million; Market cap: $5.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.snclavalin.com) earned $106.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2014, up 0.6% from $106.1 million a year earlier. Earnings per share were unchanged at $0.70. These figures exclude a gain on the sale of AltaLink, which operates power lines in Alberta.

Revenue jumped 32.7%, to $2.8 billion from $2.1 billion, due to the recent acquisition of U.K.-based Kentz, which provides engineering and construction services to the oil and gas industry.

The stock has suffered lately, mainly due to formal charges against the company for using bribes to win construction contracts in Libya between 2001 and 2011. These are the same allegations that prompted SNC to replace its senior executives in 2012 and bring in a new program to enforce ethical practices.

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GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $35 (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 996.7 million; Market cap: $34.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 3.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is paying an undisclosed sum for the Irish operations of Legal & General Group plc. This business provides investment and tax-planning services to wealthy individuals. It looks like a nice fit with Irish Life, a leading insurance firm Great-West acquired in 2013.

Thanks to Irish Life’s contribution and savings from eliminating duplicate functions, Great-West’s earnings jumped 34.7% in the three months ended December 31, 2014, to $0.66 a share from $0.49 a year earlier. Revenue rose 33.1%, to $10.7 billion from $8.1 billion.

The company has also raised its quarterly dividend by 6.0%, to $0.3260 a share from $0.3075. The new annual rate of $1.30 yields 3.7%.

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CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE $93 (Toronto symbol CM; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 397.2 million; Market cap: $36.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 4.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cibc.com) sold half of its Aeroplan accounts to TD Bank (see page 31) when TD took over the plan at the start of 2014.

The sale cut CIBC’s revenue by 4.7% in the three months ended January 31, 2015, to $3.5 billion from $3.6 billion a year earlier.

Excluding a gain on the Aeroplan sale and other unusual items, earnings improved 0.5%, to $956 million from $951 million. Per-share profits rose 2.2%, to $2.36 from $2.31, on fewer shares outstanding.

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BANK OF MONTREAL $76 (Toronto symbol BMO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 647.0 million; Market cap: $49.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 4.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bmo.com) earned $1.04 billion in its fiscal 2015 first quarter, which ended January 31, 2015. That’s down 3.9% from $1.08 billion a year earlier. Per-share earnings declined 5.0%, to $1.53 from $1.61.

Earnings from Canadian retail banking (47% of the total) rose 3.5% as low interest rates continued to spur loan demand. The U.S. retail banking division (16%) saw its profits rise 3.6% as higher loan volumes offset the additional funds it set aside to cover potential bad loans.

The wealth management division’s earnings (17%) rose 2.2%. Lower earnings from this business’s insurance operations offset the contribution from recently acquired U.K.-based wealth manager F&C Asset Management. However, the trading division’s earnings (20%) fell 19.9%, mainly due to lower trading volumes and underwriting fees.

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