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MOLSON COORS CANADA INC. (Toronto symbols TPX.A $84 and TPX.B $92; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 193.0 million; Market cap: $17.8 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 3.2; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.molsoncoors.com) sold less beer in 2014, but its ongoing cost-control plan continues to give it more cash for debt repayments and dividends.

In 2014, the company’s worldwide beer volumes fell 1.3%. That lowered its revenue by 1.4%, to $4.1 billion from $4.2 billion in 2013 (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). If you disregard currency exchange rates, revenue gained 0.3%.

Molson Coors continues to improve its efficiency. As a result, its earnings rose 5.7%, to $768.5 million from $727.1 million. Per-share earnings gained 4.6%, to $4.13 from $3.95, on more shares outstanding.

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CANADIAN TIRE CORP. $118 (Toronto symbol CTC.A; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 78.1 million; Market cap: $9.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadiantire.ca) began operating in 1922 and is now one of Canada’s leading retailers.

The company owns 493 Canadian Tire stores, which sell automotive, household and sporting goods. Franchisees run most of these outlets. Other operations include 300 gas stations and 91 PartSource auto parts stores.

Canadian Tire has acquired more-specialized retailers to help it compete with big U.S.-based chains like Wal-Mart and Home Depot. In 2002, it bought Mark’s Work Wearhouse, which sells casual and work clothing through 383 stores. It later shortened the name to Mark’s as it added more women’s clothing and other merchandise.

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LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD. $48 (Toronto symbol L; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 412.7 million; Market cap: $19.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.loblaw.ca) is Canada’s largest food retailer, with roughly 1,200 stores. Its banners include Loblaws, Provigo, Fortinos, Real Canadian Superstore and No Frills.

The company recently acquired the 1,250-store Shoppers Drug Mart chain. Loblaw paid $12.3 billion, consisting of $6.6 billion in cash and $5.7 billion in Loblaw common shares. Shoppers shareholders now own 29% of the combined company.

Loblaw’s parent company, George Weston Ltd. (Toronto symbol WN), agreed to help it pay for this acquisition by purchasing $500 million worth of new shares. Due to the extra shares outstanding, Weston now owns 46% of Loblaw, down from 63% prior to the purchase.

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TORSTAR $7.44 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Shares outstanding: 79.9 million; Market cap: $600.5 million; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 7.1%; www.torstar.com) gets 60% of its revenue from advertising on its newspapers and their websites, including The Toronto Star, Canada’s largest daily by circulation. Subscriptions account for the remaining 40%.

As part of a new strategy to increase online advertising sales, Torstar plans to drop the paywall on The Toronto Star’s website and launch a new free version for tablet computers.

The shift will likely hurt its 2015 revenue but should attract more readers in the long run. Torstar especially hopes that the tablet edition will attract a younger audience.

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ISHARES MSCI SOUTH KOREA INDEX FUND $57.04 (New York symbol EWY; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the MSCI Korea Index.

The ETF’s top holdings are Samsung Electronics, 21.0%; SK Hynix Semiconductor, 4.3%; Hyundai Motor Co., 4.0%; Shinhan Financial, 3.1%; Naver (Internet content), 3.0%; Posco (steel), 2.8%; Hyundai Mobis (auto parts), 2.7%; KB Financial, 2.6%; Kia Motors, 1.9%; and Korea Electric Power, 1.9%.

The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Information Technology, 38.2%; Consumer Discretionary, 16.6%; Financials, 14.3%; Industrials, 10.6%; Materials, 7.6%; Consumer Staples, 6.2%; Utilities, 2.1%; Energy, 1.6%; Telecommunication Services, 1.2%; and Health Care, 0.7%.

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; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

Its geographic breakdown includes China, 21.8%; South Korea, 14.4%; Taiwan, 12.7%; Brazil, 8.3%; South Africa, 8.1%; India, 7.5%; Mexico, 4.8%; Russia, 3.7%; Malaysia, 3.6%; Indonesia, 2.7%; Thailand, 2.4%; and Turkey, 1.7%.

The fund’s top holdings are Samsung Electronics (South Korea), 3.4%; Taiwan Semiconductor (computer chips), 3.0%; Tencent Holdings (China: Internet), 2.3%; China Mobile, 2.1%; Naspers (South Africa: media and Internet), 1.5%; China Construction Bank, 1.5%; Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, 1.4%; and Itau Unibanco Holding (Brazil: banking), 0.9%.

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RIOCAN REIT $28.76 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 313.9 million; Market cap: $9.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 4.9%; www.riocan.com) has agreed to form a new joint venture with Hudson’s Bay Co. (Toronto symbol HBC).

The REIT will contribute $325 million to this new firm, consisting of 50% of two shopping malls in Oakville and Barrie, Ontario, $52.5 million of property upgrades and $128.1 million in cash. Hudson’s Bay will contribute 10 owned or leased stores in major Canadian cities.

RioCan will own 20.2% of this new business, while Hudson’s Bay will hold the remaining 79.8%. The partners will likely sell shares in the new company to the public, which would help unlock the value of these properties.

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ENERPLUS CORP. $13.06 (Toronto symbol ERF; Shares outstanding: 205.4 million; Market cap: $2.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.6%) produces an average of 105,591 barrels of oil equivalent a day (56% gas and 44% oil). The company’s properties are mainly in Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C., North Dakota and Montana, as well as the Marcellus shale, which passes through Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia.

In the quarter ended December 31, 2014, Enerplus’s production rose 12.1% from a year earlier. That increase, plus higher realized gas prices, pushed cash flow per share up 15.7%, to $1.03 from $0.89.

Like ARC, Enerplus will cut spending this year. Its outlays will now total $480 million, down 24.4% from its original estimate of $635 million and 40.8% from $811.0 million in 2014.

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ARC RESOURCES $24.16 (Toronto symbol ARX; Shares outstanding: 335.0 million; Market cap: $8.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; Dividend yield: 5.1%; www.arcresources.com) produces oil and natural gas in Western Canada. Its average daily output of 117,986 barrels of oil equivalent is 61% gas and 39% oil.

In the quarter ended December 31, 2014, ARC’s cash flow per share rose 3.9%, to $0.79 from $0.76 a year earlier. Realized oil prices fell 12.5%, to $72.49 a barrel from $82.85, but ARC’s production gained 17.0%, and its realized gas prices rose 15.0%.

Like many oil and gas producers, ARC plans to cut back on exploration and development spending. This year, the company will devote $750.0 million to this purpose, down from $945.5 million in 2014.

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GREAT-WEST LIFECO $34.92 (Toronto symbol GWO; Shares outstanding: 996.7 million; Market cap: $35.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Yield: 3.7%; www.greatwestlifeco.com) has reported strong results in its latest quarter and raised its dividend.

Great-West is Canada’s largest insurance company. It also offers mutual funds and wealth management. Power Financial owns 67.0% of Great-West.

The company’s earnings per share jumped 34.7% in the three months ended December 31, 2014, to $0.66 from $0.49 a year earlier. Revenue rose 33.1%, to $10.7 billion from $8.1 billion.

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TRANSCANADA CORP. $55.25 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 708.6 million; Market cap: $39.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.8%; www.transcanada.com) operates 68,500 kilometres of natural gas pipelines and over 11,800 megawatts of power generation in Canada and the U.S.

In the three months ended December 31, 2014, TransCanada’s revenue rose 12.1%, to $2.6 billion from $2.3 billion a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, earnings per share rose 24.1%, to $0.72 from $0.58.

The company completed $7.0 billion worth of growth projects in 2014. It plans to complete $46 billion of additional projects secured by long-term contracts by 2020 (an amount greater than its current $39.1-billion market cap).

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Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific advice on 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. 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.

This week we had a question from an Inner Circle member about a Canadian seafood company whose stock has risen in recent months. Clearwater Seafoods has enjoyed strong financial results while benefiting from a positive outlook for seafood markets. Pat examines the factors behind the company’s strong showing. He also assesses Clearwater’s longer-term outlook in light of both rising global demand and stiff global competition.

Q: Pat: Can you offer any information or advice on the recent price rise and volume of Clearwater Seafoods on the TSX? Thanks.

A: Clearwater Seafoods (symbol CLR on Toronto; www.clearwater.ca) is one of North America’s largest seafood companies and the biggest holder of shellfish licenses and quotas in Canada.

The stock has risen on the company’s strong financial results and a positive outlook for its seafood markets.

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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.

Over 30 billion devices—including things like home thermostats and appliances—will be connected to the Internet by 2020.

That means you’ll be able to control them with a smartphone, set them up to adapt to factors like outside temperatures and have them notify you if, for example, there is smoke or carbon monoxide in your home.

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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. ENBRIDGE INC. (Toronto symbol ENB; www.enbridge.com) gets 90% of its revenue from pipelines that pump oil and natural gas from Western Canada to Eastern Canada and the U.S. The remaining 10% mainly comes from distributing gas to 2.1 million consumers in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and New York State. Since 2008, Enbridge has spent $20 billion on 39 new pipelines and other projects. Thanks to these investments, the company’s revenue soared 164.1%, from $12.5 billion in 2009 to $32.9 billion in 2013. Its revenue probably increased to $37.7 billion in 2014....

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.

Extendicare Inc. (symbol EXE on Toronto; www.extendicare.com) is one of North America’s largest retirement- and nursing-home operators. Its 259 long- and short-term senior-care facilities can house 28,401 residents.

The stock fell sharply in November 2014, from over $8, when Extendicare announced an agreement to sell most of its U.S. business for $870 million U.S. in a deal with two investment firms, Formation Capital and an affiliate of Safanad Inc.

These operations generated $868.9 million U.S. of revenue in the first nine months of 2014—more than half of Extendicare’s $1.6-billion U.S. total in that period.

The company will keep 10 nursing homes in the U.S. for now, but it intends to sell them. It will also hold on to two other U.S. businesses: Virtual Care Provider, which supplies computer support and consulting to long-term care providers, and Laurier Indemnity, which insures against liability risks.

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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%....

IMPERIAL OIL $47.96 (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $41.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.1%; www.imperialoil.ca) expects to spend $4.0 billion on capital projects in 2015, down 29.8% from $5.7 billion in 2014. Most of that will go toward expanding its 71%-owned Kearl oil sands project, as well as its Cold Lake oil sands property. These two projects will last decades, so the recent drop in oil prices will have little impact on their long-term prospects. Imperial Oil is a buy.

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....

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%....

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....

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%....

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%....

Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific advice on buying stocks 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. This week an Inner Circle member asked about a company whose rental trucks are a familiar sight on North American highways. Ryder System makes the bulk of its revenue leasing truck fleets under long-term deals. It extends its service to helping clients manage warehousing and distribution. The company has also entered into a venture with a clean energy firm to develop a truck to run on compressed natural gas, potentially a money-saver when gasoline prices are higher. Pat examines the company’s financial situation and assesses its growth prospects. ...

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.

CINTAS CORP. (Nasdaq symbol CTAS; www.cintas.com) provides a range of products and services to over one million businesses, mainly in North America.

The company gets 71% of its revenue by renting uniforms that it makes and cleans. This business also rents a variety of related products, such as mats, towels, mops and cleaning supplies. Cintas gets a further 10% of its revenue by selling uniforms.

In addition, the company sells first aid kits, fire extinguishers, sprinklers and emergency-exit lights (11%). It also shreds corporate documents (8%). In April 2014, it merged its shredding operations with Shred-it International. In exchange, Cintas received 42% of the combined company, which uses the Shred-it brand, plus $180 million in cash.

Cintas used the proceeds from the deal to pay a special dividend of $0.85 a share. It also increased its regular annual dividend by 10.4%, to $0.85 a share from $0.77. The new rate yields 1.1%. The company has now raised the payout annually for the past 31 years.

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AT&T INC. $34 (New York symbol T; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 5.2 billion; Market cap: $176.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 5.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.att.com) is the largest wireless provider in the U.S., with 120.6 million subscribers. Wireless accounts for 55% of AT&T’s revenue and 75% of its earnings.

The remaining 45% of revenue and 25% of earnings comes from its wireline division, which sells phone services, television packages and high-speed Internet access to 34.4 million customers.

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