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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 strategy, including advice on various ways of investing money, and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. In this case, the tip comes from a Member of my Inner Circle. Members can ask me and my investment team financial questions of any kind. Aside from questions on specific investments, members ask many other questions about how they should be investing their money....

Every Tuesday we bring you “Best Canadian Stocks.” You get our specific recommendation 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.

Torstar has struggled in the past few years as more people get their news from the Internet, rather than newspapers. But the company is doing a good job of responding to its challenges, which should let it improve its earnings and maintain its current payouts.

TORSTAR CORP. (Toronto symbol TS.B; www.torstar.com) publishes the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest daily newspaper by circulation. It also publishes three other daily papers and over 100 weeklies.

The slow economy continues to hurt advertising sales at Torstar’s newspapers. In the quarter ended June 30, 2014, the company’s revenue fell 7.4%, to $225.6 million from $243.6 million a year earlier.

Earnings jumped 44.2%, to $18.1 million, or $0.23 a share, from $12.6 million, or $0.16 a share. However, if you disregard restructuring costs and other unusual items, earnings per share fell 4.8%, to $0.20 from $0.21.

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Every Monday we feature “A Stock to Sell” as our daily post. With every stock we recommend as a sell, we give you a full explanation of why we advise against investing in the stock at this time. ZARGON OIL & GAS (Toronto symbol ZAR; www.zargon.ca) produces natural gas and oil in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and North Dakota. Its output is 62% oil and 38% gas....

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 a report on one of the stocks profiled in 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 “Our Top U.S. Stocks” on Thursday.

Recently an Inner Circle member asked about the prospects of a Canadian oil service stock. Aveda provides transportation services for oil and gas producers in both Canada and the United States, with three quarters of its revenue coming from the U.S. The company has made several key acquisitions this year that have added to its profits—and its debt. Pat takes a hard look at the company’s balance sheet and considers its prospects in light of the dampening effect lower oil prices have on energy projects.

Q: Dear Pat: A company that would seem to be moving in the right direction is oil-service firm Aveda. Perhaps I can have your input regarding this prospect?

A: Aveda Transportation and Energy Services Inc. (symbol AVE on Toronto; www.avedaenergy.com) provides transportation services to oil and gas producers in Western Canada and the U.S., mainly in Texas, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and North Dakota. The U.S. supplies around 75% of the company’s revenue.

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TIM HORTONS INC. $88 (Toronto symbol THI; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 132.8 million; Market cap: $11.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.5; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.timhortons.com) has accepted a friendly takeover offer from Miami-based Burger King Worldwide (New York symbol BKW).

Under the deal, Tim Hortons shareholders can opt to receive $88.50 a share in cash or 3.0879 Burger King shares (currently worth $106.05). Burger King will limit the overall cash payout, so most investors will likely receive $65.50 in cash plus 0.8025 of a share, for a total value of $93.06.

Investors who hold shares outside RRSPs and other registered accounts will be liable for capital gains taxes.

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SAPUTO INC. $33 (www.saputo.com) has raised its quarterly dividend by 13.0%, to $0.13 a share (split adjusted) from $0.115. The new annual rate of $0.52 yields 1.6%. Hold.

BOMBARDIER INC. $3.71 (www.bombardier.com) has received a firm order for 40 of its upcoming CSeries passenger jets from Macquarie AirFinance, as well as options for an additional 10 aircraft. Including this order, the company now has firm orders for 243 CSeries planes, plus options for 320 more....

SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC. $51 (www.snclavalin.com) designed and built Montreal’s Maison symphonique concert hall, which houses the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, in 2009. The company also operates the hall under a long-term deal with the Quebec government....

CGI GROUP INC. $38 (Toronto symbol GIB.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 311.7 million; Market cap: $11.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.cgi.com) is Canada’s largest provider of computer outsourcing services. CGI helps its clients automate routine functions, like accounting and buying supplies. That makes them more efficient and lets them focus on their main businesses.

Two-pronged strategy spurs results

CGI follows what it calls a “Build and Buy” strategy. The “Build” part refers to expanding relationships with existing clients and attracting new ones. The company’s long-term outsourcing contracts give it steady, predictable revenue streams. They also let CGI sell these clients other services.

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TECK RESOURCES LTD. $19 (Toronto symbol TCK.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 566.8 million; Market cap: $10.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 4.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.teck.com) has dropped 25% in the past three months, mainly due to the U.S. dollar’s recent rise and slowing economic growth in China and other parts of Asia. These factors have depressed the prices of metallurgical coal (which supplies 42% of Teck’s revenue) and copper (32%).

However, the company continues to benefit from rising zinc prices (26%). Thanks to better-than-expected production at its Red Dog mine in Alaska, Teck expects to produce 600,000 to 615,000 tonnes of zinc in 2014, up from its original forecast of 555,000 to 585,000. The company also plans to reopen its Pend Oreille zinc mine in Washington State by the end of 2014.

Meanwhile, Teck continues to aggressively cut its operating costs. It lowered its annual expenses by $360 million in 2013 and should achieve additional savings of $180 million a year by the end of 2014. The company has also reduced this year’s spending on new projects and upgrades by $150 million.

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EMERA INC. $36 (Toronto symbol EMA; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 142.6 million; Market cap: $5.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 4.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.emera.com) is Nova Scotia’s main power supplier. It also holds interests in electrical utilities in the U.S. and the Caribbean.

The company has raised its quarterly dividend by 6.9%, to $0.3875 a share from $0.3625. The new annual rate of $1.55 yields 4.3%.

In addition, Emera announced that it expects to increase its dividend by 6% annually for the next five years.

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SHAWCOR LTD. $54 (Toronto symbol SCL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 64.5 million; Market cap: $3.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.shawcor.com) recently won contracts to coat underwater pipelines for the Shah Deniz project, which pumps natural gas under the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan. From there, other pipelines transport the gas to southern Europe.

The total value of these deals—$200 million U.S.—is equal to 12% of the company’s 2013 revenue of $1.8 billion (Canadian). ShawCor expects to complete these jobs from 2015 to 2018.

ShawCor is a buy.

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CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD. $231(Toronto symbol CP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 171.5 million; Market cap: $39.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 6.4; Dividend yield: 0.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cpr.ca) prefers to use its excess cash to buy back shares instead of raising its dividend. That’s because many of its investors live in the U.S. and are subject to withholding taxes on dividends from Canadian firms.

The company could repurchase up to 5.3 million shares under its latest authorization. It has now reached this limit, so it has increased its target to 12.65 million shares, or 7% of the total outstanding. It expects to complete these purchases by March 16, 2015.

CP Rail is a buy.

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PENGROWTH ENERGY CORP. $5.02 (Toronto symbol PGF; Aggressive Growth and Income Portfolios, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 528.1 million; Market cap: $2.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 9.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.pengrowth.com) is shifting away from its traditional oil and natural gas operations and into projects with better long-term potential, such as its Lindbergh oil sands development in Alberta’s Cold Lake region.

Pengrowth is spending $630 million on Lindbergh’s first phase, which should start up in early 2015 and produce 12,500 barrels a day. That’s equal to 16.9% of Pengrowth’s second quarter output of 73,823 barrels a day (56% oil and natural gas liquids, 44% natural gas). Future phases will raise the project’s daily production to 50,000 barrels by 2020. Lindbergh’s reserves should last 25 years. The company’s cash flow per share will probably fall from $1.09 in 2013 to $1.01 in 2014. However, it should improve to $1.38 in 2015. The stock trades at a low 3.6 times that forecast.

Pengrowth’s improving cash flow should also let it keep paying monthly dividends of $0.04 a share, for an 9.6% annualized yield.

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TORSTAR CORP. $7.11 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 80.1 million; Market cap: $569.5 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 7.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.torstar.com) publishes the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest daily newspaper by circulation. It also publishes three other daily papers and over 100 weeklies.

The slow economy continues to hurt advertising sales at Torstar’s newspapers. In the quarter ended June 30, 2014, the company’s revenue fell 7.4%, to $225.6 million from $243.6 million a year earlier.

Earnings jumped 44.2%, to $18.1 million, or $0.23 a share, from $12.6 million, or $0.16 a share. However, if you disregard restructuring costs and other unusual items, earnings per share fell 4.8%, to $0.20 from $0.21.

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METRO INC. $75 (Toronto symbol MRU; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 85.1 million; Market cap: $6.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.metro.ca) operates 600 grocery stores and 250 drugstores in Quebec and Ontario.

In its fiscal 2014 third quarter, which ended July 5, 2014, Metro earned $144.5 million, unchanged from a year earlier. The company spent $147.2 million on share buybacks in the latest quarter. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share gained 9.4%, to $1.63 from $1.49. Sales rose 1.4%, to $3.62 billion from $3.57 billion. Same-store sales gained 1.0%.

The company continues to benefit from the recent reorganization of its Ontario operations, including converting certain Metro outlets to the discount Food Basics banner.

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LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD. $56 (Toronto symbol L; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 413.5 million; Market cap: $23.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; 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.

In March 2014, Loblaw bought the 1,250-store Shoppers Drug Mart chain for $12.3 billion in cash and stock.

Thanks to Shoppers, Loblaw’s sales jumped 37.1%, to $10.3 billion, in the second quarter of its 2014 fiscal year, which ended June 14. It earned $7.5 billion a year earlier.

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TRANSCANADA CORP. $56 (Toronto symbol TRP; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 707.9 million; Market cap: $39.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.8; Dividend yield: 3.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.transcanada.com) recently completed the purchase of three more Ontario solar power plants from Canadian Solar Inc. (Nasdaq symbol CSIQ).

TransCanada now owns seven of the nine solar farms it agreed to buy from Canadian Solar in 2011. It will probably take possession of the remaining two in 2015. In all, it will pay about $500 million. To put that in context, TransCanada earned $332 million, or $0.47 a share, in the three months ended June 30, 2014.

The company has 20-year deals to sell the power from these solar farms, which cuts this investment’s risk.

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MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $29 (Toronto symbol MBT; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 77.8 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 5.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mts.ca) gets 60% of its revenue from its MTS division, which has 1.3 million telephone and wireless clients in Manitoba. The other 40% comes from Allstream, which sells telephone, Internet and other communication services to businesses across Canada.

In the three months ended June 30, 2014, the company’s revenue fell 1.7%, to $403.3 million from $410.1 million a year earlier.

The MTS division’s revenue rose 1.1%, as strong demand for high-speed Internet and TV services offset lower revenue from traditional telephones. Wireless revenue also fell 4.8%, as smaller carriers continue to develop their own networks, which cuts the roaming fees they pay Manitoba Telecom.

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BCE INC. $48 (Toronto symbol BCE; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 827.7 million; Market cap: $39.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 5.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bce.ca) is Canada’s largest provider of telephone services, with 5.0 million customers in Ontario and Quebec. It also has 2.2 million high-speed Internet customers and 2.3 million TV subscribers.

BCE also sells wireless services to 7.8 million customers across Canada, and its Bell Media segment owns CTV Television, specialty channels and radio stations.

The company recently offered to buy the 56% of Bell Aliant (Toronto symbol BA) that it doesn’t already own. Bell Aliant sells phone and Internet services to 2.3 million clients in Atlantic Canada and rural Ontario and Quebec. It also provides wireless services through an alliance with BCE.

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FORTIS INC. $35 (Toronto symbol FTS; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 215.4 million; Market cap: $7.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield 3.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.fortis.ca) is the main electricity supplier in Newfoundland and P.E.I. It also distributes natural gas in B.C. and operates power plants in other parts of Canada, the U.S. and the Caribbean.

The company recently completed its purchase of UNS Energy Corp., which operates power plants and distributes electricity and natural gas to 657,000 customers in Arizona.

Fortis paid $4.5 billion U.S., which includes assuming $2.0 billion U.S. of UNS’s debt. The new operations will add $1.5 billion U.S. to Fortis’s annual revenue of $4.7 billion (Canadian). The purchase also lowers Fortis’s reliance on Atlantic Canada.

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TELUS CORP. $39 (Toronto symbol T; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 615.5 million; Market cap: $24.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 3.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.telus.com) is Canada’s second-largest wireless carrier, after Rogers Communications, with 7.9 million subscribers. Wireless now supplies 54% of Telus’s revenue and 66% of its earnings.

The remaining 46% of revenue and 34% of earnings come from its wireline division, which mainly consists of 3.2 million traditional phone customers in B.C., Alberta and eastern Quebec. This business also includes 1.4 million Internet users and 865,000 TV customers.

Telus’s revenue rose 18.7%, from $9.6 billion in 2009 to $11.4 billion in 2013. Revenue will probably improve to $12.0 billion in 2014.

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IMPERIAL OIL $52.18 (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $44.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Div. yield: 1.0%; www.imperialoil.ca) has begun converting its 95-year-old refinery in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, into a storage facility for refined petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel and home heating oil....

ALGONQUIN POWER & UTILITIES CORP. $8.77 (Toronto symbol AQN; Shares outstanding: 208.0 million; Market cap: $2.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.4%; www.algonquinpower.com) has agreed to buy Park Water Company for $327 million U.S. Algonquin will make the purchase through its Liberty Utilities subsidiary.

Park Water owns and operates three regulated water utilities that produce, treat, store, distribute and sell water in southern California and western Montana. The three utilities collectively serve 74,000 customers and have more than 1,000 miles of distribution pipelines.

Algonquin is also buying the Odell project, a 200-megawatt wind farm in the U.S. that’s currently under construction. The project, which spans Minnesota’s Cottonwood, Jackson, Martin and Watonwan Counties, will cost an estimated $313.5 million U.S. to complete.

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LOBLAW COMPANIES $55.80 (Toronto symbol L; Shares outstanding: 413.6 million; Market cap: $23.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 1.8%; www.loblaw.ca) is testing a smaller version of its discount No Frills supermarkets. These stores, which operate under the Box banner, are cheaper to build than full-sized outlets and can fit in smaller strip malls. That lowers their rental costs.

The new Box stores could also help Loblaw compete with Wal-Mart, which may start opening smaller locations in Canada following successful trials in the U.S.

Loblaw is a buy.

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