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BIRCHCLIFF ENERGY $14.75 (Toronto symbol BIR; TSINetwork Rating:Speculative) (403-261-6401;www.birchcliffenergy.com; Units outstanding: 145.0million; Market cap: $2.2 billion; No dividends paid) reports that its daily production rose 21.6% in the three months ended March 31, 2014, to 31,749 barrels of oil equivalent from 26,108 a year earlier. Cash flow per share jumped 122.2%, to $0.60 from $0.27, on the increased production and higher oil and gas prices.

The company plans to spend $291 million on exploration and development this year, which should boost its 2014 output to a record 34,000 barrels a day. Birchcliff expects to generate full-year cash flow of $331 million, or $2.30 a share, so it can comfortably afford these outlays.

Birchcliff Energy is still a buy.

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CALIAN TECHNOLOGIES $18.82 (Toronto symbol CTY; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (613- 599-8600; www.calian.com; Shares outstanding: 7.4 million; Market cap: $135.5 million; Dividend yield: 6.0%) operates in two areas: the business and technology services division (which supplies 70% of Calian’s revenue) provides engineers, health care workers and other skilled professionals to clients on a contract basis. The systems engineering division (30% of revenue) sells hardware and software for testing, operating and managing satellite and other communication systems.

In the three months ended March 31, 2014, the company earned $2.4 million, or $0.32 a share. That’s down 29.5% from $3.4 million, or $0.44 a share, a year ago. Revenue declined 13.1%, to $51.2 million from $58.9 million.

The business and technology services division continues to benefit from recurring orders from Canadian federal government departments, including the Department of National Defence. However, these clients placed fewer orders in the latest quarter, cutting the division’s revenue by 9.5%. That hurt Calian’s profit margins, which lowered its earnings.

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COMPUTER MODELLING GROUP $14.88 (Toronto symbol CMG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-531-1300; www.cmgroup.com; Shares outstanding: 78.6 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; Dividend yield: 2.7%) (all figures split 2-for-1) sells software and consulting services that help oil and gas producers use advanced recovery techniques to get more out of their wells. It has customers in over 50 countries and offices in Calgary, Houston, London, Caracas, Bogota, Kuala Lumpur and Dubai.

In the quarter ended March 31, 2014, Computer Modelling’s revenue rose 3.6%, to $20.0 million from $19.3 million a year earlier. Software licence sales (89% of total revenue) rose slightly, but consulting and professional services (11%) jumped 39.1%, thanks to new projects and a large consulting agreement.

Earnings gained 6.7%, to $7.7 million from $7.25 million. Per-share earnings jumped 18.8%, to $0.095 from $0.08, on fewer shares outstanding.

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AEROPOSTALE $3.55 (New York symbol ARO; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (646-485-5410; www.aeropostale.com; Shares outstanding:78.5 million; Market cap: $277.6 million; No dividends paid) reported better-than-expected earnings this week. However, the high teenage unemployment rate is still weighing on its sales.

In the three months ended May 3, 2014, Aeropostale’s sales fell 12.5%, to $395.9 million from $452.3 million a year earlier. Samestore sales declined 13%.

The company is now closing all 125 of its mall-based P.S. from Aeropostale stores. If you exclude closure and other costs, it lost $0.52 a share. That was better than the consensus forecast of a $0.72-a-share loss. A year earlier, Aeropostale lost $0.16 a share.

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LEON’S FURNITURE LTD. $14.30 (Toronto symbol LNF; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (416-243-7880; www.leons.ca; Shares outstanding: 70.9 million; Market cap: $1.0 billion; Dividend yield: 2.8%) has steadily opened new stores, growing from 27 in 2003 to 78 today.

But the company more than quadrupled in size overnight with its March 28, 2013, purchase of its main rival, The Brick, for $700 million. The Brick has 228 outlets across Canada. Leon’s and The Brick will continue to operate as separate chains.

As a result of the acquisition, Leon’s sales jumped to $426.0 million in the three months ended March 31, 2014, from $162.5 million a year earlier. Earnings fell sharply, to $818,000, or $0.01 a share, from $5.4 million, or $0.08.

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AMAZON.COM $334.38 (Nasdaq symbol AMZN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (206- 266-1000; www.amazon.com; Shares outstanding: 460.2 million; Market cap: $150.8 billion; No dividends paid) has launched Prime Music, a music streaming service that’s now bundled with a $99-a-year Amazon Prime subscription.

This is the fourth part of the Amazon Prime service. The other three are unlimited shipping, a Kindle e-book library and Prime Instant Video (streaming movies and TV shows). Prime customers spend three to four times more than regular Amazon shoppers.

The company’s music service will start off with just over a million songs, with no ads and no limit on how much users can listen. It will also offer playlists curated by music experts Amazon will hire.

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BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS $40.95 (New York symbol BR; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (201-714-3000; www.broadridge.com; Shares outstanding: 120.7 million; Market cap: $4.9 billion; Dividend yield: 2.1%) 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.

Without one-time items, Broadridge earned $55.1 million in its fiscal 2014 third quarter, which ended March 31, 2014. That’s up 11.3% from $49.5 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 12.8%, to $0.44 from $0.39, on fewer shares outstanding.

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FAIR ISAAC CORP. $60.30 (New York symbol FICO; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (415-472-2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 34.3 million; Market cap: $2.1 billion; Dividend yield: 0.1%) makes FICO Scores, the computer program that dominates the market for software that businesses use to evaluate customer creditworthiness. The company is also profiting by selling software that helps credit card issuers control fraud and analyze cardholders’ spending patterns.

In its fiscal 2014 second quarter, which ended March 31, 2014, Fair Isaac’s earnings per share rose 15.7% from a year ago, to $0.59 from $0.51.

Revenue gained 3.4%, to $185.5 million from $179.3 million. The company saw stronger sales of its credit-scoring software and customized programs for analyzing large amounts of a business’s data. However, sales at its main Applications division (62% of the total) fell 1.4% on weaker licensing revenue from software that detects bank fraud.

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SASOL LTD. (ADR) $59.52 (New York symbol SSL; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (082- 883-9697; www.sasol.com; ADRs outstanding: 650.3 million; Market cap: $40.0 billion; Dividend yield: 2.5%) has just signed a deal with Italy-based multinational oil giant Eni SpA. No financial terms were disclosed, but it could be significant.

Under the agreement, Eni will take a 40% partnership interest in an exploration permit that Sasol holds. The permit gives the company the right to explore an 82,000-square mile area in the Durban and Zululand basins off South Africa’s east coast.

This area is near where Eni and Anadarko Petroleum recently discovered a field containing more than 100 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The deal also gives Sasol access to Eni’s offshore deep-drilling exploration expertise.

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CHEMTRADE LOGISTICS INCOME FUND $21.19 (Toronto symbol CHE.UN; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (416-496-5856; www.chemtradelogistics.com; Units outstanding: 60.1 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; Dividend yield: 5.7%) is one of North America’s largest providers of removal services for resource firms, such as oil refineries and base-metal processors.

These companies’ activities create sulphur, acid and other by-products that Chemtrade converts into useful chemicals, like sulphuric acid. The trust also offers a range of environmental services through its Marsulex subsidiary, such as improving air quality and handling and treating industrial waste.

Chemtrade’s revenue rose 30.4% in the three months ended March 31, 2014, to $273.9 million from $210.0 million a year earlier.

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DREAM OFFICE REIT $29.14 (Toronto symbol D.UN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (416-365-3535; www.dundeereit.com; Units outstanding: 103.4 million; Market cap: $3.1 billion; Dividend yield: 7.7%) is the new name for Dundee REIT. The trading symbol is unchanged.

Dream owns and manages 24.6 million square feet of office and retail space in major cities across Canada. Its occupancy rate is 94.2%.

In the quarter ended March 31, 2014, Dream’s revenue rose 9.0%, to $206.7 million from $189.6 million a year earlier. The trust continues to renew expiring leases at higher rates. It has also added 1.2 million square feet of space over the past year.

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ENERFLEX LTD. $19.74 (Toronto symbol EFX; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (403-387- 6377; www.enerflex.com; Shares outstanding: 78.3 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion; Dividend yield: 1.8%) rents and sells equipment and services for natural gas production.

The stock has jumped over 20% since Enerflex announced on June 1 that it will acquire two businesses owned by privately held Axip Energy Services LP: an international contract compression and processing subsidiary, and a division that provides aftermarket services. Enerflex will pay $430 million U.S. in cash.

The agreement includes operations in Mexico, South America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, but not Axip’s U.S. business. The assets include a 448- unit compression fleet totalling about 285,000 horsepower.

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GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER CO. $27.20 (Nasdaq symbol GT; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (330-796-2122; www.goodyear.com; Shares outstanding: 248.5 million; Market cap: $6.8 billion; Dividend yield: 0.7%) has risen almost 11% since we made it our #1 pick for 2014 in our February issue. We think it will go higher.

In the quarter ended March 31, 2014, Goodyear’s sales fell 7.9%, to $4.5 billion from $4.9 billion a year earlier. Harsh winter weather hurt North American car and truck sales, cutting demand for new tires. The weather also slowed sales of replacement tires. As well, the Brazilian, Venezuelan and Australian currencies fell against the U.S. dollar, cutting the value of sales in these markets.

Earnings per share fell 17.6%, to $0.56 from $0.68. The lower sales and stronger price competition were the main reasons for the decline.

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Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific advice about specific 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. 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 two stocks that carry the name of one of the world’s most prestigious universities. Harvard Bioscience, founded in 1901 in the basement of Harvard Medical School, makes products for research laboratories. Less than a year ago, it spun off Harvard Apparatus, which is involved in the development of regenerated organs for transplant. Pat examines the two businesses and the prospects these two speculative stocks present to investors. ...

Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan passed the Federal Reserve’s latest “stress test,” which measures how well financial firms would cope with a sharp jump in unemployment, falling stock prices and other unfavourable conditions. Here is our analysis of the two banks, both of which we cover regularly in our advisory on U.S. stocks, Wall Street Stock Forecaster....

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 stock investing 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: “There are too many occasions when an investment that is in a broker’s best financial interest will actually bring the investor higher costs and greater risk.”...

Ottawa continues to impose new rules on Canada’s main wireless firms in an effort to encourage more competition. These measures include restricting the new radio frequencies (or spectrum) they can buy, cutting wireless contract terms from three years to two and capping roaming charges. Meanwhile, new rules will force TV providers to let subscribers buy the channels they want, instead of having to purchase a package....

TOROMONT INDUSTRIES LTD (Toronto symbol TIH; www.toromont.com) 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 below) in July 2011. Shareholders received shares of both the new Toromont Industries and Enerflex....

TORSTAR CORP. $7.74 (www.torstar.com) is selling its Harlequin book-publishing subsidiary to News Corp. (Nasdaq symbol NWSA), the parent company of publishing firm HarperCollins. The company will receive $455 million, which is equal to 73% of its $623.4-million market cap. Torstar will put the proceeds toward its bank loans and other debt, which stood at $192.9 million on March 31, 2014.

Meanwhile, Torstar’s earnings in the first quarter of 2014 (including Harlequin) rose 70.2%, to $7.1 million, or $0.09 a share. It earned $4.2 million, or $0.05 a share a year earlier. The gain is entirely due to savings from an ongoing restructuring plan, mainly job cuts. Weak advertising sales at its newspapers reduced its overall revenue by 6.7%, to $292.4 million from $313.4 million.

Selling Harlequin means Torstar will focus entirely on its cyclical newspaper and Internet businesses. That adds risk. However, the cash from the sale will help it sustain its current dividend. Best Buy.

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CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. $64 (Toronto symbol CNR; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 824.5 million; Market cap: $52.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.0; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cn.ca) operates Canada’s largest railway. Its 32,350-kilometre network stretches across the country and through the U.S. Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico.

Thanks to strong shipping volumes in the wake of the recession, CN’s revenue rose 43.5%, from $7.4 billion in 2009 to $10.6 billion in 2013.

Earnings jumped 68.4%, from $1.5 billion to $2.6 billion; while per-share earnings rose 88.9%, from $1.62 to $3.06, on fewer shares outstanding (all per-share amounts adjusted for a 2-for-1 stock split in November 2013).

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ENCANA CORP. $26 (Toronto symbol ECA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 740.9 million; Market cap: $19.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.2; Dividend yield: 1.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.encana.com) has agreed to buy shale oil properties in the Eagle Ford area of southern Texas for $3.1 billion (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). A separate deal to sell natural gas fields in eastern Texas for $530 million will help pay for this purchase.

Including Eagle Ford, Encana now has six core properties. The other five are: Montney (B.C.), Duvernay (Alberta), DJ Basin (Colorado), San Juan Basin (New Mexico) and the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (Louisiana). All of these areas contain large amounts of oil and natural gas liquids, such as butane and propane. That cuts Encana’s exposure to weak gas prices.

The stock is up 35% since Encana said it would expand its oil production in November 2013. Even so, it trades at a moderate 7.2 times the company’s projected 2014 cash flow of $3.31 a share.

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IGM FINANCIAL INC. $54 (Toronto symbol IGM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 252.4 million; Market cap: $13.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.1; Dividend yield: 4.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.igmfinancial.com) continues to benefit as rising stock markets spur the value of its clients’ holdings.

As of April 30, 2014, IGM had $138.25 billion worth of assets under management, up 10.0% from $125.7 billion a year earlier. The company’s fee income rises and falls with the value of the securities it manages, so its revenue and earnings gain when the price of these assets rises.

IGM Financial is a buy.

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METRO INC. $68 (Toronto symbol MRU; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 87.6 million; Market cap: $6.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.metro.ca) operates about 600 supermarkets in Quebec and Ontario. It also has over 250 drugstores that operate under the Brunet, The Pharmacy and Drug Basics banners.

Metro continues to cut costs in response to competition from larger Canadian chains, like Loblaw and Sobeys, and big box stores like Wal-Mart and Costco. It is also converting some of its underperforming Metro outlets in Ontario to the faster-growing Food Basics discount banner.

In its fiscal 2014 second quarter, which ended March 15, 2014, Metro’s earnings rose 0.5%, to $96.9 million from $96.4 million a year earlier. In the last six months, the company has spent $301.8 million on share buybacks. Due to fewer shares outstanding, per-share earnings rose 9.2%, to $1.07 from $0.98.

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THOMSON REUTERS CORP. $39 (Toronto symbol TRI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 811.1 million; Market cap: $31.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; Dividend yield: 3.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.thomsonreuters.com) earned $374 million in the first quarter of 2014, up 19.5% from $313 million a year earlier (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Due to fewer shares outstanding, per-share earnings rose 21.1%, to $0.46 from $0.38. Revenue rose 1.0%, to $3.13 billion from $3.10 billion.

The higher earnings are mainly due to savings from a recent restructuring plan, including job cuts and eliminating less-profitable products. These savings will help Thomson offset weaker demand for its information products from financial institutions, particularly in Europe, as they continue to cut costs in the wake of the 2008 credit crisis. Meanwhile, demand for Thomson’s other data products (legal, tax and accounting, and intellectual property/science) remains strong.

Thomson Reuters is a buy.

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BELL ALIANT INC. $28 (Toronto symbol BA, Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 229.1 million; Market cap: $6.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; Dividend yield: 6.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.bellaliant.ca) sells phone and Internet services to 2.4 million customers in Atlantic Canada and rural Ontario and Quebec.

The company continues to invest heavily in fibre optic networks. It now has 963,048 high-speed Internet users (up 3.9% from a year earlier) and 189,781 digital TV customers (up 38.3%).

However, lower demand for regular phone services caused its revenue to fall 1.2% to $675.7 million in the three months ended March 31, 2014, from $683.6 million a year earlier. Before one-time items, earnings declined 9.1%, to $0.40 a share from $0.44.

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