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METRO INC. (Toronto symbol MRU; 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....

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: “When you see performance numbers issued by brokers, money managers and newsletter publishers, ask yourself just how hypothetical those figures might be.”...

PASON SYSTEMS (Toronto symbol PSI; www.pason.com) is trading near all-time highs as it continues to gain from the boom in U.S. shale oil and gas drilling. Pason 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 throughout Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Argentina and Australia....

Too much investor attention tends to be focused on economic forecasts. The fact is, forecasts provide little, if any, advantage when it comes to helpful stock market advice. Most experienced, successful investors feel skeptical, if not downright cynical, about economic forecasts, for three reasons....

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. 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 concerning a proprietor of retirement homes in Canada. Amica Mature Lifestyles aims its appeal to members of the baby boom generation who are looking for luxury residences. Pat analyzes the company’s business and looks at its prospects as a premium brand competing in a growing retirement home market....

MONSANTO CO. (New York symbol MON; www.monsanto.com) sells technology-based agricultural products, such as genetically modified seeds, to farmers, grain processors and food producers. The company’s seeds make crops more resistant to pests, diseases and bad weather. Monsanto gets about 70% of its revenue from genetically modified seeds for corn, soybeans and other crops. The remaining 30% comes from selling herbicides, mainly under the Roundup brand....

PFIZER INC. $30 (New York symbol PFE; Income Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 6.4 billion; Market cap: $192.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.9; Dividend yield: 3.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.pfizer.com) is the world’s largest maker of prescription drugs. Its main brands include Lyrica (epilepsy), Celebrex (arthritis), Viagra (erectile dysfunction) and Prevnar (a pneumonia vaccine).

Pfizer also makes popular over the-counter drugs, including Advil (pain relief), Centrum (vitamins) and Robitussin (cough syrup).

These acquisitions tend to cut risk

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SONY CORP. ADRs $16 (New York symbol SNE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $16.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.3; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.sony.com) has brought in a new restructuring plan that involves selling its money-losing Vaio personal computer business and cutting 3% of its workforce. The company also plans to set up its struggling TV operations as a separate firm, which would make it easier to sell a minority stake in this business.

However, slow sales have forced Sony to write down its remaining computer inventories. Weaker DVD demand has also prompted it to write down the value of its disc-manufacturing operations.

As a result, Sony lost $1.25 billion, or $1.21 per ADR, in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 (each American Depositary Receipt represents one common share). In 2013, it earned $458 million, or $0.43 per ADR. Revenue rose 4.2%, to $75.4 billion from $72.3 billion, on stronger smartphone sales and the launch of its PlayStation 4 video game console. However, without the benefit of currency exchange rates, revenue in Japanese yen fell 2%.

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THE BOEING CO. $134 (New York symbol BA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 729.2 million; Market cap: $97.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.boeing.com) announced that it now has 5,100 commercial planes on back order. In all, these deals are worth $374 billion. In addition, the order backlog at its military operations is $67 billion.

The total order backlog of $441 billion is equal to 5.0 times Boeing’s likely 2014 revenue of $89.0 billion. The company expects to earn between $7.15 and $7.35 a share this year. The stock trades at a still-reasonable 18.5 times the midpoint of that range.

Boeing is a buy.

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C.R. BARD INC. $147 (New York symbol BCR; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 76.3 million; Market cap: $11.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.8; Dividend yield: 0.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.crbard.com) earned $152.6 million in the three months ended March 31, 2014, up 12.8% from $135.3 million a year earlier....

CEDAR FAIR L.P. $52 (New York symbol FUN; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Units outstanding: 55.8 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield: 5.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cedarfair.com) lost $1.51 a share in the first quarter of 2014, compared to a loss of $1.95 a year earlier. Cedar Fair typically loses money in the first quarter, as most of its 11 amusement parks and four water parks close during the winter.

Revenue fell 3.2%, to $40.5 million from $41.8 million, as Easter and spring break fell in the second quarter of 2014. However, revenue rose at its Knott’s Berry Farm year-round park in southern California.

Cedar Fair is a hold.

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NORDSTROM INC. $67 (New York symbol JWN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 189.7 million; Market cap: $12.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.nordstrom.com) aims to sell part of its credit card business, which has $2 billion in outstanding loans, to a bank. The sale would free up cash that Nordstrom can use to build new department stores and expand its e-commerce business. It would also shift the burden of collecting these loans to its partner.

Meanwhile, Nordstrom expects its same-store sales to rise 2% to 4% for the current fiscal year. The stock also trades at a reasonable 17.4 times its projected earnings of $3.85 a share.

Nordstrom is a buy.

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WINDSTREAM HOLDINGS INC. $9.69 (Nasdaq symbol WIN; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 602.7 million; Market cap: $5.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 10.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.windstream.com) provides telephone and other communication services to 3.7 million consumers and businesses, mainly in rural parts of the U.S.

Following its November 2011 purchase of PAETEC Holding Corp., which sells telecommunication services to businesses, Windstream now gets two-thirds of its revenue from corporate customers.

However, the company continues to face strong competition, which is luring away consumer and business clients. That’s why Windstream’s revenue fell 2.1% in the first quarter of 2014, to $1.46 billion from $1.50 billion a year earlier.

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FRONTIER COMMUNICATIONS CORP. $5.95 (Nasdaq symbol FTR; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $6.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 6.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.frontier.com) sells phone, Internet and TV services to 3.1 million customers in 27 states.

The company recently agreed to pay $2.0 billion for AT&T’s traditional phone business in Connecticut. These operations sell phone, high-speed Internet and digital TV service to over 900,000 customers.

Frontier expects to close the deal by the end of 2014. The move should increase its annual revenue by 26% and its operating earnings by 18%.

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ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND CO., $44 (New York symbol ADM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 654.5 million; Market cap: $28.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.3; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.adm.com) processes corn, wheat, soybeans, canola, flax seed, peanuts, cocoa and other crops into a wide variety of food ingredients, such as flour, oils and sweeteners. It is also the largest maker of ethanol from corn in the U.S.

The company is making good progress with its plan to improve its efficiency and sell less-profitable businesses. As a result, it now expects these moves to cut its annual costs by $400 million by the end of this year, up from its earlier goal of $200 million. To put these figures in context, Archer Daniels earned $1.3 billion, or $2.02 a share, in 2013.

Archer Daniels Midland is a buy.

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CHEVRON CORP. $123 (New York symbol CVX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.9 billion; Market cap: $233.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 3.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.chevron.com) plans to increase production at its Permian shale oil properties in west Texas by two-thirds, to 250,000 barrels a day, by 2020. That’s equal to 9.7% of its overall production in the first quarter of 2014.

Moreover, the company does not have to pay royalties to landholders on over half of its Permian holdings, which will make these properties more profitable.

In addition, Chevron raised its dividend by 7.0%. The new annual rate of $4.28 a share yields 3.5%.

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MOLSON COORS BREWING CO. $64 (New York symbol TAP; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 184.8 million; Market cap: $11.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.9; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.molsoncoors.com) is the world’s fifth-largest brewer by volume.

Beer sales are rising slowly in developed regions like North America. That’s why Molson Coors bought StarBev, which owns nine breweries in central and eastern Europe, for $3.5 billion in June 2012.

The company continues to do a good job of cutting StarBev’s costs and making it more efficient.

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DIAGEO PLC ADRs $126 (New York symbol DEO; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; ADRs outstanding: 627.8 million; Market cap: $79.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.2; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.diageo.com) is the world’s largest premium alcoholic beverage company. Its major brands include Guinness stout, Smirnoff vodka, Johnnie Walker whisky and Captain Morgan rum.

The company recently offered to buy a further 26% of United Spirits, India’s largest distiller. This publicly traded business also imports and distributes alcoholic drinks made by companies outside of India.

Diageo’s offer is worth $1.9 billion. If successful, its stake would rise to 54.8%.

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PEPSICO INC. $87 (New York symbol PEP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.5 billion; Market cap: $130.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.pepsico.com) is the world’s second-largest soft drink maker after Coca-Cola. It also makes other products, such as Frito-Lay snack foods, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana fruit juices and Quaker Oats cereals.

Consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about the health effects of soft drinks, as well as potato chips and other snacks. The company continues to develop more nutritious alternatives in response.

For example, it owns the exclusive soft drink rights to a new type of sweetener called Sweetmyx, which lets food makers use less sugar in their products. At the same time, PepsiCo is cutting salt and fat from its foods.

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NVIDIA CORP. $19 (Nasdaq symbol NVDA; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 558.0 million; Market cap: $10.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.6; Yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.nvidia.com) earned $166.1 million in the quarter ended April 27, 2014. That’s up 45.9% from $113.8 million a year ago. Per-share earnings jumped 61.1%, to $0.29 from $0.18, on fewer shares outstanding.

Sales rose 15.5%, to $1.1 billion from $954.7 million, thanks to strong demand for Nvidia’s new high-end video chips. However, it faces strong competition from larger chip makers as it expands into new markets, like mobile devices and data centres.

Nvidia is a hold.

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ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $65 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 497.7 million; Market cap: $32.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 8.3; No dividends paid since June 2005; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.adobe.com) earned $151.3 million, or $0.30 a share, in its fiscal 2014 first quarter, which ended February 28, 2014. That’s down 14.9% from $177.9 million, or $0.35, a year ago. Revenue fell 0.8%, to $1.00 billion from $1.01 billion.

The declines are mainly because Adobe is now selling its Creative Cloud package of photo-editing and desktop-publishing programs as a subscription instead of a one-time purchase. That hurts the company’s short-term growth, but it should provide stable revenue streams as more users switch over. Subscriptions now supply over half of Adobe’s revenue.

The company spends 21% of its revenue on research, which hurts its earnings. That’s partly why the stock trades at a high 59.1 times the $1.10 a share that Adobe will likely earn in fiscal 2014. A high p/e increases the risk of a sudden price drop if its growth stalls. As well, Adobe mainly serves customers in cyclical businesses, like publishing.

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GOOGLE INC. $562 (Nasdaq symbol GOOG; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 674.5 million; Market cap: $379.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 6.1; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.google.com) recently handed out its new class C non-voting shares to its class A (one vote per share) and class B (10 votes per share) shareholders. Investors received one class C share for each stock held, for an effective 2-for-1 split.

The new class C shares trade on Nasdaq under the GOOG symbol, while the class A shares ($570), now trade under the new GOOGL symbol.

If voting and non-voting shares trade for roughly the same price, you are better off buying the voting shares. That’s because the voting shares sometimes go on to trade at a premium, possibly due to buying by a shareholder who is only seeking to acquire a control position, or because institutions refuse to buy non-voters.

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MICROSOFT CORP. $40 (Nasdaq symbol MSFT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 8.3 billion; Market cap: $332.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.1; Dividend yield: 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.microsoft.com) is the world’s largest software company. It went into business in 1975 and grew rapidly over the next 25 years as its Windows operating system dominated the personal computer market. About 90% of the world’s computers now use the Windows operating system.

In the late 1980s, the company launched its Office suite of business programs, including a word processor (Word), spreadsheets (Excel) and slide presentations (PowerPoint). Office accounts for over 90% of this market.

Microsoft also controls about 75% of the market for software that runs corporate network servers. That helps support sales of Windows and Office, because businesses prefer to have their servers and employees’ computers running the same software. This compatibility makes it easier for users to upgrade their software and protect sensitive data.

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CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. (Toronto symbol CNR; 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....

We think most conservative investors could hold up to 10% of their portfolios in foreign stocks. One way to do that is to buy carefully chosen exchange traded funds (ETFs) that have an overseas focus. The best ETFs offer very low management fees and well-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios of high-quality stocks. Today we examine two international ETFs covered regularly in Canadian Wealth Advisor....