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IGM FINANCIAL INC. $49 (www.igmfinancial.com) reported that it had $124.8 billion of assets under management on August 31, 2013. That’s up 6.0% from $117.7 billion a year earlier. Improving stock markets were the main reason for the rise. IGM’s fee income rises and falls with the value of the mutual funds and other securities it manages, so the company’s revenue and earnings benefit when the value of these assets increases....

METRO INC. $67 (Toronto symbol MRU; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 93.1 million; Market cap: $6.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.metro.ca) operates about 600 supermarkets in Quebec and Ontario. It also has over 250 drugstores under the Brunet, The Pharmacy and Drug Basics banners.

Metro has aggressively cut costs and improved its efficiency in response to rising competition from larger Canadian chains like Loblaw and Sobeys, as well as big U.S. retailers like Wal-Mart and Costco. It also upgraded its stores and lowered its advertising costs by converting its various banners in Ontario to the Metro and Food Basics brands.


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ENBRIDGE INC. $42 (Toronto symbol ENB; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $42.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.enbridge.com) has opened its first geothermal power plant. This facility, which is located near Vale, Oregon, taps into heat from the earth’s core to generate electricity.

Enbridge paid $23.8 million for a 20% stake in this plant. U.S. Geothermal Inc. (New York symbol HTM) owns the other 80%.

Power from geothermal plants is much more reliable than solar and wind projects. That cuts the risk of this investment. As well, the plant has a 25-year deal to sell its electricity to Idaho’s power grid.
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DUNDEE CORP. $19 (Toronto symbol DC.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 54.1 million; Market cap: $1.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.dundeecorp.com) is a holding company with investments in wealth management, real estate, natural resources and agriculture.

In the three months ended June 30, 2013, Dundee lost $69.3 million, or $1.32 a share. However, that’s a big improvement over the $133.6 million, or $2.47 a share, it lost a year earlier. That’s because the company had fewer losses from its investment portfolio. Revenue rose 2.0%, to $48.0 million from $47.1 million.

Dundee is a buy....

SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC. $41 (Toronto symbol SNC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 151.6 million; Market cap: $6.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.snclavalin.com) is selling 66% of its stake in the Astoria II gas-fired electrical power plant near New York City.

The company did not say how much it would receive for this interest. However, it paid $70 million U.S. for a 20% stake in this facility in 2009.

The sale is part of SNC’s plan to sell some of its less important investments in concessions, which are rights that governments grant to run public facilities. The company will use the cash from these sales to focus on engineering projects in areas with greater potential, including mining, oil and gas, and water treatment projects.
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GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $30 (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $33.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 4.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.greatwestlifeco.com) earned $521 million in the three months ended June 30, 2013, up 6.8% from $488 million a year earlier. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 7.8%, to $0.55 from $0.51. The company ended the quarter with $595.7 billion of assets under administration, up 13.8% from $523.5 billion a year earlier.

Demand for insurance and wealth management services rose in Canada (53% of earnings) and Europe (33%). However, higher salaries and other costs increased losses at its Putnam mutual fund business at its U.S. division (14%).

On July 18, 2013, Great-West completed its $1.75-billion purchase of Irish Life Group, Ireland’s largest pension manager and life insurance provider, with $50 billion of assets under management. The purchase should add $0.10 a share to Great-West’s 2014 earnings.
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TIM HORTONS INC. $58 (Toronto symbol THI; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 151.0 million; Market cap: $8.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.timhortons.com) has opened its first coffee-and-donut store in Kuwait under its franchise deal with Dubai-based Apparel Group. This is the company’s 32nd store in the Persian Gulf. It also has 3,468 stores in Canada and 807 in the U.S.

In February 2011, Tim Hortons signed a master license agreement with the Apparel Group to open 120 outlets in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman over a five-year period. Teaming up with well-established local companies like Apparel Group cuts the risk of expanding in unfamiliar markets.

Tim Hortons is a buy....

ANDREW PELLER LTD. $14 (Toronto symbol ADW.A; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 14.3 million; Market cap: $200.2 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 2.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.andrewpeller.com) is Canada’s second-largest producer of wines, after Vincor International. The company has wineries in Nova Scotia, Ontario and British Columbia.

In the first quarter of its 2014 fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2013, Peller’s sales were flat at $72.7 million. The company continues to see strong demand for premium wines and brands it sells under licence, such as Wayne Gretzky wines. However, sales of home wine kits declined.

Earnings rose 10.6%, to $5.1 million from $4.6 million. Per-share earnings gained 12.1%, to $0.37 from $0.33. The company benefited from hedging contracts that it uses to lock in foreign exchange rates; that was the main reason for the higher earnings. Without these hedges, Peller’s earnings would have gained 0.2%.
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MOLSON COORS CANADA INC. (Toronto symbols TPX.A $51 and TPX.B $51; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 183.6 million; Market cap: $9.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.molsoncoors.com) is one of the world’s leading brewers. Its main brands include Coors Light, Molson Canadian and Carling.

In the three months ended June 29, 2013, the company earned $278.6 million (all amounts except share prices and market cap in U.S. dollars). That’s up 11.4% from $250.1 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 9.4%, to $1.51 from $1.38. These figures exclude unusual items, mainly costs to integrate StarBev LP, which the company bought for $3.4 billion in June 2012. StarBev owns nine breweries in central and eastern Europe.

Thanks mainly to StarBev’s contribution, sales rose 17.9%, to $1.2 billion from $999.4 million. StarBev is also helping the company offset slower beer sales in North America.
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MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $33 (Toronto symbol MBT; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 67.7 million; Market cap: $2.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 5.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mts.ca) recently agreed to sell its Allstream subsidiary to Accelero Capital Holdings, a private firm controlled by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris.

In 2004, the company paid $1.6 billion for Allstream, which provides integrated telephone, Internet and other communication services to over 50,000 businesses across Canada.

The sale price is $520 million. If you disregard various closing costs, Manitoba Telecom will receive $405 million. The company expects to close the deal by the end of 2013.
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CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE $82 (Toronto symbol CM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 400.0 million; Market cap: $32.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 4.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cibc.com) earned a record $943 million in its fiscal 2013 third quarter, which ended July 31, 2013. That’s up 8.9% from $866 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 11.2%, to $2.29 from $2.06, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue gained 3.6%, to $3.3 billion from $3.15 billion.

Low interest rates continue to spur loan demand at CIBC’s retail banking division. As well, acquisitions pushed up earnings at its wealth management business. Earnings at its security-trading operations also improved thanks to higher trading volumes. However, loan-loss provisions rose 0.9%, to $320 million from $317 million, partly to cover potential losses caused by flooding in Alberta.

The bank also announced that it plans to buy back 2% of its outstanding shares over the next year.
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TELUS CORP. $33 (Toronto symbol T; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 645.7 million; Market cap: $21.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 4.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.telus.com) moved up on news that U.S.-based Verizon Communications (New York symbol VZ) is buying the 45% of the Verizon Wireless joint venture that it does not already own from U.K.-based Vodafone Group (Nasdaq symbol VOD). Verizon Wireless has 100.1 million subscribers in the U.S. In the wake of the this deal, Verizon announced that it would not enter Canada’s wireless market at this time.

Ottawa still plans to set aside wireless spectrum for new entrants at an auction in January 2014. That could encourage other foreign carriers besides Verizon to expand into Canada. Telus gets a high 53% of its revenue and 67% of its earnings from wireless, so it’s particularly vulnerable to new competition. As well, new regulations that limit roaming charges and let customers cancel their contracts early could dampen the company’s earnings growth.

Telus is still a hold.

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LINAMAR CORP. $33 (Toronto symbol LNR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 64.7 million; Market cap: $2.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 1.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.linamar.com) gets 80% of its revenue by making engines, transmissions and other precisionmachined parts for automakers. The company has plants in North America, Europe and Asia.

The remaining 20% of Linamar’s revenue comes from its self-propelled, scissor-type elevating work platforms, which it sells under the Skyjack name, plus consumer products, such as lawn mowers and cargo trailers.

The company continues to benefit from strong car sales. Rising construction activity has also prompted contractors to replace their older Skyjack platforms.
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SHAWCOR LTD. $43 (Toronto symbol SCL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 59.6 million; Market cap: $2.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 1.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.shawcor.com) gets 90% of its revenue by making sealants and coatings that keep oil and gas pipelines from rusting. The remaining 10% comes from manufacturing industrial products, such as electrical wire and protective sheaths.

The company continues to benefit from recent acquisitions that have increased its North American manufacturing capacity. As well, demand for its pipeline-coating services continues to rise in Asia, Latin America and Europe. Asia now supplies 39% of ShawCor’s revenue, followed by North America (38%), Europe (15%) and Latin America (8%).

In the three months ended June 30, 2013, ShawCor’s revenue jumped 39.9%, to a record $457.3 million from $326.9 million a year earlier. That’s mainly because the company paid $30 million for the 49% of Socotherm LaBarge LLC that it did not already own. Texas-based Socotherm coats and insulates pipelines for deepwater oil and gas projects. Its clients operate in the Gulf of Mexico and off Africa’s west coast.
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BOMBARDIER INC. (Toronto symbols BBD.A $5.08 and BBD.B $5.06; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $8.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.bombardier.com) is the world’s third-largest commercial aircraft maker, behind Boeing and Airbus. It is also the world’s leading passenger railcar manufacturer.

The company has postponed the first test flight of its new CSeries passenger jet. It had planned to begin flight tests in June, but it needs extra time to upgrade the plane’s software.

Bombardier has firm orders for 177 CSeries jets, plus options for 211 more. If the buyers exercise all these options, the resulting 388 orders would be worth $26 billion (all amounts except share prices and market cap in U.S. dollars).
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ENCANA CORP. $18 (Toronto symbol ECA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 737.7 million; Market cap: $13.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; Dividend yield: 4.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.encana.com) aims to cut its exposure to low natural gas prices by producing more oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs), like butane and propane.

In the three months ended June 30, 2013, Encana’s oil and NGL output rose 68.8%, to 47,600 barrels a day from 28,200 a year earlier. But that’s still just 9% of its overall production. Encana aims to raise its NGL and oil output to 70,000 to 75,000 barrels a day by the end of 2013.

In response to weak gas prices, the company continues to expand its hedging program. For the second half of 2013, it has hedged roughly 75% of its expected production at $4.37 U.S. per thousand cubic feet. That’s 22.8% higher than today’s price of $3.56 U.S. For 2014, Encana has hedged 55% of its forecast output at $4.19 U.S. per thousand cubic feet.
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CENOVUS ENERGY INC. $31 (Toronto symbol CVE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 755.8 million; Market cap: $23.4 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 3.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cenovus.com) operates three heavy oil projects in Alberta and one in Saskatchewan. It gets about half of its output from the oil sands. Conventional oil and natural gas wells supply the other half. The company’s reserves should last 23 years.

U.S.-based ConocoPhillips (New York symbol COP) owns 50% of Cenovus’s main Foster Creek and Christina Lake oil sands projects in Alberta. These properties produce heavy bitumen, which Cenovus ships to its 50%-owned refineries in Illinois and Texas. Phillips 66 (New York symbol PSX) owns the other 50% of these refineries.

Owning refineries helps cut Cenovus’s risk, because they earn higher profits when crude oil prices fall, which offsets lower profits from its main oil production businesses. In 2012, refining accounted for 67% of Cenovus’s revenue and 46% of its earnings.
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GLOBAL X COPPER MINERS ETF $9.36 (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 46.1% of the fund’s holdings. It also includes companies based in Australia (7.3%), Poland (4.3%), Peru (4.8%) and Mexico (4.4%). Global X Copper Miners ETF’s MER is 0.65%.

Its top 10 holdings are Capstone Mining at 5.5%; Freeport Copper, 5.7%; Vendanta Resources, 5.6%; Imperial Metals, 5.6%; Lundin Mining, 5.5%; Jiangxi Copper Company, 5.4%; First Quantum Minerals, 5.3%; Taseko Mines, 5.3%; Antofagasta plc, 5.2%; and Turquoise Hill Resources, 5.2%.
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GLOBAL X SILVER MINERS ETF $15.30 (New York symbol SIL; buy or sell through brokers; www.globalxfunds.com) tracks the Solactive Global Silver Miners Index.

This index includes 30 international companies that mine, refine or explore for silver. Germany-based Structured Solutions AG developed the Global X Silver Miners Index.

Canadian companies make up 56.2% of the fund’s holdings, but it also includes miners based in the U.S. (16.2%) and Mexico (10.4%). The fund’s MER is 0.65%.
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ISHARES S&P/TSX GLOBAL GOLD INDEX FUND $12.52 (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 49 gold stocks from Canada and around the world. The fund’s MER is 0.60%. iShares S&P/TSX Global Gold Index Fund began trading on March 23, 2001.

The fund’s top 10 holdings are Goldcorp at 16.7%; Barrick Gold, 13.3%; Newmont Mining, 11.0%; Yamana Gold, 6.0%; Randgold Resources (ADR), 5.0%; Franco Nevada, 4.7%; Kinross, 4.4%; Eldorado Gold, 4.2%; Agnico-Eagle Mines, 3.6%; and AngloGold Ashanti (ADR), 3.6%.
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IMPERIAL OIL $44.62 (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $38.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Div. yield: 1.1%; www.imperialoil.ca) has teamed up with its parent, ExxonMobil (New York symbol XOM), to buy 226,000 acres of undeveloped oil sands properties near Fort McMurray, Alberta. (Exxon owns 69.9% of Imperial.)

Imperial will hold 27.5% of these properties, while Exxon will own the remaining 72.5%. Imperial’s share of the $751-million cost is $206.5 million. That’s equal to 63% of the $327 million, or $0.38 a share, that the company earned in the second quarter of 2013.

Purchases like this will help Imperial achieve its goal of raising its daily production from 276,000 barrels of oil equivalent (including gas) in the latest quarter to 600,000 barrels by 2020.
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PENN WEST PETROLEUM $11.75 (Toronto symbol PWT; Shares outstanding: 485.0 million; Market cap: $5.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 4.8%; www.pennwest.com) is one of North America’s largest oil and gas producers. Its output is 63% oil and 37% gas.

In the quarter ended June 30, 2013, Penn West’s cash flow per share was unchanged at $0.57 from a year earlier. A 14.2% fall in daily output, to 140,083 barrels of oil equivalent from 163,181, offset higher oil and gas prices.

Penn West continues to shore up its finances and take measures to boost its value after it appointed Rick George as chairman and Allan Markin as vice-chairman.
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PEYTO EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT CORP. $28.10 (Toronto symbol PEY; Shares outstanding: 148.5 million; Market cap: $4.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 3.4%; www.peyto.com) produces and explores for oil and natural gas in Alberta. Its average daily production of 58,145 barrels of oil equivalent is 89% gas and 11% oil.

In the three months ended June 30, 2013, the company’s cash flow was $0.74 a share, up 57.4% from $0.47 a year earlier. That’s because Peyto increased its production by 40.6% from the yearearlier quarter, and natural gas prices rose.

The stock trades at 9.1 times Peyto’s forecast 2013 cash flow of $3.12 a share. The company’s long-term debt of $750 million is a low 17.9% of its $4.2-billion market cap.
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BELL ALIANT INC. $26.76 (Toronto symbol BA; Shares outstanding: 227.8 million; Market cap: $6.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 7.1%; www.aliant.ca) sells telephone services and Internet access to 2.4 million customers in Atlantic Canada and rural parts of Ontario and Quebec. It also provides wireless services through an alliance with BCE.

The company continues to replace its copperwire cables with fibre optic lines. That’s letting it sell more high-speed Internet and digital TV services, which is offsetting falling demand for land lines. (Traditional phones still supply 52% of Bell Aliant’s overall revenue.)

In the three months ended June 30, 2013, revenue rose 0.6%, to $691.8 million from $687.7 million a year ago.
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VANGUARD FTSE EMERGING MARKETS ETF $38.53 (New York symbol VWO; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the FTSE Emerging Transitions Index, which is made up of common stocks of companies located in developing countries around the world. The fund has an MER of just 0.18%.

Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF’s top holdings include Taiwan Semiconductor (Taiwan: computer chips), China Mobile (China: wireless), Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Brazil: oil and gas), Vale SA (Brazil: mining), Banco Bradesco (Brazil: banking), Gazprom (Russia: gas utility), China Construction Bank, Tencent Holdings (China: Internet), Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and Cia de Bebidas das Americas (Brazil: beer and other beverages).

The $65.2-billion fund’s breakdown by country is as follows: China (20.7%), Brazil (13.7%), Taiwan (13.3%), South Africa (9.2%), India (8.7%), Russia (7.0%), Mexico (5.9%), Malaysia (5.0%), Indonesia (3.2%), Thailand (3.2%), Turkey (2.1%), Chile (2.0%), Poland (1.7%) and others (4.3%).
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