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ISHARES MSCI EMERGING MARKETS EASTERN EUROPE INDEX FUND $22.87 (New York symbol ESR; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that aims to track the MSCI Emerging Markets Eastern Europe Index. The fund’s geographic breakdown is as follows: Russia, 73.1%; Poland, 20.1%; Czech Republic, 3.0%; and Hungary, 2.9%.

The fund’s top holdings are Gazprom (Russia: gas utility), 14.6%; Sberbank (Russia: bank), 10.9%; Lukoil (Russia: oil), 10.5%; Magnit OJSC (Russia: retailing), 5.1%; Novatek (Russia: natural gas), 3.9%; PKO Bank Polski SA (Poland: banking), 3.5%; Mobile TeleSystems (Russia: wireless), 3.4%; Uralkali (Russia: potash), 3.3%; and Rosneft Oil Company (Russia: oil and gas), 3.1%.

iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Eastern Europe Index Fund’s expense ratio is 0.66%.
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ISHARES S&P INDIA NIFTY 50 INDEX FUND $21.98 (Nasdaq symbol INDY; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) is an ETF that aims to track the S&P CNX Nifty Index, which represents the 50 largest, most liquid Indian securities.

The fund’s top holdings are ITC Ltd. (conglomerate), 9.7%; Reliance Industries Ltd. (conglomerate), 7.4%; Housing Development Finance, 7.1%; ICICI Bank, 6.7%; HDFC Bank, 6.5%; Infosys, 6.4%; Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (conglomerate), 4.2%; Tata Consultancy Services (information technology), 4.0%; Hindustan Unilever, 3.4%; and Oil & Natural Gas Corp., 3.1%.

The fund’s industry breakdown includes Banks, 21.4%; Computers, 11.4%; Cigarettes, 9.7%; Refineries, 7.9%; Finance, 7.1%; Pharmaceuticals, 5.9%; Engineering, 4.2%; Oil Exploration and Production, 4.0%; and Automobiles, 3.6%; The ETF has a 0.92% expense ratio.
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NEWMONT MINING $29.02 (New York symbol NEM; Shares outstanding: 492.3 million; Market cap: $14.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 4.8%; www.newmont.com) gets 90% of its revenue from gold mines in the U.S., Australia and Peru. Copper, zinc and other metals supply the remaining 10%.

Gold is down 33%, from $1,800 an ounce in September 2012 to $1,204 today. That’s partly because the U.S. Federal Reserve has indicated that it will soon scale back its bond-purchasing program, known as quantitative easing. Slowing growth in the money supply will reduce the likelihood of a sharp increase in inflation. Many investors buy gold as a hedge against inflation.

In response, Newmont is cutting jobs and postponing building new mines. The company also links its dividend to the price of gold, so it has lowered its quarterly payout by 17.6%, to $0.35 a share from $0.425, for a 4.8% yield. Further dividend cuts seem likely, particularly if gold prices continue to fall.
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BELL ALIANT INC. $27.96 (Toronto symbol BA; Shares outstanding: 227.8 million; Market cap: $6.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 6.8%; www.aliant.ca) sells phone and Internet services to 2.5 million customers in Atlantic Canada and rural Ontario and Quebec. It also sells wireless services through an alliance with BCE, which owns 44% of Bell Aliant.

The company continues to replace copper wires with fibre optic cable. That’s attracting more highspeed Internet and digital TV customers. Strong demand for these services is also helping offset lower revenue from traditional phone services.

Bell Aliant’s high-speed fibre optic systems now reach 679,000 homes, up from 516,000 a year ago. By the end of 2013, it plans to expand its network to 800,000 homes.
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BROOKFIELD RENEWABLE ENERGY PARTNERS L.P. $29.20 (Toronto symbol BEP.UN; Units outstanding: 265.2 million; Market cap: $7.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 5.0%; www.brpfund.com) owns 196 hydroelectric generating stations, 11 wind farms and two natural-gas-fired plants. In all, it has 5,900 megawatts of generating capacity.

Roughly 35% of Brookfield Renewable’s generating capacity is in Canada, with another 50% in the U.S. and 15% in Brazil.

In the three months ended March 31, 2013, Brookfield’s revenue rose 2.6%, to $437 million from $426 million a year earlier. Cash flow gained 4.3%, to $195 million, or $0.73 a share, from $187 million, or $0.71 a share.
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TELUS $31.68 (Toronto symbol T; Shs. o/s: 653.8 million; Market cap: $20.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.3%; www.telus.com) has 7.7 million wireless subscribers across Canada, and gets much more of its revenue from wireless than BCE (54% compared to BCE’s 32%—see left).

Telus gets the remaining 46% of its revenue from its traditional phone business, which has 3.4 million customers in B.C., Alberta and eastern Quebec. Telus also has 1.3 million Internet subscribers and 712,000 Telus TV subscribers.

In the three months ended March 31, 2013, Telus’s earnings per share rose 14.3%, to $0.56 from $0.49 a year earlier. Revenue rose 4.8%, to $2.76 billion from $2.63 billion.
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BCE INC. $42.68 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 775.9 million; Market cap: $33.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 5.5%; www.bce.ca) is Canada’s largest provider of telephone, Internet and wireless services. It also sells satellite and Internet TV services across the country.

In the three months ended March 31, 2013, BCE’s earnings per share rose 11.6%, to $0.77 from $0.69 a year earlier. Revenue increased slightly, to $4.35 billion from $4.33 billion. Revenue fell 2.8% at the wireline (land line) division, which accounts for 58% of total revenue. This division faces rising competition. As well, many customers are cancelling land lines and switching to wireless devices.

Revenue from wireless services (32% of total revenue) rose 6.3%. The company’s network upgrades continue to attract new wireless subscribers, and it’s benefiting from rising use of smartphones, which generate higher monthly fees than regular cellphones. Bell’s Fibe high-speed Internet TV service also offers strong growth prospects.
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NCR CORP. (New York symbol NCR; www.ncr.com) is a leading maker of automated teller machines (ATMs), checkout scanners, cash registers and self-serve kiosks.

In February 2013, the company paid $791 million for Israel-based Retalix, whose software helps retailers manage their sales and track inventories. Retailers with a combined 70,000 locations in over 50 countries use Retalix’s products. NCR feels Retalix’s expertise will improve its point-of-sale terminals and self-serve kiosks.

In the three months ended March 31, 2013, Retalix contributed $50 million to NCR’s revenue. That helped push up the total by 13.3% in the latest quarter, to $1.4 billion from $1.2 billion a year earlier. The acquisition should add $255 million to the company’s full-year revenue.

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YAMANA GOLD (Toronto symbol YRI; www.yamana.com) owns eight operating gold mines in Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. It also holds a 12.5% stake in the Alumbrera copper/gold mine in Argentina and has a number of other properties in advanced stages of development. In the quarter ended March 31, 2013, Yamana’s revenue fell 4.4%, to $534.9 million from $559.7 million a year earlier (all figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Gold production rose, but prices for gold, as well as copper and silver, which are both significant by-products of Yamana’s gold mining, dropped. Cash flow per share fell 3.3%, to $0.29 from $0.30....

POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN (Toronto symbol POT; www.potashcorp.com) is the world’s largest fertilizer producer. Its five potash mines in Saskatchewan and one in New Brunswick account for 20% of global potash capacity. Five of its mines have reserves of between 65 and 84 years. It also makes fertilizers from nitrogen and phosphate. Earnings for Potash were $3.51 a share (or $3.1 billion) in 2011. However, earnings fell to $2.42 a share (or $2.1 billion) in 2012....

Pat McKeough responds to many requests for specific advice on buying stocks and other questions on investment strategy and the economy from the members of his Inner Circle. 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, an Inner Circle member asked about the world’s biggest heavy equipment maker, Caterpillar. With slower economic growth in its main markets, especially China, the company has seen its revenues slip. Pat examines Caterpillar’s ambitious acquisition policy and looks at the company’s financial outlook in the face of slowing demand in a still-sluggish global economy. ...

COMPUTER MODELLING GROUP (Toronto symbol CMG; www.cmgroup.com) sells consulting services and software that help oil and gas producers use advanced recovery techniques to get more out of their existing wells. The company has customers in over 50 countries and offices in Calgary, Houston, London, Caracas and Dubai. In the three months ended March 31, 2013, Computer Modelling reported revenue of $19.3 million. That’s up 12.0% from $17.2 million a year earlier....

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 investment advice, and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Today’s tip: “Here are 3 warning signs that tell you when stocks brokers are clearly putting their own interests above those of their clients.”...

LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD. $46 (Toronto symbol L; www.loblaw.ca) announced yesterday that it has a friendly deal to purchase Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. (Toronto symbol SC) for $12.4 billion in cash and stock. The transaction, which combines Canada’s largest grocery and pharmacy chains, will be the biggest takeover in Canadian retail history. Shares of Loblaw rose 5% yesterday on the news. Loblaw had already risen 42% for us since its announcement in December 2012 that it would set up 75% of its real estate holdings as a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) under the name Choice Properties REIT (Toronto symbol CHP.UN)....

THE BOEING CO. $107 (New York symbol BA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 758.7 million; Market cap: $81.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.boeing.com) is a leading maker of passenger jets.

The company launched its latest plane, the 787 Dreamliner, in 2011. The 787 uses advanced materials that are lighter than aluminum. That makes it 20% more fuel efficient than comparable planes. It also features state-of-the-art jet engines and electronics.


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JONES GROUP INC. $16 (New York symbol JNY; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 80.1 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.3; Dividend yield: 1.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.jonesgroupinc.com) designs clothing, accessories and footwear for men and women. Its major brands include Jones New York and Gloria Vanderbilt.

The stock has jumped 46% since the start of 2013. That’s largely due to speculation that the company is looking to sell itself.

Meanwhile, in response to slowing sales, Jones plans to close 170 of its 574 stores and cut its workforce by 8%. This should lower its annual costs by $40 million when it completes the plan in 2014. To put that in context, Jones earned $10.8 million, or $0.15 a share, before restructuring costs in the first quarter of 2013.
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APACHE CORP. $83 (New York symbol APA; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 391.9 million; Market cap: $32.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 1.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.apachecorp.com) has agreed to sell most of its offshore oil and gas properties in the Gulf of Mexico for $3.75 billion. The sale, which should close in September 2013, is part of Apache’s plan to focus on its less risky onshore operations.

The company aims to sell $4 billion of its less important assets in 2013. It will use half of the proceeds to buy back shares and the other half to pay down its $11.5-billion long-term debt.

Apache is a hold....

DIAGEO PLC ADRs $123 (New York symbol DEO; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; ADRs outstanding: 627.6 million; Market cap: $77.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.6; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.diageo.com) has raised its stake in United Spirits, India’s largest distiller, from 10.04% to 25.02%. Diageo is now United Spirits’ largest shareholder. It also controls the company through voting agreements with other major shareholders.

Diageo paid 594.4 million British pounds for this additional stake (1 British pound = $1.58 Canadian). To put that in context, the company earned 1.5 billion pounds, or 2.44 pounds per ADR, in the six months ended December 31, 2012. (Each American Depositary Receipt represents four Diageo common shares.)

The purchase will help Diageo profit from rising demand for premium spirits in India. However, it will take at least a year before the new operations add to the company’s earnings.
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MCCORMICK & CO. INC. $72 (New York symbol MKC; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 132.0 million; Market cap: $9.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; Dividend yield: 1.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mccormick.com) earned $78.6 million in its fiscal 2013 second quarter, which ended May 31, 2013. That’s down 2.2% from $80.4 million a year earlier. Earnings per share fell 1.7%, to $0.59 from $0.60, on fewer shares outstanding. If you disregard costs to integrate a Chinese maker of bouillon products that McCormick recently purchased, it would have earned $0.61 a share in the latest quarter.

Sales rose 1.9%, to $1.0 billion from $984.0 million. Sales to consumers (59% of the total) rose 3.9%, mainly because the company launched successful new products and improved its marketing. It also raised its prices. However, sales to businesses (41% of the total) fell 0.9%, mainly due to fewer orders from fast-food restaurants in the U.S.

McCormick is a buy.
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MCDONALD’S CORP. $97 (New York symbol MCD; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $97.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.6; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.mcdonalds.com) plans to open its first restaurant in Vietnam next year.

This new outlet will face strong competition from other U.S. fast food chains, such as KFC, Pizza Hut, Starbucks and Subway, that already operate in the country. However, the population is young and eager to embrace foreign brands. Moreover, the son-in-law of Vietnam’s prime minister will own and operate this franchise. That cuts the risk of this expansion.

McDonald’s is a buy....

J.P. MORGAN CHASE & CO. $57 (New York symbol JPM; Income Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 3.8 billion; Market cap: $216.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; Dividend yield: 2.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www. jpmorganchase.com) cut its loan-loss provisions by 78.0% in the second quarter of 2013, to $47 million from $214 million a year earlier. It also improved its efficiency ratio to 62.9% from 67.5%.

These savings helped raise Morgan’s earnings by 31.0% in the quarter, to $6.5 billion from $5.0 billion a year ago. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 32.2%, to $1.60 from $1.21. Revenue gained 13.7%, to $25.2 billion from $22.2 billion. That’s mainly due to higher fees from its wealth management division and gains from trading securities.

An unexpected $6-billion loss at Morgan’s trading division caused the stock to fall to $32 in June 2012, but it has rebounded strongly. It now trades at 9.7 times Morgan’s likely 2013 earnings of $5.89 a share. The $1.52-a-share dividend yields 2.7%.
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WELLS FARGO & CO. $44 (New York symbol WFC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 5.3 billion; Market cap: $233.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; Dividend yield: 2.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.wellsfargo.com) set aside $652 million to cover bad loans in the three months ended June 30, 2013, down 63.8% from $1.8 billion a year earlier. That helped push up its earnings by 19.7%, to $5.3 billion, or $0.98 a share. A year ago, it earned $4.4 billion, or $0.82 a share.

Revenue rose 0.4%, to $21.4 billion from $21.3 billion. Borrowers continue to refinance their mortgages at lower rates, which cuts Wells Fargo’s interest income. However, the bank is doing a good job of getting its clients to sign up for more services, such as credit cards and wealth management. As a result, income from fees and other sources rose 3.7%.

In addition, Wells Fargo continues to cut its operating costs, like salaries and rent. In the latest quarter, its efficiency ratio (non-interest operating expenses divided by revenue— the lower, the better) improved to 57.3% from 58.2% a year ago.
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FEDEX CORP. $106 (New York symbol FDX; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 316.6 million; Market cap: $33.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 0.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.fedex.com) delivers packages and documents in the U.S. and over 220 other countries and territories.

The stock has moved up in the past few weeks, partly due to speculation that activist investment firm Pershing Square Capital Management (see page 71) will soon make a significant investment in FedEx.

However, it seems unlikely that Pershing would be interested in FedEx, because it prefers underperforming firms that could spur their earnings by cutting costs. FedEx is already restructuring as more companies choose slower but cheaper delivery methods, like trucks and ships, over its more expensive overnight international air service.
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CINTAS CORP. $48 (Nasdaq symbol CTAS; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 122.3 million; Market cap: $5.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 1.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cintas- .com) designs and makes uniforms, which it sells to over 900,000 businesses, mainly in North America. It also offers related services, including office cleaning and document shredding.

In its 2013 fiscal year, which ended May 31, 2013, Cintas’s sales rose 5.2%, to a record $4.3 billion from $4.1 billion a year earlier. Sales at the uniform business, which supplied 71% of Cintas’s overall revenue, rose 4.5%, while sales at its other divisions (29% of the total) gained 6.9%. Earnings increased 6.0%, to $315.4 million from $297.6 million. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 11.0%, to $2.52 from $2.27.

The stock trades at a reasonable 17.7 times the $2.71 a share that Cintas will probably earn in fiscal 2014.

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INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. $197 (New York symbol IBM, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $216.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 1.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ibm.com) continues to enjoy strong demand for its software, as it helps businesses analyze large amounts of data and improve their efficiency. That’s helping IBM offset slow sales of its mainframe computers.

IBM is a buy.

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC. $39 (Nasdaq symbol TXN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $42.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.5; Dividend yield: 2.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.ti.com) plans to stop making chips for cellphones due to intense competition from larger chipmakers. Instead, it is shifting to analog chips, which convert sounds and temperatures into digital signals that computers can understand. While not as profitable, sales of analog chips are much less volatile than wireless chips.
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