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If you were about to begin your investing career, you might want to have a list of the most important things you could do to be successful....

DUN & BRADSTREET CORP. $82 (New York symbol DNB; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 40.9 million; Market cap: $3.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.dnb.com) began operating in 1841 and is now the world’s largest provider of credit reports on individual companies. Its database contains information on 220 million businesses in over 200 countries. Companies use these reports to make lending and purchasing decisions and to cut their credit losses.

The company gets 63% of its revenue from credit reports. The remaining 37% comes from other information products, including software to help businesses manage customer data and websites.


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MCCORMICK & CO. INC. $72 (New York symbol MKC; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 132.7 million; Market cap: $9.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 1.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mccormick.com) earned $407.8 million, or $3.04 a share, in its 2012 fiscal year, which ended November 30, 2012. That’s up 9.0% from $374.2 million, or $2.79 a share, in 2011. Sales rose 8.6%, to $4.0 billion from $3.7 billion.

The company is benefiting from its recent purchases of spice makers and food companies in India and Eastern Europe. As well, its ongoing cost-cutting plan saved it $56 million in 2012.

Earnings should rise to between $3.15 and $3.23 a share in 2013. The stock trades at a high but still reasonable 22.6 times the midpoint of that range.
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GENUINE PARTS CO. $77 (New York symbol GPC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 154.9 million; Market cap: $11.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.genpt.com) has exercised its option to buy full control of privately held Exego Group, which sells auto parts through 290 stores in Australia and 92 in New Zealand.

Genuine Parts paid $150 million for 30% of Exego in January 2012. It will pay $800 million for the remaining 70% when the deal closes in April 2013.

This is a big purchase for Genuine Parts, which earned $648.0 million, or $4.14 a share, in 2012. However, Exego is profitable, and this purchase will cut the company’s reliance on North America, which accounts for nearly all of its sales.
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TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC. $35 (Nasdaq symbol TXN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $38.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.ti.com) is receiving more orders for its analog chips, which convert sounds and temperatures into digital signals that computers can understand. Manufacturers use analog chips in a wide variety of products, including cars, medical devices and home appliances.

Texas Instruments now expects revenue of $2.80 billion to $2.91 billion in the first quarter of 2013. That’s up from its earlier forecast of $2.69 billion to $2.91 billion. It also expects to earn $0.28 to $0.32 a share in the quarter, up from its prior forecast of $0.24 to $0.32.

As well, Texas Instruments has raised its quarterly dividend by 33.3%, to $0.28 a share from $0.21. The new annual rate of $1.12 yields 3.2%. The company also added $5 billion to its share repurchase authorization. It can now buy back up to $8.4 billion of its shares, or 22% of its market cap. There is no time limit for these purchases.
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AMERICAN EXPRESS CO. $66 (New York symbol AXP, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $72.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 1.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.- americanexpress.com) has passed the Federal Reserve’s latest “stress test,” which measures how well banks and other financial firms would cope with a sharp jump in unemployment, falling stock prices and other unfavourable economic conditions.

As a result, the company raised its quarterly dividend by 15.0%, to $0.23 a share from $0.20. The new annual rate of $0.92 yields 1.4%. Amex also announced that it would buy back $4.0 billion worth of its shares in 2013, and $1 billion more in the first quarter of 2014.

American Express is a buy.
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ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND CO. $33 (New York symbol ADM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 658.6 million; Market cap: $21.7 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 0.2; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.adm.com) has moved up nearly 20% in the past three months. That’s partly because Berkshire Hathaway, the holding company controlled by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, now owns 1% of Archer Daniel’s shares.

The company is also profiting from strong demand for sweeteners and soybean products. That let it raise its its dividend by 8.6%. The new annual rate of $0.76 a share yields 2.3%.

Archer Daniels Midland is a buy....

NEWMONT MINING CORP. $40 (New York symbol NEM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 496.7 million; Market cap: $19.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 4.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; 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%.

In 2012, Newmont sold its gold for an average of $1,662 an ounce, up 6.4% from $1,562 in 2011. But production fell 4.9%, to 5.6 million ounces from 5.9 million. That’s because it had to cut production at its 31.5%-owned Batu Hijau gold/copper project in Indonesia as the mine prepares to open a new phase in 2014.

As a result of the lower production, Newmont’s revenue fell 4.7% to $9.9 billion from $10.4 billion. Rising operating costs and higher royalty payments have also pushed up Newmont’s cost per ounce by 14.6%, to $677 from $591. That cut its 2012 earnings by 14.7%, to $1.85 billion, or $3.73 a share. In 2011, it earned $2.2 billion, or $4.39 a share.
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NORDSTROM INC. $53 (New York symbol JWN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 195.9 million; Market cap: $10.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.nordstrom.com) plans to invest $240 million to expand its online operations, which supply about 10% of its sales. This cost is equal to a third of the $735 million, or $3.56 a share, that Nordstrom earned in the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013.

These upgrades will help the department-store operator handle an increase in purchases from customers using mobile devices. In the past year, mobile sales accounted for 20% of its online orders.

Nordstrom is a buy....

JONES GROUP INC. $13 (New York symbol JNY; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 81.0 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.3; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.jonesgroupinc- .com) designs clothing, accessories and footwear for men and women. Major brands include Jones New York, Gloria Vanderbilt, Rachel Roy, Anne Klein and Nine West. Jones sells its products through department stores and 594 company-owned outlets.

As part of an ongoing restructuring, Jones closed 103 stores in 2012, and plans to close more in 2013. It’s also improving the quality of its products and making acquisitions. For example, in June 2012 it paid $5.5 million for the rights to upscale shoes by designer Brain Atwood.

Even with these new businesses, Jones’s sales rose just 0.3% in 2012, to $3.80 billion from $3.79 billion in 2011. Higher costs for cotton and labour caused its earnings to fall 11.3%, to $93.7 million from $105.6 million. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share fell just 4.6%, to $1.24 from $1.30.
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LIMITED BRANDS INC. $44 (New York symbol LTD; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 288.4 million; Market cap: $12.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 2.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.- limitedbrands.com) owns the Victoria’s Secret lingerie chain and the Bath & Body Works personalcare products stores.

Limited is restructuring the La Senza lingerie chain in Canada, including closing a third of its stores (it now has 158 outlets) and shifting its focus to younger shoppers.

In its 2013 fiscal year, which ended February 2, 2013, Limited’s sales rose just 0.9%, to $10.5 billion from $10.4 billion in 2012. That’s mainly because it closed 65 stores, bringing its total down to 2,876. However, same-store sales rose 6%, including 7% gains at both the Victoria’s Secret division, which includes La Senza, and Bath & Body Works.
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STANLEY BLACK & DECKER INC. $82 (New York symbol SWK; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 160.3 million; Market cap: $13.1 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 2.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.stanleyblackanddecker.com) has completed its purchase of Infastech, a Hong Kong-based fastener maker that serves the automotive, electronic, construction and aerospace markets. The purchase price of $850 million is equal to 1.1 times the $778.7 million, or $4.67 a share, that Stanley earned in 2012. Infastech should add $0.20 a share to Stanley’s 2013 earnings.

Thanks to this new business, Stanley now gets 16% of its revenue from emerging markets like Asia and Latin America. It aims to raise this to 20% by 2015.

Stanley Black & Decker is a buy....

APPLE INC. $451 (Nasdaq symbol AAPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 939.1 million; Market cap: $423.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.6; Dividend yield: 2.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.apple.com) is down 36% from its all-time high of $705.07 in September 2012.

Thanks to the huge success of the iPhone and iPad, as well as the star power of the late Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder and CEO, the company became a media and broker favourite. However, increasing competition from devices powered by Google’s Android software have hurt Apple’s appeal.

The company still has a loyal customer base and will probably use some of its $137.1 billion in cash and investments to increase is dividend and buy back shares. Even so, the stock will continue to have trouble living up to investors’high expectations.
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PHILIPS ELECTRONICS N.V. ADRs $31 (New York symbol PHG; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 914.6 million; Market cap: $28.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.philips.com) gets about 50% of its revenue by making health care products, such as Xray and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners. It also makes lighting (30% of revenue) and consumer electronics, such as appliances and electric razors (20%).

The company recently agreed to sell its video and audio products business to Japan’s Funai Electronics for 150 million euros (1 euro = $1.32 Canadian). As part of the deal, it will receive royalties on sales of Philipsbranded products for at least the next five years.

Philips also continues to make progress with a major restructuring plan, which includes making its plants more efficient and cutting 4% of its workforce. Moreover, Philips is expanding sales in emerging markets like Turkey, Russia and China.
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ABB LTD. ADRs $23 (New York symbol ABB; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 2.3 billion; Market cap: $52.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.abb.com) is a leading maker of power technologies for utilities, including transformers, transmission systems and circuit breakers. The Switzerland-based company also makes automation systems and robotics that industrial clients use to make their facilities more productive.

ABB is taking advantage of the slow economy to make acquisitions. In May 2012, it paid $3.7 billion for Thomas & Betts Corp., which makes a number of industrial products, including heating and air condi- tioning equipment, electrical connectors and transmission towers for power companies. Combining some of its functions with those of Thomas & Betts could save ABB $200 million a year by 2016.

These new operations pushed up ABB’s revenue by 3.5% in 2012, to $39.3 billion from $38.0 billion in 2011. Without the negative impact of the high U.S. dollar, which hurts the contribution of its overseas operations, revenue would have risen 7% in 2012.
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BHP BILLITON LTD. ADRs $70 (New York symbol BHP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; ADRs outstanding: 2.7 billion; Market cap: $189.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.7; Dividend yield: 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.bhpbilliton.com) is the world’s largest mining company, with major operations in Australia, South Africa, Chile and the U.K. Its main products include iron ore, coal, aluminum, manganese, titanium, oil and natural gas.

In the six months ended December 31, 2012, BHP earned $5.7 billion, or $2.14 per ADR. (BHP’s fiscal year ends June 30; each ADR represents two BHP common shares.) That’s down 43.4% from $10.0 billion, or $3.77 per ADR, a year earlier. Lower prices for commodities, particularly iron ore, cut BHP’s gross profits by $5.4 billion in the latest period. Unfavourable exchange rates also lowered earnings by $574 million. Revenue fell 14.1%, to $32.2 billion from $37.5 billion.

In response to weak commodity prices, BHP has agreed to sell $4.3 billion of less-important projects. That includes a deal to sell its remaining diamond operations in Canada for $500 million.
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THE BOEING CO. $85 (New York symbol BA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 756.2 million; Market cap: $64.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.boeing.com) had to ground all of its new 787 Dreamliner passenger planes in January 2013 after a battery problem forced one to make an emergency landing in Japan.

The 787 uses advanced rechargeable lithium-ion batteries to power its electrical systems. These batteries were overheating, which increases the risk of a fire. The company has redesigned the battery and feels flights will resume in the next few weeks.

The stock fell to $75 after the grounding but has rebounded strongly. That’s mainly due to Boeing’s quick response. Demand for the company’s other planes also remains strong.
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TUPPERWARE BRANDS CORP. $80 (New York symbol TUP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 54.0 million; Market cap: $4.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 3.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.tupperwarebrands.com) gets 75% of its sales by making plastic food and beverage containers and children’s educational toys. The remaining 25% comes from cosmetics, bath oils and fragrances. Its main brands include Tupperware, Armand Dupree, Avroy Shlain, BeautiControl, Fuller, NaturCare and Nuvo.


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NEWELL RUBBERMAID INC. $26 (New York symbol NWL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 286.4 million; Market cap: $7.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.newellrubbermaid.com) makes plastic storage bins, tools, window blinds, pens and a number of other household items. Its top brands include Rubbermaid, Sharpie, Paper Mate, Parker, Graco, Waterman and Levolor.

The company has six divisions: Home Solutions makes foodstorage and cooking products (28% of Newell’s 2012 sales); Writing makes pens and markers (24%); Tools makes hand and power tools, as well as accessories (14%); Commercial Products makes cleaning products (13%); Baby & Parenting makes high chairs, car seats and other products for infants (12%); and Specialty makes a variety of products, such as window blinds and paint brushes (9%). Wal-Mart accounts for around 11% of Newell’s sales.

Newell’s sales fell 13.8%, from $6.5 billion in 2008 to $5.6 billion in 2009, mainly because consumers cut spending during the recession. As well, Newell stopped making certain unprofitable products. However, sales rebounded to $5.9 billion in 2012.
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Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions about specific stocks and other topics on investment 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 us about Canada Lithium, which mines a metal used in a highly specialized area. Lithium is a key element in batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles. Pat examines the company’s operations, including two deals with Asian commodities traders, and looks at the longer-term outlook for lithium....

BELLATRIX EXPLORATION (Toronto symbol BXE;www.bellatrixexploration.com) produces oil and natural gas in Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan. Gas makes up about 69% of its output; the remaining 31% is oil. In the three months ended December 31, 2012, Bellatrix’s production rose 32.1%, to 18,763 barrels of oil equivalent per day (including natural gas) from 14,209 barrels. Cash flow per share rose 7.1%, to $0.30 from $0.28....

CANADIAN TIRE CORP.(Toronto symbol CTC.A; www.canadiantire.ca) operates 490 Canadian Tire stores, which specialize in automotive, household and sporting goods. The company owns these stores, but franchisees operate most of them. Canadian Tire also operates 299 gas stations and 87 PartSource auto parts stores. In the past few years, the company has diversified its product lines by purchasing retailers with specialized products. These include Mark’s, which sells casual clothing though 386 stores, and Forzani Group, which sells sporting goods through 495 outlets, mainly under the SportChek banner. As well, Canadian Tire will soon complete its $85-million purchase of Pro Hockey Life, which sells hockey equipment through 23 stores....

The long-term outlook for oil and natural gas is positive, although in the short term, shale oil and gas discoveries continue to rapidly increase supply. That’s keeping prices low—and pushing down the shares of producers. We advise against overindulging in any one sector. However, we do think most safety-conscious investors should stick with the energy stocks we rate as buys in Canadian Wealth Advisor. Here is our latest advice on two of them....

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions about investing in stocks and other topics on investment 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, we received a question from an Inner Circle member about Pitney Bowes. This company has been a leader in the manufacture of postage meters and mailing equipment, and Pat assesses its efforts to adapt to the growing predominance of electronic mail and Internet communications. ...

DUNDEE REIT $36.11 (Toronto symbol D.UN; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (416-365-3535; www.dundeereit.com; Shares outstanding: 97.7 million; Market cap: $3.7 billion; Dividend yield: 6.1%) owns and manages 22.9 million square feet of office and retail space. The trust has a 95.1% occupancy rate.

In the three months ended December 31, 2012, Dundee REIT’s revenue jumped 51.3%, to $192.0 million from $126.9 million a year earlier. In 2012, Dundee made $2.6 billion of acquisitions and added 9.9 million square feet of office space. These properties supplied most of the revenue increase.

Cash flow jumped 41.4%, to $58.1 million from $41.0 million. However, cash flow per unit fell 8.1%, to $0.57 from $0.62, on more units outstanding (the trust issued new units to pay for the acquired properties).
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