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MCKESSON CORP. $98 (New York symbol MCK; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 236.0 million; Market cap: $23.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.2; Dividend yield: 0.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.mckesson.com) has agreed to purchase PSS World Medical Inc. (Nasdaq symbol PSSI), which distributes medical supplies to clinics and nursing homes.

The purchase will cost McKesson $2.1 billion. Combining PSS with its current surgical products distribution business should let McKesson cut its annual costs by $100 million by the end of the fourth year. To put these figures in context, McKesson earned $461 million, or $1.92 a share, in the three months ended September 30, 2012.

The company may have to sell some of its smaller businesses to win regulatory approval for this purchase, but it still aims to close the deal in early 2013.

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APACHE CORP. $80 (New York symbol APA; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 391.3 million; Market cap: $31.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 0.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.apachecorp.com) had to write down some of its Canadian properties by $539 million due to low natural gas prices in the quarter ended September 30, 2012. If you disregard that and other unusual items, Apache would have earned $861 million, or $2.16 a share. That’s down 25.8% from $1.2 billion, or $2.95 a share, a year earlier. Revenue declined 3.4%, to $4.2 billion from $4.3 billion. Half of Apache’s production is gas, and gas prices fell 15.3% from a year earlier. Oil prices rose 0.9%.

The company is now producing more higher-priced oil and natural gas liquids, which cuts its exposure to low gas prices. As well, it produces half of its oil and gas in international markets, where prices are generally higher than in North America.

Apache is a buy.

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YUM! BRANDS INC. $68 (New York symbol YUM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 451.8 million; Market cap: $30.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.yum.com) has 36,087 fast-food restaurants in over 110 countries. Its main banners include KFC (fried chicken), Pizza Hut and Taco Bell (Mexican food).

In the quarter ended September 8, 2012, Yum’s earnings rose 23.0%, to $471 million from $383 million a year earlier. The company spent $414 million on share buybacks in the latest quarter. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 25.0%, to $1.00 from $0.80. Without unusual items, such as losses on sales of Pizza Hut restaurants in the U.K. to franchisees, earnings per share would have risen 19.3%, to $0.99 from $0.83. Sales rose 9.0%, to $3.6 billion from $3.3 billion a year earlier.

However, Yum expects its same-store sales in China to fall 4% in the fourth quarter; China accounts for 50% of its sales and 45% of its earnings.

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MCDONALD’S CORP. $90 (New York symbol MCD; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $90.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.3; Dividend yield: 3.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.mcdonalds.com) operates 34,000 restaurants in 119 countries. Two-thirds of its sales come from outside the U.S. It serves a variety of foods, but is best known for its hamburgers and french fries.

McDonald’s continues to benefit from strong demand for its Dollar Menu, which features items like breakfast sandwiches and coffee for just $1. It is also seeing strong sales of new premium items and foods that it sells on a limited-time basis.

The company’s same-store sales rose 2.4% in November 2012. Most of these gains came from the U.S., where same-store sales increased 2.5%. Same-store sales rose 1.4% in Europe, as gains in the U.K. and Russia offset weakness in Germany. Asian same-store sales rose 0.6%, as gains in Australia offset weakness in Japan.

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WESTERN UNION CO. $14 (New York symbol WU; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 596.6 million; Market cap: $8.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 3.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.westernunion.com) provides money-transfer and foreign-exchange services in over 200 countries.

In the three months ended September 30, 2012, the company’s earnings rose 12.4%, to $269.5 million from $239.7 million a year earlier. Western Union is an aggressive buyer of its own shares. Because of fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose at a faster pace of 18.4%, to $0.45 from $0.38.

If you exclude the cost of integrating the businesspayments division of U.K.-based Travelex Holdings, which Western Union bought in 2011, per-share earnings would have risen 15.0%, to $0.46 from $0.40.

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ENCANA CORP. $20 (New York symbol ECA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 736.3 million; Market cap: $16.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield: 3.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.encana.com) has formed a joint venture with PetroChina International Investment Company Ltd., which is controlled by the Chinese government, to develop its Duvernay property in central Alberta. This field mainly contains natural gas liquids, such as butane.

Under the terms of the deal, Encana sold a 49.9% stake in Duvernay to PetroChina for $2.2 billion (Canadian). Encana will own the remaining 50.1% and will operate the project. PetroChina has already paid Encana $1.2 billion. It will pay the remaining $1.0 billion over the next four years.

Joint ventures like this help speed up the development of promising new fields. Moreover, as PetroChina is buying only a minority interest in this project, the deal complies with the federal government’s new foreign investment guidelines. Ottawa brought in these new rules in response to the takeover of oil-sands operator Nexen Inc. by another state-owned Chinese oil company.

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FAIR ISAAC CORP. $42 (New York symbol FICO; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 34.9 million; Market cap: $1.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 0.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.fico.com) makes FICO Scores, a computer program that helps businesses make better decisions about customer creditworthiness. It is also profiting by selling software that helps credit card issuers control fraud and analyze cardholders’ spending patterns.

The company is benefiting from the recovery of the U.S. banking industry and rising demand for mortgages. In addition, Fair Isaac is expanding internationally. It is now working with China’s central bank to develop a standard credit score. This has big potential, particularly as the country’s banking system matures.

In addition, Fair Isaac recently paid $113.0 million for Adeptra, a U.K.-based company whose systems let businesses communicate with customers through a range of channels, including voice, instant messaging, mobile applications and email.

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T. ROWE PRICE GROUP INC. $66 (Nasdaq symbol TROW; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 254.9 million; Market cap: $16.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.8; Dividend yield: 2.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.troweprice.com) sells mutual funds and wealth management services.

On September 30, 2012, the company had a record $574.4 billion of assets under management, up 17.3% from $489.5 billion at the end of 2011.

The company continues to see strong demand for its “Retirement Funds,” which invest in other Price Group mutual funds and automatically adjust the buyer’s portfolio balance according to their age. Retirement Funds accounted for 47% of the company’s fund sales in the latest quarter.

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GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. $21 (New York symbol GE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 10.5 billion; Market cap: $220.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 3.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ge.com) is benefiting from its recent purchases of companies that supply equipment to oil and natural gas producers. It’s also cutting credit losses at its finance subsidiary.

As a result, GE has raised its quarterly dividend by 11.8%, to $0.19 a share from $0.17. The new annual rate of $0.76 yields 3.6%. This is its fifth dividend hike in the past three years. GE also plans to buy back up to $14.9 billion of its shares by 2015.

GE is a buy.

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THE BOEING CO. $76 (New York symbol BA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 754.1 million; Market cap: $57.3 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.boeing.com) continues to receive orders for its new 787 Dreamliner and 737 MAX passenger jets.

In the three months ended September 30, 2012, Boeing booked orders for 369 planes, net of cancellations. Its commercial aircraft division, which supplies 60% of its total revenue, now has a $307-billion backlog that consists of over 4,100 planes. The company’s military division (40% of revenue) also continues to win new orders. Its backlog is $71 billion.

As a result, Boeing’s overall revenue rose 12.9% in the quarter, to $20.0 billion from $17.7 billion a year earlier. However, a $194-million increase in pension costs caused its earnings to fall 6.0%, to $1.0 billion from $1.1 billion. Earnings per share fell 7.5%, to $1.35 from $1.46, on more shares outstanding.

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UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORP. $83 (New York symbol UTX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 916.5 million; Market cap: $76.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.utc.com) recently purchased Goodrich Corp., a North Carolina-based company that makes aircraft parts, including landing gear, wheels and brakes. United Technologies paid $18.4 billion, including $1.9 billion of assumed debt.

To win regulatory approval, United Technologies agreed to sell some of its smaller businesses. For example, it recently sold three subsidiaries in its aerospace division for a total of $3.5 billion.

United Technologies now expects overall revenue of between $64 billion and $65 billion in 2013, up 10% to 12% from $58 billion in 2012. Goodrich will supply about half of this growth. The rest will come from improving sales at its other businesses, including Pratt & Whitney jet engines and Otis elevators.

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FEDEX CORP. $93 (New York symbol FDX; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 314.1 million; Market cap: $29.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 0.6%; TSI Network Rating: Average; www.fedex.com) reported that its earnings in the three months ended November 30, 2012 fell 11.9%, to $438 million, or $1.39 a share. That’s mainly because Hurricane Sandy forced the company to suspend parcel deliveries on the U.S. eastern seaboard. A year earlier, it earned $497 million, or $1.57 a share.

Revenue in the quarter rose 4.9%, to $11.1 billion from $10.6 billion. Strong demand for its lower-priced ground transportation services offset weaker demand for overnight deliveries.

FedEx continues to restructure its operations, mainly by cutting workers at its international air delivery division. It is also replacing older planes with more fuel-efficient models. These moves should save it $1.7 billion a year starting in 2014.

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IBM $192.95, symbol IBM on New York, shows that we don’t beat the market every time! It only eked out a 0.5% gain as our #1 pick for 2012 in Wall Street Stock Forecaster at $192.

RioCan REIT $27.85, symbol REI.UN on Toronto, was our #1 pick for 2012 in Canadian Wealth Advisor at $25.79. The trust is up 8.0%, on top of its 5.4% yield.

Canadian Pacific $98.57, symbol CP on Toronto, was our 2012 #1 pick for The Successful Investor at $69. It’s up 42.9%.

Alimentation Couche-Tard $49.82, symbol ATD.B on Toronto, was our #1 pick for 2012 in Stock Pickers Digest at $30.55. Its shares are now up 63.1%.

BMTC GROUP $13.70 (Toronto symbol GBT.A; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (514-648-5757; No website; Shares outstanding: 47.5 million; Market cap: $650.8 million; Dividend yield: 1.8%) is one of Quebec’s largest retailers of furniture, electronics and household appliances. It sells these products through its two affiliates: Brault & Martineau Inc. and Ameublements Tanguay. In July 2012, BMTC opened a new store in Levis to replace the old one. The company is also building a warehouse-style outlet in Saint-Hubert that will offer lower-priced products and operate under BMTC’s new EconoMax banner. In the three months ended September 30, 2012, the company’s sales fell slightly, to $195.6 million from $196.7 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 2.6%, to $0.39 from $0.38....

AEROPOSTALE INC. $13.20 (New York symbol ARO; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (646-485-5410; www.aeropostale.com; Shares outstanding: 81.3 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion; No dividends paid) is a mall-based retailer of casual clothing and accessories. It now has 994 stores in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, and mainly targets 14- to 17-year-old women and men. Aeropostale’s 99 P.S. from Aeropostale stores in the U.S. are aimed at seven- to 12-year-old elementary-school children. In the three months ended October 27, 2012, Aeropostale’s sales rose 1.6%, to $605.9 million from $596.5 million a year earlier. Same-store sales fell 2%, compared with a 9% decline a year ago. Sales from the company’s e-commerce business increased 12%, to $51.1 million from $45.7 million. Aeropostale’s earnings rose 3.5%, to $24.9 million from $24.1 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 3.3%, to $0.31 from $0.30, on fewer shares outstanding. The latest earnings also beat the consensus estimate of $0.29 a share....

MCCOY CORP. $4.35 (Toronto symbol MCB; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (780-453-8451; www.mccoyglobal.com; Shares outstanding: 26.6 million; Market cap: $115.7 million; Dividend yield: 4.6%) operates through two divisions: Mobile Solutions and Energy Products and Services. Energy Products and Services sells hydraulic equipment, including power tongs, for drilling rigs. Power tongs are large, wrench-like tools that tighten and loosen the pipe in the drill hole. Mobile Solutions builds heavy-duty trailers for U.S. and Canadian clients in the oil and gas, wind energy, infrastructure and construction industries....

WAJAX CORP. $39.60 (Toronto symbol WJX; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (905-212-3300; www.wajax.ca; Shares outstanding:16.7 million; Market cap: $661.3 million; Dividend yield: 8.2%) sells and services heavy equipment, including cranes and forklifts. It also sells related parts (such as bearings, motors, hoses and fittings) and power systems (including diesel engines and transmissions). Wajax operates through 118 dealerships across Canada. Its customers are in the natural resource, construction, manufacturing, industrial processing and transportation industries. In the quarter ended September 30, 2012, Wajax’s revenue fell 1.5%, to $356.4 million from $361.9 million a year earlier. Earnings fell 9.4%, to $16.2 million, or $0.97 a share, from $17.9 million, or $1.08 a share....

ZARGON OIL & GAS $7.76 (Toronto symbol ZAR; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-264-9992; www.zargon.ca; Shares outstanding: 29.8 million; Market cap: $231.2 million; Dividend yield: 9.3%) produces natural gas and oil in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and North Dakota. Its production is 67% oil and 33% gas. In the three months ended September 30, 2012, Zargon produced 7,634 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down 15.3% from 9,014 barrels a year earlier. That’s because the company sold some less important properties and cut back on natural gas drilling in light of low gas prices. The production drop pushed down Zargon’s cash flow per share by 4.0%, to $0.48 from $0.50 a year earlier. The company continues to successfully drill horizontal wells in the Alberta Plains North area. Horizontal drilling involves drilling development wells sideways or at an angle to reach isolated pockets of gas or to follow a reservoir spread out in a narrow layer. Horizontal drilling can work well in places where conventional drilling is impossible or too expensive....

TRILOGY ENERGY CORP. $28.25 (Toronto symbol TET; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-290- 2900; www.trilogy.com; Shares outstanding: 116.5 million; Market cap: $3.3 billion; Dividend yield: 1.5%) owns oil and gas properties in the Kaybob and Grande Prairie areas of central Alberta. About 62% of Trilogy’s production is natural gas. The remaining 38% is oil. In the three months ended September 30, 2012, Trilogy produced 33,412 barrels of oil equivalent per day (including gas). That’s up 15.1% from 29,035 barrels a year earlier. But even with the higher production, a 40.1% decline in gas prices pushed down the company’s cash flow per share by 21.6%, to $0.40 from $0.51. Trilogy pays out just 26% of its cash flow as dividends. That gives it a low 1.5% yield, but it’s also letting the company maintain an active drilling program. In the first three quarters of 2012, Trilogy spent $274 million on exploration and development, up 10.5% from $248 million in the same period a year earlier. The company drilled 55 wells, up 25.0% from 44....

CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL $275.51 (New York symbol CMG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (303-595-4000; www.chipotle.com; Shares outstanding: 31.5 million; Market cap: $8.7 billion; No dividends paid) is a Denver- based Mexican-restaurant chain. It charges slightly higher prices than fast-food companies, but it offers better-quality food, including naturally raised meat, and superior decor and service. In the three months ended September 30, 2012, Chipotle’s sales rose 18.4%, to $700.5 million from $591.9 million a year earlier. The company opened 36 new outlets in the quarter. As well, its existing restaurants attracted more customers. That pushed up its same-restaurant sales by 4.8%. Earnings per share rose 24.5%, to $1.93 from $1.55. Chipotle now has 1,350 locations. The company will open 165 to 180 new restaurants in 2013. That should further increase its sales. However, rising food costs will keep putting pressure on its profit margins, and it’s uncertain whether Chipotle can raise its prices enough to offset those increases....

DOMINO’S PIZZA $42.06 (New York symbol DPZ; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (734-930-3030; www.dominos.com; Shares outstanding: 56.8 million; Market cap: $2.4 billion; No dividends paid) is the world’s largest chain of pizza stores that offer takeout and delivery. It operates 10,040 outlets in the U.S. and over 70 in other countries. Franchisees run most of these stores. In the quarter ended September 9, 2012, the company’s earnings per share rose 22.2%, to $0.44 from $0.36 a year earlier. Sales rose slightly, to $378.1 million from $376.3 million. Same-store sales rose 5.0% internationally and 3.3% in the U.S. Domino’s continues to boost its sales by aggressively promoting its new pizza recipes. It’s also profiting by moving into digital ordering on the Internet and through software applications (or apps) on smartphones. In addition, Domino’s still has lots of growth potential overseas....

NISSAN MOTOR CO. (ADR) $18.72 (Nasdaq symbol NSANY; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average) (310-771-3111; www.nissan-global.com; Shares outstanding: 2.3 billion; Market cap: $43.1 billion; No dividends paid) has reported record North American sales for the month of November. Overall, the company sold 96,197 cars and trucks on the continent during the month. That’s up 12.9% from 85,182 vehicles in November 2011. Like all automakers, Nissan needs a renewed global economic recovery to keep pushing up its sales. Meanwhile, its outlook remains positive....