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CHEMTRADE LOGISTICS INCOME FUND (Toronto symbol CHE.UN; www.chemtradelogistics.com) is one of North America’s largest providers of removal services for resource firms, such as oil refineries and base-metal processors. These companies create sulphur, acid and other by-products as part of their activities. Chemtrade converts these substances into useful chemicals, like sulphuric acid....

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions about specific stocks and other investment topics 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 the Inner Circle. This week, an Inner Circle member asked about the world’s biggest generic drug maker. This Israeli-based firm, which trades as an ADR, has grown steadily by acquisition. Pat examines the prospects for growth as an aging population demands more drugs, but he also looks at the challenges of increased competition and government regulation....

BAXTER INTERNATIONAL INC. $66 (New York symbol BAX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 549.4 million; Market cap: $36.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.6; Dividend yield: 2.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.baxter.com) makes medical products, such as intravenous pumps and kidney dialysis equipment. It also makes vaccines and drugs. Half of its sales come from single-use products that need to be continually reordered.

Demand for the company’s products continues to improve, particularly as an aging population needs more medical devices and drugs. Baxter’s sales rose 23.4%, from $11.3 billion in 2007 to $13.9 billion in 2011.

Earnings rose 36.1%, from $1.8 billion in 2007 to $2.5 billion in 2011. The company is an aggressive buyer of its own shares. Because of a 10% drop in the number of shares outstanding, earnings per share jumped 54.5%, from $2.79 to $4.31.

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SONY CORP. ADRs $10 (New York symbol SNE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $10.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.1; Dividend yield: 3.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.sony.com) has agreed to buy 11% of distressed Japanese camera maker Olympus for $640 million. In addition, the companies will work together on new medical-imaging equipment that includes Sony’s TV technologies. They will also share digital camera technology. Sony feels this investment will help cut its reliance on its struggling TV set business.

To pay for this purchase, Sony is selling $1.9 billion of convertible bonds due in 2017. That will increase its long-term debt to $13.1 billion, or a high 1.3 times its market cap. As well, if all bondholders convert, the number of shares outstanding would rise by 15.6%. That would dilute the holdings of current shareholders.

Sony is still a hold.

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TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC. $29 (Nasdaq symbol TXN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $31.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield: 2.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.ti.com) is selling fewer chips to smartphone makers. That’s because these customers are making more of their own chips instead of buying them from outside suppliers.

In response, Texas Instruments is shifting its focus to chips for cars, industrial machinery and other products. As a result, it will cut 5% of its workforce. The company will pay $325 million in severance and other costs. However, these moves should save it $450 million a year by the end of 2013. That’s equal to 57% of the $784 million, or $0.67 a share, that the company earned in the third quarter of 2012.

Texas Instruments is a buy.

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PETSMART INC. $69 (Nasdaq symbol PETM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 108.2 million; Market cap: $7.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 1.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.petm.com) operates 1,269 pet stores in the U.S. and Canada. It also has 195 in-store PetsHotels, which look after pets while their owners are away.

In the third quarter of its 2013 fiscal year, which ended October 28, 2012, PetSmart’s earnings jumped 46.6%, to $82.3 million from $56.2 million a year earlier. The company bought back $60 million of its shares during the quarter. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 50.0%, to $0.75 from $0.50.

Sales rose 8.8%, to $1.6 billion from $1.5 billion. Same-store sales rose 6.5%, while sales of pet services, such as grooming, rose 8.5%. Services accounted for 10.7% of PetSmart’s total sales.

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ALCOA INC. $8.27 (New York symbol AA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $9.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.alcoa.com) has completed the sale of its Tapoco hydroelectric dams in Tennessee and North Carolina. These facilities supply power to Alcoa’s nearby aluminum smelter. The company recently shut down parts of the smelter, so it no longer needs this power.

Alcoa received $600 million, or 7% of its market cap, for the Tapoco assets. The company did not say what it would do with the cash, but it could use it to pay down its long-term debt of $8.4 billion.

Alcoa is a buy.

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NCR CORP. $24 (New York symbol NCR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 159.9 million; Market cap: $3.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.ncr.com) has won a contract to install 10,000 of its self-checkout systems at more than 1,200 Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. These devices let shoppers pay for their purchases without a cashier. That cuts the retailer’s labour costs, speeds up checkout times and encourages repeat visits.

The company did not say how much this contract is worth. However, Wal-Mart’s purchase should make it easier for NCR to sell its systems to other big retailers.

NCR is a buy.

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ALLIANT ENERGY CORP. $44 (New York symbol LNT; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 111.0 million; Market cap: $4.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 4.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.alliantenergy.com) sells electricity and natural gas to 1.4 million residential and business customers in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota.

The company recently agreed to buy a gas-fired power plant in Wisconsin for $392 million. Alliant currently buys power from this plant under a long-term contract. Owning this plant will make it easier for Alliant to lower its operating costs. The deal should close by the end of 2012.

Meanwhile, Alliant earned $149.0 million, or $1.34 a share, in the third quarter of 2012. That’s up 7.2% from $139.0 million, or $1.25 a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 1.9%, to $887.6 million from $870.9 million. That’s mainly because warmer-than-usual summer weather prompted consumers to use more power for air conditioning.

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AMEREN CORP. $29 (New York symbol AEE; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 242.6 million; Market cap: $7.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 5.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.ameren.com) sells power and natural gas to 3.3 million clients in Illinois and Missouri.

In the three months ended September 30, 2012, Ameren’s earnings fell 15.2%, to $323 million, or $1.33 a share. A year earlier, it earned $381 million, or $1.57 a share. These figures exclude unusual items, such as a writedown of a coal-fired power plant.

Revenue fell 11.8%, to $2.0 billion from $2.3 billion. Electricity sales (which accounted for 94% of Ameren’s revenue) fell 12.5% as the weak economy hurt power demand and prices at its non-regulated plants. Gas sales (6% of revenue) were flat.

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HEWLETT-PACKARD CO. $12 (New York symbol HPQ; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 2.0 billion; Market cap: $24.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.2; Dividend yield: 4.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.hp.com) paid $11.1 billion in August 2011 for U.K.-based Autonomy Corp., which makes software that helps businesses organize information in a variety of formats, including email, web pages and documents.

The company now claims that improper accounting policies made Autonomy look more profitable that it really was. As a result, it wrote down the value of this purchase by $8.8 billion. Hewlett will try to recover some of these losses through lawsuits.

However, that could take years. As well, sales of the company’s computers and printers continue to decline as consumers shift to tablet computers.

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EBAY INC. $49 (Nasdaq symbol EBAY; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.3 billion; Market cap: $63.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.6; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ebay.com) aims to profit from rising demand for online shopping in China through a new alliance with Xiu.com, a leading Chinese seller of luxury goods.

Under the deal, the partners will launch a new website, ebay.xiu.com, which will let certain U.S. retailers sell their goods at fixed prices. The sellers will then send the orders they receive from the site to eBay’s Dallas warehouse, which will forward the goods to China. Xiu.com will handle local shipping and customer service.

eBay is a buy.

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FORD MOTOR CO. $11 (New York symbol F; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 3.7 billion; Market cap: $40.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.3; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.ford.com) is the secondlargest carmaker in the U.S. behind General Motors. In the latest quarter, Ford accounted for14.8% of the U.S. market, down from 16.3% a year earlier.

The company continues to see strong sales and earnings in North America (50% of sales) and Asia (19%). That’s offsetting weaker results in Europe (23%) and South America (8%).

In the three months ended September 30, 2012, Ford’s earnings rose 15.6%, to $1.6 billion from $1.4 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 17.6%, to $0.40 from $0.34, on fewer shares outstanding.

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HONDA MOTOR CO. LTD. ADRs $33 (New York symbol HMC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $59.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.honda.com) is Japan’s secondlargest carmaker and the world’s biggest motorcycle manufacturer.

Like Toyota (see left), Honda’s sales are continuing to recover from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. In its fiscal 2013 second quarter, which ended September 30, 2012, Honda sold 996,000 cars and trucks. That’s up 46.9% from 678,000 a year earlier. Motorcycle sales increased 1.8%, to 3.9 million from 3.8 million.

As a result, the company’s overall sales rose 19.0%, to $29.3 billion from $24.6 billion a year earlier. Earnings jumped 35.4%, to $1.1 billion, or $0.59 per ADR (each American Depositary Receipt represents one Honda common share). A year earlier, Honda earned $788 million, or $0.44 per ADR.

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TOYOTA MOTOR CO. ADRs $84 (New York symbol TM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $142.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.toyota.com) is the world’s largest carmaker based on sales. Japan is the company’s largest market, accounting for 28% of its revenue, followed by North America (26%), Asia (19%), Europe (9%) and the rest of the world (18%).

Toyota continues to recover from the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which cut its production in Japan. In its fiscal 2013 second quarter, which ended September 30, 2012, Toyota sold 2.25 million vehicles, up 24.5% from 1.8 million a year earlier.

The higher car sales pushed up Toyota’s revenue by 32.7%, to $55.2 billion from $41.6 billion a year earlier. Earnings soared 255.7%, to $2.6 billion, or $1.66 per ADR (Each American Depositary Receipt represents two Toyota common shares). A year earlier, it earned $730.9 million, or $0.47 per ADR.

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DUN & BRADSTREET CORP. $76 (New York symbol DNB; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 44.6 million; Market cap: $3.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.dnb.com) shot up to around $84 in August 2012 on speculation that the company may sell itself. However, reports that it has stopped looking for a buyer caused the stock to fall to its current price.

Meanwhile, the slow economy is hurting demand for Dun & Bradstreet’s credit reports. In the third quarter of 2012, its revenue fell 6.0%, to $413.2 million from $439.4 million a year earlier. However, savings from a cost-cutting plan pushed up its earnings by 13.4%, to $79.4 million from $70.0 million. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 23.9%, to $1.76 from $1.42.

Dun & Bradstreet is still a hold.

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D.E. MASTER BLENDERS 1753 N.V. 8.88 euros (Amsterdam Exchange symbol DE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 594.9 million; Market cap: 5.3 billion euros (1 euro = $1.28 Canadian); Price-to-sales ratio:1.9; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.demasterblenders1753.com) makes coffee and tea under a variety of brands, including Senseo, Pickwick and Douwe Egberts.

In its fiscal 2013 first quarter, which ended September 30, 2012, D.E. Master’s sales rose 1.1%, to 626 million euros from 619 million euros a year earlier. D.E. Master raised its prices to offset rising costs for coffee beans. That offset a 2.7% decline in sales volumes. The company did not report earnings.

D.E. Master recently began a restructuring that includes closing a plant in Denmark and outsourcing its accounting and other administrative functions. This should cut 55 million to 75 million euros from its annual costs by 2015.

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HILLSHIRE BRANDS CO. $27 (New York symbol HSH; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 122.3 million; Market cap: $3.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 1.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.hillshirebrands.com) makes a variety of packaged meat products. Its main brands include Ball Park hot dogs, Jimmy Dean sausages and Hillshire Farm deli meats. Its other foods include Sara Lee frozen desserts and Chef Pierre pies.

If you disregard costs related to the breakup and other unusual items, Hillshire would have earned $62 million in its fiscal 2013 first quarter, which ended September 29, 2012. That’s up 65.9% from $38 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 59.4%, to $0.51 from $0.32, on more shares outstanding. Sales rose 2.0%, to $1.0 billion from $991 million.

The higher earnings are partly due to savings from plant closures and job cuts. These moves should lower its annual costs by $100 million by the end of fiscal 2015.

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NVIDIA CORP. $12 (Nasdaq symbol NVDA; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 624.9 million; Market cap: $7.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.nvidia .com) is down 20% in the past year. That’s mainly because slowing sales of traditional computers are hurting demand for its graphic chips, which make computer video run more smoothly and appear more lifelike.

Nvidia continues to invest a high 24% of its revenue in research. That’s helping it expand into new areas, particularly chips for mobile devices. Its new Tegra chips now power Google and Microsoft’s new tablet computers.

As the world’s leading make of video chips, Nvidia will also benefit from several long-term trends. These include new video games with faster, more realistic characters and action. Device makers are also upgrading their smartphones and tablets with higher quality displays.

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MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL INC. $25 (Nasdaq symbol MDLZ; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $45.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 2.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.mondelezinternational.com) is one the world’s largest snack food makers. The company’s name means “delicious world” in Latin.

Mondelez makes cookies and biscuits (Oreo, Chips Ahoy, Ritz), chocolate bars (Cadbury, Toblerone) and gum and candy (Trident Chiclets, Halls cough drops). It also makes beverages, including coffee (Tassimo) and powdered fruit drinks (Tang), as well as grocery and cheese products for markets outside North America. Cookies and biscuits account for 30% of Mondelez’s sales, followed by chocolate (27%), beverages (17%), gum and candy (16%) and grocery products (10%). It gets 44% of its sales from developing markets, 37% from Europe and 19% from North America.

Mondelez is now restructuring its operations, including shutting down less-profitable plants and sales offices. Severance and other costs will total $925 million. The company also expects to pay $150 million in expenses related to the breakup from Kraft.

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CAE INC. (Toronto symbol CAE; www.cae.com) is the world’s leading maker of flight simulators for commercial airlines, with 70% of the market. It also makes simulators for military clients. The company began training pilots for its customers in 2001; it now has over 100 flight schools in 30 countries. CAE gets 50% of its revenue from military clients. That cuts its exposure to cyclical commercial airlines, which supply 45% of its revenue....

Even when stock markets are in an upward trend, they are still subject to sharp setbacks, such as the one triggered by the re-election of Barack Obama as president last week. Many investors seek to protect their profits against such reverses though the use of stop-loss orders. Before you try this approach, you should keep in mind that stop-loss orders have a number of risks that can cost you money. Here’s a look at this investing strategy, and some of the dangers you may be exposed to with stop-loss orders....

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions about specific stocks and other investment topics 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 the Inner Circle. This week, one question from an Inner Circle member concerned a fund that holds gold stocks. The fund’s high distributions give it a substantial dividend yield. Pat examines whether it can sustain its yield and also looks at its policy of using call options to boost returns....

TEMPUR-PEDIC $24.77 (New York symbol TPX; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (800-878-8889; www.tempurpedic.com; Shares outstanding: 59.6 million; Market cap: $1.5 billion; No dividends paid) makes and distributes Swedish mattresses and neck pillows made from its proprietary Tempur material, which conforms to the body to provide support and help alleviate pressure points.

Tempur-Pedic’s shares are down 69.7% since they hit an all-time high of $87.43 in April 2012. Competitors have introduced many new products and supported them with aggressive promotions. That has steadily pushed down Tempur-Pedic’s results.

In the three months ended September 30, 2012, revenue fell 9.2%, to $347.9 million from $383.1 million a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, earnings per share fell 22.2%, to $0.70 from $0.90.

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INTUITIVE SURGICAL $526.46 (Nasdaq symbol ISRG; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (515-507-5000; www.intuitivesurgical.com; Shares outstanding: 39.8 million; Market cap: $21.0 billion; No dividends paid) makes the da Vinci, a computerized surgical system.

Guided by a miniature camera connected to a 3-D monitor, surgeons use the da Vinci to operate by remotely manipulating tiny robotic arms. This process is safer and much less invasive than regular surgery, and helps cut a patient’s recovery time and post-operative discomfort. It also reduces scarring and infection risk.

In the three months ended September 30, 2012, Intuitive earned $183.3 million, or $4.59 a share. That’s up sharply from $122.4 million, or $3.13 a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 20.4%, to $537.8 million from $446.7 million. Intuitive is debt-free, and holds cash of $2.7 billion, or $67.67 a share.

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