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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....

CALIAN TECHNOLOGIES $20.80 (Toronto symbol CTY; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (613- 599-8600; www.calian.com; Shares outstanding: 7.6 million; Market cap: $158.1 million; Dividend yield: 5.4%) has reported improved results in the latest quarter. In the three months ended September 30, 2012, Calian earned $3.4 million, or $0.44 a share. That’s up slightly from $3.3 million, or $0.43 a share, a year ago. Revenue rose 4.9%, to $58.1 million from $55.4 million. Calian’s Business and Technology Services division, which provides 70% of the company’s overall revenue, continues to benefit from steady orders from various Canadian federal government departments, including the Department of National Defence....

REITMANS (CANADA) LTD. $11.75 (Toronto symbol RET.A; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (514- 384-1140; www.reitmans.com; Shares outstanding: 65.5 million; Market cap: $769.6 million; Dividend yield: 6.8%) reports that its sales fell 7.0% in the three months ended October 27, 2012, to $236.2 million from $254.1 million a year earlier. Same-store sales declined 4.0%. The company earned $38,000, or nil per share, compared to a profit of $10.6 million, or $0.16 a share, a year earlier. In June 2012, Reitmans installed new inventorymanagement software at its distribution centre, and complications with this system have disrupted shipments to its stores. In the latest quarter, that cut sales at the company’s outlets by $7 million to $15 million and caused a corresponding drop in profits....

TOROMONT INDUSTRIES LTD. $21.77 (Toronto symbol TIH; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (416-667-5511; www.toromont.com; Shares outstanding: 76.3 million; Market cap: $1.6 billion; Dividend yield: 2.2%) distributes a broad range of industrial equipment, including machinery made by Caterpillar Inc. Toromont also makes refrigeration systems through its CIMCO division. In July 2011, the company completed the spinoff of Enerflex Ltd. (see at right). Shareholders received shares of the new Toromont and shares of Enerflex. Sales and profits keep rising...

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions about specific stock market advice 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 members of Pat’s Inner Circle. This week, one question from an Inner Circle member concerned a leading Canadian waste company. This firm has made several acquisitions, and Pat takes a detailed look at the company’s strategy and the risks it takes in order to pursue the potential rewards of growth by acquisition. ...

Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a new or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you specific investment advice, including stock trading advice that can help you reduce the risk of more aggressive investing. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental piece of investing strategy, and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Today’s tip: “Thin-trading stocks can produce good results if you can manage the risk and identify stocks with real growth prospects.”...

PRECISION DRILLING CORP. (Toronto symbol PD; www.precisiondrilling.com) provides contract-drilling services to land-based oil and gas producers, mainly in North America. It had 363 rigs in service as of September 30, 2012. The company is slowly expanding its international operations: it now has a total of eight rigs in Mexico and Saudi Arabia. Precision’s overseas business now accounts for 5% of its revenue, up from just 1% a year ago....

Too much investor attention tends to be focused on economic forecasts. The fact is, forecasts provide little, if any, advantage when it comes to helpful stock market advice. That’s especially true today in light of the uncertainty over America’s looming “fiscal cliff” and the bitter political debate over how to tackle that country’s federal budget deficit and exploding debt....

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions about specific stock market investments 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 members of Pat’s Inner Circle. This week, one Inner Circle member asked us about one U.S. stock that sells three popular fast food items—donuts, coffee and ice cream. Pat looks at the company’s chances to expand in the U.S. and overseas and also examines its venture in the fast-growing business of K-Cups for home coffee machines....

Asset allocation funds are mutual funds whose managers believe they can improve returns and/or reduce risk by switching back and forth among stocks, bonds and cash. Many in the investment industry promote these funds as a simple and profitable way to assemble a diversified portfolio. But as is so often the case with such investment “products,” the results rarely live up to the hype....

Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a new or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you specific advice on investments, including errors to avoid when you are buying stocks. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental piece of investing strategy, and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Today’s tip: “If you can avoid these 3 common investor errors, you significantly improve your chances of achieving positive returns.”...

Dividends often don’t get the respect they deserve, especially from beginning investors. That’s because a dividend stock’s yearly 3% or 5% yield may not seem impressive alongside yearly capital gains of 10%, 20% or 30% or more. Yet dividends are far more reliable than capital gains. So with today’s low interest rates, investors are paying more attention to dividend yields (a company’s total annual dividends paid per share divided by the current stock price). That’s why the high dividend yield of a company like Bell Aliant stands out....

Knowing when to sell a stock is one of the keys to successful investing. That’s why we advise investors to follow an important rule when it comes to rising stocks. When prices go down, investors naturally focus on when to sell aggressive stocks. However, you also need to consider when to sell after strong moves up by hot stocks....

H&R REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $24.13 (Toronto symbol HR.UN; Units outstanding: 187.3 million; Market cap: $4.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 5.2%; www.hr-reit.com) has increased its distribution for the 10th consecutive quarter. The REIT began raising its payout in early 2010 with the goal of reaching an annual rate of $1.25 in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The latest increase of 4.2%, to $0.10417 per month from $0.10, lets it achieve that goal.

But its strong cash flow, up 35.1% to $0.50 a unit from $0.37 a year ago, prompted it to go further, raising its distribution by 8%, to $0.1125 per month, or $1.35 a year, starting in January 2013. That gives it a 5.6% yield.

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CANADIAN REIT $41.64 (Toronto symbol REF.UN; Units outstanding: 68.0 million; Market cap: $2.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 3.6%; www.creit.ca) owns over 190 properties, including retail, industrial and office buildings, located across Canada and in Chicago. These properties contain over 19.6 million square feet of leasable area. The trust’s occupancy rate is 94.7%.

In the three months ended June 30, 2012, million from $80.3 million a year earlier. Cash flow per unit rose 12.1%, to $0.65 from $0.58.

Canadian REIT added $298.5 million of properties in the first half of this year, including two office buildings, a further investment in the Dartmouth Crossing (the largest unenclosed mall in Atlantic Canada) and the completion of several development projects. That total also included 50% of Calgary Place, a 575,000-square-foot office and retail complex it bought for $156.0 million in April 2012.

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