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STANTEC INC. $36.68 (Toronto symbol STN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (780-917-7288; www.stantec.com; Shares outstanding: 45.9 million; Market cap: $1.7 billion; Dividend yield: 1.6%) sells a range of consulting, project delivery, design and technology services. Stantec’s clients operate in a variety of industries, including transportation, construction and oil and gas.

In the three months ended September 30, 2012, Stantec’s revenue rose 12.4%, to $483.7 million from $430.4 million a year earlier. Acquisitions were one reason for the gains. Stantec is also working on several new projects. Earnings rose 17.9%, to $34.1 million, or $0.74 a share, from $28.9 million, or $0.63.

Stantec continues to grow by acquisition. In 2011, it bought five companies. Its purchases this year include engineering-consulting firm Cimarron Engineering, which develops, designs, installs and maintains oil and gas pipeline systems and station facilities. Demand for these services is growing quickly.

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WESTJET AIRLINES $18.55 (Toronto symbol WJA; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1- 877-493-7853; www.westjet.com; Shares outstanding: 126.9 million; Market cap: $2.4 billion; Dividend yield: 1.7%) reports that its revenue rose 11.8% in the three months ended September 30, 2012, to $866.5 million from $775.3 million a year earlier.

Earnings jumped 79.9%, to $70.6 million from $39.3 million. That’s a new record for the second quarter. The higher revenue pushed up the company’s earnings.

WestJet aims to start up its new shorthaul Canadian regional airline, which it has now named WestJet Encore, by the end of 2013. Encore will serve smaller centres with Bombardier turboprop planes.

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FIRSTSERVICE CORP. $28.69 (Toronto symbol FSV; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (416-960-9500; www.firstservice.com; Shares outstanding: 28.7 million; Market cap: $823.4 million; No dividends paid) provides services to the real estate industry. It sells and manages commercial real estate, manages residential buildings such as condos and rental apartments and provides property services like inspections, maintenance and repairs.

The company’s revenue rose slightly in the three months ended September 30, 2012, to $589.8 million from $585.4 million a year earlier (all figures except share price in U.S. dollars). Excluding one-time items, earnings per share fell 1.6%, to $0.60 from $0.61.

Revenue rose at two of FirstService’s three divisions: commercial real estate (up 17%) and residential property management (up 9%).

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REITMANS (CANADA) LTD. $11.98 (Toronto symbol RET.A; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (514- 384-1140; www.reitmans.com; Shares outstanding: 65.5 million; Market cap: $784.7 million; Dividend yield: 6.7%) owns 918 women’s clothing stores across Canada.

The chain consists of 360 Reitmans, 154 Penningtons, 152 Smart Set, 110 Addition Elle, 74 Thyme Maternity and 68 RW & Co. stores.

In the three months ended July 28, 2012, Reitmans earned $27.4 million, or $0.42 a share. That was down 12.5% from $31.7 million, or $0.48 a share, a year earlier. Revenue was down 2.2%, to $279.5 million from $286.1 million. Same-store sales declined 1.3%.

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IAMGOLD $11.98 (Toronto symbol IMG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-888-464- 9999; www.iamgold.com; Shares outstanding: 376.5 million; Market cap: $4.5 billion; Dividend yield: 2.1%) fell 23% after it reported cash flow of $0.30 a share in the three months ended September 30, 2012. That was down sharply from $0.46 a share a year earlier.

Gold prices remained steady, but production fell 7.7%, to 205,000 ounces from 225,000 ounces. IAMGold gets 85% of its production from mines it owns and operates, but output continues to lag at its other mines.

IAMGold’s longer-term prospects are strong—new mines will double its production within five years. It also holds cash of $1.1 billion. However, its short-term growth prospects have slowed.

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DUNDEE REIT $34.37 (Toronto symbol D.UN; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (416-365-3535; www.dundeereit.com; Shares outstanding: 97.0 million; Market cap: $3.3 billion; Dividend yield: 6.4%) 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 September 30, 2012, Dundee REIT’s revenue jumped 71.6%, to $187.3 million from $109.2 million a year earlier. Most of the increase came from properties the trust recently purchased.

Cash flow jumped 67.5%, to $61.3 million from $36.6 million. Cash flow per unit rose 5.2%, to $0.61 from $0.58, on more units outstanding (the trust issued new units to pay for the acquired properties). The units yield 6.4%.

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CHEMTRADE LOGISTICS INCOME FUND $15.49 (Toronto symbol CHE.UN; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (416-496-5856; www.chemtradelogistics. com; Units outstanding: 41.7 million; Market cap: $645.9 million; Dividend yield: 7.8%) 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.

In June 2011, Chemtrade bought Marsulex Inc. for $419.5 million. Marsulex provides a range of environmental services, including improving air quality and treating and handling industrial waste.

In the three months ended September 30, 2012, Chemtrade’s revenue fell 10.3%, to $240.9 million from $268.5 million a year earlier. Cash flow per unit fell 25.0%, to $0.72 from $0.96. However, the decline was mostly due to a one-time accounting charge. The 2011 quarter was also particularly strong.

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DELPHI ENERGY $1.16 (Toronto symbol DEE; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403- 265-6171; www.delphienergy.ca; Shares outstanding: 131.2 million; Market cap: $152.2 million; No dividends paid) has raised $33 million in two share issues: the company sold 17.2 million shares at $1.45 each and 4.6 million shares for $1.75 each.

The company produces and explores for oil (about 75% of production) and natural gas (25% of production).

Delphi plans to use the proceeds from the share issues to pay down debt. As of June 30, 2012, its long-term debt was $134.4 million. That’s a high 88% of its $152.2-million market cap (or the value of all of its outstanding shares). However, that mainly reflects the drop in the company’s share price due to lower natural gas prices.

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CIMAREX ENERGY $60.76 (New York symbol XEC; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (303-295-3995; www.cimarex.com; Shares outstanding: 86.0 million; Market cap: $5.2 billion; Dividend yield: 0.8%) produces and explores for oil and natural gas. Gas makes up 53% of its output.

Cimarex’s properties are in the Mid-Continent region of the U.S., which includes Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas; the Permian Basin of western Texas and southeastern New Mexico; and the Texas Gulf Coast.

In the three months ended September 30, 2012, Cimarex’s production averaged 635.1 million cubic feet of natural gas equivalent per day (including oil). That’s up 7.3%, from 592.0 million cubic feet a year earlier.

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DEVON ENERGY CORP. $53.06 (New York symbol DVN; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (405-235- 3611; www.dvn.com; Shares outstanding: 404.5 million; Market cap: $21.5 billion; Dividend yield: 1.5%) is one of the largest U.S.-based oil and natural gas explorers and producers. Its production mix is 63% gas and 37% oil.

Last year, Devon sold all of its international and Gulf of Mexico properties, which it saw as risky and expensive to develop. The company is now focused on its North American projects, which include conventional production, shale oil in Texas and oil sands in Alberta.

Devon is forming joint ventures to cut the risk of its big development projects. Earlier this year, it sold a one-third stake in shale oil and gas fields in five U.S. states to giant Chinese state-owned petroleum and chemical firm Sinopec for $2.2 billion. More recently, Japan’s Sumitomo Corp. agreed to buy 30% of the Cline and Wolfcamp shales in Texas for $1.4 billion.

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LEON’S FURNITURE LTD. $11.30 (Toronto symbol LNF; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (416 -243-7880; www.leons.ca; Shares outstanding: 70.0 million; Market cap: $791.0 million; Dividend yield: 3.5%) is nearly doubling its market cap by acquiring rival furniture chain The Brick (Toronto symbol BRK) for $700 million.

The Brick operates 230 stores across Canada, while Leon’s has 76 outlets in every province except B.C. Leon’s and The Brick will continue to operate as separate chains.

Growth by acquisition can be risky, especially with a deal this big. But the Brick looks like a good fit with Leon’s.

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DOREL INDUSTRIES $37.83 (Toronto symbol DII.B; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (514-731-0000; www.dorel.com; Shares outstanding: 31.5 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; Dividend yield: 3.2%) makes a wide range of products, including ready-to-assemble home and office furniture; juvenile products, such as car seats, strollers, high chairs, toddler beds and cribs; and recreational products, mostly bicycles.

In the three months ended September 30, 2012, Dorel’s sales rose 6.5%, to $613.3 million from $575.8 million a year earlier (all figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Excluding one-time items, earnings per share jumped 37.0%, to $0.63 from $0.46.

The company’s juvenile products division reported steadily rising sales of infant and children’s merchandise in North America and Europe, as well as strong gains in Chile. Sales of Schwinn and Mongoose bicycles also rose.

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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 investment advice on stocks and other topics that will help you develop a successful approach to investing. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental tip and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Today’s tip: “When you look at the way some investments are marketed to investors, you may find that the supposed benefits are actually drawbacks.”...

We think conservative investors could hold up to 10% of their portfolios in foreign stocks. One way to do that is to buy carefully chosen exchange traded funds (ETFs) that have an overseas focus. The best ETFs offer very low management fees and well-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios of high quality stocks. ISHARES MSCI JAPAN INDEX FUND (American Exchange symbol EWJ; us.ishares.com) is an exchange traded fund that tries to match the return of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Japan index....

As they come closer to retirement, some investors decide that they are too old to assume any investment risk. That attitude is often abetted by advisors who recommend that they move a larger part of their investments from stocks to bonds and other fixed-return investments. To some extent, this is an understandable strategy, since bonds provide steady income and a guarantee to repay the principal at maturity....

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 one of the more versatile resource stocks in Canada. This company provides housing and a variety of other essential services for remote oil and gas rigs and mining sites. Pat looks at the company’s prospects for growth and its plans to begin making acquisitions in foreign markets....

From time to time, we are asked about ethical investing (or “socially responsible investing”). I’d say it works as a marketing angle for a handful of small investment companies, and it may make you feel better about your investments. But it won’t do much to improve your investment results, or cut down on what you see as unethical corporate behaviour. If you refuse to invest in an ethically questionable company, you don’t hurt the company. But you do help others who are willing to invest in the company, because they get to buy it a little cheaper....

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 advice on how to trade stocks and other investment topics that will help you develop a successful approach to investing. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental tip and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Today’s tip: “Practice accounts are advertised as a good way to learn how to invest, but they can encourage investors to develop bad habits.”...

PEYTO EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT CORP. $24.65 (Toronto symbol PEY; Shares outstanding: 143.9 million; Market cap: $3.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 2.9%; www.peyto.com) produces and explores for oil and natural gas in Alberta.

Peyto’s average daily production of 41,343 barrels of oil equivalent is 89% gas and 11% oil.

In the three months ended June 30, 2012, the company’s cash flow was $0.47 a share, down 16.1% from $0.56 a share a year earlier. Lower gas prices offset a 20.0% rise in production.

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BONAVISTA ENERGY $18.01 (Toronto symbol BNP; Shares outstanding: 169.2 million; Market cap: $3.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 8.0%; www.bonavistaenergy.com) explores for oil and natural gas in Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C.

Bonavista produces an average of 69,506 barrels of oil equivalent per day, weighted 61% to gas and 39% to oil.

In the three months ended June 30, 2012, the company’s cash flow per share fell 44.3%, to $0.49 from $0.88 a year earlier. Lower gas prices more than offset a 5.3% production increase.

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IBM $210.51 (New York symbol IBM; Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $231.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 1.7%) continues to expand its software business. In the latest quarter, software accounted for 24% of its total revenue and 43% of its pre-tax earnings.

The company recently paid an undisclosed sum for U.K.-based Butterfly Software Ltd. Businesses use this private firm’s software to collect data from older computers and securely transfer it to remote servers.

Butterfly’s products nicely complement IBM’s growing analytics software operations, which help companies quickly gather and analyze a wide range of information.

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TRANSCANADA CORP. $45.02 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 704.9 million; Market cap: $31.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.9%; www.transcanada.com) has settled its dispute with the Ontario government.

In 2009, the company agreed to build a natural-gas-fired power plant in Oakville, Ontario. However, the provincial government cancelled the project in 2010.

This week, TransCanada agreed to build a new gas-fired power plant on the grounds of the Lennox generating station near Napanee in eastern Ontario.

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POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $69.11 (Nasdaq symbol QQQQ; buy or sell through brokers; www.invescopowershares. com), formerly called Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares, holds the stocks that represent the Nasdaq 100 Index. That index is made up of the 100 largest shares on the Nasdaq exchange, based on market cap.

The Nasdaq 100 Index contains shares of companies in a number of major industries, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain financial companies. The fund’s expenses are about 0.20% of its assets. The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Google, Cisco Systems, Intel, Amazon.com, Oracle Corp., Comcast Corp. and Kraft Foods Inc.

SPDR DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE ETF $134.68 (New York symbol DIA; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The fund’s top holdings are IBM, ExxonMobil, Chevron Corp., 3M, Wal-Mart Stores, McDonald’s Corp., Procter & Gamble, Caterpillar Inc., United Technologies and Boeing. The fund’s expenses are about 0.18% of its assets.

SPDR Dow Jones ETF is a buy.

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SPDR S&P 500 ETF $145.09 (New York symbol SPY; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the stocks in the S&P 500 Index, which consists of 500 major U.S. stocks that are chosen based on their market cap, liquidity and industry group.

The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple Inc., ExxonMobil, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Wells Fargo & Co., Johnson & Johnson, IBM, Chevron, General Electric, Pfizer Inc., Coca-Cola Co., Google and AT&T.

The fund’s expenses are just 0.10% of its assets.

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