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ISHARES S&P/TSX GLOBAL GOLD INDEX FUND $19.69 (Toronto symbol XGD; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) aims to mirror the performance of the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index.

This index is made up of 58 gold stocks from Canada and around the world. The fund’s MER is 0.55%. iShares S&P/TSX Global Gold Index Fund began trading on March 23, 2001.

The fund’s top 10 holdings are Barrick Gold at 16.0%; Goldcorp., 13.8%; Newmont Mining, 10.5%; Yamana Gold, 5.3%; AngloGold Ashanti (ADR), 5.1%; Kinross, 4.2%; Eldorado Gold, 3.9%; Randgold Resources, 3.9% Gold Fields (ADR), 3.7%; and Agnico-Eagle Mines, 3.4%.

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ENBRIDGE INC. $38.65 (Toronto symbol ENB; Shares outstanding: 796.9 million; Market cap: $30.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 2.9%; www.enbridge.com) recently finished repairing its leaking oil pipeline in Wisconsin.

The company has faced criticism over leaks like this. That could hurt its proposed $5.5- billion Northern Gateway project, which would pump oil from Edmonton to Kitimat, B.C.

However, Enbridge still has a strong safety record, and it has pledged to spend an extra $500 million on safety for Northern Gateway. This investment includes thicker steel at river crossings, 50% more inspections and aroundthe- clock staffing at remote pumping stations.

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CENOVUS ENERGY $31.99 (Toronto symbol CVE; Shares outstanding: 754.7 million; Market cap: $24.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 2.8%; www.cenovus.com) operates three oil sands projects in Alberta and one in Saskatchewan. The company ships the heavy bitumen from these assets to refineries in Illinois and Texas. ConocoPhillips (New York symbol COP) owns 50% of these refineries and 50% of Cenovus’s two main oil sands projects. Cenovus also owns conventional oil and natural gas properties.

In the three months ended June 30, 2012, Cenovus’s cash flow per share fell 1.6%, to $1.22 from $1.24 a year earlier. Lower oil prices offset a 27.8% increase in production, to 155,566 barrels of oil per day from 121,762 barrels.

Cenovus has started producing oil at the fourth phase of its Christina Lake oil sands project in Alberta. The startup is three months ahead of schedule and within budget. ConocoPhillips owns 50% of Christina Lake.

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ENCANA CORP $21.36 (Toronto symbol ECA; Shares outstanding: 736.3 million; Market cap: $15.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 3.9%; www.encana.com) is one of North America’s largest natural gas producers. Its reserves should last over 11 years.

Encana’s cash flow was $1.08 a share in the three months ended June 30, 2012 (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). That’s down 27.0% from $1.48 a share, a year earlier.

Natural gas accounts for 95% of Encana’s production. In response to falling gas prices, the company lowered its output during the quarter; this was the main reason for the lower cash flow.

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LOBLAW CO. $34.12 (Toronto symbol L; Shares outstanding: 281.4 million; Market cap: $9.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 2.5%; www.loblaw.ca) continues to invest in new computers as part of a far-reaching plan to improve its efficiency and avoid product shortages in its stores.

In the three months ended June 16, 2012, the company spent $20 million on these initiatives. That’s the main reason why its earnings fell 19.3% in the quarter, to $159 million, or $0.57 a share, from $197 million, or $0.70 a share, a year earlier.

Sales rose 1.3%, to $7.4 billion from $7.3 billion. Overall sales at its supermarkets rose 1.1%, while same-store sales rose 0.2%. Revenue from its financial-services division, which mainly issues credit cards, rose 14.9%.

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MARKET VECTORS VIETNAM ETF $16.84 (New York symbol VNM; buy or sell through brokers) holds shares of Vietnamese companies or foreign firms that get a significant amount of their revenue from Vietnam.

The ETF’s top 10 holdings are Vietin Commercial Bank, 8.1%; Vincom Corp. (real estate), 7.4%; PetroVietnam Fertilizer and Chemical, 7.2%; Talisman Energy (a Canadian producer with interests off Vietnam’s coast), 6.5%; JSC Bank, 5.9%; Premier Oil (a U.K.-based producer with a 53.1% stake in the huge Chim Sao oil project off southern Vietnam), 5.3%; Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (an India-based oil and gas company), 5.1%; Baoviet Holdings (finance and insurance), 4.7%; Gamuda Bhd (a Malaysiabased construction group), 4.6%; and Charoen Pokp-hand Foods (a Thailand-based food conglomerate),4.2%.

Market Vectors Vietnam ETF’s industry breakdown is as follows: Financials, 44.0%; Energy, 26.4%; Industrials, 11.2%; Materials, 7.9%; Consumer Discretionary, 4.3%; Consumer Staples, 4.1%; and Utilities, 2.2%. Its expense ratio is 0.76%.

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ISHARES FTSE/XINHUA CHINA 25 INDEX FUND $32.17 (New York symbol FXI; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that aims to track the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index, which is made up of the 25 largest and most liquid Chinese stocks. All of the stocks in the index trade on the Hong Kong exchange. Some also trade as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on the New York exchange.

The fund’s top holdings are China Mobile, 10.3%; China Construction Bank, 8.4%; Industrial & Commercial Bank, 7.6%; CNOOC, 7.0%; Bank of China, 5.9%; China Telecom, 4.8%; China Unicom (Hong Kong), 4.6%; China Life Insurance, 4.6%; China Shenhua, 4.3%; and China Petroleum and Chemical, 4.0%.

The fund’s holdings give it the following industry breakdown: Financials, 53.1%; Telecommunications, 19.7%; Oil and Gas, 14.6%; Basic Materials, 9.8%; and Industrials, 1.9%. Its expense ratio is 0.72%.

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TORSTAR CORP. $8.54 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Shares outstanding: 79.9 million; Market cap: $680.7 million; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 6.2%; www.torstar.com) continues to add to its growing number of Internet businesses.

The company recently paid an undisclosed sum for TargetVacations.ca, a website that lets users buy vacation packages and book flights, cruises and hotel rooms.

This purchase looks like a nice fit with Jaunt.ca, Torstar’s other travel-related website.

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VANGUARD GROWTH ETF $71.07 (New York symbol VUG; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the MSCI U.S. Prime Market Growth Index, a broadly diversified index that mainly consists of shares of large U.S. companies. Its MER is just 0.10%.

The $25.2-billion fund’s top holdings are Apple, IBM, Google, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Philip Morris International, Oracle, Wal-Mart, Schlumberger and Qualcomm.

Vanguard Growth ETF’s breakdown by industry is as follows: Information Technology (32.2%), Consumer Discretionary (18.1%), Industrials (11.8%), Consumer Staples (11.6%), Health Care (10.2%), Energy (6.5%), Financials (5.3%), Materials (3.8%), Telecommunication Services (0.4%) and Utilities (0.1%).

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VANGUARD EMERGING MARKETS ETF $39.71 (New York symbol VWO; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which is made up of common stocks of companies located in developing countries around the world. The fund has an MER of just 0.20%.

Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF’s top holdings include Samsung Electronics Co. (South Korea), China Mobile (China: wireless), Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Brazil: oil and gas), Taiwan Semiconductor (Taiwan: computer chips), Vale SA (Brazil: mining), America Movil SAB de CV (Latin America: wireless), Gazprom (Russia: gas utility), China Construction Bank, Itau Unibanco Holding SA (Brazil: banking), Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, CNOOC Ltd. (China: oil and gas) and China Life Insurance.

The $65.7-billion fund’s breakdown by country is as follows: China (17.4%), South Korea (15.2%), Brazil (15.1%), Taiwan (10.9%), South Africa (7.4%), India (7.3%), Russia (7.1%), Mexico (4.4%), Malaysia (3.2%), Indonesia (2.8%), Thailand (1.9%), Poland (1.7%), Chile (1.6%), Turkey (1.3%) and Other (2.7%).

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TRANSCANADA CORP. $44.88 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 704.5 million; Market cap: $31.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.9%; www.transcanada.com) has won a contract to build and operate a 90-kilometre pipeline that will pump bitumen from the Fort Hills oil sands project to an upgrading facility near Fort McMurray, Alberta.

This new line, called the Northern Courier Pipeline, will cost $660 million.

Regulators still need to approve the project. TransCanada will submit an initial application in late 2012; it hasn’t said when it would begin construction.

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VERESEN $12.77 (Toronto symbol VSN; Shares outstanding: 196.3 million; Market cap: $2.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Yield: 7.8%) owns pipelines, power plants and natural gas processing facilities across North America. One of its major holdings is 50% of the Alliance gas pipeline, which runs 3,000 kilometres between Chicago and Fort St. John, B.C. Enbridge owns the other 50%.

The company also owns the Alberta Ethane Gathering System, and Veresen and Enbridge together hold 85.4% of the Aux Sable natural gas liquids plant.

In December 2011, Veresen paid Encana Corp. $920 million for the Hythe/Steeprock natural gas gathering and processing complex in the Montney region of B.C. and Alberta. Encana has agreed to purchase most of the facility’s gas under a long-term contract.

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PEMBINA PIPELINE $26.86 (Toronto symbol PPL; Shares outstanding: 288.7 million; Market cap: $7.8 billion; TSI Network Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 6.0%; www.pembina.com) owns pipeline systems that transport half of Alberta’s conventional oil production, 30% of the natural gas liquids (NGLs) produced in Western Canada and virtually all of B.C.’s conventional oil output.

In the three months ended June 30, 2012, revenue rose 70.0%, to $870.9 million from $512.4 million a year earlier. In January 2012, it bought rival Provident Energy, which extracts, transports and stores NGLs, for $3.2 billion. Provident’s contribution was the main reason for the higher revenue.

Cash flow rose 9.4%, to $89.5 million from $81.8 million. However, cash flow per share fell 36.7%, to $0.31 from $0.49, because the company issued more shares to pay for Provident. Lower NGL prices held back Provident’s cash flow in the latest quarter. But over the longer term, the company should be a good fit with Pembina because it diversifies its business and provides additional growth prospects.

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BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $52.46 (Toronto symbol BNS: Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $57.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Div. yield: 4.4%, www.scotiabank.com) has agreed to buy ING Bank of Canada, which operates as ING Direct, from Netherlands-based ING Group.

ING Direct offers a wide variety of no-fee banking services, mainly over the Internet. It has 1.8 million customers and $30 billion in deposits. Bank of Nova Scotia will keep ING Direct as a separate business.

The bank will pay $3.1 billion for ING Direct when the deal closes in December 2012. However, ING Direct holds cash of $1.2 billion, so the real cost is around $1.9 billion.

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IMPERIAL OIL $46.36 (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $39.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.0%; www.imperialoil.ca) is a major integrated oil company with oil sands projects in Alberta, and conventional oil and gas operations in Western Canada. It also owns four refineries and operates 1,850 Esso gas stations.

In the three months ended June 30, 2012, Imperial’s earnings fell 12.5%, to $635 million, or $0.75 a share, on lower oil and gas prices. A year earlier, it earned $726 million, or $0.85 a share. Revenue fell 3.3%, to $7.5 billion from $7.8 billion. However, cash flow per share rose 0.9%, to $1.09 from $1.08.

Imperial’s production is set to keep rising thanks to its new oil sands operations, including the $10.9-billion Kearl project, which is more than 94% complete. Imperial owns 71% of Kearl. ExxonMobil (New York symbol XOM) owns the remaining 29%. Exxon also holds a 69.6% interest in Imperial.

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METRO INC. $58 (Toronto symbol MRU; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 97.1 million; Market cap: $5.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.metro.ca) continues to benefit from its October 2011 purchase of a 55% stake in Marché Adonis, which sells Mediterranean-style foods through five stores in Quebec. It also distributes foods to other retailers through warehouses in Montreal and Toronto.

In its fiscal 2012 third quarter, which ended July 2, 2012, Metro’s sales rose 3.8%, to $3.7 billion from $3.6 billion a year earlier. Marché added $81.3 million to Metro’s sales in the latest quarter. A new loyalty rewards program in Quebec and the company’s focus on fresh products are also encouraging repeat visits. Same-store sales rose 1.0% at its 600 supermarkets in Quebec and Ontario.

The higher sales helped increase Metro’s earnings by 16.0%, to $147.4 million from $127.1 million. Earnings per share rose 18.7%, to $1.46 from $1.23, on fewer shares outstanding.

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CANADA BREAD CO. LTD. $44 (www.canadabread.ca) reported that its sales fell 0.3% in the three months ended June 30, 2012, to $404.9 million from $406.2 million a year earlier. That’s mainly because it closed an older bakery in Toronto as part of a restructuring plan....

CAE INC. $10 (www.cae.com) has won contracts to build flight simulators and upgrade other pilot training equipment for military clients in the U.K., India and Oman. In all, these deals are worth $55 million. That’s equal to 3% of CAE’s annual revenue of $1.9 billion. Best Buy.

CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE $77 (www.cibc.com) earned $2.06 a share in the three months ended July 31, 2012. That’s up 6.7% from $1.93 a year earlier. Loan demand remained strong in Canada, and profits rose at the bank’s wealth management and capital markets divisions....

GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $22 (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 949.8 million; Market cap: $20.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend Yield: 5.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s largest insurance company, with $523.6 billion of assets under administration. It also sells mutual funds and retirement planning and wealth management services. Power Financial Corp. (Toronto symbol PFC) owns 68.2% of Great-West.

Top brands are a big plus

In Canada, the company sells its products under several well-known banners, including Great West Life, Canada Life and Freedom 55. The Canadian division supplies 51% of Great-West’s earnings.

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TORONTO-DOMINION BANK $81 (Toronto symbol TD; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 911.7 million; Market cap: $73.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield: 3.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.td.com) earned $1.8 billion in the quarter ended July 31, 2012. That’s up 11.3% from $1.6 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 9.1%, to $1.91 from $1.75, on more shares outstanding. Revenue rose 8.5%, to $5.8 billion from $5.4 billion.

Low interest rates continue to spur loan demand. As well, last year’s purchases of MBNA’s Canadian credit card operations and Chrysler Financial, which provides car loans to buyers of Chrysler vehicles, also contributed to the higher earnings.

The bank set aside $438 million to cover bad loans in the latest quarter, up 15.3% from $380 million. However, that’s mainly due to the extra loans from the MBNA purchase.

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POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN $41 (Toronto symbol POT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 859.1 million; Market cap: $35.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.2; Dividend yield: 1.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.potashcorp.com) expects global potash demand to rise to between 56 million tonnes and 60 million tonnes in 2013 from 53 million tonnes in 2012.

The recent drought in the U.S. has pushed up prices for wheat, corn and other crops. That’s prompting farmers to apply more fertilizer to increase their crop yields.

However, potash inventories have risen lately as big buyers like China and India negotiate new supply contracts. In response, the company will shut down its main potash mine in Saskatchewan for one month.

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TIM HORTONS INC. $50 (Toronto symbol THI; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 154.9 million; Market cap: $7.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.6; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.timhortons.com) aims to take advantage of fastgrowing interest in home coffee systems.

Under a new agreement, Kraft Foods Inc. (Nasdaq symbol KFT) and Tim Hortons will make and sell plastic cups, called T-Discs, filled with Tim Hortons coffee and sealed with a foil top. Kraft’s Tassimo beverage machine pierces the foil and brews a fresh single cup. The Tassimo system also scans a barcode on the T-Disc that tells it how much water to use, how long to brew the coffee and how hot it should be.

Tim Hortons plans to start selling T-Discs online and in its 3,000 Canadian outlets in October 2012.

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BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $53 (Toronto symbol BNS; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $58.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 4.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.scotiabank.com) continues to build on its extensive international operations....

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $28 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Units outstanding: 263.4 million; Market cap: $7.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.2; Dividend yield: 4.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.riocan.com) is ending its joint venture with Cedar Shopping Centers (New York symbol CDR). RioCan holds 80% of this venture, which owns 22 malls in the U.S.

Under the terms of the deal, RioCan will buy Cedar’s 20% stake in 21 malls, while Cedar will buy RioCan’s 80% stake in another mall. RioCan will pay Cedar $39.0 million. That’s equal to 37% of its second quarter cash flow of $106.0 million, or $0.37 a unit.

RioCan is a buy.

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