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“Theme investing” can pay off from time to time. Recent investment themes have included renewable energy and emerging markets such as China and India. Today’s most popular investment themes include social media. However, theme investing can turn out badly for investors, especially those who get in late or forget about investment quality....

CALIAN TECHNOLOGIES (Toronto symbol CTY; www.calian.com) operates in two areas: the business and technology services division (which supplies 70% of Calian’s revenue) provides engineers, health care workers and other skilled professionals to clients on a contract basis. The systems engineering division (30% of revenue) sells hardware and software for testing, operating and managing satellite and other communication systems. In the three months ended June 30, 2012, Calian’s revenue rose 1.4%, to $59.3 million from $58.5 million a year earlier. Earnings rose slightly, to $3.48 million, or $0.45 a share, from $3.45 million, or $0.45 a share....

This is the time of year when many Canadians prepare to spend part or all of the coming winter in warmer weather down south. For some, this could raise the question of time-shares as an option for cheaper vacations. If you visit a resort this winter, you may receive an invitation to a party or other event whose object is to try to sell you and other guests time-shares. It could be worthwhile to attend, depending on what else you have to do. But our view is that investing your money in a time-share rarely provides you with any real advantage....

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions about buying 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 world’s biggest toy companies. Hasbro’s revenue and earnings fell off in the most recent quarter and Pat analyzes the company’s different divisions to see where future growth may come from....

MONSANTO CO. $86 (New York symbol MON, Aggressive Growth Portfolio; Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 534.6 million; Market cap: $46.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.4; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.monsanto.com) is a multinational firm that sells technology-based agricultural products, such as genetically modified seeds, to farmers, grain processors and food companies. Overseas markets account for about 45% of its revenue.

Monsanto has two business segments. Its Seeds and Genomics division, which supplies 73% of its total revenue, makes genetically modified seeds for corn, soybeans and other crops.

The company gets the remaining 27% of its sales from its Agricul- tural Productivity division, which makes herbicides for farmers under the Roundup brand. Roundup accounts for about 10% of Monsanto’s overall sales. The company also makes lawn and garden herbicides for consumers.

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MCGRAW-HILL COMPANIES INC. $55 (New York symbol MHP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 280.2 million; Market cap: $15.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; Dividend yield: 1.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mcgraw-hill.com) will soon split into two separate, publicly traded companies.

One of these new firms, McGraw-Hill Financial, will sell financial-information products. This business will include Standard & Poor’s, which provides credit ratings on bonds, and McGraw-Hill’s J.D. Power market- research firm. Right now, this division supplies 60% of McGraw-Hill’s total revenue.

The other company, McGraw-Hill Education Inc., will publish textbooks for schools and colleges. It sells its products in 28 countries and 65 languages.

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SNAP-ON INC. $76 (New York symbol SNA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 58.2 million; Market cap: $4.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.snapon.com) makes tools for auto mechanics. The company sells its products through a fleet of franchised vans that visit garages. It also makes specialized tools for mining companies, electrical power generators and other industrial customers.

Snap-On’s earnings rose 8.6% in the three months ended September 30, 2012, to $1.26 from $1.16 a year earlier. That’s mainly due to improved results from its financing division, which provides loans to help mechanics buy Snap-On tools. Revenue rose 3.0%, to $752.1 million from $729.9 million.

Snap-On is a buy.

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DIAGEO PLC ADRs $113 (New York symbol DEO; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; ADRs outstanding: 627.1 million; Market cap: $70.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.1; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.diageo.com) continues see strong demand for its top brands, such as Smirnoff vodka, Johnnie Walker scotch whisky and Captain Morgan rum, in fast-growing markets like Latin America and Africa. The company aims to get half of its sales from emerging markets by 2015, up from the current 40%.

In its fiscal 2013 first quarter, which ended September 30, 2012, Diageo’s sales rose 6% from a year earlier. If you exclude contributions from acquisitions, sales would have risen 5%.

Sales increased 6% in North America, 11% in Africa, 16% in Latin America and 2% in Asia. However, European sales fell 1%.

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FEDEX CORP. $91 (New York symbol FDX; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 314.1 million; Market cap: $28.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 0.6%; TSI Network Rating: Average; www.fedex.com) is seeing lower demand for its overnight international air delivery services. That’s because the uncertain economy is prompting shippers to use lower but cheaper forms of transportation, such as trucks and ships. In response, FedEx plans to lower its costs by replacing older planes and trucks with more fuel-efficient models. It is also cutting jobs and consolidating facilities.

The company expects these moves to increase its earnings by $1.7 billion by May 31, 2015, which is the end of its 2015 fiscal year. In its latest fiscal year, FedEx earned $2.1 billion, or $6.59 a share.

FedEx is a buy.

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PHILIPS ELECTRONICS N.V. ADRs $25 (New York symbol PHG; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $25.0 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 3.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.philips.com) continues to make progress with a major restructuring plan that includes cutting 4% of its workforce. This should save it 1.1 billion euros annually by 2015 (1 euro = $1.29 Canadian). It is also expanding its less-cyclical operations, such as medical equipment, and may sell its consumer electronics division.

Mainly due to savings from its restructuring, Philips’ earnings rose 30.8% in the three months ended September 30, 2012, to 170 million euros, or 0.18 euros per ADR (each American Depositary Receipt equals one Philips common share). A year earlier, it earned 130 million euros, or 0.14 euros per ADR. Sales rose 13.6%, to 6.1 billion euros from 5.4 billion euros.

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XEROX CORP. $6.48 (New York symbol XRX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.3 billion; Market cap: $8.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.xerox.com) now gets half of its sales from managing certain tasks, such as billing and accounting, for its clients. It sells these services under long-term ontracts. That gives it more predictable revenue streams than selling copiers and other hardware.

Still, demand for the company’s products and services is cyclical, and the stock will likely stay in a narrow range until global economic growth improves. Xerox’s $7.5-billion long-term debt is also a high 89% of its market cap. That means the company will likely put more of its future cash flow into debt repayments and less toward buying back shares or raising its dividend.

Xerox is a sell.

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WEYERHAEUSER CO. $28 (New York symbol WY; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 537.8 million; Market cap: $15.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; Dividend yield: 2.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.weyerhaeuser.com) is a leading maker of forest products, including paper and packaging.

The stock is up 48% since the start of 2012. That’s mainly because of signs that the U.S. housing market is starting to recover, which should spur lumber demand. However, paper prices remain depressed.

As well, Weyerhaeuser trades at a high 50.9 times its projected 2012 earnings of $0.55 a share. That makes it vulnerable to sudden drop if growth slows.

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STATE STREET CORP. $44 (New York symbol STT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 479.1 million; Market cap: $21.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.statestreet.com) has completed its $550-million purchase of the hedge fund management business of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (New York symbol GS). These operations should immediately add to its earnings.

Meanwhile, the company earned $473 million in the three months ended September 30, 2012. That’s down 0.6% from $476 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 3.1%, to $0.99 from $0.96, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue fell 2.7%, to $2.35 billion from $2.41 billion, as lower volumes hurt its trading division.

State Street is a buy.

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J.P. MORGAN CHASE & CO. $42 (New York symbol JPM; Income Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 3.8 billion; Market cap: $159.6 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 2.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.jpmorganchase .com) earned a record $5.7 billion in the three months ended September 30, 2012. That’s up 33.9% from $4.3 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 38.2%, to $1.40 from $1.02, on fewer shares outstanding.

More borrowers are paying back their loans on time. As a result, Morgan set aside $1.8 billion to cover bad loans in the quarter, down 25.8% from $2.4 billion a year earlier.

Low interest rates are also spurring demand for mortgages and credit cards. At the same time, the bank is seeing higher underwriting revenue as businesses issue more stocks and bonds. As a result, its overall revenue rose 5.8% in the quarter, to $25.1 billion from $23.8 billion.

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WELLS FARGO & CO. $34 (New York symbol WFC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 5.3 billion; Market cap: $180.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.wellsfargo.com) earned $4.9 billion, or $0.88 a share, in the three months ended September 30, 2012. That’s up 21.7% from $4.1 billion, or $0.72 a share, a year earlier.

The bank continues to do a good job of adjusting the terms of troubled loans it acquired when it bought rival banking firm Wachovia in 2008. In the latest quarter, it set aside $1.6 billion to cover bad loans, down 12.1% from $1.8 billion a year ago.

Revenue rose 8.0%, to $21.2 billion from $19.6 billion. Low interest rates continue to encourage businesses and consumers to take out loans. The wealth management division is also attracting more clients.

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MCDONALD’S CORP. $87 (New York symbol MCD; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $87.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.2; Dividend yield: 3.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.mcdonalds.com) is seeing stronger competition from other fast-food chains. The higher U.S. dollar is also undermining the value of its overseas profits.

In the three months ended September 30, 2012, the company’s sales fell 0.2%, to $7.15 billion from $7.17 billion a year earlier. However, if you exclude the negative impact of foreign exchange rates, sales would have risen 4%. Overall same-store sales rose 1.9% in the quarter.

Earnings fell 3.5%, to $1.46 billion from $1.51 billion. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share fell 1.4%, to $1.43 from $1.45. On a constant-currency basis, earnings per share would have risen 4%. The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 10.0%, to $0.77 a share from $0.70. The new annual rate of $3.08 yields 3.5%.

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PFIZER INC. $25 (New York symbol PFE; Income Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 7.5 billion; Market cap: $187.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 3.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.pfizer.com) has agreed to buy NextWave Pharmaceuticals Inc.

This private company has developed Quillivant XR, a liquid drug that treats attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Pfizer’s extensive marketing and distribution operations should help expand sales of Quillivant XR.

Based on future sales of this drug, this purchase could cost Pfizer a total of $700 million. That’s equal to 15% of the $4.7billion, or $0.62 a share, that it earned in the second quarter of 2012. The deal should close by the end of 2012.

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ABB LTD. ADRs $19 (New York symbol ABB; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 2.3 billion; Market cap: $43.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 3.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.abb.com) is a leading maker of power technologies for utilities, including transformers, transmission systems and circuit breakers. The Switzerland-based company also makes automation systems and robotics that industrial clients use to make their facilities more productive.

ABB has spent over $7.6 billion on acquisitions, including the cash these companies held, since the start of 2011. Expanding by acquisition adds risk, but these purchases have helped ABB expand into new regions. They also nicely complement its current products.

For example, in January 2011 ABB paid $4.2 billion for Arkansas-based Baldor Electric Co., which makes electric motors and related products, such as conveyor belts, fans and pumps.

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UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORP. $78 (New York symbol UTX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 911.8 million; Market cap: $71.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 2.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.utc.com) has six main businesses: Pratt & Whitney (aircraft engines); Otis (elevators); Carrier (heating and air-conditioning equipment); UTC Fire & Security (burglar alarms and fire-protection services); Sikorsky (helicopters); and Hamilton Sundstrand (aircraft controls).

In July 2012, the company completed its $18.4- billion acquisition of North Carolina-based Goodrich Corp., which makes aircraft parts, including landing gear, wheels and brakes.

Meanwhile, United Technologies earned $1.25 bil- lion in the three months ended September 30, 2012. That’s down 3.3% from $1.3 billion a year earlier. Because of more shares outstanding, earnings per share fell 4.2%, to $1.37 from $1.43.

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GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. $21 (New York symbol GE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 10.6 billion; Market cap: $222.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ge.com) is one of the world’s largest manufacturers. It makes equipment for generating and distributing electricity, such as turbines; aircraft engines; health care equipment; home appliances and lighting; and locomotives.

To cut the risk of further losses following the 2008 / 2009 financial crisis, the company continues to scale back its GE Capital subsidiary, which provides loans and other financial services to GE’s customers. This business now accounts for 31% of GE’s overall revenue and 45% of its earnings.

In the three months ended September 30, 2012, GE’s revenue rose 2.8%, to $36.3 billion from $35.4 billion a year earlier. Revenue from the industrial businesses rose 7.4%, partly because GE bought companies that supply equipment to oil and gas producers. That offset lower sales of wind-power gear. The company continues to shrink GE Capital. As a result, this division’s revenue fell 5.4%. Earnings rose 9.9%, to $3.8 billion from $3.5 billion. Because of fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 12.5%, to $0.36 from $0.32.

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MICROSOFT CORP. $28 (Nasdaq symbol MSFT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 8.4 billion; Market cap: $235.2 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 3.3; Dividend yield: 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.microsoft.com) has more than doubled its revenue and earnings in the past decade, thanks to steady demand for its Windows operating system and its Office suite of business programs. It has also increased its dividend from $0.08 a share in 2003 to $0.92 in 2012.

Even so, the stock has made little progress during this time. That’s partly because more people are using mobile devices instead of computers running Microsoft software.

The company hopes to take advantage of rising demand for mobile access with its new Windows 8 operating system, which will work with smartphones and tablet computers as well as traditional computers.

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When markets rebound, we tend to hear from more investors asking whether they should invest in junior mines. My first answer is that you should have your portfolio spread out among the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry, Resources & Commodities, the Consumer sector, Finance and Utilities). Still, junior mining stocks can play a role in that part of your portfolio you have for more aggressive investments. Even then, it is important to realize just how long the odds against success can be before you proceed....

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 stock trading tips and other investment advice 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: “Selling a poor performer may seem like an obvious way to improve your portfolio, but make sure you are not ditching a possible winner.”...

MOLSON COORS CANADA INC. (Toronto symbols TPX.A and TPX.B; www.molsoncoors.com) has completed its $3.4-billion purchase of StarBev LP, which owns nine breweries in Central and Eastern Europe (all amounts except share prices in U.S. dollars). In the three months ended June 30, 2012, this acquisition contributed $19.7 million to Molson Coors’s pre-tax earnings. That helped push up the company’s overall earnings by 8.0%, to $250.1 million from $231.6 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 12.2%, to $1.38 from $1.23, on fewer shares outstanding....

You’ll sometimes hear advisors or investors declare that they are contrarians. That means they believe it pays to go against the mood of the great mass of investors, as revealed to them by one or more of several indicators. These include discussions with friends and acquaintances, the positive or negative tone of media coverage, high or low levels of mutual fund cash holdings, the average sentiment of investor newsletters and so on....