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SPDR S&P CHINA ETF $63.27 (New York Exchange symbol GXC; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) is an exchange traded fund that aims to track the S&P China BMI Index, which is made up of all the publicly traded Chinese stocks that are available to foreign investors. Right now, SPDR S&P China ETF holds 184 stocks.

The $783.8-million fund’s top holdings are China Mobile, 9.1%; China Construction Bank, 6.9%; Baidu, 5.1%; CNOOC, 4.8%; Industrial & Commercial Bank, 4.7%; Tencent Holdings, 4.5%; Petro- China, 4.0%; Bank of China, 3.6%; China Life Insurance, 3.2%; and China Petroleum & Chemical, 2.3%.

The fund’s breakdown by industry is as follows: Financials, 31.7%; Oil and Gas, 15.2%; Information Technology, 13.2%; Telecommunication Services, 10.1%; Industrials, 10.4%; Consumer Staples, 5.0%; Consumer Discretionary, 4.3%; Basic Materials, 4.0%; Utilities, 2.8%; and Health Care, 1.7%.

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TRANSCANADA CORP. $45.95 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 704.4 million; Market cap: $32.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.3%; www.transcanada.com) operates 68,500 kilometres of pipelines that pump natural gas in Canada and the U.S.

The company also owns or has interests in over 10,800 megawatts of power generation. That includes Bruce Power LP, a nuclear power plant in Ontario.

In the three months ended June 30, 2012, TransCanada’s revenue rose slightly, to $1.81 billion from $1.80 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share fell 9.8%, to $0.46 from $0.51, mostly due to the negative impact of lower natural gas and power demand on its operations.

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ENBRIDGE INC. $40.50 (Toronto symbol ENB; Shares outstanding: 794.9 million; Market cap: $33.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 2.8%; www.enbridge.com) gets 80% of its revenue by operating pipelines that pump crude oil and natural gas from western Canada to eastern Canada and the U.S. The remaining 20% mainly comes from distributing gas to consumers in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and New York State.

Enbridge has spent over $12 billion on new growth projects in the past three years. This includes new pipelines to handle rising oil sands and shale gas production. Meanwhile, the company expects to complete another $13 billion in projects by the end of 2015. Additional projects are likely to follow.

In the three months ended June 30, 2012, revenue fell 17.5%, to $5.7 billion from $6.9 billion on lower gas prices. However, earnings per share before one-time items rose 5.9%, to $0.36 from $0.34.

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No experienced, successful investor will be surprised at the suspicions that cling to hedge funds in the wake of repeated financial crises. When that much money floods into an investment area that fast, unpleasant financial events are bound to happen. The huge investment attracts unscrupulous characters, and converts more than a few amoral individuals into thieves. The returns in Bernie Madoff’s hedge fund turned out to be pure fiction....

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 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: “Financial ratios will tell you a lot about a stock—but look closer and you may get an even clearer picture.”...

In the wake of the financial crises that have occurred in recent years, there has been a good deal of pressure in favour of stricter securities regulation. One company that serves the financial community could benefit substantially from tighter securities regulations. BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SERVICES INC. (New York symbol BR; www.broadridge.com) gets 70% of its revenue from its Investor Communication Solutions division, which distributes proxy materials such as ballots to investors in stocks and mutual funds. It also counts the votes. Broadridge’s ProxyEdge software helps centralize and simplify shareholder voting, particularly in meetings involving multiple ballots. The company mails and processes material for 60% of proxy votes worldwide....

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions on 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 a question about one of China’s biggest budget hotel operators. In response, Pat gives an assessment of the potential rewards—and many risk factors—that come with investing in China. ...

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $53 (Toronto symbol RY; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $74.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.7; Dividend yield: 4.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.rbc.com) is Canada’s largest bank, with $800.4 billion of assets.

The bank has come under fire recently over allegations that it colluded with other global banks to manipulate the benchmark London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). Banks around the world base their own lending rates on LIBOR. Royal has denied these charges.

Royal also continues to cut its exposure to the PIIGS countries. As of April 30, 2012, it held $1.2 billion of loans and securities from these nations. That’s down from $1.4 billion on October 31, 2011.

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MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $34 (www.mtsallstream.com) continues to see rising demand for wireless and high-speed Internet services. However, higher depreciation expenses caused its earnings per share to fall 11.8% in the second quarter of 2012, to $0.67 from $0.76 a year earlier....

ATCO LTD. $74 (www.atco.com) earned $73 million, or $1.28 a share, in the three months ended June 30, 2012. That’s up 19.7% from $61 million, or $1.07 a share, a year earlier. The company reported strong earnings at its structures business, which builds temporary shelters for resource-exploration firms, and its natural gas distribution operations in Australia....

POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN $42 (Toronto symbol POT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 859.1 million; Market cap: $36.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.2; Dividend yield: 1.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.potashcorp.com) is the world’s largest fertilizer producer....

BOMBARDIER INC. (Toronto symbols BBD.A $3.90 and BBD.B $3.76; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $6.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.3; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.bombardier.com) has received a firm order for 20 of its Q400 turboprop planes from WestJet Airlines Ltd. (Toronto symbol WJA); WestJet is a recommendation of Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter that focuses on aggressive investing.

WestJet will use these planes for its new regional airline, which will serve smaller Canadian cities. Bombardier will begin delivering these planes in 2013.

The order is worth $683 million (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). If WestJet exercises all of its options to buy an additional 25 planes, the entire order would be worth $1.6 billion. That’s equal to 9% of Bombardier’s 2011 revenue of $18.3 billion.

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SHAWCOR LTD. $36 (Toronto symbol SCL.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 70.6 million; Market cap: $2.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.shawcor.com) has won a contract from Pemex, Mexico’s state-owned oil company, to coat an underwater pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico.

The order is worth $40 million U.S., which is equal to 3% of the company’s annual revenue of $1.2 billion (Canadian). ShawCor will begin working on this project in the third quarter of 2012.

ShawCor is a buy.

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IGM FINANCIAL INC. $37 (Toronto symbol IGM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 256.1 million; Market cap: $9.5 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 3.5; Dividend yield: 5.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.igmfinancial.com) is selling fewer mutual funds due to volatile stock markets. Lower share prices are also hurting IGM because its fee income rises and falls with the value of the securities it manages.

In the three months ended June 30, 2012, IGM’s earnings fell 15.9%, to $179.0 million from $212.8 million a year earlier. Earnings per share fell 14.6%, to $0.70 from $0.82, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue declined 8.6%, to $637.6 million from $697.7 million.

IGM recently cut the management fees it charges on about two-thirds of its products. That should help it hang on to existing clients and attract new ones. The quarterly dividend of $0.5375 a share also seems safe; the annual rate of $2.15 yields 5.8%.

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RESEARCH IN MOTION INC. $7.56 (Toronto symbol RIM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 524.2 million; Market cap: $4.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.2; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.rim.com) has launched a version of its PlayBook tablet computer that can run on Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless networks, which are up to five times faster than current networks. Until now, the PlayBook used slower Wi-Fi technology to access the Internet.

These upgrades will help the PlayBook compete with other LTE-capable tablets. However, RIM’s earnings will remain under pressure until it launches smartphones that use its new BlackBerry 10 operating system. The company expects to start selling these phones in early 2013.

RIM is a hold, but only for aggressive investors.

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TIM HORTONS INC. $52 (Toronto symbol THI; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 157.4 million; Market cap: $8.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.timhortons.com) has raised the prices of muffins, sandwiches and other items at its coffee-and-donut stores in Canada and the U.S. That’s because the drought in North America is pushing up its costs for wheat, canola oil and other ingredients.

The increases are unlikely to hurt customer traffic or sales, particularly because the company did not increase coffee prices.

Tim Hortons is a buy.

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NORDION INC. $9.66 (Toronto symbol NDN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 62.0 million; Market cap: $598.9 million; Price-tosales ratio: 2.6; Dividend yield: 4.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.nordion.com) sells isotopes for cancer detection and research to hospitals, medical labs and clinics. It also makes products that sterilize food and surgical tools.

In Nordion’s fiscal 2012 second quarter, which ended April 30, 2012, its earnings fell 35.1%, to $4.8 million from $7.4 million a year earlier (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Earnings per share fell 27.3%, to $0.08 from $0.11, on fewer shares outstanding.

Revenue declined 26.7%, to $50.0 million from $68.3 million. That’s mainly because the Chalk River reactor near Ottawa suffered two unplanned shutdowns during the quarter. (Chalk River supplies most of Nordion’s isotopes.) These shutdowns, which each lasted a week, were in addition to a planned one-month shutdown for maintenance.

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CAE INC. $10 (Toronto symbol CAE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 258.3 million; Market cap: $2.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cae.com) spends around 10% of its annual revenue of $1.8 billion on research. That helps it develop simulators for new planes, like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A380. The company is also using these funds to apply its expertise to new fields.

For example, CAE is now making simulators and other products, including lifelike mannequins, to train paramedics and medical students. It is also focusing on the mining industry: Right now, mining firms are using software that CAE developed to plan new mines and measure reserves. These new businesses, which both have strong growth potential, now supply 5% of CAE’s revenue.

The stock trades at 12.7 times the $0.79 a share that CAE will probably earn in its 2013 fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2013. The $0.16 dividend yields 1.6%.

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HOME CAPITAL GROUP INC. $48 (Toronto symbol HCG; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 34.7 million; Market cap; $1.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.homecapital.com) is a mortgage lender that serves borrowers who don’t meet the stricter standards of larger, traditional lenders, like banks.

Even though Home Capital caters to riskier borrowers, it avoids huge credit losses by identifying problem loans early. It then uses this information to restructure a borrower’s repayment terms and adjust its lending policies.

In the three months ended June 30, 2012, Home Capital’s earnings rose 10.4%, to $53.2 million, or $1.54 a share. That’s despite a higher corporate tax rate in Ontario, which cut Home Capital’s earnings by $2.0 million. A year earlier, the company earned $48.2 million, or $1.38 a share.

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p>ENBRIDGE INC. $39 (Toronto symbol ENB; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 797.0 million; Market cap: $31.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 2.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.enbridge.com) recently repaired a 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 thicker steel and extra monitoring for leaks.

Enbridge is a buy.

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SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC. $37 (Toronto symbol SNC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 151.0 million; Market cap: $5.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 2.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.snclavalin.com) earned $32.5 million, or $0.21 a share, in the three months ended June 30, 2012. That’s down 68.2%, from $102.2 million, or $0.67 a share, a year earlier. The company spent $50 million more than it expected on a power plant in Tunisia and a petrochemical plant in Russia. That was the main reason for the lower earnings.

The stock has also come under pressure in the past few months over $56 million U.S. in unusual payments that the company made to agents it hired to secure certain construction contracts. However, this matter has had little impact on SNC’s ability to win new engineering deals: revenue rose 14.2% in the quarter, to $1.9 billion from $1.7 billion.

SNC-Lavalin is a buy.

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CENOVUS ENERGY INC. $32 (Toronto symbol CVE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 755.7 million; Market cap: $24.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.cenovus.com) operates three heavy oil projects in Alberta and one in Saskatchewan. It gets about half of its output from the oil sands. Conventional oil and natural gas wells supply the other half.

U.S.-based ConocoPhillips (New York symbol COP) owns 50% of Cenovus’s main Foster Creek and Christina Lake oil sands projects in Alberta.

These properties produce heavy bitumen, which Cenovus ships to its 50%-owned refineries in Illinois and Texas. ConocoPhillips recently spun off its refining operations as a separate company called Phillips 66 (New York symbol PSX). This new firm owns the other 50% of these refineries.

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IMPERIAL OIL LTD. $44 (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $37.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.imperialoil.ca) is Canada’s second-largest publicly traded oil company, after Suncor. U.S.-based ExxonMobil Corp. (New York symbol XOM) owns 69.6% of Imperial.

The company is making a number of big investments to boost its oil sands production. Right now, it gets most of its oil from its Cold Lake oil sands project in Alberta. Imperial recently announced that it would spend $2 billion to add 40,000 barrels a day to Cold Lake’s current daily output of around 152,000 barrels. It expects to complete these upgrades in 2014.

Meanwhile, Imperial continues to make progress with its Kearl oil sands project. Imperial owns 71% of Kearl. ExxonMobil owns the remaining 29%.

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SUNCOR ENERGY INC. $32 (Toronto symbol SU; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.5 billion; Market cap: $48.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.suncor.com) became Canada’s largest integrated oil company in 2009, when it merged with Petro- Canada.

Suncor gets 60% of its production from its Alberta oil sands projects. The rest comes from conventional oil and natural gas properties. Suncor also operates four refineries and 1,500 Petro- Canada gas stations.

The company aims to increase its oil sands production by 10% per year to 2020. However, it may slow its expansion because rising North American shale oil production is weighing on prices. As well, labour shortages and a lack of pipeline capacity are creating further uncertainty.

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TECK RESOURCES LTD. $29 (Toronto symbol TCK.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 586.0 million; Market cap: $17.0 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.teck.com) is selling more metallurgical coal and copper thanks to recent expansion projects.

Coal sales in the three months ended June 30, 2012 rose 19.6%, to 6.7 million tonnes from 5.6 million a year earlier. Copper sales rose 10.4%, to 85,000 tonnes from 77,000 tonnes.

However, slowing growth in China and India cut coal prices by 25.7% from a year earlier. Copper prices fell 13.8%.

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