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MARKET VECTORS VIETNAM ETF $19.18 (New York symbol VNM; buy or sell through brokers; www.vaneck.com) holds shares of Vietnamese companies or foreign firms that get a significant amount of their revenue from Vietnam.

Market Vectors Vietnam ETF was launched on August 11, 2009. Its expense ratio is 0.76%.

The ETF’s top 10 holdings are Vietin Commercial Bank, 8.2%; Vincom Corp. (real estate), 7.9%; JSC Bank, 7.5%; Baoviet Holdings (Finance and insurance), 6.7%; PetroVietnam Fertilizer and Chemical, 5.4%; Premier Oil plc (a U.K. producer with a 53.1% stake in the huge Chim Sao oil project offshore southern Vietnam), 4.2%; Charoen Pokphand Foods (a Thailand-based food conglomerate), 4.1%; Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (an India-based oil and gas company), 4.0%; Gamuda Bhd (a Malaysia-based construction group); and Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (real estate development), 3.8%.

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CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY $75.47 (Toronto symbol CP; Shares outstanding: 170.9 million; Market cap: $12.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.6%; www.cpr.ca) continues to expand its rail network in the Bakken area, which could contain more than 500 billion barrels of oil. This region covers parts of Montana, North Dakota and Saskatchewan.

Texas-based U.S. Development Group LLC is almost finished building a new hub in North Dakota to handle Bakken’s rising production. This hub will transfer oil from trucks to trains, which will then ship it to market.

CP is the only railway that will connect to this hub. That puts it in a great position to profit as shale oil and gas production continues to increase: the company expects its shipments from Bakken to jump to 125,000 barrels a day from 23,000 in 2011.

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GUGGENHEIM CHINA SMALL CAP ETF $21.70 (New York Exchange symbol HAO; buy or sell through brokers; www.guggenheimfunds.com) aims to track the AlphaShares China Small Cap Index, which is made up of all Chinese stocks that are legal for foreign investors and have market caps between $200 million and $1.5 billion.

The $168.8-million fund’s top holdings are Alibaba. com, 1.7%; Zoomlion Heavy Industry, 1.3%; Longfor Properties, 1.2%; Sino-Ocean Land Holding, 1.2%; Guangdong Investment, 1.6%; Tsingtao Brewery Co., 1.6%; Golden Eagle Retail Group, 1.2%; Shanghai Industrial Holdings, 1.1%; Zhaojin Mining Industry, 1.1%; and Digital China Holdings, 1.1%.

As China’s economy matures, domestic spending should continue to rise. As well, China’s leaders will likely need to increase spending on programs and services to ease the growing gap between the rich and poor. Guggenheim China Small Cap ETF is well positioned to benefit from both of these trends.

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SPDR S&P CHINA ETF $68.38 (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. This index 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 $879.6-million fund’s top holdings are China Mobile, 7.7%; China Construction Bank, 7.5%; Baidu, 5.4%; Industrial & Commercial Bank, 5.1%; CNOOC, 4.6%; PetroChina, 4.2%; Tencent Holdings, 3.9%; Bank of China, 3.5%; China Life Insurance, 2.7%; and China Petroleum & Chemical, 2.6%.

The fund’s breakdown by industry is as follows: Financials, 31.0%; Oil and Gas, 15.9%; Information Technology, 13.8%; Industrials, 10.2%; Telecommunication Services, 10.1%; Consumer Discretionary, 5.5%; Consumer Staples, 5.0%; Basic Materials, 4.4%; Utilities, 2.3%; and Health Care, 1.6%.

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BCE INC. $40.21 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 775.6 million; Market cap: $31.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 5.4%; www.bce.ca) is buying Astral Media Inc. (Toronto symbols ACM.A and ACM.B). The move follows BCE’s recent $533 million purchase of 37.5% of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.

Montreal-based Astral owns 22 TV stations, 84 radio stations and several pay TV and specialty channels, such as The Movie Network, Family Channel and Teletoon. It also owns billboards and sells other outdoor advertising services in Quebec, Ontario and B.C.

The purchase price is $3.4 billion, including $380 million of Astral’s debt. BCE will pay roughly 75% of this cost in cash and 25% in common shares. To put this purchase in context, BCE earned $2.4 billion, or $3.13 a share, in 2011.

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MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $34.82 (Toronto symbol MBT; Shares outstanding: 66.2 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 4.9%; www.mts.ca) gets 55% of its revenue from its MTS division, which has over 1.3 million telephone and wireless customers in Manitoba.

The remaining 45% of the company’s revenue comes from its Allstream division, which provides integrated telephone, Internet and other communication services to businesses across Canada.

In the quarter ended December 31, 2011, revenue fell 1.6%, to $439.4 million from $446.7 million a year earlier. The MTS division’s revenue rose 2.7%. Allstream’s revenue fell 6.6%, mostly because it is closing less profitable businesses. Earnings per share rose 21.7%, to $0.56 from $0.46, on cost cuts and higher profits at Allstream.

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I’d say a product walking out of the store is a good reason for further study, but don’t buy blind. Because there might have been a temporary

There’s no limit to the types of financial questions members of my Inner Circle can ask me and my team of investment experts. Aside from questions on specific investments like stocks and exchange-traded funds, members ask us many other questions about how they should be investing their money. One very interesting question came from a member who asked whether there is any advantage to investing money in a prepaid funeral. So you can get a sense of how our Inner Circle works, I’d like to share this question, and our answer, with you. Q: At 57 years old, it seems reasonable to me to lock in funeral costs at today’s prices and pay for it now. This makes even more sense since I can reasonably expect to live another 25 years. Funeral costs for any level of funeral have doubled every 10 years over the past 30 years, according to the brochure. Does this make sense to you?...

Some investors rely on technical analysis (basically, chart reading) when picking stocks. Relying on charts seems simpler than delving into a company’s fundamentals.

POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN $43 (www.potashcorp.com) has cut potash production because rising inventories have pushed down prices. However, poor weather in South America will likely cut this year’s soybean harvest....

NORDION INC. $9.08 (www.nordion.com) continues to have success with TheraSphere, a process that it developed for treating liver cancer using millions of small glass beads that contain radioactive materials....

LINAMAR CORP. $21 (www.linamar.com) earned $1.64 a share in 2011. That’s up 20.6% from $1.36 in 2010. Sales rose 28.4%, to $2.9 billion from $2.2 billion. The company continues to win new contracts to supply transmissions and other parts to carmakers in Asia and Europe....

TECK RESOURCES LTD. $35 (Toronto symbol TCK.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 586.0 million; Market cap: $20.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.teck.com) is a leading producer of metallurgical coal, a key ingredient in steelmaking. Coal accounted for 49% of Teck’s 2011 revenue and 57% of its earnings. The company also produces copper (27%, 28%) and zinc (24%, 15%).

Teck continues to benefit as the recovering global economy pushes up commodity prices. As well, in 2008, the company bought the 80.05% of Fording Canadian Coal that it didn’t already own. This purchase has further spurred Teck’s growth.

Quick rebound from downturn

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LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD. $33 (Toronto symbol L; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 281.4 million; Market cap: $9.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.3; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.loblaw.ca) is buying most of the Zellers department store chain’s prescription drug accounts.

U.S.-based Target Corp. (New York symbol TGT) recently acquired over 220 Zellers stores as part of its plan to expand into Canada. However, it will take Target several months to renovate these locations. As a result, Target decided not to take over Zellers’ drug business and will instead open its own pharmacies in these stores.

Loblaw will pay $35 million for the Zellers accounts. That’s equal to 5% of its 2011 earnings of $769 million, or $2.73 a share. Selling drugs is more profitable than sales of food or general merchandise, so these new accounts should boost Loblaw’s earnings. The purchase will also draw more traffic to Loblaw’s stores.

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CANADA BREAD CO. LTD. $46 (Toronto symbol CBY; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 25.4 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadabread.ca) earned $3.43 a share in 2011, up 18.3% from $2.90 in 2010, mainly due to a one-time tax benefit. The company’s plan to close three older bakeries and shift their operations to a new, more efficient facility in Hamilton, Ontario will also improve its earnings.

Sales rose just 0.4% in 2011, to $1.60 billion from $1.59 billion. That’s largely because the company sold its fresh sandwich business in February 2011.

Canada Bread is a hold.

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IMPERIAL OIL LTD. $43 (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $36.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.imperialoil.ca) has slowed work on its proposed Mackenzie pipeline project, which would pump natural gas from the Arctic to Alberta. (Imperial owns 34.4% of this project, which has already received regulatory approval.)

That’s because rising production of natural gas from shale rock has depressed gas prices in the past few years. As well, higher prices for raw materials would increase the project’s estimated cost of $16.2 billion.

If Imperial decides to proceed, the new line could start up in 2018. The company feels that gas prices will be higher by then, as more coal-fired power plants switch to cleaner-burning natural gas.

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IGM FINANCIAL INC. $46 (Toronto symbol IGM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 256.7 million; Market cap: $11.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.3; Dividend yield: 4.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.igmfinancial.com) reports that it had $124.1 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2012. That’s down 7.4% from $134.1 billion a year earlier. Lower share prices were the main reason for the drop.

IGM’s fee income rises and falls with the value of the mutual funds and other securities it manages, so the company’s revenue and earnings suffer when the value of these assets falls. Still, low interest rates will probably spur investors to shift from fixed-income investments to equity-based mutual funds over the next few months.

IGM Financial is a buy.

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BOMBARDIER INC. (Toronto symbols BBD.A $4.04 and BBD.B $3.93; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $6.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.3; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.bombardier.com) has won a contract to build 300 subway cars for the New York City public transit system. The company will begin delivering these trains in 2016.

The $600-million deal is small next to Bombardier’s annual revenue of $18.3 billion (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). However, orders like this will help Bombardier win more contracts from other major cities.

Bombardier is a buy. The cheaper class B shares are the better choice.

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SHAWCOR LTD. $30 (Toronto symbol SCL.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 70.6 million; Market cap: $2.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.shawcor.com) gets 88% of its revenue by making sealants and coatings that keep oil and gas pipelines from rusting. It gets the remaining 12% by making electrical wire and protective sheaths.

ShawCor has won over $800 million of new contracts since October 2011. That includes a $400-million U.S. deal to coat an undersea natural gas pipeline in western Australia.

These new orders pushed up the company’s revenue by 11.9% in 2011, to $1.2 billion from $1.0 billion in 2010. ShawCor gets two-thirds of its revenue from outside Canada, and the high Canadian dollar cut the contribution of its overseas operations by $22.4 million.

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PRECISION DRILLING CORP. $8.91 (Toronto symbol PD; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resource sector; Shares outstanding: 276.1 million; Market cap: $2.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; No dividends paid since February 2009; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.precisiondrilling.com)
provides contract drilling services to land-based oil and gas producers, mainly in North America. It had 337 rigs in service at the end of 2011.

The company continues to gain as oil producers step up their drilling activity to take advantage of rising oil prices. In 2011, Precision’s revenue rose 36.5%, to $1.95 billion from $1.4 billion in 2010. Earnings soared 344.4%, to $193.5 million, or $0.67 a share, from $43.5 million, or $0.15 a share.

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CAE INC. $10 (Toronto symbol CAE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 257.9 million; Market cap: $2.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cae.com) makes flight simulators and runs pilot training schools.

In its 2012 third quarter, which ended December 31, 2011, CAE’s revenue rose 10.3%, to $453.1 million from $410.8 million a year earlier.

Demand for the company’s pilot training services continues to rise as airlines upgrade their fleets. That pushed up revenue by 13% at CAE’s civil division (which supplies 45% of the company’s overall revenue).

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TRANSCANADA CORP. $43 (Toronto symbol TRP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 704.1 million; Market cap: $30.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.3; Dividend yield: 4.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.transcanada.com) gets 9% of its revenue from its minority stake in the Bruce nuclear power complex in central Ontario.

The company and its partners are nearly finished upgrading two of the plant’s eight reactors, which have been out of service since 1995. They plan to restart both by September 30, 2012. The plant will then supply 25% of Ontario’s power. Right now, Bruce’s six operating reactors account for 19% of the province’s power.

TransCanada is a buy.

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DUNDEE CORP. $24 (Toronto symbol DC.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 55.0 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 6.6; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.dundeecorp.com) is a holding company with subsidiaries in wealth management, real estate, resources and agriculture.

Dundee is riskier than the big five banks. That’s because sales of individual investments can have a big impact on its earnings. For example, in 2011, it recorded an $870.8-million gain on the sale of subsidiary DundeeWealth. Without that gain, Dundee’s earnings fell 13.1%, to $173.2 million from $199.3 million in 2010. Earnings per share rose 5.9%, to $2.17 from $2.05, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue fell 15.7%, to $574.0 million from $680.8 million.

Dundee is still a buy.

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CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE $75 (Toronto symbol CM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 402.7 million; Market cap: $30.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 4.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cibc.com) is Canada’s fifth-largest bank, with total assets of $391.4 billion.

CIBC plans to sell FirstLine, which provides mortgages through third-party brokers, and instead build up its in-house mortgage business.

The bank should earn higher profits from its mortgages as a result. It will also be able to promote credit cards and other products to its mortgage clients. CIBC aims to complete the sale over the next few months.

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BANK OF MONTREAL $58 (Toronto symbol BMO; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 640.4 million; Market cap: $37.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 4.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bmo.com) is Canada’s fourth-largest bank, with assets of $538.3 billion.

Bank of Montreal continues to profit from last year’s purchase of U.S. banking firm Marshall & Ilsley Corp. for $4.0 billion in stock. That more than doubled the number of branches Bank of Montreal operates in the U.S. It also added 2 million customers. The bank now gets 20% of its revenue and earnings from its U.S. retail banking operations.

Meanwhile, the bank’s earnings rose 19.3% in the quarter ended January 31, 2012, to $953 million from $799 million a year ago. Earnings per share rose 7.6%, to $1.42 from $1.32, on more shares outstanding. These figures exclude unusual items, such as costs to integrate the new U.S. operations.

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