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CONAGRA FOODS INC. $27 (New York symbol CAG; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 412.6 million; Market cap: $11.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 3.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.conagrafoods.com) is paying an undisclosed sum for the Canadian operations of Del Monte Foods. This business makes packaged fruits, fruit snacks and vegetables under the Del Monte brand, as well as canned tomato products under the Aylmer label.

The new operations look like a nice fit with ConAgra’s existing operations in Canada, and will add $150 million to its annual sales of $12.8 billion.

ConAgra is a buy.

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GOOGLE INC. $569 (Nasdaq symbol GOOG; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 323.9 million; Market cap: $184.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.0; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.google.com) is the world’s leading Internet search engine. The search service is free, but it provides a platform for Google to sell ads on its websites. Ads account for 96% of its total revenue.

Google continues to hire new employees as it builds up its non-search operations, including its Google+ social-networking site. Google+ now has 90 million users, up from 40 million in October 2011.

Even with these extra expenses, Google’s earnings in the three months ended December 31, 2011 rose 9.7%, to $3.1 billion from $2.85 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 8.6%, to $9.50 from $8.75, on more shares outstanding. These figures exclude unusual items, mainly stock options paid to employees.

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MICROSOFT CORP. $30 (Nasdaq symbol MSFT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 8.4 billion; Market cap: $252.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.4; Dividend yield: 2.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.microsoft.com) gets 80% of its sales from its Windows operating system and Office suite of business software. However, the company is taking steps to expand into other areas, as well.

For example, Microsoft recently entered into an alliance with Nokia Corp. (New York symbol NOK). Under this deal, Nokia will make mobile phones that use Microsoft’s Windows Phone software.

Microsoft also paid $8.5 billion in October 2011 for Skype Global. Skype’s software lets computer users make free phone calls over the Internet. Microsoft feels that Skype will enhance its Xbox Live service, which lets users of its Xbox video game consoles communicate with each other online.

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APPLE INC. $447 (Nasdaq symbol AAPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 932.2 million; Market cap: $416.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.1; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.apple.com) makes computers and a wide range of electronic devices, including the iPhone and iPad tablet computer.

Apple recently teamed up with several leading textbook publishers to make more titles available to iPad and iPhone users. The company has also launched its new iBooks 2 software, which makes it easy for students to use Apple devices to take notes and search within text. Publishers can also use the program to quickly update content and add features, like video.

This could be a huge market for Apple. By 2020, e-books could account for half of all textbook sales, up from just 3% in 2011.

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INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. $192 (New York symbol IBM, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $230.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ibm.com) is the world’s oldest computer company (it began operating in 1911), with operations in over 170 countries.

The company continues to profit from its move away from mainframe computers and toward designing computer systems and managing them on behalf of its clients. The resulting long-term maintenance contracts give it more dependable revenue streams. IBM now gets 55% of its revenue from services.

The company continues to rapidly grow its software business. Right now, it is particularly focused on developing analytics software, which helps businesses and government agencies gather and analyze a wide variety of data. In addition, IBM makes software for applications ranging from traffic management to power grids and food production. Software now supplies 25% of IBM’s overall revenue.

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TRANSCONTINENTAL INC. (Toronto symbol TCL.A; www.tctranscontinental.com) is the largest commercial printer in Canada and the fourth-largest in North America. It also publishes newspapers and magazines. Transcontinental also has over 1,000 websites, which supply 16% of its total revenue. These websites will become more important to this blue chip stock’s growth in the next few years as advertisers spend more on the Internet than print products....

Whether they’re near to retirement or still some years away, many investors have one prevailing fear. Once they stop working, there won’t be enough income coming in. This underlines the fact that retirement investing should begin well before you approach retirement age. And there is a plan you can adopt during your working years that is particularly effective in smoothing the path to retirement.

Retirement investing: Dollar-cost averaging brings automatic profits

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Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions on specific stocks and other investing topics from the members of his Inner Circle. Every week, his comments and recommendations on a selection of the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. And every Friday, we offer you one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions. One question this week concerned energy stocks, specifically one stock that expects to benefit as the search for new oil production increasingly leads to the deposits found deep in the world’s oceans....

This past autumn, a long-time reader and portfolio management client asked a question that other investors may wonder about in today’s turbulent markets. He wrote, “You constantly remind members to have a balanced portfolio and strategy for long-term success when investing. But when do you take profits? You have mentioned a couple of times to sell, such as when a stock makes up too much of your total portfolio, or if a company shows questionable management or business decisions. My main question is why don’t we sell when stocks move up and there are profits to be had?”...

Our approach begins with our time-tested 3-pronged strategy: investing money mainly in well-established, dividend-paying companies, spreading your money out across the five main economic sectors.

MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. (Toronto symbol MBT; www.mts.ca) has over 1.3 million telephone and wireless customers in Manitoba. This business now accounts for 54% of the company’s revenue. The remaining 46% comes from its Allstream division, which provides integrated telephone, Internet and other communication services to businesses across Canada....

CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL $356.82 (New York symbol CMG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (303-595-4000; www.chipotle.com; Shares outstanding: 31.8 million; Market cap: $11.3 billion; No dividends paid) is a Denver-based Mexican-restaurant chain. The company charges slightly higher prices than fast-food chains, but it offers higher-quality food, including naturally raised meat, and better decor and service.

In the three months ended September 30, 2011, sales rose 24.1%, to $591.9 million from $476.9 million a year earlier. The company’s restaurants attracted more customers during the quarter, and it raised its prices. That pushed up same-restaurant sales by 11.3%. As well, Chipotle opened 32 new outlets. Earnings per share rose 24.5%, to $1.93 from $1.55.

New concept looks promising

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TIM HORTONS $48.38 (Toronto symbol THI; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (905-845-6511; www.timhortons.com; Shares outstanding: 160.1 million; Market cap: $7.7 billion; Dividend yield: 1.4%) operates 3,225 coffee-and-donut shops in Canada and 645 in the U.S.

Without one-time items, Tim Hortons earned $0.65 a share in the three months ended October 2, 2011. That’s up 18.2% from $0.55 a share a year earlier.

Sales rose 8.4%, to $726.9 million from $670.5 million. Canadian same-store sales rose 4.7%, because Tim Hortons launched successful new products like real fruit smoothies and specialty bagels. U.S. same-store sales rose 6.3%, as customers spent more per visit. The company also raised its prices to cover higher costs for coffee and other foods.

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RUGGEDCOM INC. $25.31 (Toronto symbol RCM; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-888-264-0006; www.ruggedcom.com; Shares outstanding: 12.6 million; Market cap: $318.9 million; No dividends paid) is still the target of a hostile takeover bid from U.S. cable and networking equipment manufacturer Belden Inc. RuggedCom makes computer-networking equipment that is used in harsh environments.

Belden recently reaffirmed its offer of $22 in cash for each RuggedCom share. RuggedCom feels that Belden’s offer is too low, and has advised shareholders to reject the bid. The company is looking for other buyers.

RuggedCom is now trading at $25.31 a share, or 15.0% above Belden’s bid. This indicates that investors are anticipating a higher offer from Belden or another bidder.

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BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS $23.65 (New York symbol BR; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (201-714-3000; www.broadridge.com; Shares outstanding: 126.7 million; Market cap: $3.0 billion; Dividend yield: 2.7%) is now working with the Singapore Exchange to build a new service aimed at improving the accuracy, efficiency and transparency of Singapore’s shareholder communication and proxy processes. This system will replace the manual system that is now in use.

The new service will use Broadridge’s shareholder-communications software, but it will be tailored to the specific requirements of the Singapore market and domestic and international investors. The Singapore Exchange will market the service to its listed issuers.

No financial terms were disclosed, but the deal reinforces Broadridge’s leading position in the field of investor communications.

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DUNDEE REIT $34.01 (Toronto symbol D.UN; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (416-365-3535; www.dundeereit.com; Shares outstanding: 66.1 million; Market cap: $2.2 billion; Dividend yield: 6.4%) is buying Whiterock REIT (Toronto symbol WRK.UN) for $580 million in cash and units. The purchase will make Dundee Canada’s fourth-largest REIT by market cap, up from sixth.

Whiterock owns 88 office, industrial and retail properties in eight Canadian provinces and two U.S. states. These properties contain over 10.8 million square fee of leasable area. Dundee already owns and manages 18.9 million square feet of office, industrial and retail space.

Dundee’s growth-by-acquisition strategy adds risk, but it is steadily diversifying its holdings outside western Canada by purchasing more properties in eastern Canada. Whiterock has 57% of its assets in Ontario, 14% in Quebec and 6% in the Atlantic provinces.

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EUROPEAN GOLDFIELDS $11.95 (Toronto symbol EGU; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (44 (20) 7408 9534; www.egoldfields.com; Shares outstanding: 183.8 million; Market cap: $2.2 billion; No dividends paid) is now the subject of a friendly takeover bid from Eldorado Gold (symbol ELD on Toronto). The offer is for 0.85 of an Eldorado share and $0.0001 in cash for each European Goldfields share. European Goldfields’ board of directors has approved the takeover.

European Goldfields’ Skouries and Olympias gold projects in Greece and its Certej project in Romania would be good fits for Eldorado, which has mines in Greece and Turkey.

Eldorado Gold is now trading at $14.20, which makes the cash and share portions of its offer worth a combined $12.07 per European Goldfields share. European Goldfields is trading just below that price, which indicates that many investors are not expecting a higher offer. However, European Goldfields says it received proposals from a number of potential buyers earlier this year, so a rival bid could still emerge.

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YAMANA GOLD $15.71 (Toronto symbol YRI; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (416-815-0220; www.yamana.com; Shares outstanding: 746.2 million; Market cap: $11.7 billion; Dividend yield: 1.2%) raised its production by 5% in 2011, to 1.1 million gold-equivalent ounces (including silver and copper) from 2010.

The company now expects to produce 1.2 million to 1.3 million ounces in 2012, up 13% from 2011. Most of the increase will come from Yamana’s Mercedes mine in Mexico, which started up in November 2011.

As the company starts up more new mines, its production will continue to increase: in 2013, production should rise 43% from 2011 levels, to between 1.5 million and 1.7 million ounces. In 2014, that figure should climb to around 1.75 million ounces.

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ENDEAVOUR SILVER $10.39 (Toronto symbol EDR: TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-877-685-9775; www.edrsilver.com; Shares outstanding: 87.6million; Market cap: $910.2 million; No dividends paid) operates the Guanacevi and Guanajuato silver/gold mines in Mexico.

In the three months ended September 30, 2011, Endeavour’s revenue rose 93.0%, to $38.8 million from $20.1 million a year earlier (all amounts except share prices in U.S. dollars). Cash flow per share more than doubled, to $0.24 from $0.11. Rising production and sharply higher gold and silver prices were the main reasons for the gains.

The company is nearly finished expanding the Guanajuato mine. That will push up its silver production by 12.1%, to 3.7 million ounces from 3.3 million ounces in 2010.

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IAMGOLD $16.38 (Toronto symbol IMG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-888-464-9999; www.iamgold.com; Shares outstanding: 376.8 million; Market cap: $6.2 billion; Dividend yield: 1.2%) sold its Mupane mine in Botswana for $34.2 million in September 2011 (all figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Earlier in 2011, IAMGold sold its 18.9% stake in the Tarkwa and Damang gold mines in Ghana to South African mining giant Gold Fields Ltd. for $667 million in cash.

The sales left IAMGold with 38% of the Sadiola mine and 40% of the Yatela mine, both located in Mali; 90% of its new Essakane gold mine in Burkina Faso; 100% of the Doyon mine in Quebec; and 100% of the Rosebel mine in Suriname, South America.

In addition, IAMGold also has a 1% royalty interest in the Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories. It also owns the Niobec niobium mine in Quebec. Niobium is a rare metal that when used as an additive makes steel stronger, more heat resistant and easier to weld.

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DOREL INDUSTRIES $24.97 (Toronto symbol DII.B; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (514-731-0000; www.dorel.com;Shares outstanding: 32.6 million; Market cap: $814.0 million; Dividend yield: 2.4%) has bought Poltrade, a Polish juvenile products distributor and retailer, for an undisclosed sum.

Founded in 1991, Poltrade is growing quickly and will likely report sales of 7.5 million euros ($9.8 million Canadian) this year. The company has the largest share of the Polish child car seat market.

Poltrade has distributed a number of Dorel’s products in Poland since 1996. In addition to its distribution business, Poltrade operates three retail outlets.

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FIRSTSERVICE CORP. $28.40 (Toronto symbol FSV; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (416-960-9500; www.firstservice.com; Shares outstanding: 30.5 million; Market cap: $866.2 million; No dividends paid) serves the following areas of the real estate market: commercial real estate, residential property management, and property improvement. FirstService has more than 20,000 employees worldwide.

FirstService’s revenue rose 10.4% in the three months ended September 30, 2011, to $585.4 million from $530.5 million a year earlier (all figures except share price in U.S. dollars). Excluding one-time items, earnings per share were unchanged at $0.61. Cash flow rose 22.6%, to $1.03 a share from $0.84.

Revenue increased at two of FirstService’s three divisions: commercial real estate (up 14%) and residential property management (up 15%).

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REITMANS (CANADA) LTD. $14.25 (Toronto symbol RET.A; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (514-384-1140; www.reitmans.com; Shares outstanding: 66.3 million; Market cap: $944.8 million; Dividend yield: 5.6%) owns 975 women’s clothing stores across Canada.

The chain consists of 366 Reitmans, 158 Penningtons, 158 Smart Set, 123 Addition Elle, 77 Thyme Maternity, 68 RW & Co. and 25 Cassis stores. Reitmans is in the process of closing the Cassis stores and converting them to its other chains.

In the three months ended October 29, 2011, Reitmans’ earnings fell 49.0%, to $10.6 million, or $0.16 a share, from $20.7 million, or $0.31 a share, a year earlier. The company’s sales were down 3.2%, to $254.1 million from $262.5 million. Same-store sales declined 5.8%.

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CHESAPEAKE ENERGY $21.45 (New York symbol CHK; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (405-848-8000; www.chkenergy.com; Shares outstanding: 753.0 million; Market cap: $16.2 billion; Dividend yield: 1.6%) is forming a second joint venture with major French oil firm Total S.A.

In early 2010, Chesapeake sold a share of its Barnett Shale acreage in Texas to Total for $2.25 billion. Shale oil and shale gas are trapped in rock formations. To extract them, companies must pump water and chemicals into the rock. This fractures the rock and releases the oil or gas.

Under this new deal, Total will buy a 25% stake in roughly 619,000 exploration acres in the Utica Shale area of Ohio. Total will pay Chesapeake $610 million for its share of the acreage, plus $1.42 billion in development costs. Chesapeake expects to receive the full amount by the end of 2014.

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CAMECO CORP. $22.90 (Toronto symbol CCO; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (306-956-6200; www.cameco.com; Shares outstanding: 390.0 million; Market cap: $8.9 billion; Dividend yield 0.7%) is the world’s largest uranium producer. It supplies over 18% of global production, and has large, high-grade reserves, low-cost operations, significant market share and a number of uranium mines.

Cameco also holds a 31.6% stake in Ontario’s Bruce Power partnership, which operates four of the eight reactors at the Bruce plant, North America’s largest nuclear power complex.

In the three months ended September 30, 2011, Cameco’s revenue rose 25.8%, to $527 million from $419 million a year earlier. It sold more uranium in the latest quarter, and its selling prices also rose. Earnings per share jumped 30.0%, to $0.26 from $0.20.

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