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U.S. restaurants are always looking for ways to give themselves an edge in their intensely competitive industry. Some, like Yum! Brands (a stock we analyze in our Wall Street Stock Forecaster newsletter), are focusing on expanding in fast-growing overseas markets, like India and China. (Yum, whose restaurant chains include KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, was the first fast-food company to enter China, in 1987). Other U.S. restaurants have been looking to attract more diners by launching innovative new menu items, renovating restaurants, and improving their service....

Transcontinental Inc., Toronto symbol TCL.A, is the largest commercial printer in Canada and Mexico, and the fourth-largest in North America. It also publishes newspapers and magazines. Transcontinental is one of the income investing stocks we analyze in our flagship newsletter, The Successful Investor. Transcontinental also has over 300 web sites. These web sites will become more important to the company’s growth in the next few years, as advertisers spend more on the Internet than on print products....

Prices of copper and many copper stocks have moved down lately, along with stock markets. That’s because of investor concerns about the global economic recovery, ongoing European debt problems and continued weakness in U.S. housing markets. In addition, the March earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster in Japan crippled many of that country’s factories. These facilities are now resuming production, but Japanese consumption of metals, including copper, will need more time to return to pre-disaster levels. (You can get our latest outlook on copper prices—and our top picks in copper stocks—ABSOLUTELY FREE in our new report, “Copper Mining: How to Choose the Best Copper Stocks and ETFs to Profit from the Reconstruction of Japan.” Click here to download your copy today.)...

Indigo Books & Music Inc., Toronto symbol IDG, is Canada’s largest bookseller. The company operates 97 superstores under the Chapters and Indigo banners. It also has 149 mall-based stores, and sells books, movies and music through its web site. Indigo is one of the Canadian stock picks we analyze in our Successful Investor newsletter. In its latest fiscal year, which ended April 2, 2011, the Canadian stock pick’s revenue rose 5.0% to $1.0 billion from $968.9 million in the prior year. Even so, earnings fell 67.5%, to $11.3 million, or $0.45 a share, from $34.9 million, or $1.39 a share....

Investors often ask us how often they should sell investments they own and buy new ones. The answer: as rarely as possible. That’s because turnover in your portfolio cuts into your profits. (How much turnover you should have in your portfolio is one of the subjects we examine in our free report, “Canadian Stock Market Basics: How to Trade Stocks and Make Good Investments in Canada.” Click here to download your copy right away.) Here are three costs you face every time you buy and sell a stock:...

H.J. Heinz Co., New York symbol HNZ, makes a wide variety of processed foods, including condiments, sauces, soups, baked beans, pastas and infant food. Its flagship product is Heinz Ketchup. We analyze Heinz in Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter for U.S.A. stock market investing. In its latest fiscal year, which ended April 27, 2011, Heinz earned $989.5 million. That’s up 8.2% from $914.5 million in the prior year....

If you’ve been following our TSI Network Daily Updates, or subscribe to one of our paid newsletters or investment services, you’re likely familiar with our three-part TSI Network investing program.

3 easy steps to lower-risk profits in Canadian stocks

One key part of our program is to spread your money out across the five main sectors of the economy: Manufacturing & Industry; Resources; Consumer; Finance; and Utilities....

Computer Modelling Group Ltd., symbol CMG on Toronto, makes software and supplies services that help its clients get as much oil as possible from their existing wells. The stock market pick makes mostly recurring revenue from software licences and consulting contracts. That gives it long-term stability. Computer Modelling Group is one of the stocks we analyze in Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter for aggressive investing. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, Computer Modelling’s revenue rose 0.6%, to $14.4 million from $14.3 million a year earlier. A 17% increase in consulting and contract research revenue more than offset a 2% drop in software licence sales due to the strong Canadian dollar....

Growth stocks are companies whose earnings growth has been above the market average, and is likely to remain above average. These firms often pay little or no dividends.

Dun & Bradstreet Corp., symbol DNB on New York, is the world’s largest provider of credit reports on individual companies. Companies use these reports to make lending and purchasing decisions, and to cut their credit losses. We analyze Dun & Bradstreet in Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter for stock market trading in the U.S. markets The company gets two-thirds of its revenue from credit reports. The rest comes from other information products, including software to help other companies manage customer data and Internet sites....

Sherwin-Williams Co., symbol SHW on New York, is North America’s largest paint producer. The stock market investment also operates over 3,900 paint stores, which account for half its sales. Sherwin is one of the stocks we analyze in Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter for investing in the U.S. markets. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, Sherwin’s sales rose 18.5%, to $1.9 billion from $1.6 billion a year earlier. Acquisitions and higher selling prices were the main reason for the higher sales. Earnings more than doubled, to $68.3 million or $0.63 per share, from $32.6 million or $0.30 per share. However, the year-earlier results included an $11.4-million charge related to changes in the U.S. healthcare laws....

When you’re looking for stock market investments with the potential for strong gains, it pays to be skeptical of companies that mainly grow through acquisitions. That’s because the buyer of something rarely knows as much about it as the seller. So it follows that if a company makes enough acquisitions, it might eventually buy something that has hidden problems. At some point, those problems will come out into the open and hurt the buyer’s earnings.

How bad acquisitions can hurt a stock market investment’s prospects

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Ameren Corp., symbol AEE on New York, sells electricity and natural gas to 3.4 million customers in Illinois and Missouri. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, the Wall Street stock’s earnings fell 36.8%, to $60.0 million, or $0.25 a share, from $95.0 million, or $0.40 a share, a year earlier. These figures exclude unusual items, mainly gains and losses on hedging contracts that the company uses to lock in its fuel prices. The lower earnings were mainly due to lower prices for electricity and natural gas. Higher fuel and transportation costs, plus higher income taxes in Illinois, also hurt its earnings. Moreover, severe storms added to the company’s costs, and cut electricity sales during widespread power outages....

Alliant Energy Corp., symbol LNT on New York, sells electricity and natural gas to 1.4 million customers in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois. Alliant is one of the stock trading picks we analyze in Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter for investing in the U.S. markets. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, Alliant’s earnings rose 45.5%, to $73.5 million, or $0.68 a share. It earned $50.5 million, or $0.45 a share, a year earlier. These figures exclude one-time items, such as a writedown of a proposed wind farm development. Favourable rulings by government regulators on pricing, recovery of fuel expenses and tax credits were the main reason behind the higher earnings....

You’ll often hear that investors spend more time choosing the options on a new car than they do picking investments. That’s undoubtedly true of some.

The Churchill Corp., symbol CUQ on Toronto, sells construction, general-contracting, maintenance, insulation, fireproofing, electrical and power-line construction services. Its clients are in the resource, industrial, utility and power-generation industries. Churchill has customers throughout western Canada. We analyze Churchill in Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter for investing in stocks that are more aggressive. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, Churchill’s revenue rose 67.0%, to $304.7 million from $182.5 million a year earlier. The rise was mainly due to Seacliff Construction, which Churchill bought for $380 million in May 2010. Seacliff sells general contracting, electrical-contracting and earth-moving services. Like Churchill, Seacliff mostly operates in western Canada....

Today’s popular investment themes include green energy stocks, such as solar, wind, and geothermal, and emerging markets, such as China and India.

RuggedCom Inc., symbol RCM on Toronto, makes computer networking equipment that is used in harsh environments. The stock pick’s products include ethernet switches, network routers, wireless devices and software. RuggedCom’s products are designed to reliably operate under high levels of electromagnetic interference. They can also cope with wide variations in temperature and humidity, as well as vibration and exposure to dust. They also work while exposed to such things as corrosive gases and water. The stock pick’s revenue jumped 38.0% in the three months ended March 31, 2011, to $26.7 million from $20.6 million a year earlier. Sales to clients in the electric-power market jumped 65%, and now account for 71% of the stock pick’s total sales....

When you subscribe to The Successful Investor, our flagship publication, you get access to three high-quality portfolios we’ve built to help you find the best investments for long-term profits. We update all three regularly, and keep them under constant review. (In the latest issue of The Successful Investor, we’ve updated our buy/sell/hold advice on Linamar Corp., symbol LNR on Toronto, a stock we include in our Portfolio for Aggressive Growth. Read on for further details.)

Our portfolios make it easy for you to pick the best investments for your portfolio

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Agilent Technologies Inc., symbol A on New York, makes testing systems that improve electronic products, such as cellphones and networking equipment. In May 2010, Agilent bought Varian Inc. for $1.5 billion. Varian makes a wide range of medical and drug-testing equipment, such as mass spectrometers that detect and measure substances in the blood and other samples. Medical-equipment demand is less cyclical than testing products, so this move cuts the tech stock’s risk. Thanks to Varian, Agilent earned $200.0 million, or $0.56 a share, in the three months ended April 30, 2011. That’s up 85.2% from $108.0 million, or $0.31 a share, a year earlier. These figures include restructuring costs and expenses related to integrating Varian. The tech stock’s revenue jumped 31.9%, to $1.7 billion from $1.3 billion. The company spends around 10% of its revenue on research and development....

High-quality foreign stocks are a great way to diversify your portfolio. Moreover, many fast-growing markets, like China and India, have positive outlooks. That’s because their people are generally younger than North Americans, and rising incomes are helping more of them advance into the middle class. Even so, investing in India and other overseas markets remains riskier than investing in North America. That’s because many emerging countries have language barriers, weak investor-protection laws, less commitment to openness, fairness and so on.

U.S. stocks can provide a lower risk way of investing in India and other fast-growing markets

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Trilogy Energy Corp., symbol TET on Toronto, owns oil and gas properties in the Kaybob and Grande Prairie areas of central Alberta. About 78% of Trilogy’s production is natural gas. The remaining 22% is oil. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, Trilogy produced an average of 25,362 barrels of oil equivalent per day (including natural gas). That was up 9.9% from 23,079 barrels a day a year earlier. However, the natural gas stock’s cash flow per share fell 13.3%, to $0.39 from $0.45 a year earlier, mostly due to lower gas prices. Still, the company continues to bring new wells into production. Its daily production should jump to an average of 30,000 barrels for 2011....

With today’s low interest rates, investors are paying more attention to dividend yields (a company’s total annual dividends paid per share divided by the current stock price). The best Canadian dividend stocks are responding by doing their best to maintain, or even increase, their payouts. That’s great news for Canadian investors. That’s because dividends are far more reliable than capital gains. More important, a dividend is a sign of investment quality. After all, dividends are impossible to fake — either the company has the cash to pay dividends or it doesn’t. What’s more, dividends can now contribute up to a third of your long-term investment return, without even considering the benefits of the dividend tax credit....

Calian Technologies, symbol CTY on Toronto, operates in two areas: the business and technology services division, which accounts for 74% of Calian’s revenue, provides engineers, health-care workers and other skilled professionals to clients on a contract basis. The small cap stock’s systems-engineering division contributes the remaining 26% of revenue, and sells hardware and software that is used for testing, operating and managing satellite and other communications systems. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, the small cap stock’s revenue rose 11.9%, to $59.4 million from $53.1 million a year earlier. Earnings rose 6.5%, to $3.3 million from $3.1 million. Earnings per share rose 5.0%, to $0.42 from $0.40, on more shares outstanding. Calian earned higher profit margins on the business and technology service division’s contracts. That pushed up the company’s overall earnings. The strong Canadian dollar held back the systems-engineering division’s earnings....

Silver has fallen sharply from its all-time high of $48.70 U.S. an ounce, where it closed on April 28, 2011. Silver now trades at $36.80 U.S. an ounce. That’s up 106.2% from $17.87 U.S. an ounce a year ago. Silver could well regain its high and move up even further over the longer term, although it will likely remain volatile. Higher prices would arise from investor fears that inflation or global political and economic uncertainty will weaken key currencies, such as the U.S. dollar.

Use caution when investing in silver

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