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Canadian Stock WestJet Airlines Ltd., symbol WJA on Toronto, reported that its load factor rose to 83.3% in August 2011 from 82.2% in August 2010.

Could I have your opinion on Thompson Creek Metals? There is a lot of enthusiasm in B.C., but the market does not seem to share the same optimism.

Encana Corp., Toronto symbol ECA, has agreed to sell its midstream operations in Colorado’s Piceance basin. These operations mainly consist of pipelines that collect natural gas from nearby wells and transport it to storage and processing facilities. Encana will hang to its gas wells in this region. The company will receive $590 million when the deal closes later this year (all amounts in U.S. dollars). To put this figure in context, this natural gas stock’s cash flow was $2.0 billion, or $2.77 a share, in the first half of 2011. This sale will help Encana reach its goal of selling $1 billion to $2 billion worth of non-core assets by the end of 2011. That will let the company focus on its main gas-producing properties in Alberta, B.C., Wyoming, Colorado and Louisiana. The cash from these sales will also let Encana keep paying quarterly dividends of $0.20 U.S. a share, for an annualized yield of 3.5%....

When you need tax advice, business associates and friends can be a valuable source of ideas and referrals. However, non-professionals can be mistaken or out of date in their tax knowledge, no matter how confident they seem. This is also true of some semi-professionals—tax preparers, bookkeepers, insurance agents and so on. Court rulings or tax-department crackdowns can close tax loopholes. People sometimes get away with borderline tax maneuvers for lengthy periods, only because the tax authorities never take a close look at their affairs. But the more money you have, the more likely it is that your affairs will one day get a close look from someone at the tax department....

Major Drilling, symbol MDI on Toronto, is a large contract-drilling firm that mainly serves the mining industry. In the three months ended July 31, 2011, Major’s revenue rose 49.9%, to $164.2 million from $109.5 million a year earlier. Earnings per share jumped 257.1%, to $0.25 from $0.13. During the quarter, many of Major’s customers increased their drilling activity to take advantage of record gold prices and high base metal prices. Gold mining firms supply 48% of Major’s revenue, followed by base metal and uranium miners (35%), and energy, coal and environmental drillers (17%)....

Shares of large companies generally rebounded well after a market crisis. Investors refer to these companies as large cap stocks.

Campbell Soup Co., New York symbol CPB, is one of the most recognizable brands in the world. It is the world’s largest maker of canned soups. It also makes Prego canned pasta and sauces, Pepperidge Farm cookies and V8 vegetable juices. In the year ended July 31, 2011, Campbell’s earnings fell 4.6%, to $805 million from $844 million a year earlier. Earnings per share were unchanged at $2.42 on fewer shares outstanding. If you exclude one-time charges related to a restructuring plan and charges related to the U.S. health-care law, earnings per share would have risen 2.8%, to $2.54 from $2.47. On this basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus earnings estimate of $2.49 a share. ...

Demand for medical devices and supplies will undoubtedly continue to grow as the population ages. Even in an uncertain economic climate, our stock market advice is that this is a positive trend for the industry, but only for the best companies making these devices. C.R. Bard Inc. (New York symbol BCR; www.crbard.com) makes medical devices in four main areas: vascular products, such as stents and catheters (28% of 2010 sales); oncology products that detect and treat various types of cancer (27%); urology products, such as drainage and incontinence devices (26%); and surgical tools (16%). Other medical products supply the remaining 3%....

Transcontinental Inc., Toronto symbol TCL.A, is the largest commercial printer in Canada, and the fourth largest in North America. It also publishes newspapers and magazines, and has over 1,000 web sites. In the three months ended July 31, 2011, Transcontinental’s revenue rose 2.3%, to $492.6 million from $481.3 million a year earlier. The company has won a number of new printing contracts, including an expanded deal to print The Globe and Mail. The company recently swapped its printing operations in Mexico for six printing plants in Canada. If you exclude the contributions from the Mexican plants and other unusual items, the company earned $32.8 million or $0.40 a share. That fell short of the consensus estimate of $0.45 a share. The latest earnings are also down 1.8% from $33.4 million, or $0.41 a share, a year earlier. The strong Canadian dollar hurt the contribution from Transcontinental’s international operations; that was the main reason for the lower earnings....

Some investors follow a “sector rotation” approach to investing. That’s when you try to hop from sector to sector, underweighting or

Alimentation Couche-Tard, symbol ATD.B on Toronto, is the largest convenience-store operator in Canada, with over 2,000 outlets. It is also one of the Canadian investments with the biggest presence in the U.S., at nearly 3,700 U.S. stores. The Canadian stores operate under the Couche-Tard and Mac’s banners, while the U.S. stores mainly use the Circle K brand. Last month, Couche-Tard announced that it has agreed to buy 33 On the Run convenience stores in southern Louisiana from ExxonMobil (symbol XOM on New York) for an undisclosed amount. Couche-Tard will buy the land and buildings for 27 of these locations and will assume or enter into leases for the six remaining sites. According to the company, these stores are all highly visible and are located on well-travelled roads....

We receive many different questions from members of our Inner Circle service looking for a good stock market investment. This luxury retailer is using its strong brand image to increase sales in Asia. However, increasing manufacturing costs could put a squeeze on profit margins. Q: Dear Pat: What is your opinion of Coach Inc.? Thanks! A: Coach Inc., (symbol COH on New York; www.coach.com) designs and sells a wide range of accessories for men and women, including handbags, belts, wallets, card cases, shoes, luggage and jewellery. The company designs these products, but they are made by third-party manufacturers, mainly in Asia....

Bank of Nova Scotia, Toronto symbol BNS, continues to benefit from its growing banking operations in the Caribbean, Latin America, South America and Asia. Last week, Bank of Nova Scotia agreed to buy 19.99% of the Bank of Guangzhou; the Chinese government owns the remaining 80.01%. This bank is the 29th largest in China, with 84 branches. Bank of Nova Scotia will pay $719 million when the deal closes in December 2011. To put that in context, it earned $1.2 billion, or $1.11 a share, in the three months ended July 31, 2011....

Whether you’re a new or experienced investor, professional investment advice can boost your returns. A company’s earnings are different from an employee’s salary. Earnings are indefinite and subject to revision, even years later. Companies have to estimate many costs, and make yearly write-offs against earnings, according to arbitrary rules. Here’s some investment advice to pay special attention to when examining a company’s earnings statement:...

Patent production continues to be a crucial issue for major drug companies. The expiration of a patent and the entry of a key drug into the public domain is a challenge for those U.S. stocks in the pharmaceutical industry hat have prospered thanks to the sales of a popular drug. Pfizer Inc., New York symbol PFE, makes Lipitor, a leading cholesterol drug. However, the U.S. patent for Lipitor expired in June 2011. That will let rival drug makers sell cheaper, generic versions of this drug. Even so, Pfizer has several new promising drugs in its pipeline, including Eliquis, a new anti-stroke drug that Pfizer developed along with another well-known U.S. pharmaceutical firm, Bristol-Meyers Squibb Co. (New York symbol BMY)....

Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” investing advice series. Whether you’re a new or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you our specific advice on successful investing. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental piece of investing advice and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Tip of the week:“It can be profitable to pay a little more for your shares.” Some Canadian companies, such as Bombardier and Teck Resources, have two classes of common shares: voting and non-voting (or multiple voting and subordinate voting)....

Cameco Corp., symbol CCO on Toronto, has launched a hostile takeover bid for Hathor Exploration (symbol HAT on Toronto). Cameco is offering $520 million, or $3.75 a share, for this uranium exploration company. Hathor’s main exploration properties are on the east side of the Athabasca Basin. This region in northern Saskatchewan and Alberta contains all of Canada’s producing uranium mines, and accounts for 23% of the global production of uranium. Right now, Hathor is exploring for uranium at its Midwest Northeast project, which is close to producing properties that are currently owned by Cameco and AREVA of France....

Companies that pay dividends have a “record” date. That raises two interesting questions investors often ask. Does the record date determine who owns the stock on that day and who gets the dividend? If so, why not buy stock the week before the day of record, collect the dividend and then sell the stock? Here is what you need to know. There are a number of dates related to payments from dividend stocks:...

Bombardier Inc., Toronto symbols BBD.A $4.56 and BBD.B, recently reported better-than-expected earnings. However, the company may have to cut its regional-jet production, due to slowing demand. That caused the stock to fall. In the three months ended July 31, 2011, Bombardier’s earnings rose 56.7%, to $210 million, or $0.12 a share (all amounts in U.S. dollars). A year earlier, the company earned $134 million, or $0.07 a share. The latest earnings easily beat the consensus estimate of $0.10 a share. Revenue rose 17.4% to $4.7 billion. Revenue at the Canadian stock’s railcar division (which supplies 56% of its overall revenue) rose 26.0%, mainly due to strong demand from public-transit systems in Europe. This business received $3.9 billion of new orders in the quarter, down from $4.3 billion a year earlier. Its order backlog is now $33.9 billion, up from $33.5 billion on January 31, 2011....

One of the strong points of Canadian investing in the past few years has been the reliability of our financial institutions compared to those in many other countries. That can even apply to companies that appear risky at first glance. Home Capital Group Inc. (Toronto symbol HCG; www.homecapital.com) offers mortgages to borrowers who don’t meet the stricter criteria of larger, traditional lenders. Even though Home Capital caters to riskier borrowers, it has avoided the huge credit losses that have crippled many U.S. banks. That’s because it continues to do a good job of identifying problem loans early. It then uses this information to restructure a borrower’s repayment terms and adjust its lending policies....

International Business Machines Corp., New York symbol IBM, is the world’s biggest computer company. As one of the oldest tech stocks in the industry, IBM has been able to adapt itself to changes over the years. In the past few years, IBM has shifted its focus from making computers to designing computer systems and managing them on behalf of clients. We analyze IBM and other U.S. tech stocks in Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter that gives you stock trading information and advice on U.S. companies....

MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $33 (Toronto symbol MBT; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 65.7 million; Market cap: $2.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 5.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mtsallstream.com) 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. In 2010, Manitoba Telecom cut its quarterly dividend by 34.6%, to $0.425 a share from $0.65. The stock now yields 5.2%. The company also let shareholders reinvest their dividends in new shares at a 3% discount. These moves freed up cash for investments in its wireless and Internet networks. As a result of these investments, the company was able to start up its new Manitoba wireless network in March 2011. This new network is letting Manitoba Telecom sell more smartphones, including the hugely popular Apple iPhone. Strong demand for these phones and wireless data helped push up the company’s wireless revenue by 8.9% in the second quarter of 2011. Average revenue per user rose 3.8% from a year earlier....

TELUS CORP. (Toronto symbols T $53 and T.A $51; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 352.9 million; Market cap: $18.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 4.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.telus.com) continues to expand its wireless business. As a result, it now gets 52% of its earnings from its 7.1 million wireless subscribers across Canada. The company gets the remaining 48% of its earnings from its traditional phone business, which has 3.7 million customers in B.C., Alberta and eastern Quebec. Telus also has 1.2 million Internet subscribers. The company continues to profit from rising demand for smartphones and wireless data. Smartphones now account for 42% of its wireless users under long-term contracts, up from 25% a year earlier....

BCE INC. $39 (Toronto symbol BCE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 777.5 million; Market cap: $30.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 5.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bce.ca) is Canada’s largest provider of telephone, Internet and wireless services. The company’s main subsidiary, Bell Canada, has 6.3 million residential and business customers in Ontario and Quebec. BCE sells wireless services to 7.3 million subscribers across Canada. As well, it has 2.1 million high-speed Internet customers and 2.0 million TV subscribers. Through Bell Media, the company owns the CTV Television Network (28 TV stations), 29 specialty channels and 33 radio stations. It also owns 45% of Bell Aliant....

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD. $55 (Toronto symbol CP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 169.4 million; Market cap: $9.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cpr.ca) transports freight between Montreal and Vancouver. It also connects with hubs in the U.S. Midwest and Northeast. CP gets 25% of its revenue from the U.S. In 2010, CP got 28% of its revenue by hauling shipping containers that contain a variety of goods. Another 23% of its revenue came from hauling grain, followed by consumer and industrial products (19%), coal (10%), fertilizers (10%), automotive products (6%) and forest products (4%). CP’s revenue rose 16.7%, from $4.6 billion in 2006 to $5.3 billion in 2008, as increasing trade with Asia pushed up freight volumes. CP’s 2008 purchase of Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corp. (DM&E) for $1.5 billion also added to its revenue. DM&E operates a 4,000-kilometre rail network in eight midwestern states....