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CHEVRON CORP. $103 (New York symbol CVX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 2.0 billion; Market cap: $206.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.chevron.com) is the second-largest integrated oil company in the U.S., after ExxonMobil Corp....

Macy’s Inc., New York symbol M, operates 850 Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s department stores in 45 states. It also sells goods over the Internet. Macy’s is one of the companies we cover in Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter for U.S. stock market investing. In its 2012 first quarter, which ended April 30, 2011, the company’s earnings jumped 233.3%, to $0.30 a share from $0.09 a year earlier. That easily beat the consensus earnings estimate of $0.18 a share....

Zhongpin Inc., symbol HOGS on Nasdaq, is a China-based company that processes meat and other foods. Zhongpin specializes in pork and pork products, as well as fruit and vegetables. It sells 358 meat products, including chilled pork, frozen pork and prepared meats, as well as 34 fruit and vegetable products. Zhongpin focuses on prepared meat, with its higher profit margins, rather than bulk pork. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, the stock pick’s revenue jumped 39.9%, to $285.8 million from $204.3 million a year earlier. Earnings rose 27.1%, to $16.9 million from $13.3 million. Earnings per share rose 23.7%, to $0.47 from $0.38, on more shares outstanding. That beat the consensus earnings forecast of $0.45....

These days, many investors who are approaching retirement worry that their retirement investing won’t generate enough income once they’ve stopped working. We recommend that you base your retirement planning on a sound financial plan. Here are the 4 key variables that your plan should address to ensure that your retirement investing generates enough income in retirement:

1. How much you expect to save prior to retirement;
2. The return you expect on your savings;
3. How much of that return you’ll have left after taxes;
4. How much retirement income you’ll need once you’ve left the workforce.

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Baxter International Inc., New York symbol BAX, has two divisions: Medical Products (57% of sales) makes intravenous pumps, syringes and kidney-dialysis equipment; and BioScience (43%) makes vaccines and drugs. Overseas markets account for 60% of its sales. As well, about half of Baxter’s sales are single-use medical products that hospitals and clinics must continually reorder. Baxter’s sales in the first quarter of 2011 rose 12.2%, to $3.3 billion from $2.9 billion a year earlier. The company is seeing strong demand for intravenous and nutritional therapies. Demand for injectable drugs is also rising....

Companies in the highly competitive and fickle fast-food market are always looking for new ways to grow. Sometimes this involves introducing new products to try to take advantage of changing customer tastes. For instance, yesterday Yum! Brands (symbol YUM on New York) announced that it will reintroduce its KFC “Double Down” sandwich in Canada on June 1. The Double Down clearly aims to, shall we say, “press the buttons” of those who disapprove of fast food and the North American diet. Instead of bread or a bun, the Double Down uses two slices of breaded, deep-fried chicken filets, stuffed with bacon and processed cheese, and drowned in a “secret sauce.”

Large cap stocks: Yum is a Chinese trailblazer

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Russel Metals, symbol RUS on Toronto, is one of North America’s largest metal distribution companies. Russel has three divisions: metals service centres (55% of sales) sells carbon steel and non-ferrous metals; energy tubular products (34%) sells tubular products to the energy industry in Western Canada and the U.S.; and steel distributors (11%) sells steel in large volumes, mainly to other metals distributors and original equipment manufacturers in Canada and the U.S. The Canadian dividend stock’s quarterly payout is $0.274 a share. That gives the shares a 4.5% yield on an annualized basis. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, Russel earned $33 million, or $0.55 a share. That’s up sharply from $9.1 million, or $0.15 a share, a year earlier....

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. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental piece of investing strategy, and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Today’s tip: “What you must know about short selling stocks” Attractive opportunities for short selling come along from time to time, but it’s a hard way to make money. That’s because short sellers face a number of unique disadvantages that don’t apply to buyers....

Symantec Corp., symbol SYMC on Nasdaq, sells Internet security technology, including anti-virus and Internet content and email filtering software, to businesses and consumers. Symantec is one of the stocks we cover in Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter that covers more aggressive stock market recommendations. In the three months ended April 1, 2011, Symantec’s earnings fell 8.0%, to $297 million from $323 million a year earlier. Earnings per share fell 5.0%, to $0.38 from $0.40, on fewer shares outstanding. These figures exclude several unusual items, including asset writedowns and restructuring costs. On this basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $0.36 a share....

We continue to advise against overindulging in oil stocks. That’s because the Resource sector (including oil) is highly volatile, and no one can accurately predict future oil prices. For instance, after rising to $115 U.S. a barrel, oil dropped 16% in the first week of May 2011, to $97 U.S., on fears that the global economic recovery may be stalling. That’s why investors should stick with well-established oil stocks with high-quality reserves and rising production.

Oil stocks: Suncor is Canada’s largest integrated-oil company

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Broadridge Financial Services Inc., symbol BR on New York, serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications, securities processing and transaction clearing. It mails and processes 66% of all proxy votes. The company earned $32.6 million in the three months ended March 31, 2011. That’s up 5.8% from $30.8 million a year earlier. The stock pick’s earnings per share rose 13.6%, to $0.25 from $0.22, on fewer shares outstanding. That beat the consensus estimate of $0.20 a share. Revenue rose 7.4%, to $527.1 million from $490.8 million. That also beat the consensus revenue estimate of $521.0 million. The stock pick’s acquisitions were the main reasons for these gains: In December 2010, it paid $19.5 million for Forefield Inc., which makes web-based software that allows financial advisors to deliver educational and marketing materials to clients. In January 2011, Broadridge paid $201 million for Matrix Financial Solutions Inc., which processes trades and provides administrative services to mutual funds....

Owning your primary residence can be a great financial deal. Mortgage payments amount to forced savings, a home is an inflation hedge, and capital gains are tax-free. However, you can easily fritter away your Canadian real estate investing gains by excessive upgrading, or frequent moving. Here are 4 reasons why:

1. Neighbourhoods limit home prices: Suppose nearby homes sell for $350,000 to $400,000. You spend $60,000 on your $375,000 home. Your new deck, furnace, etc. only raise your home’s value by $25,000, to the area’s top price of $400,000. As well, your renovations may not appeal to all buyers. For example, they may be more interested in room and lot size, the home’s layout or other factors.
2. Additions have limited appeal: A new second floor or extra room may suit your needs, but will likely raise your home’s value by only half the cost of the extra room or floor. Additions are more costly and less functional than original construction, and buyers may have different needs than you.

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Intel Corp., symbol INTC on Nasdaq, is the world’s leading computer-chip maker. For the first quarter of 2011, the company reported record revenue of $12.9 billion. That’s up 25.0% from $10.3 billion in the first quarter of 2010. Two acquisitions in the 2011 quarter contributed $496 million to revenue. The tech stock’s earnings jumped 33.8%, to $3.3 billion, or $0.59 per share, from $2.5 billion, or $0.43 a share. Intel saw strong demand in all product lines and all markets around the world. Revenue for the tech stock’s PC Client Group (microprocessors and motherboards for notebooks, desktop computers, and wireless connectivity products) rose 17%. The Data Center Group (microprocessors and motherboards for servers, workstations, storage and wired network connectivity products) gained 32%. The Other Intel Architecture Group (components for phones, embedded applications, netbooks and tablets, consumer electronics and handhelds) jumped by 70%....

Toromont Industries Ltd., $30.60, symbol TIH on Toronto, operates two divisions: the equipment group distributes a broad range of Caterpillar and industrial equipment; the compression group builds natural-gas compression units. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, the Canadian stock pick’s revenue jumped 38.3% to $588.0 million from $425.3 million a year earlier. Enerflex Systems, which Toromont bought for $613 million in January 2010, was the main reason for the increase. Enerflex brought new oil and gas compression customers to Toromont. It also expanded Toromont’s international presence. Earnings rose 13%, to $0.26 a share from $0.23 a share. Order bookings were up 27% in the latest quarter from a year earlier. The company’s total backlog now stands at $1 billion, up 59% from a year ago....

You may have an old stock certificate or two in your files, issued by an unfamiliar firm. Perhaps you bought the stock yourself, or inherited it. The stock market pick’s certificate may be registered in your name, or in the name of an earlier owner — the friend or relation who left it to you, or a total stranger. One way to determine the value of a certificate like this, if any, is to try to deposit it in an account with a discount broker. If the issuing company’s corporate charter has been cancelled, the discount broker will reject the certificate and return it to you. If the stock has been taken over by another company, the discount broker will try to collect the securities or cash that the buying company paid for it.

Why you never find high-quality stock market picks in the bottom of the junk drawer

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Stanley Black & Decker Inc., New York symbol SWK, makes power and hand tools and security devices. It took its current form on March 12, 2010. That’s when Stanley Works bought the Black & Decker Corp. for $3.5 billion in stock. At the time of the merger, Stanley shareholders owned 50.5% of the combined company, and Black & Decker investors owned the remaining 49.5%. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, the company earned $157.8 million, or $0.92 a share, compared to a loss of $108.6 million, or $1.11 a share, a year earlier. Excluding charges relating to the merger, the growth stock’s earnings per share would have risen 54.3%, to $1.08 from $0.70. The growth stock’s sales rose 89.0% in the quarter, to $2.4 billion from $1.3 billion. If you assume the purchase occurred at the start of 2010, sales would have risen 4%....

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 advice on how to spot good investments. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental piece of investing strategy, and shows you how you can put it into practice right away.

Today’s tip: “3 ways to miss out on good investments.”

Here are 3 classic errors that can seriously hinder your returns, and cause you to miss out on good investments. All investors make them from time to time.

1. Too little diversification among the 5 sectors: Manufacturing and Resource stocks involve extra risk, Canadian Finance and Utilities involve lower risk, and Consumer falls in the middle. Sectors go in and out of investor favour, depending on economic conditions, corporate earnings, and investor whim. But in the long run, winners and losers appear in all five.
   
   If you stick to one or two sectors, you may get lucky and all of your picks will turn out to be good investments. Or, all your stocks may wind up out of favour and depressed. If you have to sell, you’ll do so at a low. So, spread your money out to eliminate luck. That way, you’ll always have exposure to the year’s most profitable investments, a key to successful investing.
   

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PASON SYSTEMS, symbol PSI on Toronto, rents equipment that its customers use to monitor and manage land-based oil rigs. The stock market pick also provides communication systems, such as its satellite system, which companies use to remotely collect data from their drilling operations. Pason serves oil and gas companies and drilling contractors throughout Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Argentina. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, Pason’s revenue jumped 50.0%, to $84.7 million from $56.4 million a year earlier. The company’s Canadian operations benefited from a cold winter that allowed rig movement on frozen ground until the end of March. Earnings climbed 125.3%, to $17.9 million, or $0.22 a share, from $7.9 million, or $0.10 a share. Stronger oil and gas industry drilling and higher selling prices for the company’s equipment pushed up results....

TELUS CORP. (Toronto symbols T $52 and T.A $50; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 324 million; Market cap: $16.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 4.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.telus.com) is Canada’s second-largest telephone company after BCE Inc. (Toronto symbol BCE). Telus has been expanding its wireless operations over the past few years. As a result, it now gets 52% of its earnings from its 7.0 million wireless subscribers across Canada. Telus now has 28% of the wireless market. Market leader Rogers Communications Inc. (Toronto symbol RCI.B) has 36%. The remaining 48% of the company’s earnings come from its traditional phone business, which has 3.7 million customers in British Columbia, Alberta and eastern Quebec. Telus also has 1.2 million Internet subscribers....

The U.S. consumer sector is highly competitive. As well, retailers are more exposed to swings in the overall economy than companies in some other sectors, such as utilities. However, U.S. consumer stocks also hold the potential for strong gains. To cut your risk and earn higher profits when investing in this volatile sector, it’s especially important to focus on chains that can adapt quickly and prosper in the fast-changing retail landscape.

U.S.A. stock market: Shift to more profitable products pushed up this retailer’s latest results

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Tim Hortons Inc., Toronto symbol THI, saw less traffic at its Canadian coffee-and-donut stores in the first quarter of 2011, due to bad winter weather. As well, the company spent more on promotions, which hurt its earnings growth.

We analyze Tim Hortons in Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter for portfolio investing in aggressive stocks.

In the three months ended April 3, 2011, Tim Hortons’ earnings rose 2.3%, to $80.7 million from $78.9 million....

If you’re a member of our Inner Circle service or a subscriber to one of our newsletters—or if you’re thinking of becoming a subscriber—you’ll want to make sure you “like” our Facebook page right away. That’s because, every Wednesday afternoon, you learn “what’s on Pat’s mind”. That’s when Pat gives you a special advance preview of what he’s working on for the upcoming issue of his newsletters (The Successful Investor, Stock Pickers Digest, Canadian Wealth Advisor and Wall Street Stock Forecaster). We send a new issue to Inner Circle members and newsletter subscribers every Friday. If you haven’t yet visited the page — www.tsinetwork.ca/facebook — you really should. Nearly 500 investors now follow our Facebook page....

CENOVUS ENERGY INC. $33 (Toronto symbol CVE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 753.9 million; Market cap: $24.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 2.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.cenovus.com) operates three oil-sands properties in Alberta, and one in Saskatchewan. Cenovus ships the heavy bitumen from these projects to refineries in Illinois and Texas. ConocoPhillips (New York symbol COP) owns 50% of these refineries, as well as 50% of Cenovus’ two main oil-sands projects. Cenovus also owns conventional oil and natural-gas properties. The company has received approval from regulators to expand its Christina Lake oil-sands project in Alberta. It will build this project in three phases; each phase will add 40,000 barrels per day to Christina Lake’s current production of 18,000 barrels per day. Cenovus will complete the first phase in 2014, the second phase in 2016 and the third phase in 2017....

IMPERIAL OIL LTD. $46 (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $39.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 1.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.imperialoil.ca) is a major integrated-oil company. U.S.-based ExxonMobil Corp. (New York symbol XOM) owns 69.6% of Imperial’s shares. Most of the Imperial’s production comes from its oil-sands projects in Alberta. It also has conventional oil and natural-gas operations in western Canada, and holds interests in offshore projects in Atlantic Canada. The company’s other operations include four refineries and roughly 1,900 Esso gas stations. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, Imperial earned $781 million, or $0.91 a share. That’s up 64.1% from $476 million, or $0.56 a share. Cash flow per share rose 4.7%, to $1.12 to $1.07. Revenue rose 11.4%, to $6.9 billion from $6.2 billion....

SUNCOR ENERGY INC. $39 (Toronto symbol SU; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $62.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.suncor.com) merged with Petro-Canada in August 2009 to become Canada’s largest integrated-oil company. The company recently formed a joint venture with French oil company Total S.A., to develop two oil-sands projects. Under the terms of the deal, Suncor acquired 36.75% of Total’s Joslyn oil-sands project, which should begin operating in 2017. In exchange, Total received 49% of Suncor’s Voyageur facility, which converts tar-like bitumen from the oil sands into synthetic crude oil. Total also got part of Suncor’s stake in the Fort Hills oil-sands project....