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Members of our Inner Circle service ask for our advice on a wide range of investments from buying penny stocks to investing in shares of large, multinational companies. For example, an Inner Circle member interested in buying penny stocks recently asked our advice on North American Tungsten. The company’s projects are located in the Northwest Territories and Yukon Territory. Tungsten is used in a wide range of products, from wind turbines to light bulbs. To give you a sense of how my Inner Circle service works, I’d like to share this question about buying penny stocks, and our answer, with you. I hope you enjoy and profit from it....

Nordstrom Inc., symbol JWN on New York, mainly sells upscale clothing, accessories and footwear. The company owns and operates 212 outlets in the United States. It expects to open another nine stores this year. In March 2011, Nordstrom paid $180 million for HauteLook. The Los Angeles-based online retailer has more than 4 million members and annual sales of over $100 million. The acquisition will dilute Nordstrom’s earnings by about $0.20 per share in 2011. In its 2011 first quarter, which ended April 30, the U.S. stock’s earnings rose 25.0%, to $145 million, or $0.65 a share, from $116 million, or $0.52, a year earlier. The figures for the recent quarter include a $0.04 charge related to the acquisition of HauteLook....

Our new FREE report, “Dividend Paying Stocks: How High Dividend Stocks Can Supercharge Your Income Investing,” is packed with all the advice and information you need to pick the right Canadian dividend stocks for your portfolio—and avoid the ones that could steer you into a financial disaster. Best of all, the report gives you full details on 4 of our favourite high dividend stocks, a dividend paying stock for aggressive investors—and 5 high dividend stocks you must avoid. Click here to download your FREE copy and get started right away. ...

Gennum Corp., Toronto symbol GND, makes equipment for TV broadcasters that stores, manipulates and transfers video signals. It also makes chips that make computer networks work more quickly. Gennum is one of the Canadian stock picks we analyze in The Successful Investor. On April 6, 2011, Gennum acquired Nanotech Semiconductor Limited for $35.9 million. Based in Bristol, U.K., Nanotech designs chips for high-speed communication networks....

It’s hard to believe it’s already been two years since we launched TSI Network. When we flicked the switch in the summer of 2009, after

ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX FUND $19.21 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through a broker; ca.ishares.com) is a good, low-fee way to buy the top stocks on the TSX. The units are made up of stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index, which consists of the 60 largest, most heavily traded stocks on the exchange. Expenses are just 0.17% of assets. Most of the stocks in the index are high-quality companies. However, as it must ensure that all sectors are represented, it holds a few we wouldn’t include, such as Yellow Media Inc. The index’s top holdings are: Royal Bank, 6.9%; TD Bank, 6.3%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.4%; Suncor Energy, 5.2%; Potash Corp., 4.1%; Canadian Natural Resources, 3.9%; Barrick Gold, 3.9%; Goldcorp, 3.2%; CN Railway, 3.1%; Bank of Montreal, 3.1%; Manulife Financial, 2.6%; CIBC, 2.6%; BCE, 2.5%; TransCanada Corp., 2.5%; Cenovus Energy, 2.3%; and Teck Resources, 2.2%....

ISHARES DOW JONES CANADA SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX FUND $21.64 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through a broker; ca.ishares.com) holds 30 of the highest-yielding Canadian stocks. Its selections are based on dividend growth, yield and payout ratio. The weight of any one stock is limited to 10% of assets. The fund’s MER is 0.50%. It yields 2.7%. The fund’s top holdings are CIBC, 6.4%; Bonterra Energy Corp., 6.0%; National Bank, 5.2%; Bank of Montreal, 5.2%; TD Bank, 5.1%; Telus, 4.6%; IGM Financial, 4.5%; AG Growth International, 4.2%; Royal Bank, 3.9%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 3.8%; BCE, 3.7%; and TMX Group, 3.6%. The fund holds 51.8% of its assets in financial stocks. Utilities are next, at 24.0%. The top Canadian finance stocks have sound prospects. However, if you invest in this ETF, be sure to adjust the rest of your portfolio so it won’t be overly concentrated in the financial sector....

General Mills Inc., New York symbol GIS, is one of the world’s largest food makers. Its top brands include Big G (cereal), Green Giant (canned and frozen vegetables), Pillsbury (baking dough), Old El Paso (tacos) and Progresso (soups and sauces). General Mills is one of the stocks we analyze in Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter that gives you advice and stock market news for U.S. investing. In its 2011 fiscal year, which ended May 29, 2011, General Mills’ revenue rose 1.7%, to $14.9 billion from $14.6 billion in the previous year. Earnings rose 17.5%, to $1.8 billion from $1.5 billion. The company spent $1.2 billion on share buybacks in the latest fiscal year. Because of fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 20.5%, to $2.70 from $2.24....

Many successful investors start researching a company by looking at its financial ratios, including its debt-to-equity ratio. This ratio

SPDR S&P 500 ETF $133.97 (New York symbol SPY; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the stocks in the S&P 500 Index, which consists of 500 major U.S. stocks that are chosen based on their market cap, liquidity and industry group. The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Exxon Mobil, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Apple, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Johnson & Johnson, IBM, Chevron, General Electric, Pfizer Inc., Coca-Cola Co. and AT&T. The fund’s expenses are just 0.10% of its assets....

McCormick & Co., Inc., New York symbol MKC, makes spices, herbs, seasonings, specialty foods and flavours, and markets them to the food industry. McCormick is one of the companies we analyze in Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter for investing in U.S. stocks. In its second quarter, which ended May 31, 2011, McCormick’s earnings rose 11.2%, to $73.6 million from $66.2 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 12.2%, to $0.55 from $0.49, on fewer shares outstanding....

You may think oil is set to rise sharply, due to fast growth in India and China. Or you may think prices could be set to fall, because high oil prices could prompt users to switch to cheaper natural gas. The truth is, no one knows the future direction of oil prices. That’s why, instead of trying to predict the future direction of oil prices, we continue to recommend that you stick with well-established oil stocks with high-quality reserves and rising production. In addition, you should limit your investments in oil stocks to a portion of your portfolio’s Resource holdings. ...

SPDR DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE ETF $126.09 (New York Exchange symbol DIA; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The fund’s top holdings are IBM, ExxonMobil, Chevron Corp., 3M, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald’s Corp., Coca-Cola Co., Caterpillar Inc., United Technologies and Boeing Co. The fund’s expenses are about 0.18% of its assets. SPDR Dow Jones ETF is a buy....

H&R Block, symbol HRB on New York, is the world’s largest provider of income-tax-preparation services. The company is one of the investments we analyze in Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter for U.S.A. stock market investing. In its 2011 fiscal year, which ended April 30, 2011, H&R Block’s U.S. offices prepared 14.8 million tax returns, up 3.6% from fiscal 2010. The number of returns processed over the Internet jumped 28.7%....

In fact, when we’re conducting stock research we reject many potential new recommendations out of hand. After all, it’s relatively easy to

POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $58.18 (Nasdaq symbol QQQQ; buy or sell through brokers; www.invescopowershares.com), formerly called Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares, holds the stocks that represent the Nasdaq 100 Index. That index is made up of the 100 largest shares on the Nasdaq exchange, based on market cap. The Nasdaq 100 Index contains firms from a number of major industries, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain financial companies. The fund’s expenses are about 0.20% of its assets. The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Google, Cisco Systems, Intel, Amazon.com, Oracle Corp., Comcast Corp. and Amgen Inc....

ISHARES MSCI CANADA INDEX FUND $31.84 (New York symbol EWC; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) is like a market-cap-based index fund, but its managers try to improve performance by tinkering with the index-fund formula. They do this through their Morgan Stanley Capital International Canada Index. The fund has an MER of 0.50%. The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 6.0%; TD Bank, 5.4%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.8%; Suncor Energy, 4.7%; Potash Corp., 3.6%; Canadian Natural Resources, 3.4%; Barrick Gold, 3.4%; Goldcorp, 2.9%; Bank of Montreal, 2.6%; CN Railway, 2.6%; CIBC, 2.4%; Manulife Financial, 2.3%; TransCanada Corp., 2.3%; and Teck Resources, 2.2%. If you want to own a Canadian index fund, you should buy the iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index Fund. You’ll pay about a third of the management fees....

SPDR S&P CHINA ETF $78.27 (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 of the publicly traded Chinese stocks that are available to foreign investors. Right now, it holds 153 stocks. The $759-million fund’s top holdings are: China Construction Bank, 6.9%; China Mobile, 6.2%; Baidu Inc., 5.2%; Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, 5.1%; CNOOC, 4.7%; PetroChina, 3.9%; Bank of China, 3.7%; China Life Insurance, 3.5% and Tencent Holdings, 2.8%. SPDR S&P China ETF was launched on March 19, 2007. It has a 0.59% MER, and yields 0.8%....

GUGGENHEIM CHINA SMALL CAP ETF $28.48 (New York Exchange symbol HAO; buy or sell through brokers; www.guggenheimfunds.com) aims to track the AlphaShares China Small Cap Index. This index is made up of all investable Chinese stocks with market caps between $200 million and $1.5 billion. The $296.7-million fund’s top holdings are China Shanshui Cement Group, 1.9%; Mindray Medical, 1.5%; BBMG Corp., 1.4%; Tsingtao Brewery, 1.4%; Great Wall Motor, 1.4%; Soho China, 1.4%; Zhaojin Mining Industry, 1.3%; Semiconductor Manufacturing International, 1.3%; Zhuzhou CSR Times Electric Co., 1.2%; and China Everbright, 1.2%. As China’s economy matures, and consumers feel more protected by the expanding social-safety net, domestic spending should rise. The ongoing Arab revolution could also spur China’s leaders to boost spending on social programs and services to ease the growing gap between the rich and poor. This fund is well positioned to benefit from these trends....

IMPERIAL OIL $45.38 (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 854.2 million; Market cap: $38.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.0%; www.imperialoil.ca) is a major integrated-oil company that gets most of its production from its oil-sands projects in Alberta. Imperial 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’s cash flow rose 33.1%, to $873 million, or $1.03 a share. A year earlier, cash flow was $656 million, or $0.77 a share. The rise came mainly from higher production, higher oil prices and improved profits at Imperial’s refineries. Revenue rose 11.4%, to $6.9 billion from $6.2 billion. The company’s production is set to rise in the long term, thanks to its new oil-sands projects, including the $10.9-billion Kearl project, which is more than 50% complete. Imperial owns 71% of Kearl. ExxonMobil Corp. (New York symbol XOM) owns the remaining 29%. Exxon also holds a 69.6% interest in Imperial....

Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund, symbol CHE.UN on Toronto, is one of North America’s largest suppliers of sulphuric acid, sulphur, liquid sulphur oxide and sodium hydrosulphite. It also supplies sodium chlorate, phosphorous pentasulphide and zinc oxide. In addition to selling chemicals, Chemtrade processes spent acid. We analyze Chemtrade in Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter for aggressive investing. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, the income trust’s cash flow per share jumped 55.6%, to $0.84 from $0.54. Revenue rose 33.8%, to $169.6 million from $126.8 million. This was mostly due to a recovering economy and higher prices for sulphuric acid....

CriticalControl Solutions Corp., symbol CCZ on Toronto, sells services and software that help business better manage, access and store their information. CriticalControl gets about 60% of its revenue from clients in the oil and gas industry, followed by government (20%), health care (10%) and finance and retail (10%). CriticalControl is one of the stocks we analyze in Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter that helps you make great stock picks for the part of your portfolio you devote to aggressive investing. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, CriticalControl’s revenue fell 6.2%, to $12.2 million from $13.0 million a year earlier. Revenue at the Service Bureau Operations division rose 10%, while revenue at the Canadian Energy Services division was flat. Revenue at the U.S. Energy Services division fell 28.0%....

On TSI Network, we’ve periodically looked at common stock market strategy errors most investors make, and given you our advice on how to avoid them. Here are 3 more profit-killing mistakes to look out for. Most investors make them from time to time. Stock market strategy error #1: Trying to time the market. Our view is that nobody guesses right every time about the direction of the stock market. Some of the most prominent people in the investment world owe their prominence to a series of correct guesses that could end at any time.

That’s why market timing plays a small role, if any, in our stock market strategy. Instead, we focus on investment quality and portfolio management. We diversify across most, if not all, of the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry; Resources & Commodities; Consumer; Finance; and Utilities), we aim to uncover investment quality at a modest price, and we downplay or shun the overhyped investments that you’ll find in the glare of the broker/media limelight.

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Major Drilling, symbol MDI on Toronto, is a large contract-drilling firm that mainly serves the mining industry. Major Drilling is one of the stocks we analyze in Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter that contains stock investing tips for the part of your portfolio you devote to aggressive investing. In the three months ended April 30, 2011, the company’s revenue jumped 41.0%, to $137.3 million from $97.4 million a year earlier. The gain came despite floods in North Dakota and Queensland, Australia, and severe winter weather in Canada. Earnings per share jumped 225.0%, to $0.13 from $0.04. During the quarter, the company expanded its workforce to 4,000 from 3,400. It also bought 25 new rigs and retired 21 as part of a modernization program. It added 15 of its new rigs to its Resource Drilling (Mozambique) operations, which it acquired on March 24, 2011....

Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a beginning or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you specific advice on how to spot the top stock picks. 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: “How you can profit from our TSI Network ratings: Part 2” In last week’s Investor Toolkit, we analyzed 4 of the 9 factors we use to assign one of our TSI Network ratings (Highest Quality, Above Average, Average, Extra Risk, Speculative and Start-up) to every stock we recommend in our newsletters, including our flagship publication, The Successful Investor. Click here to read that article....