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PRIMARIS RETAIL REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $17.32 (Toronto symbol PMZ.UN; Units outstanding: 67.6 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; SI Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 7.0%) owns large malls in medium-sized Canadian cities. It also owns major shopping centres in suburbs of large cities. In all, the trust owns 28 properties that contain 10.5 million square feet of leasable area. Primaris has a 96.7% occupancy rate. Its major tenants include Hudson’s Bay Company, Sears, Shoppers Drug Mart, Loblaw, Reitmans, Canadian Tire and Best Buy. In the three months ended March 31, 2010, Primaris’s revenue rose 13.6%, to $78.4 million from $69.0 million a year earlier. Cash flow per unit rose 2.9%, to $0.36 from $0.35. the trust’s annual distribution of $1.22 gives the units a 7.0% yield....

ALLIED PROPERTIES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $19.87 (Toronto symbol AP.UN; Units outstanding: 39.1 million; Market cap: $777.1 million; SI Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 6.6%) owns office buildings in Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City and Winnipeg. These mainly Class I properties contain over 5.7 million square feet of leasable area. Class I refers to 19th and early 20th-century light industrial buildings that have been restored and converted to office and retail space. These properties usually feature high ceilings, natural light, exposed beams, interior brick and hardwood floors. The trust has 53 mainly Class I properties in Toronto (these contain 52.7% of Allied’s leasable area). It also has 13 Class I buildings in Montreal (35.8%), seven in Winnipeg (6.7%), five in Quebec City (3.2%) and one in Kitchener-Waterloo (1.5%)....

VANGUARD EMERGING MARKETS ETF $38.85 (New York symbol VWO; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which is made up of common stocks of companies located in emerging markets around the world. The fund has an MER of 0.27%. The fund’s top holdings are China Mobile (China: wireless), Gazprom (Russia: gas utility), Samsung Electronics (South Korea: electronics), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, America Movil SAB de CV (Latin America: wireless), Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Brazil: oil and gas), China Construction Bank, Vale SA (Brazil: mining) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (Taiwan: electronics). The $39.2-billion Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF’s largest holdings by country are: China (17.2%), Brazil (16.1%), South Korea (13.5%), Taiwan (10.8%), India (7.9%), South Africa (7.1%), Russia (6.4%), Mexico (4.5%), Malaysia (3.0%), Israel (2.8%), Indonesia (2.1%), Turkey (1.6%), Thailand (1.5%), Chile (1.4%), Poland (1.3%), Hungary (0.6%), Peru (0.5%), Philippines (0.5%), Colombia (0.4%), Czech Republic (0.4%) and Egypt (0.3%)....

VANGUARD GROWTH ETF $52.22 (New York symbol VUG; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the MSCI U.S. Prime Market Growth Index, a broadly diversified index that mainly consists of stocks of large U.S. companies. The fund has an MER of just 0.14%. The $17.1-billion fund’s top holdings are Microsoft, IBM, Apple Inc., Cisco Systems, Wal-Mart Stores, Google Inc., Hewlett-Packard, Oracle Corp., Philip Morris International and PepsiCo. Vanguard Growth ETF is broken down by economic segment as follows: Information Technologies (35.0%), Health Care (13.3%), Consumer Discretionary (12.8%), Consumer Staples (11.0%), Industrials (8.8%), Energy (7.6%), Financials (6.4%), Materials (4.1%), Telecommunication Services (0.7%) and Utilities (0.3%)....

ISHARES DEX SHORT BOND INDEX FUND $28.97 (CWA Rating: Income) (Toronto symbol XSB; buy or sell through a broker) mirrors the performance of the DEX Short-Term Bond Index. This index consists of a wide range of investment-grade federal, provincial, municipal and corporate bonds with between one- and five-year terms to maturity. The fund holds 185 bonds with an average term to maturity of 2.68 years. Top issuers include the Government of Canada, Canada Housing Trust and the Province of Ontario. The bonds in the index are 88.8% government and 11.2% corporate. The fund’s MER is 0.25%....

ISHARES DEX UNIVERSE BOND INDEX FUND $29.56 (CWA Rating: Income) (Toronto symbol XBB; buy or sell through a broker) mirrors the performance of the DEX Universe Bond Index. This index consists of a wide range of investment-grade Canadian government and corporate bonds with terms to maturity of more than one year. The 310 bonds in the portfolio have an average term to maturity of 8.49 years. The fund’s MER is 0.30%. The bonds in the index are 85.1% government and 14.9% corporate. The fund sticks with high-quality government bonds from issuers such as Canada Housing Trust, Government of Canada and Province of Ontario, plus high-quality corporate bonds from issuers such as Bank of Montreal, TransCanada Pipelines, Bank of Nova Scotia and Bell Canada....

Members of Pat McKeough’s Inner Circle enjoy a double benefit when it comes to taking advantage of our investment research. They get to address investment questions directly to me and my research associates; AND they get to see all other members’ questions, and our answers (of course, we eliminate any personal information). Aside from specific investments (such as stocks, income trusts or exchange-traded funds), members ask us a wide range of other kinds of investment questions, as well. So you can get a sense of how the service works, I’d like to share an example of the type of question a more conservative investor might ask. I hope you enjoy and profit from it. Q: Dear Pat, I’m a conservative investor who just received $50,000 that is important to my retirement (which is in about 12 years), so I have to invest this money carefully. The market has fallen lately, and I’m concerned that it could drop further. As a conservative investor, I would like to know if I should invest this new money in the stock market all at once or spread it out over a certain period of time. Thanks for your help....

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 the fundamentals of successful investing. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a new fundamental tip and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Today’s tip: “Time spent finding a good stock broker can be an excellent investment.” Investors often ask us to refer them to a good full-service stock broker. Stock brokers are now more commonly referred to as “investment advisors.” But good stock brokers or investment advisors have always been hard to find. We mainly only hear about them after they’ve retired, when investors complain about the bad brokers who have taken over their accounts....

Whether you’re an aggressive or more conservative investor, we feel you can improve your results in stock market investments — and cut your risk — by understanding and avoiding these 5 common investment errors: 1. Focusing on three or fewer of the 5 main economic sectors: Manufacturing and Resources stocks expose you to above-average risk, Utilities and Canadian Finance stocks involve below-average risk, and Consumer stocks fall in the middle. The sectors go in and out of investor favour, depending on economic conditions and investor whim. But in the long run, winners and losers appear in all five. Spreading your money out across most or all of the five sectors limits the role of luck in your results. Your stock market investments will always have some exposure to the year’s most profitable investment area, and that’s a key factor in successful investing....

FPL GROUP INC. $48 (New York symbol FPL; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 414.7 million; Market cap: $19.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 4.2%; WSSF Rating: Average) operates through two wholly owned subsidiaries. Florida Power and Light Company (which accounted for 73% of FPL Group’s 2009 revenue and 49% of its earnings) sells electricity to 4.5 million customers in eastern and southern Florida. This subsidiary’s power stations operate under some form of government regulation. That limits the prices Florida Power and Light can charge, but it also gives the company steady revenue streams. FPL Group also owns NextEra Energy Resources, which operates unregulated electrical-power projects in Canada and 26 U.S. states. NextEra mainly sells its power to other utilities, and is free to sell at the market price or under long-term contracts. In all, its projects generate 18,148 megawatts....

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) have gained popularity among investors in recent years, mainly because they offer low management fees. However, you should always keep in mind that not all exchange traded funds are created equal. For example, there are a lot of ETFs that have been created to tap into popular, but risky, themes and fads. So you need to be very selective with your ETF holdings. Exchange traded funds are set up to mirror the performance of a stock-market index or sub-index. They hold a more or less fixed selection of securities that represent the holdings that go into the calculation of the index or sub-index. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. Investors can buy them on margin or sell them short....

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 on the fundamentals of successful investing. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a new piece of investment advice and shows you how you can put it into practice right away....

Investors generally look to aggressive stocks for capital gains and to more conservative stocks, like utilities, for income. However, there are some aggressive stocks that pay dividends that are as high — or even higher — than more established companies. (We’ve updated our buy/sell/hold advice on a high-dividend aggressive stock in a just-published issue of Stock Pickers Digest. See below for further details.) ...

Our Stock Pickers Digest newsletter helps you find the aggressive investing stocks that could greatly enhance your portfolio’s results. These undervalued, often overlooked companies have the potential to explode for large returns of 50% or more in six months or less. It’s important to keep in mind that all aggressive investing stocks – including those we recommend in Stock Pickers Digest – expose you to a higher degree of risk than conservative selections. However, there are many ways to cut your risk in aggressive investing and still put yourself in position for large returns. Here are three key strategies you can easily apply to the part of your portfolio you devote to aggressive investments. They form the core of the advice we give you in Stock Pickers Digest....

Whether you’re a beginning or experienced investor, it’s always a good idea to review the fundamental points of successful investing. That’s what we give you in our new “Investor Toolkit” series. Every Wednesday, we’ll give you a new fundamental easy investing tip and show you how you can put it into practice right away. We hope you enjoy and profit from it. Today’s tip: “Sound investor habits and attitudes are as important as good investments.”

To succeed as an investor, you need to cultivate three personal mental strengths:...

One key part of our three-pronged investing program is to spread your money out across the five main sectors of the economy: Manufacturing & Industry; Resources; Consumer; Finance; and Utilities. In general, stocks in the Resources and Manufacturing & Industry sectors expose you to above-average volatility, and stocks in the Utilities and Finance sectors entail below-average volatility. Consumer stocks usually fall in the middle. That’s because consumer firms benefit from continuous and often habitual use of their products and services, so they have much more stability in their sales and earnings, no matter what the economy is doing....

China Investment Corp. (CIC) continues to catch investors’ attention by making a number of big purchases in the resource sector, including crude oil stocks. CIC is the Chinese government’s “sovereign wealth fund.” Sovereign wealth funds have been around since the 1950s. They are state-owned investment funds that are usually financed by an economic surplus. Many Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, for example, are financed by state oil revenues. CIC is directly funded by the Chinese government, largely with U.S. dollar reserves accumulated through exports. ...

Attractive opportunities for short selling stocks 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. (See below for three risks to be aware of if you’re considering short selling stocks as an investment strategy.) ...

TIM HORTONS INC. $34 (Toronto symbol THI; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 176.2 million; Market cap: $6.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.7; Dividend yield: 1.5%; SI Rating: Average) is one of Canada’s largest fast-food restaurant chains. Its 3,015 outlets mainly serve coffee and donuts. The company also has 563 stores in the U.S. Franchisees operate 99.5% of Tim Hortons’ coffee-and-donut shops. The company gets about two-thirds of its revenue from supplying these outlets with coffee, baked goods and related items. (Rents and franchise fees account for the remaining third of its revenue.) Tim Hortons owns its own bakeries and warehouses. That gives it strong quality control, and lets it use its buying power to negotiate better ingredient costs. In 2009, Tim Hortons’ earnings rose 4.1%, to $296.4 million from $284.7 million in 2008. However, its 2008 earnings were depressed by a $15.4-million (after tax) charge for non-recurring costs, including writedowns....

SAPUTO INC. $29 (Toronto symbol SAP; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 207.2 million; Market cap: $6.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 2.0%; SI Rating: Average) is Canada’s largest producer of dairy products, including milk, butter and cheese. It also makes snack cakes and tarts. Aside from Saputo, the company’s main brands are Neilson, Stella and Dairyland. The company also has operations in the U.S., Argentina and Europe. In the three months ended December 31, 2009, Saputo’s earnings jumped 80.4%, to $104.3 million, or $0.50 a share. A year earlier, it earned $57.8 million, or $0.28 a share. That’s mainly because of contributions from its Neilson Dairy subsidiary, which Saputo bought from George Weston Ltd. (Toronto symbol WN) on December 1, 2008. The higher earnings came despite a 20% increase in milk prices over the past year. (Milk is the main raw material of Saputo’s dairy businesses, which provide 98% of its earnings.) The company has been able to offset most of these extra costs by raising its selling prices for cheese in Canada....

MAPLE LEAF FOODS INC. $9.37 (Toronto symbol MFI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 136.8 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.2; Dividend yield: 1.7%; SI Rating: Average) is Canada’s largest food-processing company. It mainly makes its products, which include fresh and prepared meats and poultry, under the Maple Leaf and Schneider brands. Maple Leaf also owns 89.8% of Canada Bread. Maple Leaf’s strong brands and customer loyalty are helping it continue its recovery from a 2008 listeriosis outbreak at its Toronto meat-processing plant. These strengths should also help it pass along higher costs for pork and other ingredients to its customers over the next few months. In the three months ended March 31, 2010, Maple Leaf’s sales fell 6.9%, to $1.2 billion from $1.3 billion a year earlier. That’s mainly because of a 7.5% drop in sales of frozen baked goods. As well, Maple Leaf gets 23% of its sales from outside of Canada, and the higher Canadian dollar hurt the contributions of its foreign operations....

CANADA BREAD CO. LTD. $47 (Toronto symbol CBY; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 25.4 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 0.5%; SI Rating: Above Average) is Canada’s second-largest producer of baked goods, after Weston Bakery. It also makes specialty pastas and sauces. Its main brands include Dempster, Tenderflake and Olivieri. In the three months ended March 31, 2010, Canada Bread’s earnings fell 14.5% to $12.7 million, or $0.50 a share. It earned $14.9 million, or $0.59 a share, a year earlier. Without unusual items, mainly the cost of building a new bakery in Hamilton, Ontario, to replace three older Toronto bakeries, earnings per share would have fallen 8.3%, to $0.55 from $0.60. Sales fell 7.6%, to $381.9 million from $413.1 million, mainly because the company lost a major U.S. restaurant customer. That pushed down sales of frozen bagels and breads to restaurants by 16.9%. Sales of fresh baked goods fell 2.2%....

SUNCOR ENERGY INC. $33 (Toronto symbol SU; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $52.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 1.2%; SI Rating: Average) became Canada’s largest oil company when it bought Petro-Canada (old symbol PCA) on August 1, 2009. Petro-Canada shareholders received 1.28 Suncor shares for each Petro-Canada share they held. Conventional oil and natural gas account for about 60% of the merged company’s production. The remaining 40% comes from oil sands. That includes its 12% stake in the massive Syncrude oil-sands development. Suncor also operates four refineries and over 1,800 retail gas stations under the Petro-Canada banner. The company wants to expand its oil sands operations until they account for about 70% of its production. To that end, it is selling some conventional and offshore properties that belonged to Petro-Canada. However, Suncor will probably keep Petro-Canada’s projects in Libya and Syria....

On Thursday, May 6, 2010, the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened at around 10,860. Later that afternoon, it suddenly fell 9.2%, to 9,869.62. In the space of just a few minutes, it had recovered most of these losses, and closed at 10,520.32. It’s now back to its pre-crash level of around 10,860. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating the drop, but an exact cause has not yet been found. No matter what caused the crash, some of the trades that occurred between 2:40 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. eastern time have already been cancelled. The New York and Nasdaq exchanges have cancelled all trades that occurred during that window that were more than 60% higher or lower than the stock’s price just before the plunge....

Ottawa’s new tax on income trusts comes into effect on January 1, 2011. When it does, it will put income trusts on an equal footing with regular corporations. That will prompt some income trusts to convert to conventional corporations. Others may continue to operate as trusts. Either way, the looming tax has made many investors wary of income trusts. However, some trusts remain well positioned for long-term gains, even with the new tax. These are trusts that operate stable businesses in strong and growing industries. One way we separate these trusts from those that will struggle — or worse — when the new tax kicks in is to look for trusts that have histories of raising their distributions, and plan to keep their payouts at current levels after January 2011....