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NEWMONT MINING CORP. $39 (New York symbol NEM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 454.3 million; Market cap: $17.7 billion; Price to- sales ratio: 3.4; WSSF Rating: Average) is one of the world’s largest gold mining companies, with major operating gold mines in the United States, Canada, Australia, Peru, Bolivia and Ghana. Gold accounts for about 85% of Newmont’s revenue. The remaining 15% comes from copper, zinc and other metals. Most of Newmont’s copper comes from its 45% stake in the large Batu Hijau mining complex in Indonesia. Newmont reached its current size mainly through its 2002 acquisitions of Canada’s Franco-Nevada Mining Corp. and Australia’s Normandy Mining Ltd. As part of these acquisitions, Newmont inherited their hedging contracts, which let them lock in future delivery prices. However, Newmont prefers to sell its gold at the floating price. The company maximizes profit by adjusting production based on the prevailing price....

TRUE ENERGY TRUST $1.25 (Toronto symbol TUI.UN; SI Rating: Speculative) (403-264-8875; www.trueenergy.ab.ca; Units outstanding: 78.5 million; Market cap: $98.1 million) produces oil and gas, mostly in Alberta and Saskatchewan. About 65% of output is gas. In the three months ended September 30, 2008, production fell 6.4%, to 11,263 barrels of oil equivalent per day, from 14,096 barrels. The decline came because True lowered capital spending to conserve cash. To further conserve cash, and to pay down debt, True cut its monthly distribution by 50% with the January 2009 payment, to $0.02 from $0.04. Debt of $197.3 million represents a high 101% of market cap....

TRILOGY ENERGY TRUST $5.41 (Toronto symbol TET.UN; SI Rating: Speculative) (403-290-2900; www.trilogyenergy.com; Units outstanding: 95.4 million; Market cap: $516.3 million) holds oil and gas properties in the Kaybob and Grande Prairie areas of central Alberta. Trilogy’s production is weighted approximately 80% toward natural gas and 20% to oil. In the three months ended September 30, 2008, Trilogy’s production rose 3.1%, to 20,394 barrels of oil equivalent per day, from 19,775 barrels per day a year earlier. Trilogy’s $325-million debt is somewhat high at 64% of market cap. To conserve cash for debt repayment, the trust has cut its monthly distribution starting in February 2009 by 50%, to $0.05 from $0.10. The new distribution gives the units a current yield of 11.1%. The lower distribution will also reduce the trust’s payout to unitholders to just 40% of cash flow....

ZARGON ENERGY TRUST $14.87 (Toronto symbol ZAR.UN; SI Rating: Speculative) (403-264-9992; www.zargon.ca; Units outstanding: 18.4 million; Market cap: $274.1 million) has oil and gas production assets in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and North Dakota. Output is weighted 53% toward natural gas and 47% to oil. In the three months ended September 30, 2008, Zargon’s production rose 9.9%, to 9,340 barrels of oil equivalent per day, from 8,501 barrels. Zargon’s $75-million debt is low, at around 27% of market cap. The trust’s monthly distribution of $0.18 gives the units a yield of 14.5%. Zargon flows just 47% of its cash flow through to its unitholders, so a distribution cut is unlikely, even if oil and gas prices remain low....

TRANSCONTINENTAL INC. $8.50 (Toronto symbol TCL.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 80.8 million; Market cap: $686.8 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.3; SI Rating: Average) now trades at just 5.1 times its forward earnings estimate of $1.66 a share. That’s mainly because advertisers are shifting away from traditional direct mail services to the Internet. Direct marketing accounts for 50% of Transcontinental’s revenue, and 40% of its profit. Transcontinental is also a major commercial printer (25% of revenue, 30% of profit). Many of its major customers, such as newspaper publishers, are now stagnating as the slowing economy hurts their circulation sales and advertising revenues. The slowdown is also putting pressure on Transcontinental’s own publishing operations, which consists of 42 magazines and 172 newspapers, primarily in eastern Canada (25% of revenue, 30% of profit)....

METRO INC. $37 (Toronto symbol MRU.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 110.6 million; Market cap: $4.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; SI Rating: Average) operates 558 food stores and 268 drugstores in Ontario and Quebec. The company earned $281.3 million in the fiscal year ended September 27, 2008, down 4.6% from $295.0 million in the prior year. Earnings per share fell 2.0%, to $2.48 from $2.53 a year earlier, on fewer shares outstanding. These figures exclude unusual items. Sales rose 0.8%, to $10.7 billion from $10.6 billion. Long-term debt of $1.0 billion is 20% of Metro’s market cap. Metro holds cash of $151.7 million or $1.37 a share. The $0.50 dividend yields 1.4%. Metro’s class ‘A’ subordinate voting shares have jumped by 40% in the past three months. However, they still trade at a reasonable 13.9 times the $2.67 a share that Metro should earn in fiscal 2009....

LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD. $37 (Toronto symbol L; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 274.2 million; Market cap: $10.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.3; SI Rating: Above average) is Canada’s largest grocery store operator, with over 1,000 stores. The company’s plan to re-model older stores, improve its distribution systems and rejuvenate its private label products is starting to pay off. In the three months ended October 4, 2008, earnings per share rose 8.9%, to $0.61 from $0.56 a year earlier. These figures exclude unusual items. Sales grew 3.9%, to $9.5 billion from $9.1 billion. Same-store sales rose 3.0%. Long-term of $4.0 billion is equal to 40% of its market cap. Loblaw holds $690 million or $2.52 a share in cash. The stock has gained 30% in the past two months, largely due to speculation that parent company George Weston Ltd. plans to buy the 39% of the company that it does not already own....

SAPUTO INC. $20 (Toronto symbol SAP; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 206.8 million; Market cap: $4.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; SI Rating: Average) is Canada’s largest producer of dairy products including milk, butter and cheese. Its main dairy brands include Saputo, Stella and Dairyland. Saputo also makes snack cakes and tarts. Saputo reached its current size mainly through acquisitions outside of Canada. Recent purchases include the west coast industrial cheese business of U.S.-based Land O’ Lakes Inc. for $249.2 million, and a Wisconsin-based cheese maker for $161.0 million. Saputo has also used acquisitions to expand to Argentina and Europe. Its international operations now supply about 40% of its revenue, and 30% of its earnings. Expanding through acquisitions is riskier than internal growth. Saputo cuts this risk by identifying smaller, less efficient businesses that would benefit from its economies of scale and marketing expertise....

MAPLE LEAF FOODS INC. $10 (Toronto symbol MFI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 126.3 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.2; SI Rating: Average) continues to make progress with its multi-year restructuring plan. This mainly includes a shift to packaged meats under the Maple Leaf and Schneider brands, which generate higher earnings for it than fresh meats. The plan should increase Maple Leaf’s annual operating earnings (profits after regular operating costs) by $100 million by 2010. The company has now agreed to settle several class action lawsuits stemming from the listeria outbreak at its Toronto meat-processing plant. The settlement will cost it $25 million to $27 million. To put these lawsuits in perspective, Maple Leaf lost $0.10 a share (total $12.9 million) in the three months ended September 30, 2008. It earned $0.01 a share ($1.7 million) in the year-earlier quarter. If you exclude the costs to recall contaminated products and other unusual items, per-share earnings rose 116.7%, to $0.13 a share ($16.4 million) from $0.06 a share ($7.7 million). Revenue grew 3.3%, to $1.34 billion from $1.30 billion....

GENNUM CORP. $5.69 (Toronto symbol GND, Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 35.6 million; Market cap: $202.6 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; SI Rating: Above average) has dropped 55.5% from $12.40 in January, 2008....

LINAMAR CORP. $3.71 (Toronto symbol LNR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 65.1 million; Market cap: $241.5 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.1; SI Rating: Extra risk) gets 85% of its revenue from carmakers, and falling auto sales have hurt its earnings....

SHAWCOR LTD. $17 (Toronto symbol SCL.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 70.6 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; SI Rating: Average) is down 54.7% since reaching $37.52 in June, 2008....

IGM FINANCIAL INC. $33 (Toronto symbol IGM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 262.4 million; Market cap: $8.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; SI Rating: Above average) has dropped 31.9% from $48.43 in April, 2008. IGM’s fees vary with the value of the mutual funds and other securities it manages, and lower stock prices have shrunk its assets under management....

HOME CAPITAL GROUP INC. $18 (Toronto symbol HCG; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 34.4 million; Market cap: $619.2 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; SI Rating: Average) specializes in residential mortgage loans to individuals that fail to meet the stricter criteria of larger, traditional lenders....

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. $42 (Toronto symbol CNR; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 468.1 million; Market cap: $19.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; SI Rating: Above average) is down 28.1% from $58.44 in September, 2008....

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD. $39 (Toronto symbol CP, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 153.8 million; Market cap: $6.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; SI Rating: Above average) is down 48.0% from $75.00 in May, 2008 on fears that falling prices for coal and agricultural products will hurt its earnings....

ENCANA CORP. $55 (Toronto symbol ECA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 750.3 million; Market cap: $41.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; SI Rating: Average) peaked at $97.81 in May, 2008, but has dropped 43.8% since then along with oil and natural gas prices....

CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE $49 (Toronto symbol CM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 380.8 million; Market cap: $18.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; SI Rating: Above average) is down 37.6% from its recent peak of $78.48 in May, 2008....

ISHARES CANADIAN BOND INDEX FUND $28.83 (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 diversified range of investment grade Canadian government and corporate bonds, with a term to maturity of more than one year. The index holds 71.8% government bonds and 26.9% corporate bonds. 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 and Bank of Nova Scotia....

ISHARES CANADIAN SHORT BOND INDEX FUND $28.85 (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 diversified range of investment grade federal, provincial, municipal and corporate bonds, with terms to maturity of between one and five years. Top issuers include the Government of Canada, Canada Housing Trust, Bank of Nova Scotia, the Province of Ontario and the Province of Quebec. The bonds in the index are 68.6% government bonds and 29.2% corporate bonds....

PENGROWTH ENERGY TRUST $9.90 (Toronto symbol PGF.UN; Shares outstanding: 255.66 million; Market cap: $2.7 billion; SI Rating: Average) produces oil and gas in western Canada, as well as offshore Nova Scotia. Production is weighted 49% toward oil and liquids and 51% natural gas. Pengrowth’s debt stands at 50% of market cap. To conserve cash in the face of lower oil and gas prices, Pengrowth cut its quarterly distribution with the January, 2009 payment by 24.5%, to $0.17 from $0.225. The units now yield 20.6%. Pengrowth now trades at 3.9 times its estimated 2009 cash flow of $2.55 a share....

ENERPLUS RESOURCES FUND $26.42 (Toronto symbol ERF.UN; Shares outstanding: 165.3 million; Market cap: $4.4 billion; SI Rating: Speculative) is one of North America’s largest oil and gas trusts. Production is currently weighted 60% toward natural gas and 40% to oil. Enerplus continues to focus on building a well diversified portfolio balanced between low-risk, shorter- term assets that generate steady cash flow such as conventional oil and gas and shallow gas properties, and higher-risk, longer-term assets including tight gas and oil sands. Enerplus’ long-term debt of $522.8 million is low at 11% of market cap. To conserve cash, Enerplus lowered its quarterly distribution with the January, 2009 payment by 34.2%, to $0.25 from $0.38. It now yields 11.4%....

CRESCENT POINT ENERGY TRUST $24.32 (Toronto symbol CPG.UN; Shares outstanding: 125.2 million; Market cap: $3.0 billion; SI Rating: Speculative) produces oil and gas in western Canada. Production is currently weighted 87% toward oil and 13% to natural gas. Crescent Point’s debt of $723.6 million is low, at around 22% of market cap. The trust’s monthly distribution of $0.23 gives the units a yield of 11.4%. Crescent Point flowed just 47% of its cash flow through to its unitholders in the latest quarter. Crescent Point continues to focus on its light oil Bakken development in southeast Saskatchewan. The Bakken is one of the largest oil fields in Western Canada....

IMPERIAL OIL $40.18 (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 869.7 million; Market cap: $34.9 billion; SI Rating: Average) is Canada’s largest integrated oil company. Imperial’s 2,000 retail gas stations under the “Esso” banner provide diversification. ExxonMobil owns 69.6% of Imperial’s stock. Imperial’s production is set to rise in the long term, thanks to its new oil sands projects. This includes the 70%-owned Kearl Lake project. Imperial had hoped Kearl Lake would begin production by 2011. Now, however, it will probably delay work on the project until oil prices improve. The outlook for Imperial’s refining business is strong, partly due to a shortage of competition. Imperial’s refining profits could also keep expanding, since gasoline takes longer to fall than oil....

ENCANA CORP. $57.80 (Toronto symbol ECA; Shares outstanding: 749.8 million; Market cap: $43.3 billion; SI Rating: Average) is a leading North American producer of natural gas and oil. Natural gas accounts for 80% of its production. EnCana focuses on unconventional properties, such as early-stage gas fields and oil sands. These have much longer production lives than conventional properties. Right now, that gives EnCana a longer term resource base than Imperial Oil, although a return to high oil and gas prices would let Imperial continue to develop some of its higher-cost oil sands and Arctic natural gas prospects. EnCana has postponed its plan to break itself up into two separate companies — one focusing on natural gas, the other on oil sands and oil refineries. That’s because falling energy prices and the problems in credit markets would likely make it difficult for the two new smaller companies to raise capital to fund new projects....