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HART STORES INC. $2.21 (Toronto symbol HIS; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 13.6 million; Market cap: $30.1 million; SI Rating: Speculative) operates 80 midsized department stores in Eastern Canada. It plans to expand to 100 stores in the next few years. Hart prefers to focus on smaller cities that larger retailers tend to avoid. It also emphasizes convenience and customer service. That helps Hart attract shoppers away from big-box style competitors. Many of the goods Hart sells come from overseas suppliers. While the rising Canadian dollar makes imported goods cheaper, Hart had to cut its selling prices to stay competitive. Consequently, sales in the fiscal year ended February 2, 2008 fell 2.9%, to $161.6 million from $166.4 million in the prior fiscal year. Same-store sales fell 4.2%. Earnings per share fell 16.7%, to $0.25 a share from $0.30. The stock now trades at 7.4 times Hart’s forecast earnings of $0.30 a share. The $0.10 dividend still appears safe, and yields 4.5%....

JAPAN EQUITY FUND $4.51 (New York symbol JEQ; CWA Rating: Aggressive) invests mostly in large capitalization stocks on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The fund’s top holdings include: Toyota Motor, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, East Japan Railway Co., Shin-Etsu Chemical Co....

TRIMARK CANADIAN RESOURCES FUND $18.69 (CWA Rating: Aggressive) (AIM Funds Management Inc., 5140 Yonge Street, Suite 900, Toronto, Ontario M2N 6X7. 1-800-631-7008; Website: www.aimfunds.ca. Buy or sell through brokers.) includes firms we’d rate as Speculative in its top picks. However, we like Trimark Canadian Resources Fund’s value-seeking, conservative approach to picking stocks in the volatile resource sector. The $626.7 million fund’s top holdings are Talisman Energy, EnCana Corporation, Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Income Fund, West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd., Enerflex Systems, Plum Creek Timber Co. REIT, Mayr-Meinhof Karton AG, Savanna Energy Services, Umicore S.A. and Range Resources Corp. Trimark Canadian Resources Fund is broken down by sector as follows: Energy, 34.3%; materials, 37.6%; and Consumer discretionary, 2.7%....

TD RESOURCE FUND $37.66 (CWA Rating: Aggressive) (TD Asset Management, P.O. Box 7500, Station A, Toronto, Ontario. M5W 1P9. 1-800-386-3757; Web ite:www.tdcanadatrust.ca. No load — deal directly with the bank) invests in companies with superior asset bases, proven management and the ability to internally finance growth. The $279.9 million TD Resource Fund’s top stock holdings are mostly of ‘Average’ quality or higher. The fund’s holdings include Suncor Energy, EnCana Corporation, Talisman Energy Inc., Goldcorp, Yamana Gold, Petro-Canada, Nexen, Alcoa, BHP Billiton, Husky Energy, Chevron Corporation, Marathon Oil Corporation and Weatherford International. TD Resource Fund’s industry breakdown is: Energy, 58.5%; and Basic materials, 39.2%. Its MER is 2.17%....

ISHARES MCSI CANADA INDEX FUND $33 (American Exchange symbol EWC; buy or sell through brokers) is almost a market-cap based index fund, but it tinkers with the index fund formula to try and improve performance by using its proprietary Morgan Stanley Capital International Canada Index. The U.S.-based fund also has to work around foreign ownership restrictions. iShares MCSI Canada Index Fund is managed by Barclays Global Investors and has an MER of 0.54%. We think if you want to own a Canadian index fund then you should buy the iShares CDN LargeCap 60 units. You’ll pay about a third of the management fees....

NASDAQ-100 TRUST SHARES $45 (Nasdaq Exchange symbol QQQQ; buy or sell through brokers) or ‘Qubes’, hold the stocks that represent the Nasdaq 100 Index. This index is made up of the 100 largest and most heavily traded stocks on the Nasdaq exchange. The index reflects firms across major industry groups including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain financial companies. Expenses are about 0.20% of assets. The top 10 highest-weighted stocks are Apple, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Google, Cisco, Intel, Research in Motion, Gilead Sciences, Oracle and Celgene. Nasdaq-100 Trust Shares are a buy for aggressive investors only.

DIAMONDS TRUST SHARES $112 (American Exchange symbol DIA; buy or sell through brokers) hold the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Currently, the fund’s top 10 holdings are IBM, 3M, Boeing Co., United Technologies, Caterpillar, McDonald’s Corp., Chevron Corp., Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble and Exxon Mobil. Expenses are about 0.18% of assets. Diamonds Trust Shares are a buy.

S&P DEPOSITORY RECEIPTS $126 (American Exchange symbol SPY; buy or sell through brokers) are commonly called ‘Spiders’. The fund holds the stocks in the S&P 500 Index. This index is comprised of 500 major U.S. stocks chosen for market size, liquidity, and industry group representation. The 10 highest weighted stocks on the index are Exxon Mobil, General Electric, IBM, Apple Inc., Microsoft, AT&T, Chevron Corp., Johnson & Johnson, Cisco and Procter & Gamble. Expenses for the fund are just 0.10% of assets. If you want exposure to the S&P 500 Index, S&P Depository Receipts are a buy.

ISHARES CDN LARGECAP 60 INDEX FUND $83.94 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through a broker) (formerly called iUnits S&P/TSX 60 Index Participation Fund) is a good low-fee way to buy the top stocks on the TSX. The units hold a basket of stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index. The index is made up of the 60 largest and most heavily traded stocks on the TSX. Expenses on the units are just 0.17% of assets. Most of the 60 stocks in the index are good quality companies. However, to meet the requirement that all sectors are represented, the index holds a few firms we wouldn’t include, such as Biovail Corp. The index’s top holdings are: Potash Corporation, 6.2%; EnCana Corporation, 5.9%; Royal Bank, 5.2%; Research in Motion, 5.0%; Suncor Energy, 4.6%; Canadian Natural Resources, 4.6%; Manulife Financial, 4.5%; TD Bank, 4.4%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 3.9%; Barrick Gold, 3.4%; Goldcorp, 2.8%; BCE Inc., 2.4%; Petro-Canada, 2.3%; Canadian Oil Sands Trust, 2.2%; and Sun Life Financial, 2.0%. The shares trade on the TSX, just like stocks. Prices are quoted daily in newspaper stock tables. You’ll have to pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell the units, although you’ll quickly make that back by paying lower management fees....

IMPERIAL OIL $55.04 (Toronto symbol IMO; SI Rating: Average) is Canada’s largest integrated oil company. Imperial also operates 2,000 retail gas stations under the “Esso” banner. ExxonMobil Corp. owns 69.6% of Imperial’s stock. In the three months ended March 31, 2008, earnings per share fell 6.2%, to $0.75 from $0.81, due to problems at its Edmonton refinery. Imperial is now expanding its four refineries to handle rising oil sands output. Revenues rose 22.4%, to $7.3 billion from $5.9 billion. Imperial’s cash flow fell 15.1%, to $786 million from $926 million in the latest quarter. Cash flow per share fell just 10.3%, to $0.87 from $0.97, due to continued aggressive stock buybacks. The company bought back $590 million of its stock in the latest quarter....

WEYERHAEUSER CO. $53 (New York symbol WY; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 211.3 million; Market cap: $11.2 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) is a leading forest products company. It owns or leases over 30 million acres of timberland in the United States and Canada. As part of a plan to focus on its core lumber operations, the company recently agreed to sell its containerboard, packaging and recycling operations for $6 billion. This division accounts for about a third of Weyerhaeuser’s revenue. The company will use the cash to pay down its long-term debt of $7.0 billion. In the three months ended March 30, 2008, Weyerhaeuser lost $0.24 a share (total $51 million). It earned $0.20 a share ($48 million) a year earlier. These figures exclude unusual items. Revenue fell 22.2%, to $2.1 billion from $2.7 billion, as the slowing housing market has hurt lumber demand....

ALCOA INC. $37 (New York symbol AA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 815.1 million; Market cap: $30.2 billion; WSSF Rating: Above average) is one of the world’s leading producers of aluminum. In February 2008, Alcoa sold its packaging and consumer businesses for $2.5 billion. These operations accounted for 11% of its total sales. If you exclude restructuring costs and other unusual items, Alcoa earned $0.44 a share ($361 million) in the first quarter of 2008, down 44.3% from $0.79 a share ($691 million) a year earlier. Cash flow per share fell 29.1%, to $0.90 from $1.27. Alcoa needs large amounts of electricity to refine raw alumina, and higher power costs hurt its profits and cash flow in the latest quarter. The weaker U.S. dollar also hurt its earnings. However, Alcoa’s new lower-cost plants put it in a good position to expand earnings in the next few years....

INVACARE CORP. $20 (New York symbol IVC, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 32.1 million; Market cap: $642.0 million; WSSF Rating: Average) makes wheelchairs, motorized scooters and other mobility and home care products. The stock fell from $27.75 in November 2007 to $16.13 in April 2008, due to concerns over the pace of Invacare’s restructuring, which includes shifting production to low-cost countries and simplifying its product lines. Thanks mainly to a $3.7 million drop in costs, Invacare’s first-quarter earnings before unusual items shot up to $0.11 a share (total $6.2 million) from $0.05 a share ($1.5 million) a year earlier. However, the latest earnings figure fell well short of consensus estimates of $0.24 a share. Sales in the quarter improved 11.0%, to $416.3 million from $374.9 million. Foreign currency translation accounted for 5% of that increase. If you exclude acquisitions, sales in the quarter rose 5.8%....

BAXTER INTERNATIONAL INC. $63 (New York symbol BAX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 627.4 million; Market cap: $39.5 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) makes medical equipment through three main divisions. Medication Delivery makes intravenous equipment and systems (38% of 2007 sales); BioScience makes various vaccines and drugs (41%); and Renal makes dialysis equipment (20%). Other products account for the remaining 1% of sales. Earlier this year, Baxter recalled its blood-thinning drug heparin due to severe allergic reactions in patients who received a high dosage of the drug in a short period of time. The FDA identified a Chinese facility that makes a certain ingredient in heparin as a possible source of this problem. Heparin accounts for less than 1% of Baxter’s total sales. Baxter also continues to have problems with its Colleague medication delivery pumps. In 2007, it recalled roughly 2% of pumps in service to fix a defect that could inject too much medication into a patient. The company is now re-designing the Colleague pump, and aims to relaunch it in 2009....

C.R. BARD INC. $87 (New York symbol BCR; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 99.3 million; Market cap: $9.1 billion; WSSF Rating: Above average) makes medical devices in four main areas: Vascular products such as stents and catheters (25% of 2007 sales); Urology products such as drainage and incontinence devices (30%); Oncology products that inject medications into cancer patients (25%); and Surgical Tools and other products (20%). In the three months ended March 31, 2008, Bard’s earnings grew 7.4%, to $109.1 million from $101.6 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings rose 11.6%, to $1.06 from $0.95, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue rose 10.6%, to $584.0 million from $528.2 million. Bard sells about a third of its products overseas. If you exclude the positive effect of the lower U.S. dollar, sales would have grown 8%. The company recently decided to stop making its Salute II hernia repair device, due to manufacturing problems. Bard would rather focus on developing new hernia products, instead of re-engineering the Salute II. Consequently, Bard will write down inventory and other assets related to the Salute II. This will cut its pre-tax earnings in the second quarter of 2008 by $40 million to $45 million....

BECKMAN COULTER INC. $70 (New York symbol BEC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 62.9 million; Market cap: $4.4 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) makes lab equipment that doctors and medical researchers use to detect substances in bodily fluids. Beckman is a long-time favorite of ours, mainly because its automated systems help its customers cut the cost of routine tests. The company also continues to profit from a change in the way it leases its equipment. The switch helped make its products more affordable. As well, a broader customer base has spurred more demand for replenishible supplies and maintenance services. Beckman now gets close to 80% of its total revenue from selling supplies. These recurring revenue streams cut its risk. In the three months ended March 31, 2008, Beckman’s revenue grew 19.1%, to $730.5 million from $613.6 million a year earlier. If you exclude the positive impact of currency exchange rates, revenue rose 14.8%. However, earnings before unusual items grew just 4.6%, to $0.68 a share (total $44.0 million) from $0.65 a share ($41.4 million). The slower growth was due to more sales of lower-margin equipment....

CHEVRON CORP. $99 (New York symbol CVX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 2.1 billion; Market cap: $207.9 billion; WSSF Rating: Above average) is the second-largest integrated oil company in the United States after ExxonMobil. Exploration and production supply just 25% of Chevron’s revenue, but nearly 80% of its profits. Asia accounts for about 40% of its production, followed by the U.S. (30%), Africa (15%) and other countries (15%). Chevron’s production is about 65% oil, and 35% natural gas. The company has proved reserves of 10.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The remaining 75% of Chevron’s revenue comes mainly from its 10 refineries, petrochemical plants and 25,100 retail gas stations, which operate under the Chevron, Texaco and Caltex brands....

THOMSON REUTERS CORP. $35 now trades under the symbol “TRI”. It plans to resume regular share buybacks following the recent merger of The Thomson Corp. and Reuters Group plc. The company aims to repurchase 2% of its shares. Buy.

MOLSON COORS CANADA INC. $57 has won U.S. regulatory approval for its joint venture with rival brewer SABMiller plc. Called MillerCoors, this new company will own Molson Coors’ and Miller’s operations in the United States and Puerto Rico. Molson Coors will own 42% of the new company....

BCE INC. $35 has delayed declaring its second-quarter dividend of $0.365 a share. The company is currently appealing a ruling by the Quebec Court of Appeal in favour of BCE’s bondholders that could threaten the company’s $42.75-a-share privatization plan. The case will go to the Supreme Court of Canada on June 17, 2008....

TORSTAR CORP. $14 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 78.8 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion; SI Rating: Above average) has paid an undisclosed sum for Central Ontario Web Ltd., a commercial printing company in Barrie, Ontario....

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $21 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Units outstanding: 212.0 million; Market cap: $4.5 billion; SI Rating: Average) has formed a second joint venture with U.S.-based real estate developer Kimco Realty Corp....

ARBOR MEMORIAL SERVICES INC. $27 (Toronto symbol ABO.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 10.7 million; Market cap: $288.9 million; SI Rating: Average) owns 41 cemeteries, 27 crematoria, four reception centres located on cemetery premises and 90 funeral homes in eight provinces....

CANADIAN TIRE CORP. $56 (Toronto symbol CTC.A; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 81.5 million; Market cap: $4.6 billion; SI Rating: Above average) operates 473 stores that specialize in automotive, household and sporting goods. It also operates gas stations, casual clothing stores (Mark’s Work Wearhouse) and auto parts stores (PartSource). Canadian Tire has had great success in the past few years with its re-designed stores, which improve customer satisfaction and encourage repeat visits. It now plans to test two new formats this year: a store for smaller cities and rural markets that is about one-third the size of a typical Canadian Tire outlet; and a “smart” store featuring in-store boutiques and self-service checkouts. Meanwhile, higher fuel costs and harsh winter weather hurt customer traffic in the company’s core markets of Ontario and Quebec. In the three months ended March 29, 2008, earnings before unusual items fell 4.2%, to $0.68 a share from $0.71 a year earlier. Revenue rose 5.9%, to $1.8 billion from $1.7 billion, mostly due to strong gains at its gas station and finance operations. Same-store sales fell 4.0%....

TRANSALTA CORP. $36 (Toronto symbol TA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector;Shares outstanding: 202.2 million; Market cap: $7.3 billion; SI Rating: Average) operates 50 unregulated power plants in Canada, the United States and Australia. Coal-fired plants account for about 60% of TransAlta’s production. However, the company owns two coal mines in Alberta, which helps balance its exposure to rising coal prices. Natural gas accounts for 30% of its output, and long-term supply contracts cut its price risk. The remaining 10% of TransAlta’s power comes from hydroelectric and renewable sources. Due to increasing concern over the environmental impact of burning coal and gas, TransAlta continues to expand its wind farm operations. It now plans to spend $123 million to expand capacity at its Summerview wind farm in southern Alberta by 94%. TransAlta has also earmarked $115 million for a new Alberta wind farm called Blue Trail....