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ISHARES CDN LARGECAP 60 INDEX FUND $76.65 (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 Cott Corporation and Celestica. The index’s top holdings are: Royal Bank, 6.6%; Manulife Financial, 5.8%; TD Bank, 4.7%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.7%; EnCana Corporation, 4.4%; Suncor Energy, 3.9%; Research in Motion, 3.7%; Canadian Natural Resources, 3.5%; Bank of Montreal, 3.1%; CIBC, 3.3%; BCE Inc., 2.6%; Barrick Gold, 2.8%; Sun Life Financial, 2.9%; and Potash Corporation, 2.6%....

RBC CANADIAN DIVIDEND FUND $44.84 (RBC Funds, P.O. Box 7500, Station A, Toronto, Ontario. M5W 1P9. 1-800-463-3863; Web site: www.royalbank.com. No load — deal directly with the bank) has 38.1% of its portfolio in Financial services stocks. It has a further 14.4% in Energy stocks and 8.5% in Consumer discretionary. The $9.6 billion RBC Canadian Dividend Fund’s top stock holdings are Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Nova Scotia, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Manulife Financial, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, TransCanada Corporation, Bank of Montreal, BCE Inc. and Power Corporation. Over the last five years, RBC Canadian Dividend Fund has posted a 14.9% annual rate of return. That’s less than the S&P/TSX’s gain of 18.3% over the same period....

BMO DIVIDEND FUND $44.37 (BMO Mutual Funds, 77 King Street West, Suite 4200, Royal Trust Tower, Toronto, Ont., M5K 1J5, 1-800-665-7700; Web site: www.bmo.com. No load — deal directly with the bank) (CWA Rating: Conservative) currently holds about 49.0% of its portfolio in the Financial services industry. Its next-largest holdings are Energy at 15.1% and Consumer discretionary at 7.5%. BMO Dividend Fund’s largest holdings are Manulife Financial, Bank of Nova Scotia, CIBC, Royal Bank of Canada, Power Financial Corporation, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canadian National Railway, TransCanada Corporation, Imperial Oil, Shaw Communications, Enbridge Inc., Husky Energy and Sun Life Financial. Over the last five years, the $5.8 billion BMO Dividend Fund has posted a 14.6% annual rate of return. That’s under the S&P/TSX’s gain of 18.3%. However, the S&P/TSX index held a high 40% or so of its holdings in Resources shares. That’s been one of the best-performing, although riskiest, sectors. The fund gained 1.8% over the last year, compared to a gain of 9.8% for the S&P/TSX index. BMO Dividend’s MER is 1.71%....

TRIMARK CANADIAN RESOURCES FUND $16.48 (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 $527.1 million fund’s top holdings are Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Income Fund, West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd., Kinross Gold Corporation, Marathon Oil Corporation, Plum Creek Timber Co. REIT, Mayr-Meinhof Karton AG, Highpine Oil & Gas, Umicore S.A., Range Resources Corp. and Yamana Gold. Trimark Canadian Resources Fund is broken down by sector as follows: Golds, 21.9%; Oil, gas & combustable fuels, 17.6%; Paper & forest, 9.6%; Diversified metals & minerals, 8.0%; Energy equipment & services, 6.6%; REITs, 5.9%; Steel, 5.4%; Containers & packaging, 3.9%; and Commercial services & supplies, 3.5%....

TD RESOURCE FUND $32.78 (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 $259.3 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., Timminco Ltd., Goldcorp, Yamana Gold Inc., Petro- Canada, Nexen, Alcoa, BHP Billiton, Husky Energy, Chevron Corporation, Marathon Oil Corporation, Coeur d’Alene Mines Corporation and FNX Mining Company....

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $20.80 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; SI Rating: Average) is Canada’s largest REIT. RioCan has ownership interests in a portfolio of 207 retail properties across Canada, including 10 under development. These properties contain over 53 million square feet of leasable area. RioCan is Canada’s largest owner of neighbourhood shopping centres. These are enclosed malls in smaller urban centres. But where the company is showing the strongest growth is as the largest owner of ‘New Format’ malls. These are in the suburbs of larger cities, and are made up largely of ‘Big Box’ stores with lots of parking and room for new building. RioCan’s revenue in the three months ended September 30, 2007 was $172.5 million, up 7.3% from $160.7 million a year earlier. Cash flow was unchanged at $0.36 per unit. Total occupancy is 97.6%, and anchor tenants account for 82.6% of RioCan’s rental revenue. That should let RioCan keep paying monthly distributions of $0.1125 a unit. The units yield 6.5%....

RBC CANADIAN DIVIDEND FUND $44.84 (RBC Mutual Funds, P.O. Box 7500, Station A, Toronto, Ontario. M5W 1P9. 1-800-463-3863; Web site: www.royalbank.com. No load — deal directly with the bank) has 38.1% of its portfolio in financial-services stocks. It has a further 14.4% in energy stocks and 8.5% in consumer discretionary. The $9.6-billion RBC Canadian Dividend Fund’s top stock holdings are Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Nova Scotia, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Manulife Financial, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, TransCanada Corporation, Bank of Montreal, BCE Inc. and Power Corporation. Over the last five years, RBC Canadian Dividend Fund has posted a 14.9% annual rate of return. That’s less than the S&P/TSX’s gain of 18.3% over the same period....

MOTOROLA INC. $10 (New York symbol MOT; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 2.3 billion; Market cap: $23.0 billion; WSSF Rating: Above average) plans to introduce several new products to cut its reliance on cellphones, which now account for about half of its sales. For example, it plans to launch a hand-held bar code scanner for retail stores that wirelessly accesses product and inventory information. Motorola is also working on a device that shoppers can use to scan their own purchases inside supermarkets. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who owns about 3% of Motorola’s shares, wants the company to unlock value by spinning off its non-cellphone divisions. Promising new products such as these scanners enhance the appeal of these operations....

WEYERHAEUSER CO. $65 (New York symbol WY; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 217.8 million; Market cap: $14.2 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) is a leading forest products company, with 6.4 million acres of timberland in the United States. It also has 30 million acres of leased timberland in Canada. The company recently agreed to sell its European engineered wood products operations for an undisclosed sum. The sale is part of Weyerhaeuser’s plan to focus on its core North American residential wood products business. It’s now exploring various options for its containerboard and packaging operations. Weyerhaeuser earned $0.55 a share (total $118 million) before unusual items in the three months ended September 30, 2007, down 42.1% from $0.95 a share ($236 million) a year earlier. The slowdown in the housing market has hurt demand for construction products. However, productivity gains improved earnings at its packaging business. Sales fell 8.8%, to $4.15 billion from $4.55 billion....

NEWMONT MINING CORP. $51 (New York symbol NEM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 434.7 million; Market cap: $22.2 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) is one of the world’s largest producers of gold. It also mines copper, silver and zinc. Newmont aims to increase its exposure to gold. Its Canadian subsidiary Franco-Nevada Corp. recently sold shares to the public, and used the proceeds to pay Newmont $1.3 billion in cash for certain mining and oil and gas royalty assets. Newmont will use the cash to fund its $1.5 billion acquisition of Canadian gold mining company Miramar Mining Corp. Miramar’s Hope Bay Project in northern Canada is one of the largest undeveloped gold deposits in North America....

APACHE CORP. $91 (New York symbol APA; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 332.7 million; Market cap: $30.3 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) explores for and produces oil and natural gas, mostly in North America. It also has operations in the North Sea, Egypt, Australia and Argentina. The company’s reserves are roughly half oil and half natural gas. Apache recently agreed to sell some of its smaller properties in the United States for $194.3 million. That will help the company fund a new investment in South America. Apache recently won the right to explore for oil on the Chilean side of the Tierra del Fuego chain of islands at the southern tip of South America. Apache plans to spend $18.3 million on the initial phase. The company owns 70% of a similar project on the Argentinian side of these islands, so its familiarity with this region helps lower the risk of this investment....

CHEVRON CORP. $81 (New York symbol CVX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 2.1 billion; Market cap: $170.1 billion; WSSF Rating: Above average) is the secondlargest oil company in the United States after ExxonMobil Corp. Internationally, it has operations in over 175 countries. Chevron hasn’t fully benefited from the recent rise in oil prices. Its refineries have had to pay more for crude oil, which has hurt profits at this division. Shutdowns for maintenance at some of its operations, as well as the partial nationalization of its assets in Venezuela, have also cut total output. As well, many countries have increased drilling and other taxes on foreign oil companies. In the three months ended September 30, 2007, earnings fell 23.6%, to $1.75 a share (total $3.7 billion) from $2.29 a share ($5.0 billion) a year earlier. However, revenue rose 1.8%, to $55.2 billion from $54.2 billion....

ENCANA CORP. $61 (New York symbol ECA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resource sector; Shares outstanding: 749.5 million; Market cap: $45.7 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) is a leading North American producer of natural gas (80% of production) and oil (20%). The company prefers to focus on unconventional properties such as early-stage gas developments and oil sands. These assets cost more to develop, at least initially, but should last much longer than conventional properties. EnCana recently paid $2.6 billion for the 50% of the Amoruso natural gas field in East Texas that it does not already own. It also plans to spend $2.1 billion to develop the field. The purchase is a good fit with En- Cana’s other properties in the region, and will increase its North American gas reserves by 10%....

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. $106 (New York symbol IBM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $148.4 billion; WSSF Rating: Above average) is the world’s largest supplier of computers and information services. It operates in over 170 countries. IBM has long been a leader in large, mainframe computers for corporations and governments. As well, in the past five years, IBM has expanded its services and software operations through the purchase of over 60 companies for $20 billion. The company is now the world’s second-largest software company after Microsoft Corp. IBM now gets over 50% of its revenue from services, which include designing and maintaining computer systems for its customers. Services also give IBM steady, long-term revenue streams, which helps cut the risk of these acquisitions....

YAMANA GOLD $15.33 (Toronto symbol YRI; SI Rating: Speculative) (416-815-0220; www.yamana.com; Shares outstanding: 619.9 million; Market cap: $9.5 billion) recently completed the acquisition of Meridian Gold and Northern Orion for $4.5 billion in cash and stock. Yamana now has nine operating mines in Latin America, along with six development stage properties. It also holds exploration properties and land positions in all major mineral areas in the region. Yamana’s cash flow jumped in the three months ended September 30, 2007, to $105 million or $0.30 a share, from $14.6 million or $0.05 a share. (All figures except share price in U.S. dollars.) Revenues rose to $199.7 million from $50.3 million. The increases came from the start-up of new mines, including the Chapada mine in Brazil....

EUROPEAN GOLDFIELDS $6.35 (Toronto symbol EGU; SI Rating: Speculative) (44 (20) 7408 9534; www.egoldfields.com; Shares outstanding: 178.6 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion) owns properties in Greece and Romania. The company is headquartered in the UK. European Goldfields holds a 95% interest in Hellas Gold, after its recent purchase of an additional 30% interest. Hellas owns three gold and base metal deposits in Northern Greece. The deposits are the Stratoni zinc/lead/silver property, the Olympias gold/zinc/lead/ silver project and the Skouries copper/gold property. European Goldfields also owns 80% of the Certej gold/silver project in Romania, where it has completed a positive feasibility study, and applied for a mining permit....

CENTERRA GOLD $13.85 (Toronto symbol CG; SI Rating: Speculative) (416-204-1953; www.centerragold.com; Shares outstanding: 216.3 million; Market cap: $3.0 billion) owns 100% of the large Kumtor gold mine in Central Asia and 95% of the Boroo gold mine in Mongolia. The two mines have proven reserves of over 7 million ounces. Centerra expects to report production from the two mines for 2007 of around 550,000 ounces. Cameco Corp. owns 40.5% of Centerra. Centerra’s main exploration prospect is the 62%-owned REN project in Nevada. Its partner there is Barrick Gold, which operates mines nearby. Its other prospect is the 100%-held Gatsuurt property in Mongolia. In the three months ended September 30, 2007, Centerra’s revenues rose 28.5%, to $98 million from $76.3 million. (All figures except share price in U.S. dollars.) Earnings were $0.02 a share, down from $0.05 a year earlier, mostly due to higher costs and an increased tax rate. Cash flow was $0.07 a share in the latest quarter, down from $0.10 a share....

IAMGOLD $9.19 (Toronto symbol IMG; SI Rating: Speculative) (1-888-464-9999; www.iamgold.com; Shares outstanding: 293.8 million; Market cap: $2.7 billion) has interests in eight operating gold mines: 100% of the Mupane gold mine in Botswana, 38% of the Sadiola gold mine and 40% of the Yatela gold mine, both located in Mali, 18.9% interests in both the Tarkwa and Damang gold mines in Ghana, 100% of the Doyon mine and the sleeping Giant mine, both in Quebec, and 100% of the Rosebel mine in Suriname, South America. IAMGold also a 1% royalty interest in the Diavik diamond mine in northern Canada and 100% of the Niobec niobium mine in Quebec. IAMGold also has development projects and exploration activities in Africa, as well as in North and South America....

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $49 (Toronto symbol RY; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.3 billion; Market cap: $63.7 billion; SI Rating: Above average) is Canada’s largest bank, with assets of $600.3 billion. Royal has built up its operations in the United States in the past few years, mainly through acquisitions. The U.S. now accounts for about 15% of its total earnings. Despite its sizable American operations, Royal does not originate subprime mortgages. Securities backed by subprime mortgages and other risky loans account for less than 1% of its assets....

TORONTO-DOMINION BANK $66 (Toronto symbol TD; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 717.8 million; Market cap: $47.4 billion; SI Rating: Above average) is Canada’s second-largest bank, with assets of $422.1 billion. In the fiscal year ended October 31, 2007, TD’s earnings rose 23.4%, to $5.75 a share (total $4.2 billion) from $4.66 a share ($3.35 billion) in 2006. These figures exclude several unusual items, including a $135 million after-tax gain on the Visa restructuring. Revenue rose 8.3%, to $14.3 billion from $13.2 billion. Despite its expanding operations in the United States, which now supply 8% of its earnings, TD’s exposure to U.S. subprime mortgages is minimal. TD’s bad loans remained unchanged in 2007 at 0.2% of total loans. It also cut its efficiency ratio to 59.6% from 62.4%....

BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $47 (Toronto symbol BNS; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 984.0 million; Market cap: $46.2 billion; SI Rating: Above average) is the third-largest Canadian bank, with assets of $411.5 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia prefers to focus on developing markets, such as Asia and Latin America, for new growth. These areas give it a better opportunity to quickly improve its market share than more established countries like the U.S. The bank wrote down $191 million (pre-tax) worth of asset-backed securities in fiscal 2007. However, this was more than offset by a $202 million (pre-tax) gain from the Visa restructuring. That helped earnings grow to $4.01 a share (total $4.0 billion), up 13.0% from $3.55 a share ($3.6 billion) in 2006. Revenue rose 11.6%, to $12.5 billion from $11.2 billion....

BANK OF MONTREAL $57 (Toronto symbol BMO; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 498.6 million; Market cap: $28.4 billion; SI Rating: Above average) is the fourth-largest Canadian bank, with $366.5 billion in assets. Bank of Montreal owns Harris Bank, a major bank in Chicago. Harris’s conservative lending policies have limited Bank of Montreal’s exposure to the problems in the U.S. mortgage market. However, Bank of Montreal still had to write down the value of asset-backed securities it holds by $211 million (after-tax) in fiscal 2007. Another problem for Bank of Montreal is its commodity trading operations, which lost $440 million (after-tax) on natural gas futures contracts. The bank is making progress cutting the risk of its trading operations, but further losses are possible....

CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE $69 (Toronto symbol CM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 335.0 million; Market cap: $23.1 billion; SI Rating: Above average) is Canada’s fifth-largest bank, with assets of $342.2 billion. CIBC has the most exposure to the U.S. subprime mortgage market among the top five Canadian banks. It has already written down its holdings by about $1 billion. CIBC now faces a further $2 billion charge due to growing uncertainty over hedges it purchased from troubled U.S. bond insurer ACA Financial Guaranty Corp. to protect it from subprime losses. In 2005, CIBC paid $2.5 billion (after-tax) to settle Enron-related claims. If you exclude writedowns and a gain on the restructuring of the Visa credit card system, CIBC’s earnings in the year ended October 31, 2007 rose 27.3%, to $9.24 a share (total $3.1 billion) from $7.26 a share ($2.5 billion) in 2006. Revenue grew 6.6%, to $12.1 billion from $11.35 billion, due to strong growth at its retail banking division plus an acquisition....

HOME CAPITAL GROUP INC. $38 (Toronto symbol HCG; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 34.5 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion; SI Rating: Extra risk) is the parent company of Home Trust Company, a federally regulated trust company that specializes in residential first mortgages to small business owners, the self-employed and others who don’t meet the stricter criteria of larger, traditional lenders. Home Trust’s mortgage lending is primarily funded by retail deposits. Home Trust takes deposits in the form of short-term deposits, guaranteed investment certificates, registered retirement savings plans and registered retirement income funds. The trust earns money on the spread between the interest it receives from homeowners, and the interest it pays out to the buyers of these securities. The company operates just six branches in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Alberta and British Columbia, so it gets most of its business through independent deposit and mortgage brokers....

SUN LIFE FINANCIAL $54.45 (Toronto symbol SLF; SI Rating: Above-average) offers savings, retirement, pension and life and health insurance products and services to individuals and corporations. The company operates mainly in Canada, the U.S. and the UK, and also in Asia, China and India. It has assets under administration of $427 billion. In the three months ended September 30, 2007, Sun Life’s earnings rose 6.7%, to $577 million or $1.02 a share, from $541 million or $0.94 a share a year earlier. Revenue fell 16.9%, to $3.5 billion from $4.2 billion, due to new accounting rules for investments. Sun Life’s shares yield 2.4%. Sun Life is still a buy.