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TORONTO-DOMINION BANK, $83.60, Toronto symbol TD, is the first of Canada’s big five banks to raise its dividend following the 2008-2009 financial crisis. The new quarterly dividend of $0.66 a share, up 8.2% from $0.61, yields 3.2% on an annualized basis. TD also reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings this week. In the three months ended January 31, 2011, the bank’s earnings rose 11.0%, to $1.6 billion from $1.4 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 8.8%, to $1.74 from $1.60, on more shares outstanding. These figures exclude several one-time items, such as gains and losses on securities the bank holds, and costs to integrate recent acquisitions in the U.S. On that basis, the latest earnings easily beat the consensus earnings estimate of $1.54 a share. More of the bank’s customers are repaying their loans on time. As a result, TD’s loan-loss provisions fell 19.9%, to $414 million from $517 million. That was the main reason for the higher earnings....

TRANSCANADA CORP., $38.01, Toronto symbol TRP, recently opened the second phase of its four-phase Keystone pipeline project, which pumps crude oil from the Alberta oil sands to refineries in the U.S. Midwest. The third phase, called Keystone XL, will pump oil from Oklahoma to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The fourth phase will run from Alberta to Nebraska. Regulatory delays and higher-than-expected construction costs have pushed up the entire project’s cost to $13 billion U.S. That’s 8.3% higher than TransCanada’s earlier estimate of $12 billion U.S. So far, the company has spent $7.4 billion U.S. on Keystone. It aims to complete the remaining two phases by mid-2013....

PLEASE NOTE: In next week’s Successful Investor Hotline, we’ll reveal our #1 stock pick for 2011. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to profit. TORSTAR CORP., $12.50, Toronto symbol TS.B, has received $40 million in connection with the takeover of The Globe and Mail newspaper by the Thomson family, which now owns 85% of the paper. BCE Inc. (Toronto symbol BCE) owns the remaining 15%. The proceeds are equal to 4% of Torstar’s $989-million market cap. The sale of The Globe and Mail is part of BCE’s plan to acquire full control of CTVglobemedia, the private company that owns the CTV Television Network, which consists of 27 TV stations. CTVglobemedia also owns 30 specialty channels and 34 radio stations. It also owned The Globe and Mail....

TORONTO-DOMINION BANK, $72.23, Toronto symbol TD, fell 4% this week, even though the bank reported higher revenue and earnings in its 2010 fiscal year, which ended October 31, 2010. Revenue rose 9.6%, to $19.6 billion from $17.9 billion in fiscal 2009. Earnings rose 10.9%, to $5.2 billion from $4.7 billion. Earnings per share rose 7.9%, to $5.77 from $5.35, on more shares outstanding. These figures exclude unusual items, such as costs to integrate the recently purchased South Financial Group, Inc., which operates bank branches in Florida and the Carolinas. On this basis, the latest earnings fell short of the consensus estimate of $5.81 a share. The bank continues to set aside less money to cover bad loans. That’s the main reason why earnings at TD’s retail-banking business rose 53.7% in the U.S. and 25.2% in Canada. Earnings from wealth management rose 7.4%. However, earnings from TD’s trading business fell 23.8%, due to lower trading volumes, a drop in underwriting activity, and fewer gains from its investment portfolio....

BOMBARDIER INC. (Toronto symbols BBD.A $4.97 and BBD.B $4.98; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $8.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.bombardier.com) is the world’s third-largest commercial-aircraft maker, behind Boeing and Airbus. Its aerospace division supplies roughly half of its revenue. The other half comes from its transportation division, which is the world’s largest maker of passenger railcars. In its 2011 second quarter, which ended July 31, 2010, the company earned $0.08 a share (all amounts except share prices and market cap in U.S. dollars). That’s down 27.2% from $0.11 a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 17.5%, to $4.1 billion from $4.9 billion. The uncertain economy continues to hurt demand for Bombardier’s jets. It delivered 46 aircraft in the latest quarter. That’s down from 80 a year earlier. However, Bombardier received orders for 29 new planes (net of cancellations) in the latest quarter. A year ago, it had negative 38 net orders. The railcar division received $4.3 billion of new orders, up 43.3% from $3.0 billion a year earlier....

The recession forced airlines to cut spending on new planes, flight simulators and pilot training. However, airlines will have to start replacing their aging fleets in the next few years. That should spur a surge in orders for Bombardier and CAE. BOMBARDIER INC. (Toronto symbols BBD.A $4.97 and BBD.B $4.98; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $8.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.bombardier.com) is the world’s third-largest commercial-aircraft maker, behind Boeing and Airbus. Its aerospace division supplies roughly half of its revenue. The other half comes from its transportation division, which is the world’s largest maker of passenger railcars. In its 2011 second quarter, which ended July 31, 2010, the company earned $0.08 a share (all amounts except share prices and market cap in U.S. dollars). That’s down 27.2% from $0.11 a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 17.5%, to $4.1 billion from $4.9 billion. The uncertain economy continues to hurt demand for Bombardier’s jets. It delivered 46 aircraft in the latest quarter. That’s down from 80 a year earlier....

ENCANA CORP., $28.26, Toronto symbol ECA, fell 7% this week after the company reported lower-than-expected earnings. In the three months ended September 30, 2010, Encana earned $98 million, or $0.13 a share (all amounts except share price in U.S. dollars). These figures exclude a $331-million gain on hedging contracts that the company uses to lock in selling prices for its natural gas, and a $140-million foreign-exchange gain. On this basis, the latest earnings fell well short of the consensus estimate of $0.19 a share. They were also down 74.1% from the company’s year-earlier earnings of $378 million, or $0.50 a share. Cash flow per share fell 9.4%, to $1.54 from $1.70. (Note: The year-earlier figures assume that the breakup of the old EnCana Corp. into the new Encana and Cenovus Energy Inc. took place at the start of 2009 instead of December 1, 2009.)...

BOMBARDIER INC. (Toronto symbols BBD.A $5.16 and BBD.B $5.18; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $8.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 1.9%; SI Rating: Extra Risk) will launch a new, bigger version of its Global Express business jet in October 2010. This new plane will help it compete with rival Gulfstream, which has released a business jet that is 20% larger than Bombardier’s current model. The company will probably build a stretched version of its current plane, instead of designing a whole new model. That will keep its development costs down. Bombardier is a buy. The subordinate-voting “B” shares are the better choice, because of their slightly better liquidity and higher dividend yield....

POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN, $145.00, Toronto symbol POT, has moved down from its recent peak of $160.65. That’s mostly because the Canadian government appears more likely to block or impose conditions on BHP Billiton Ltd.’s (New York symbol BHP) $130.00 U.S.-a-share takeover of Potash Corp. As well, Potash Corp. has launched a lawsuit to stop the takeover. The suit accuses BHP of making misleading statements about the potash industry to depress Potash Corp.’s share price prior to making its offer. Potash Corp. is still a hold....

BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA, $52.94, Toronto symbol BNS, earned $1.1 billion in the three months ended July 31, 2010. That’s up 14.1% from $931 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 12.6%, to $0.98 from $0.87, on more shares outstanding. Despite the gain, the latest earnings fell short of the consensus estimate of $1.00 a share. The bank set aside less money to cover bad loans because of the improving economy; that was the main reason for the higher earnings. In the latest quarter, loan-loss provisions fell 50.2%, to $276 million from $554 million a year earlier. Earnings at Bank of Nova Scotia’s Canadian banking division rose 21%, to a record $604 million, due to stronger demand for loans and wealth-management services. Earnings at the international-banking business rose just 2%, to $317 million, mostly because the higher Canadian dollar hurt their contribution. Without the negative impact of exchange rates, earnings at this business would have risen 11%. Earnings at the capital-markets division fell 35% to $305 million, as volatile stock markets and concerns over European sovereign debt hurt trading volumes....