boeing

WESTJET $26.85 (Toronto symbol WJA; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-877-493- 7853; www.westjet.com; Shares outstanding: 127.8 million; Market cap: $3.4 billion; Dividend yield: 1.8%) now plans to operate its own wide-body, twoaisle aircraft, starting in 2015.

The planes will offer greater range than its current fleet of Boeing 737s and let it compete with Air Canada on international routes.

WestJet aims to start with four wide-body planes, with the first flights going between Alberta and Hawaii during the winter season, beginning in late 2015. Right now, it is using two Boeing 757-200s operated by Thomas Cook for its Alberta-to-Hawaii winter service.

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BOMBARDIER INC. (Toronto symbols BBD.A $3.88 and BBD.B $3.83; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $6.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.bombardier.com) is the world’s third-largest commercial aircraft maker, behind Boeing and Airbus. It is also the world’s leading passenger railcar manufacturer.

In the three months ended March 31, 2014, Bombardier’s earnings fell 3.2%, to $151 million from $156 million a year earlier (all amounts except share prices and market cap in U.S. dollars). Earnings per share were unchanged at $0.08. Revenue rose 0.3%, to $4.35 billion from $4.34 billion.

Revenue at the railcar division (52% of the total) rose 8.8%, as the company continues to win orders from public transit systems. This business ended the quarter with a record backlog of $38.4 billion, up 18.5% since the start of 2014.

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Bombardier recently had to suspend test flights of its CSeries passenger plane because of a problem with its Pratt & Whitney engines, which are 20% more fuel-efficient than current models. This was the first major issue with this new engine in over three years of testing.

The delay will probably add to the CSeries’ development costs, but Bombardier still expects to begin deliveries in the second half of 2015.

Uncertainty over the CSeries adds to Bombardier’s risk, and weighs on its stock price....

CEDAR FAIR L.P. $52 (New York symbol FUN; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Units outstanding: 55.8 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield: 5.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cedarfair.com) lost $1.51 a share in the first quarter of 2014, compared to a loss of $1.95 a year earlier....

THE BOEING CO. $134 (New York symbol BA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 729.2 million; Market cap: $97.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.boeing.com) announced that it now has 5,100 commercial planes on back order. In all, these deals are worth $374 billion. In addition, the order backlog at its military operations is $67 billion.

The total order backlog of $441 billion is equal to 5.0 times Boeing’s likely 2014 revenue of $89.0 billion. The company expects to earn between $7.15 and $7.35 a share this year. The stock trades at a still-reasonable 18.5 times the midpoint of that range.

Boeing is a buy.

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BOEING CO. $124 (New York symbol BA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 743.4 million; Market cap: $92.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 2.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www....

SPDR DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE ETF $163.35 (New York symbol DIA; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The SPDR Dow Jones ETF’s top holdings are Visa, IBM, Goldman Sachs Group, ExxonMobil, Chevron, 3M, McDonald’s, Caterpillar, United Technologies and Boeing. The fund’s expenses are about 0.17% of its assets.

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BOEING CO. $124 (New York symbol BA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 743.4 million; Market cap: $92.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 2.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www. boeing.com) has discovered hairline cracks on the wings of 40 of its 787 Dreamliner passenger planes that are currently in production.

The problem, which does not affect planes already in service, is because the Japanese company that makes the wings changed its manufacturing process. Boeing feels it can make repairs quickly, which would let it meet its target of delivering 110 Dreamliners this year.

Boeing is a buy....

ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND CO., $41.33, New York symbol ADM, processes corn, wheat, soybeans, canola, flax seed, peanuts, cocoa and other crops into a wide variety of food ingredients, such as flour, oils and sweeteners. It is also the largest maker of ethanol from corn in the U.S. The company owns port facilities, inland grain elevators and an oilseed processing plant in Ukraine. These assets continue to operate normally, despite the political turmoil in that country. As well, the new Ukrainian government has pledged to protect the country’s large agricultural industry. The country accounts for 17% the world’s wheat exports and 16% of its corn shipments....

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) 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....