commodity

EBAY INC., $47.95, Nasdaq symbol EBAY, reported better-than-expected third quarter earnings, but its revenue missed the consensus estimate. It also lowered its earnings and revenue outlook for the current quarter. That caused the stock to fall 8% this week. In the three months ended September 30, 2014, eBay earned $848 million, up 1.3% from $837 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings rose 6.3%, to $0.68 from $0.64, on fewer shares outstanding. That beat the consensus estimate of $0.67. Revenue rose 11.8%, to $4.35 billion from $3.9 billion, but that missed consensus estimate of $4.37 billion....

BMG Gold BullionFund is an open-ended mutual fund that holds at least 95% of its assets in gold bullion. In general, we recommend staying away from buying gold bullion, coins (unless you collect them as a hobby) or certificates representing an interest in bullion. Unlike stocks, commodity investments like gold bullion do not generate income. Instead, they come with a continuing cash drain for management, insurance and so on. In addition, the MER on BMG Gold BullionFund is a very high 3.07%. For that reason alone, we advise against investing in this fund....

Every Monday we feature “A Stock to Sell” as our daily post. With every stock we recommend as a sell, we give you a full explanation of why we advise against investing in the stock at this time. Keyera Corp. (symbol KEY on Toronto; www.keyera.com), provides a number of services to the oil and gas industry, including gathering, processing, storage and transportation....

ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND CO., $50.36, 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. This week, the company agreed to sell its global chocolate operations, including three plants in North America and three in Europe, to privately held Cargill Inc. These businesses process cocoa into chocolate for candy makers and other food companies. Archer Daniels will receive $440 million when it completes the sale in the first half of 2015. That’s equal to 83% of the $533 million, or $0.81 a share, that it earned in the three months ended June 30, 2014....

Keyera Corp. $97.75, symbol KEY on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 83.9 million; Market cap: $8.2 billion; www.keyera.com), provides a number of services to the oil and gas industry, including gathering, processing, storage and transportation. In the three months ended June 30, 2014, the company reported cash flow of $1.04 a share, up 3.0% from $1.01 a year earlier. Keyera raised its monthly dividend by 7.5%, to $0.215 a share from $0.20, beginning with the June 2014 payment. The stock now yields 2.6%....

GEORGE WESTON LTD. $87.68 (Toronto symbol WN; Shares outstanding: 128.1 million; Market cap: $11.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 1.9%) makes a number of products through Weston Foods. Its businesses include fresh and frozen bakery and cookie operations in Canada and facilities that make frozen bakery items, biscuits, cookies, cones and wafers in the U.S. Weston also owns 46% of Loblaw (see left).

In the quarter ended June 14, 2014, Weston’s revenue rose 36.0%, to $10.6 billion from $7.8 billion a year earlier. Excluding Shoppers Drug Mart’s contribution to Loblaw’s sales, Weston’s revenue rose 2.5%.

Without one-time items, earnings per share gained 16.7%, to $1.26 from $1.08. A bigger contribution from Loblaw offset weaker results at Weston Foods due to higher commodity prices and plant start-up costs.

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MAJOR DRILLING $8.42 (Toronto symbol MDI; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-866-264-3986; www.majordrilling.com; Shares outstanding: 79.2 million; Market cap: $666.7 million; Dividend yield: 2.4%) has agreed to buy privately held Taurus Drilling Services for $27.7 million, plus a further $11.5 million tied to performance.

Taurus, which operates in Canada, the U.S....

Every Monday we now feature “A Stock to Sell” as our daily post. With every stock we recommend as a sell, we give you a full explanation of why we advise against investing in the stock at this time. DUNDEE CORP. (Toronto symbol DC.A; www.dundeecorp.com) owns businesses in the wealth management, real estate, natural resource and agriculture industries. The company lost $92.6 million, or $1.88 a share, in 2013. That’s a big drop from the $25.2 million, or $0.29 a share, it earned in 2012. Revenue fell 6.3%, to $200.7 million from $214.2 million....

LOBLAW COMPANIES $53.05 (Toronto symbol L; Shares outstanding: 413.9 million; Market cap: $21.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 1.9%; www.loblaw.ca) is Canada’s largest food retailer, with about 1,200 stores. Its banners include Loblaws, Provigo, Fortinos, Real Canadian Superstore and No Frills. In March 2014, the company completed the acquisition of the 1,250-store Shoppers Drug Mart chain. Loblaw paid $12.3 billion; $6.6 billion in cash and $5.7 billion in Loblaw common shares. Loblaw’s parent company, George Weston Ltd. (see below), helped it pay for Shoppers by purchasing $500 million of new Loblaw shares. Due to the extra shares outstanding, Weston now owns 46% of Loblaw, down from 63% before the acquisition....

Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a new or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you specific investing advice on a wide range of investing topics. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental tip and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Tip of the week: “Investing money in futures gives you high leverage, but leverage magnifies losses as well as gains.” Trading in futures is a long-established and perfectly legal way to bet on price changes in commodity, currency and financial markets. This attracts futures traders....