investment

Calloway Real Estate Investment Trust, $29.80, symbol CWT.UN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 107.1 million; Market cap: $3.2 billion; www.callowayreit.com), owns, develops and operates big-box outdoor malls across Canada. In all, Calloway owns 118 shopping centres and two office buildings, with 25.6 million square feet of leasable area. Its malls are mainly located in the suburbs of larger cities and have lots of room for parking and additional building. The trust gets 59% of its revenue from Ontario, 14% from Quebec, 9% from B.C., 4% from Manitoba, 4% from Saskatchewan, 3% from Newfoundland and Labrador, 3% from Alberta, 2% from Nova Scotia, 1% from New Brunswick and 1% from Prince Edward Island....

Kallo Inc., $0.05, symbol KALO on the U.S. over-the-counter bulletin board (Shares outstanding: 142.8 million; Market cap: $7.1 million; www.kalloinc.ca), aims to develop and sell software that will help doctors and nurses manage patient information. The company’s Electronic Medical Record program is designed to gather medical information from various sources and put it in a single file for each patient. Kallo has generated no revenue so far. In 2011, it lost $5.3 million, or $0.09 a share. It used up $2.0 million of cash in 2011, which left it with just $15,821 at the end of the year. The company lost a further $538,176, or $0.004 a share, in the first three months of 2012. It sold shares to raise $756,374 in the quarter, but it used up $468,046 of that cash....

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions on buying stocks and other investment topics from the members of his Inner Circle. Every week, his comments and recommendations on the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. And each week, we offer you one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions. Recently, an Inner Circle member asked about a Canadian stock that is going through a transition period. This printing firm, which has specialized in cheques for many years, is using two acquisitions to help it diversify as electronic transactions become the norm. ...

If you’re always looking for the next market decline, you’re bound to miss out on many good investment opportunities. Specific advice on helping you develop a successful approach to investing in the stock market.

FAIRFAX FINANCIAL HOLDINGS $377.50 (Toronto symbol FFH: TSINetwork Rating: Average) (416-367-2612; www.fairfax.ca; Shares outstanding: 19.9 million; Market cap: $8.1 billion; Dividend yield: 2.7%) has increased its stake in Research in Motion, symbol RIM on Toronto. The company now owns 9.9% of RIM, up from 5.12%. RIM is a recommendation of our Successful Investor newsletter.

Fairfax is now RIM’s largest shareholder. The company’s chairman and founder, Prem Watsa, is also on RIM’s board of directors.

Fairfax’s large interest gives Watsa more sway over RIM. He now feels that RIM shares are at or near bottom. But either way, he says he’s taking a three- to five-year time horizon on getting a significant return on his investment.

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ALARMFORCE INDUSTRIES $11.22 (Toronto symbol AF; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-800-267-2001; www.alarmforce.com; Shares outstanding: 12.2 million; Market cap: $136.9 million; Dividend yield: 0.9%) has jumped 26% since the start of August after it announced that it is launching a strategic review of its business, including a possible sale of the company.

AlarmForce is increasing its advertising as it expands into the U.S. It’s also investing more in its VideoRelay system, which it launched in October 2011.

VideoRelay lets subscribers watch their homes through their computers and smartphones. Users can either view live video or receive alerts when the system detects motion. It also lets them establish two-way voice communication through the camera.

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BROOKFIELD RENEWABLE ENERGY PARTNERS L.P. (Toronto symbol BEP.UN; brookfieldrenewable.com) owns 170 hydroelectric generating stations, seven wind farms and two natural-gas-fired plants. In all, it has 4,909 megawatts of generating capacity. Roughly 35% of Brookfield Renewable’s generating capacity is in Canada, with another 45% in the U.S. and 20% in Brazil. The company sells virtually all of its power under agreements that are an average of 24 years in length....

We developed our TSINetwork ratings to help investors quickly and easily identify stocks with the asset size and investment quality to weather market downturns and changing industry conditions. Stocks of this quality are the best investments for long-term profits. You will find our TSINetwork ratings (Highest Quality, Above Average, Average and Extra Risk) next to each stock we recommend in our newsletters. Obviously, we take a number of factors into account before we assign these ratings. Many involve a company’s financial profile....

DUN & BRADSTREET CORP., $74.49, New York symbol DNB, rose 3% this week on reports that the company may be trying to sell itself. Dun & Bradstreet provides credit reports on over 210 million companies. Its clients use these reports to make lending and buying decisions. The company recently cut its full-year revenue outlook for 2012 because the slowing economy is hurting demand for its credit reports. However, an ongoing cost-cutting plan should continue to push up its earnings....

ALARMFORCE INDUSTRIES, $10.91, symbol AF on Toronto, jumped over 21% this week after it announced that it is launching a strategic review of business opportunities, including a possible sale of the company. We moved AlarmForce to a buy in our July 2012 issue of Stock Pickers Digest, when we made it our Pick of the Month at $9.19. Meanwhile, AlarmForce’s sales rose 10.2% in the three months ended April 30, 2012, to a record $11.1 million from $10.1 million a year earlier. Even so, the company lost $238,021, or $0.02 a share, compared to a profit of $948,921, or $0.07 a share....