oil and gas

These three industrial stocks are more volatile than our more conservative picks, like CP Rail and CN Rail (see page 61). Even so, their rising sales, healthy balance sheets and strong reputations in niche markets help temper their risk. All three also trade at attractive multiples to earnings. Moreover, they all kept paying dividends during the recession. However, we only see two as buys right now. SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC. $39 (Toronto symbol SNC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 161.1 million; Market cap: $6.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.snclavalin.com) is a leading Canadian engineering and construction company. It specializes in large-scale public works projects, such as roads, bridges, transit systems and water-treatment plants....

Canadian Helicopters Group, $29.89, symbol CHL.A on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 12.7 million; Market cap: $379.6 million; www.chc.ca), provides helicopter transportation services to clients in a broad range of industries, including infrastructure, utilities, oil and gas, mining, forestry, construction and emergency medical services. The company also supports military operations in Afghanistan. In July 2011, Canadian Helicopters completed its $127-million purchase of HNZ, which is New Zealand’s largest helicopter owner. The purchase brought Canadian Helicopters’ fleet up to 155 helicopters. The company operates from 35 bases across Canada, plus two in Afghanistan. HNZ also added operations in New Zealand, Australia, Cambodia and Laos....

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions on specific 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. This past week, one Inner Circle member requests Pat’s stock investing advice on a company that has a chance to profit from the growing global demand for clean water. One of the company’s biggest areas of growth could be in the highly-publicized area of “fracking” for oil and gas, where it has acquired a new water monitoring service. ...

VANGUARD EMERGING MARKETS ETF $42.82 (New York symbol VWO; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which is made up of common stocks of companies located in emerging markets around the world. The fund has an MER of just 0.20%.

The fund’s top holdings are Samsung Electronics (South Korea: electronics), Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Brazil: oil and gas), Vale SA (Brazil: mining), Gazprom (Russia: gas utility), China Mobile (China: wireless), Taiwan Semiconductor (Taiwan: computer chips), America Movil SAB de CV (Latin America: wireless), China Construction Bank (China: banking), Itau Unibanco Holding SA (Brazil: banking), Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (China: banking), CNOOC Ltd. (China: oil and gas) and China Life Insurance (China: insurance).

The $68.2-billion Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF’s breakdown by country is as follows: China (17.1%), Brazil (15.4%), South Korea (14.9%), Taiwan (10.9%), South Africa (7.5%), India (7.4%), Russia (6.6%), Mexico (4.7%), Malaysia (3.4%), Indonesia (2.9%), Thailand (1.8%), Chile (1.7%), Poland (1.5%), Turkey (1.3%) and Other (0.9%).

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ISHARES FTSE/XINHUA CHINA 25 INDEX FUND $38.31 (New York symbol FXI; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that aims to track the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index, which is made up of the 25 largest and most liquid Chinese stocks. All of the stocks in the index trade on the Hong Kong exchange. Some also trade as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on the New York exchange.

The fund’s top holdings are China Mobile, 10.3%; China Construction Bank, 8.7%; Industrial & Commercial Bank, 7.9%; CNOOC, 6.9%; Bank of China, 6.0%; Ping An Insurance, 4.2%; Petrochina, 4.1%; China Merchants Bank, 4.1%; and China Life Insurance, 4.1%.

The fund’s holdings give it the following industry breakdown: Financials, 53.9%; Telecommunications, 18.0%; Oil and Gas, 14.8%; Basic Materials, 10.3%; and Industrials, 2.2%; The ETF has an expense ratio of 0.72%.

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ISHARES MSCI EMERGING MARKETS EASTERN EUROPE INDEX FUND $26.38 (New York symbol ESR; buy or sell through brokers), is an ETF that aims to track the MSCI Emerging Markets Eastern Europe Index. The fund’s geographic breakdown is as follows: Russia, 76.4%; Poland, 15.8%; Czech Republic, 3.9%; and Hungary, 3.5%.

The fund’s top holdings are Gazprom (Russia: gas utility), 19.7%; Lukoil (Russia: oil), 10.0%; Sberbank (Russia: bank), 8.9%; Novatek (Russia: natural gas), 3.9%; Rosneft Oil Company (Russia: oil and gas), 3.7%; Uralkali (Russia: potash), 3.4%; Mobile Tele- Systems (Russia: wireless), 3.2%; Tafneft (Russia: oil and gas), 2.8%; MMC Norilsk Nickel (Russia: mining), 2.7%; and Magnit OJSC (Russia: retailing), 2.5%. iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Eastern Europe Index Fund’s expense ratio is 0.68%.

The fund’s concentration in Russia adds risk. But the long-term outlook for resource prices, including oil, is positive. That’s a big plus for Russia’s largely resource-based economy, which is forecast to grow by 4% in 2012.

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PEMBINA PIPELINE $29.78 (Toronto symbol PPL; Shares outstanding: 285.0 million; Market cap: $8.5 billion; TSI Network Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.4%; www.pembina.com) owns pipeline systems with a total length of over 7,500 kilometres. These lines pump oil and gas from fields in B.C. and Alberta to refineries, or feed into major pipelines, such as the Enbridge Pipeline System.

Pembina also owns the Syncrude, Horizon and Cheecham pipelines, which pump crude oil from the Alberta oil sands. In addition, the company holds a 50% stake in the Fort Saskatchewan Ethylene Storage Limited Partnership. It also owns the Cutbank Complex, a network of natural gas gathering and processing facilities.

In the three months ended December 31, 2011, Pembina’s cash flow rose 2.9%, to $66.8 million, or $0.40 a share, from $64.9 million, or $0.39 a share, a year earlier.

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Xylem Inc., $25.65, symbol XYL on New York (Shares outstanding: 185.4 million; Market cap: $4.6 billion; www.xyleminc.com), sells equipment and services related to managing water. The company’s products help its clients collect, distribute, use and return water to the environment. Xylem is a Greek-derived word that refers to vascular tissue that carries water and nutrients through plants. The company operates through two divisions:...

American Depositary Receipts make foreign investing easier and safer for individual investors. The foreign company must provide detailed financial information to U.S. regulators and to the sponsor, or depositary, bank or broker. As well, since ADRs trade on U.S. stock exchanges in U.S. dollars, you don’t have to worry about currency exchange rates, foreign stock exchange rules, or language barriers. Today we highlight one of the world’s most prominent commodity stocks, an ADR with its home base in Australia, and one that made headlines in Canada when its attempted takeover of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (Toronto symbol POT) was blocked by Ottawa in 2010....

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions on specific 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. This past week, one Inner Circle member asked about dividend stocks—specifically, about a pipeline firm that is one of Canada’s remaining income funds. The company has just made a major overseas acquisition and Pat assesses the potential risk and rewards. ...