spin off

The U.S. is poised to loosen rules for telecommunication companies that should create growth opportunities for both AT&T and Verizon.

More specifically, those industry leaders should be better positioned to develop and sell new, more-profitable Internet plans....

These three “brick-and-mortar” retailers face several long-term challenges. The most serious is the consumer shift to online shopping. In response, they are expanding their own e-commerce operations and closing unprofitable stores. Two of them have enhanced their long-term prospects through international expansion....

TEGNA INC. $22 (New York symbol TGNA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector: Shares outstanding: 214.3 million; Market cap: $4.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.tegna.com) owns 46 TV stations and several popular websites, including Cars.com (car sales and vehicle information), CareerBuilder (job search), Cofactor (advertising services) and G/O Digital (website design)....

ATCO LTD. (Toronto symbols ACO.X [class I non-voting] $47 and ACO.Y [class II voting] $47; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 114.3 million; Market cap: $5.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 2.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.atco.com) gets most of its earnings from its 53.1% stake in Canadian Utilities (see left)....

CONAGRA FOODS INC. $47 (New York symbol CAG; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 438.7 million; Market cap: $20.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 2.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.conagrafoods.com) makes packaged foods, including Chef Boyardee canned pasta, Hunt’s tomato sauce, Peter Pan peanut butter, Orville Redenbacher popcorn and Reddi-wip whipped cream....

PLEASE NOTE: Our next Hotline will go out on Friday, July 8, 2016.

MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL INC., $45.51, Nasdaq symbol MDLZ, makes cookies and biscuits (Oreo, Chips Ahoy, Ritz), chocolate bars (Cadbury, Toblerone), gum and candy (Trident, Chiclets) and Halls cough drops.

On Thursday, the company offered to acquire The Hershey Co....

ALPHABET INC., Nasdaq symbols GOOG (class C non-voting), $719.41, and GOOGL (class A voting), $733.19, is the new holding company for Google’s Internet search business and its other operations, including self-driving cars and home thermostats.

The reorganization also made Google Fiber a separate subsidiary....

Canada’s Alcan Inc. was acquired in 2007 by Rio Tinto for $38.1 billion in what was then the biggest metals and mining transaction in history. Here’s a look back at TSI’s analysis of Alcan.

ALCAN INC....

Value stocks are usually good bargains, but not all bargain stocks are good values. The search for value stocks that will rise—and hold their value—begins with sound fundamental investing. You look for stocks that have what it takes to be successful in the long term, even if investors haven’t yet anticipated how successful the company can be. Our new free report shows how to spot the best of these value stocks....

Investing in IPOs may seem like a quick way to make money—but studies show that the reality is quite different.