stock pickers

SYMANTEC CORP. (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; www.symantec.com) sells computer-security technology, including anti-virus and email-filtering software, to businesses and consumers. It also offers data-archiving software. In Symantec’s fiscal 2014 third quarter, which ended December 27, 2013, its earnings per share rose 13.3%, to $0.51 from $0.45 a year earlier. The gains were mainly due to savings from a new restructuring plan that includes laying off 30% to 40% of its managers and simplifying its product lines....

PLEASE NOTE: Our next Hotline will go out on Friday, April 25, 2014. YAMANA GOLD INC., $8.76, symbol YRI on Toronto, is joining up with Agnico Eagle Mines (symbol AEM on Toronto) to counter the latest $3.6-billion takeover bid for Osisko Mining (symbol OSK) by Goldcorp (symbol G). Agnico Eagle and Yamana are offering a total of $3.9 billion, or $8.15 per Osisko share. Osisko shareholders will receive $2.09 in cash, 0.26471 of a Yamana share, 0.07264 of an Agnico Eagle share and one share of a new company, with a value of $1.20, which will hold Osisko’s current exploration properties, including its Guerrero project in Mexico; a royalty on production from Osisko’s Canadian Malartic mine; and cash of $155 million....

PLEASE NOTE: Our next Hotline will go out on Friday, April 25, 2014. POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN, $38.45, Toronto symbol POT, rose 5% this week on speculation that BHP Billiton (New York symbol BHP) may launch a second takeover offer for the company. (BHP is a recommendation of Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter that focuses on U.S. stocks.) In 2010, BHP offered to buy Potash Corp. for $43.33 U.S. a share (adjusted for a 3-for-1 stock split in February 2011). However, Ottawa ultimately blocked the takeover, as it did not provide a “net benefit” to Canada under the Investment Canada Act....

Last week we turned to our newsletter on aggressive investing, Stock Pickers Digest, to discuss two energy stocks embarked on big growth projects (see the article here). Today we analyze two high-yielding energy stocks we cover regularly in our newsletter for conservative investing, Canadian Wealth Advisor. CRESCENT POINT ENERGY CORP. (Toronto symbol CPG; www.crescentpointenergy.com) produces oil and natural gas in Western Canada. Its output is weighted 91% toward oil and 9% to gas....

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the Good Friday holiday, our next Hotline will go out on Thursday, April 17, 2014. YAMANA GOLD INC., $9.37, symbol YRI on Toronto, teamed up with Osisko Mining (symbol OSK on Toronto) last week to thwart a hostile takeover bid by Goldcorp (symbol G) for Osisko. Yamana bid $1.4 billion in cash and shares for 50% of Osisko, which owns the Canadian Malartic mine in Quebec. Canadian Malartic produced 475,277 ounces of gold in 2013. However, Goldcorp has now raised its bid to $3.6 billion in cash and shares for all of Osisko. The Yamana offer, combined with contributions from two of Canada’s largest pension funds in the form of a loan and the purchase of a 37,500-ounce-per-year gold stream, valued Osisko at $3.4 billion....

BIRCHCLIFF ENERGY (Toronto symbol BIR; www.birchcliffenergy.com) develops, produces and explores for oil and natural gas, mainly in the Peace River Arch area near the Alberta/B.C. border. About 81% of its output is gas. The remaining 19% is oil....

YAMANA GOLD INC., $9.50, symbol YRI on Toronto, is teaming up with Osisko Mining (symbol OSK on Toronto) to thwart a hostile takeover bid by Goldcorp (symbol G) for Osisko. Osisko owns the Canadian Malartic mine in Quebec, which is forecast to produce 525,000 to 575,000 ounces of gold this year. Yamana will provide $441.5 million in cash and $929.6 million worth of its shares, to buy a 50% interest in all of Osisko’s mining and exploration assets, including Canadian Malartic. The offer is roughly 22% higher than Goldcorp’s bid....

RUSSEL METALS (Toronto symbol RUS; www.russelmetals.com) is one of North America’s largest metal distributors. It serves 39,000 clients at 53 locations in Canada and 12 in the U.S....

CARFINCO FINANCIAL GROUP INC., $9.71, symbol CFN on Toronto, provides car loans to consumers who don’t meet the criteria of traditional lenders, like banks. In September 2013, Carfinco expanded into the U.S. through its $9.5-million purchase of Persian Acceptance Corp., an automotive lender that also caters to less-affluent borrowers. The acquisition increased Carfinco’s loans outstanding by 22%. In the three months ended December 31, 2013, the company’s revenue rose 29.6%, to $24.9 million from $19.2 million a year earlier. Carfinco loaned $46.0 million in the quarter, up 14.8% from $40.1 million....

CISCO SYSTEMS INC. $22 (Nasdaq symbol CSCO; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 5.2 billion; Market cap: $114.4 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield 3.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cisco.com) plans to invest $1 billion over the next two years on building a new cloud-computing service, which will let businesses lease data processing and storage systems instead of buying their own.

This is a small investment for Cisco, which earned $2.5 billion, or $0.47 a share, in its latest quarter....