stock pickers

Pulse Seismic, symbol PSD on Toronto, buys, sells and licenses seismic data to clients in western Canada. The company is one of the aggressive stock investing picks we analyze in our Stock Pickers Digest newsletter. Pulse’s main business is seismic-data licensing. It has built a library of seismic research that it licenses to clients, mostly oil and gas companies. Pulse usually buys seismic-survey data from oil and gas firms. It also performs what it calls “participation seismic surveys.” Oil and gas producers pay Pulse to participate in these surveys in return for a perpetual, non-exclusive licence to use the newly generated data. Pulse owns the data the surveys generate, and adds it to its library. Oil and gas firms, which may use different scientific models in their exploration, can then lease various selections and combinations of the data....

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PLEASE NOTE: Our next Hotline will go out on Thursday, April 7, 2011. EBAY INC., $31.36, Nasdaq symbol EBAY, is buying GSI Commerce Inc. (Nasdaq symbol GSIC) which sells e-commerce services to over 500 businesses. GSI’s customers include major retailers, such as Toys R Us and Aeropostale, consumer-electronics makers, including Hewlett-Packard, and professional-sports leagues, such as the National Football League. GSI helps these clients process and fulfill online orders, and increase their online sales....

Dorel Industries, symbol DII.B on Toronto, makes a wide range of products, including bicycles, ready-to-assemble home and office furniture; juvenile products, such as car seats, strollers, high chairs, toddler beds and cribs (including Eddie Bauer and Disney Baby licensed products); home furnishings, including chairs, tables, bunk beds, futons and step stools; and recreational products. In the three months ended December 30, 2010, the stock pick’s sales fell 1.0%, to $539.5 million from $545.3 million a year earlier. The home furnishing division’s sales declined 19.6%. That’s mainly because of slower sales in the U.S. The juvenile division’s sales dropped 5.0%, mainly due the rising Canadian dollar and lower sales in the U.S. However, the stock pick’s recreational/leisure division’s sales climbed 17.2%, due to strong sales of new products, including a new Schwinn bike....

Green stocks continue to appeal to many investors on an emotional and conceptual level. However, many of these companies offer limited investment potential. That’s because green stocks may need a long time to move from the research or concept stage to profitability. As well, many green stocks need government subsidies to be profitable, and the future of these subsidies is uncertain as governments around the world struggle with high budget deficits. To cut your risk in green stocks, we continue to recommend that you focus on established firms that have a sound base of other operations, or whose products have many different uses....

AlarmForce Industries, symbol AF on Toronto, sells two-way voice alarm systems and monitoring services in Canada and the U.S. AlarmForce’s system differs from others because it lets emergency operators verify an alarm by establishing immediate two-way voice contact with homeowners. It then dispatches security personnel to the client’s home. If intruders are present, the two-way contact can frighten them away. In the three months ended January 31, 2011, the company’s sales rose 10.0%, to $9.9 million from $9.0 million a year earlier. Earnings rose 32.7%, to $1.6 million, or $0.13 a share, from $1.2 million, or $0.10 a share. The company holds cash of $10.2 million, or $0.84 a share, and has no debt....

Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund, symbol CHE.UN on Toronto, is one of North America’s largest suppliers of sulphuric acid, sulphur, liquid sulphur oxide and sodium hydrosulphite. It also supplies sodium chlorate, phosphorous pentasulphide and zinc oxide. In addition to selling chemicals, Chemtrade processes spent acid. Chemtrade has three divisions: the Sulphur Products and Performance Chemicals division supplies 54.5% of the income trust’s revenue. Pulp Chemicals accounts for 8.5% of revenue. The International division supplies the remaining 37.0%. This division removes and markets sulpur and sulphuric acid outside of North America. In the three months ended December 31, 2010, the income trust’s cash flow per unit fell 31.7%, to $0.28 from $0.41 a year earlier. This was partly due to reduced production from a few of its larger sulphuric-acid plants, especially the plant in Beaumont, Texas, which had been damaged by a fire in 2008. That plant was shut down for half of the fourth quarter, forcing the company to use higher-cost supply sources and routes to make deliveries to customers....

Stantec Inc., symbol STN on Toronto, sells a range of consulting, project delivery, design/build and technology services. The company’s clients operate in a number of markets, including industry, environment, transportation and construction. Stantec has over 9,400 employees in 150 locations throughout North America. In the three months ended December 31, 2010, the growth stock’s revenue rose 11.9%, to $383.7 million from $342.8 million a year earlier. Acquisitions were the main reason for the revenue increase. The growth stock’s earnings rose 9.6%, to $22.9 million, or $0.55 a share, from $25.1 million, or $0.50 a share. The company continues to grow through acquistions. In October 2010, it acquired Street Smarts, a Georgia company that specializes in roadway engineering. In December it bought Burt Hill, a 600-employee Pennsylvania architectural and engineering firm that focuses on health care and higher education. In February 2011, Stantec acquired QuadraTech, Inc., an engineering-services firm in Newfoundland and Labrador....

Mosaid Technologies, symbol MSD on Toronto, mainly licenses patented semiconductor (computer chip) and telecommunications technology, including patents for technology used in smartphones and laptops. The company complements this business by developing its own memory and other technologies. In total, Mosaid holds 2,647 patents and applications. The company licenses patents based on its own innovations. It also buys patents, and has secured licensing rights to others....