Visa Inc.

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are set up to mirror the performance of a stock-market index or sub-index. They hold a more or less fixed selection of securities that represent the holdings that go into the calculation of the index or sub-index.

ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks....

TIM HORTONS INC., $58.25, Toronto symbol THI, rose this week after it reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings. It also raised its dividend and announced a new share buyback plan. The company operates 3,588 coffee-and-donut stores in Canada and 859 in the U.S. It also has 38 outlets in the Persian Gulf. In the three months ended December 29, 2013, Tim Hortons’ revenue rose 10.7%, to $898.5 million from $811.6 million a year earlier. That’s mainly because it renovated more outlets, which let it charge franchisees higher fees. Same-store sales rose 1.6% at its Canadian locations and 3.1% in the U.S....

MCCOY CORP., $5.64, symbol MCB on Toronto, dropped 21% after announcing that it expects to report significantly lower earnings in the three months ended December 31, 2013. The company will release its final results on March 14, 2014. McCoy operates through two divisions: Mobile Solutions and Energy Products and Services. Energy Products and Services sells hydraulic equipment for drilling rigs. This gear includes power tongs, which are large, wrench-like tools that tighten and loosen the pipe in the drill hole. Mobile Solutions builds heavy-duty trailers for U.S. and Canadian clients in the oil and gas, wind energy, infrastructure and construction industries....

TD Bank recently overtook Royal Bank as Canada’s largest bank by assets. That’s partly because it has spent about $20 billion in the past three years buying other businesses.

Growth by acquisition is riskier than internal growth, as acquisitions carry an above-average chance of unpleasant surprises....

We looked at a wide range of stocks before settling on Newell as our #1 pick for 2014. Here are the top four runners-up. All are highly attractive buys, but only Newell has the rare mix of high potential and low risk that we look for in a Stock of the Year.

CONAGRA FOODS INC....

VISA INC. $217 (New York symbol V; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 636.6 million; Market cap: $138.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 12.3; Dividend yield: 0.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.visa.com) is gaining from rising online shopping and higher credit and debit card use, particularly overseas. The company also has no credit risk.

Moreover, Visa stands to benefit from the recent theft of credit card data from Target and Neiman Marcus. These incidents could spur new regulations that would force retailers to install chip-based card readers, which are more secure than magnetic-swipe devices and would cut down on fraud. Retailers would probably have to pay for these upgrades, not Visa.

Visa is a buy....

SHERRITT INTERNATIONAL CORP., $3.70, symbol S on Toronto, has announced that it plans to sell all of its coal interests. A group led by Altius Minerals (symbol ALS on Toronto) will buy Sherritt’s development-stage coal projects and mining royalties for cash of $481 million. In addition, Westmoreland Coal (symbol WLB on Nasdaq) will purchase Sherritt’s operating coal mines for cash of $312 million. Westmoreland will also assume $153 million of equipment lease obligations. These sales will let Sherritt focus on its nickel, cobalt and oil interests and pay down some of its $2.1-billion debt....

SPDR DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE ETF $158.76 (New York symbol DIA; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The fund’s top holdings are Visa, IBM, The Goldman Sachs Group, ExxonMobil, Chevron, 3M, McDonald’s, Johnson & Johnson, United Technologies and Boeing. The fund’s expenses are about 0.17% of its assets.

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AMERICAN EXPRESS CO. (New York symbol AXP, www.americanexpress.com) gets most of its revenue from the fees it charges merchants who accept its charge cards (which have no pre-set spending limit and must be paid in full each month) and credit cards (which can carry a balance)....

AMERICAN EXPRESS CO. $86 (New York symbol AXP, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $94.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www. americanexpress.com) gets most of its revenue from the fees it charges merchants who accept its charge cards (which have no pre-set spending limit and must be paid in full each month) and credit cards (which can carry a balance).

Unlike other credit card companies, such as Visa and MasterCard, Amex is also a lender....