Updating Nova Chemicals Corp., Great-West LifeCo Inc., TransCanada Corp., and Bank of Nova Scotia

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NOVA CHEMICALS CORP. $28 (Toronto symbol NCX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 83.1 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; SI Rating: Extra risk) has formed a joint venture with Reliance Industries Ltd. This new company will design and build energy efficient buildings in India, using construction components supplied by Nova. This alliance gives Nova an easy way to profit from India’s booming construction market. Nova Chemicals is a buy. GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $32 (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 894.1 million; Market cap: $28.6 billion; SI Rating: Above average) earned $0.73 a share in the three months ended March 31, 2008, up 25.9% from $0.58 a year earlier. If you exclude two unusual gains, Great-West’s earnings would have grown 3.4% to $0.60 a share in the latest quarter. Unfavourable foreign exchange rates also lowered Great-West’s most recent quarterly profits by $0.05 a share. Revenue jumped to $18.0 billion from $6.9 billion due to last year’s…