Updating SNC-Lavalin Inc., Bombardier Inc., Canadian Tire Corp., and TransCanada Corp.

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SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC. $54 (Toronto symbol SNC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 151.0 million; Market cap: $8.2 billion; SI Rating: Average) continues to win new infrastructure contracts. It recently received a $300 million contract to build two natural gas compression plants in France. The company will also participate in the construction of a $200 million U.S. hydrogen plant at an oil refinery in California. These are small jobs next to SNC’s annual revenue of about $7 billion, but add to its current backlog of $10.0 billion. SNC now trades at 29.0 times its projected 2008 earnings of $1.86 a share. That’s expensive considering much of its income comes from engineering projects with uneven revenue streams. SNC-Lavalin is a hold. BOMBARDIER INC. (Toronto symbols BBD.A $7.52 and BBD.B $7.50; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $12.8 billion; SI Rating: Extra risk) will probably win a contract to build over 200 streetcars for Toronto’s…