NCR CORP. $24 (New York symbol NCR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 159.9 million; Market cap: $3.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.ncr.com) has won a contract to install 10,000 of its self-checkout systems at more than 1,200 Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. These devices let shoppers pay for their purchases without a cashier. That cuts the retailer’s labour costs, speeds up checkout times and encourages repeat visits. The company did not say how much this contract is worth. However, Wal-Mart’s purchase should make it easier for NCR to sell its systems to other big retailers. NCR is a buy.

ALCOA INC. $8.27 (New York symbol AA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $9.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.alcoa.com) has completed the sale of its Tapoco hydroelectric dams in Tennessee and North Carolina. These facilities supply power to Alcoa’s nearby aluminum smelter. The company recently shut down parts of the smelter, so it no longer needs this power. Alcoa received $600 million, or 7% of its market cap, for the Tapoco assets. The company did not say what it would do with the cash, but it could use it to pay down its long-term debt of $8.4 billion. Alcoa is a buy....

SONY CORP. ADRs $10 (New York symbol SNE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $10.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.1; Dividend yield: 3.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.sony.com) has agreed to buy 11% of distressed Japanese camera maker Olympus for $640 million. In addition, the companies will work together on new medical-imaging equipment that includes Sony’s TV technologies. They will also share digital camera technology. Sony feels this investment will help cut its reliance on its struggling TV set business. To pay for this purchase, Sony is selling $1.9 billion of convertible bonds due in 2017. That will increase its long-term debt to $13.1 billion, or a high 1.3 times its market cap. As well, if all bondholders convert, the number of shares outstanding would rise by 15.6%. That would dilute the holdings of current shareholders. Sony is still a hold.

BAXTER INTERNATIONAL INC. $66 (New York symbol BAX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 549.4 million; Market cap: $36.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.6; Dividend yield: 2.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.baxter.com) makes medical products, such as intravenous pumps and kidney dialysis equipment. It also makes vaccines and drugs. Half of its sales come from single-use products that need to be continually reordered. Demand for the company’s products continues to improve, particularly as an aging population needs more medical devices and drugs. Baxter’s sales rose 23.4%, from $11.3 billion in 2007 to $13.9 billion in 2011. Earnings rose 36.1%, from $1.8 billion in 2007 to $2.5 billion in 2011. The company is an aggressive buyer of its own shares. Because of a 10% drop in the number of shares outstanding, earnings per share jumped 54.5%, from $2.79 to $4.31....

J.P. MORGAN CHASE & CO. $41 (www.jpmorganchase.com) has agreed to pay a $297-million fine to settle allegations that brokerage firm Bear Stearns, which Morgan bought in May 2008, failed to adequately disclose the risks of mortgage-backed securities it sold to investors before the financial crisis. Settling these charges cuts Morgan’s risk. The fine is also equal to just 5% of the $5.7 billion, or $1.40 a share, that the bank earned in the third quarter of 2012. Buy. WINDSTREAM CORP. $8.25 (www.windstream.com) reports that its revenue jumped 51.7% in the third quarter of 2012, to $1.6 billion from $1.0 billion a year earlier. That’s entirely due to its December 2011 purchase of Paetec Holding Corp., which sells telecommunication services to businesses. The acquisition should also lower Windstream’s reliance on its traditional telephone operations. Earnings fell 40.0%, to $0.09 a share from $0.15, mainly due to costs to integrate Paetec. Meanwhile, Windstream continues to pay quarterly dividends of $0.25 a share, for an annualized yield of 12.1%. Hold. SNAP-ON INC. $78 (www.snapon.com) has raised its quarterly dividend by 11.8%, to $0.38 a share from $0.34. The new annual rate of $1.52 yields 1.9%. The toolmaker has paid quarterly dividends without interruption since 1939. Hold.

SHERWIN-WILLIAMS CO., $151.57, New York symbol SHW, has agreed to buy privately held Consorcio Comex, S.A. de C.V., Mexico’s largest paint and coating maker. Comex sells its products through 3,300 stores in Mexico, 240 in the U.S. and 78 in Canada. Sherwin will pay $2.3 billion, including assumed debt, when the sale closes, probably in a few months. This is a big purchase for Sherwin, which has a $15.6-billion market cap (the total value of its outstanding shares). The company held cash of just $55.2 million, or $0.54 a share, on September 30, 2012, so it will likely have to borrow the funds it needs to complete this purchase. That would increase its long-term debt from $969.9 million to around $3.3 billion. Even so, that’s still a reasonable 21% of its market cap....

AIMIA INC., $14.70, symbol AIM on Toronto, owns and operates Aeroplan, Canada’s largest loyalty program, and Nectar, the U.K.’s biggest loyalty program. In addition, Aimia has interests in Air Miles Middle East and Nectar Italia, as well as Club Premier, the leading loyalty program in Mexico. In the nine months ended September 30, 2012, Aimia’s revenue rose 1.0%, to $1.63 billion from $1.61 billion a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, earnings per share rose 33.8%, to $1.03 from $0.77. The company’s cost per mile awarded dropped significantly, partly because it is making better use of its computer systems. Redemptions also fell. Aimia continues to diversify its operations geographically. That’s offsetting the risk of its Canadian business: Air Canada, a major Aeroplan partner, is vulnerable to labour disputes that can disrupt its service....

DOREL INDUSTRIES $37.83 (Toronto symbol DII.B; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (514-731-0000; www.dorel.com; Shares outstanding: 31.5 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; Dividend yield: 3.2%) makes a wide range of products, including ready-to-assemble home and office furniture; juvenile products, such as car seats, strollers, high chairs, toddler beds and cribs; and recreational products, mostly bicycles. In the three months ended September 30, 2012, Dorel’s sales rose 6.5%, to $613.3 million from $575.8 million a year earlier (all figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Excluding one-time items, earnings per share jumped 37.0%, to $0.63 from $0.46. The company’s juvenile products division reported steadily rising sales of infant and children’s merchandise in North America and Europe, as well as strong gains in Chile. Sales of Schwinn and Mongoose bicycles also rose....

LEON’S FURNITURE LTD. $11.30 (Toronto symbol LNF; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (416 -243-7880; www.leons.ca; Shares outstanding: 70.0 million; Market cap: $791.0 million; Dividend yield: 3.5%) is nearly doubling its market cap by acquiring rival furniture chain The Brick (Toronto symbol BRK) for $700 million. The Brick operates 230 stores across Canada, while Leon’s has 76 outlets in every province except B.C. Leon’s and The Brick will continue to operate as separate chains. Growth by acquisition can be risky, especially with a deal this big. But the Brick looks like a good fit with Leon’s....

DEVON ENERGY CORP. $53.06 (New York symbol DVN; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (405-235- 3611; www.dvn.com; Shares outstanding: 404.5 million; Market cap: $21.5 billion; Dividend yield: 1.5%) is one of the largest U.S.-based oil and natural gas explorers and producers. Its production mix is 63% gas and 37% oil. Last year, Devon sold all of its international and Gulf of Mexico properties, which it saw as risky and expensive to develop. The company is now focused on its North American projects, which include conventional production, shale oil in Texas and oil sands in Alberta. Devon is forming joint ventures to cut the risk of its big development projects. Earlier this year, it sold a one-third stake in shale oil and gas fields in five U.S. states to giant Chinese state-owned petroleum and chemical firm Sinopec for $2.2 billion. More recently, Japan’s Sumitomo Corp. agreed to buy 30% of the Cline and Wolfcamp shales in Texas for $1.4 billion....