COMPUTER MODELLING GROUP LTD., $14.50, symbol CMG on Toronto, reports that its earnings more than doubled in the three months ended March 31, 2009, to $6.1 million from $3 million a year earlier. Earnings per share jumped 94.4%, to $0.35 from $0.18, on more shares outstanding. Revenue rose 60.4%, to $14.4 million from $9 million. Computer Modelling sells software and consulting services to clients in the oil and gas industry. These companies are spending less on exploration and development these days, but Computer Modelling’s products and services help them get maximum output from their existing wells. This, in turn, helps them generate more cash flow. As well, Computer Modelling makes mostly recurring revenue from software licences and consulting contracts. This gives it long-term stability. The company spends a high 18% of its revenue on research and development. This will let it continue to develop software that is capable of modelling the most advanced recovery techniques. Already a leader in complex heavy-oil and tar-sands simulations, Computer Modelling should profit further as the oil-and-gas industry continues to develop other unconventional sources, such as shale oil and gas, coalbed methane and stranded gas....

H.J. HEINZ CO., $36.58, New York symbol HNZ, reported this week that it earned $923.1 million in its 2009 fiscal year, which ended April 29. That’s up 9.3% from $844.9 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 10.3%, to $2.90 from $2.63, on fewer shares outstanding. Sales rose 0.8%, to $10.15 billion from $10.07 billion. However, the company gets about 60% of its sales from overseas markets, and the higher U.S. dollar hurt their contribution. If you exclude the negative impact of currency rates, sales rose 7.4%. The company continues to focus on developing countries, such as China, India and Russia, for growth. Strong baby-food demand in China helped push up fiscal 2009 sales in emerging markets by 15.7%. As well, Heinz is now the largest seller of ketchup and other condiments in Russia....

Global beer consumption rose 14% between 2005 and 2008. However, the recession will probably limit growth to around 1% this year. Moreover, brewers face rising competition from makers of wine and liquor. Consumers have also become more health-conscious in recent years, and are drinking less beer as a result. Still, beer sales should improve as the economy begins to recover, and Molson Coors should be in a good position to profit. The company has cut its costs over the past few years through two big mergers, so any rise in beer sales will have a big impact on its earnings. Molson Coors’low-cost operations also help it cope with volatile raw-material costs and foreign-exchange rates. MOLSON COORS BREWING CO. $44 (New York symbol TAP; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 184 million; Market cap: $8.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; WSSF Rating: Average) is the world’s fifth-largest brewer by volume. Its major brands include Coors Light, Molson Canadian and Carling....

I am pleased to announce the launch of our new web site, TSI Network (www.tsinetwork.ca). Building on our four newsletters (Canadian Wealth Advisor, Stock Pickers Digest, The Successful Investor and Wall Street Stock Forecaster), the site will contain archives of over 2,000 articles on individual investments. I’ll be the host of TSI Network. Every day, Monday to Friday, I’ll post free updates on issues that matter to you — the individual investor. Visitors will also be able to participate in daily polls, get access to my ongoing Twitter updates, and much more. In addition, subscribers to the site will get my latest report, “How to Trade Stocks and Make Good Investments in Canada”— free....

Computer-chip stocks can put on huge growth spurts, but fall just as fast. This is because new technologies can quickly make today’s chips obsolete. To succeed over the long term, investors should focus on companies that are leaders in their markets and have large customer bases, such as these three. All have low debt and lots of cash to keep developing new products. These factors put them in a good position to quickly increase their earnings and market shares once the economy starts growing again. TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC. $19 (New York symbol TXN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.3 billion; Market cap: $24.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; WSSF Rating: Average) makes chips for a wide variety of electronic devices, including cellphones, DVD players and digital cameras. It also makes handheld calculators. The company has over 80,000 customers, but cellphone maker Nokia Corp. (New York symbol NOK) accounted for 18% of its 2008 sales....

AUTODESK INC. $21 (Nasdaq symbol ADSK, Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 228.2 million; Market cap: $4.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; WSSF Rating: Average) announced last January that it will eliminate 750 jobs (or 10% of its total workforce at the time) and consolidate certain facilities. Last month, it said it will cut a further 430 jobs. In all, these moves should lower its costs by $250 million a year. This should help it stay profitable until the economy improves, and let it maintain its high research spending (over 24% of revenue). In its first quarter, which ended April 30, 2009, the software maker’s sales fell 28.9%, to $425.8 million from $598.8 million a year earlier. Earnings dropped 64.3%, to $41.9 million, or $0.18 a share, from $117.2 million, or $0.50. Despite the declines, these results beat analysts’ expectations of $0.08 a share on sales of $418.6 million. Autodesk is a buy.

MOTOROLA INC. $5.92 (New York symbol MOT; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 2.3 billion; Market cap: $13.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; WSSF Rating: Average) shipped 14.7 million cellphones in the first quarter of 2009. That’s down 46.4% from 27.4 million a year earlier. This was the main reason why Motorola’s first-quarter losses were $291 million, or $0.13 a share, up from $194 million, or $0.09 a share. The recession also continues to lower demand for Motorola’s other products, such as set-top cable boxes and wireless infrastructure equipment. Sales fell 27.9%, to $5.4 billion from $7.4 billion. Because of the weaker sales, the company is cutting 5,400 jobs (or 8% of its workforce) and closing plants. These moves should save it $219 million in the rest of 2009. Beyond that, Motorola expects to save $313 million a year. However, the company’s cellphone sales will probably remain weak until it launches its new smartphone in the fourth quarter. Motorola is a hold.

WINDSTREAM CORP. $8.31 (New York symbol WIN; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 436.8 million; Market cap: $3.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; WSSF Rating: Average) provides local telephone and other services to 3 million customers in 16 states. Most of its customers are in rural areas. The company has no wireless operations, so it relies on high-speed Internet services to fuel its growth. Its 1 million high-speed customers represent just 34% of its lines in service, so there’s plenty of room to expand. Windstream uses bundles of local telephone, high-speed Internet and satellite TV services to hang on to customers in the face of strong competition from cable companies. On May 11, 2009, the company agreed to buy D&E Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq symbol DECC), which has about 200,000 phone and Internet customers in central Pennsylvania. The purchase will double the size of Windstream’s Pennsylvania operations, and add $148 million to its annual revenue. The deal should close in the second half of 2009....

Ameren and Alliant have seen their share prices fall recently, mainly because of bad weather and the recession. However, their earnings should improve as the economy recovers. It’s also likely that utility regulators will let them raise rates next year. This should let them keep paying above-average dividends. AMEREN CORP. $23 (New York symbol AEE; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 213.6 million; Market cap: $4.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; WSSF Rating: Average) provides electricity and natural gas to 3.4 million customers in Illinois and Missouri. Ameren has faced a number of challenges recently. The recession has driven down electricity demand, and a warmer-than-usual winter hurt natural-gas sales. As well, a severe ice storm in January forced Ameren’s biggest power customer, an aluminum smelter in Missouri, to scale back its operations....

THE BOEING CO. $44 (New York symbol BA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 726.2 million; Market cap: $32 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; WSSF Rating: Above Average) has finished initial testing of the new Rolls Royce engine that will power its 787 Dreamliner jet. The plane should begin test flights before the end of June. Boeing plans to start deliveries in the first quarter of next year. Production delays caused customers to cancel 32 orders for the 787 in the first quarter, but Boeing still has 886 orders with a value of $133 billion. As well, the new plane is 20% more fuel efficient than current models. This should appeal to cost-conscious airlines. Boeing is a buy.