Hi Pat, I would appreciate your brief assessment on the following list of stocks and REITs: AltaGas, Crombie REIT, Rogers Sugar and InnVest REIT.

AltaGas Ltd., $26.60, symbol ALA on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 81.9 million; Market cap: $2.2 billion; www.altagas.ca), mainly extracts, processes and distributes natural gas. It also processes natural-gas liquids and generates power in Alberta.

AltaGas pays an $0.11 monthly dividend, which yields 5.0% on a yearly basis… Read More

These Three Can Handle Wal-Mart

Thanks to Free Trade Agreement with the United States, many U.S. retail chains have expanded their operations in Canada. That includes Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retailer. Wal-Mart’s sophisticated inventory control systems and leverage with suppliers let it sell products for less than most of its… Read More

Sobeys Inc. $42 – Toronto symbol SBY

SOBEYS INC. $42 (Toronto symbol SBY; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 65.5 million; Market cap: $2.8 billion; SI Rating: Average) is Canada’s secondlargest grocery retailer, after Loblaw. It operates around 1,300 stores, mainly in Central and Atlantic Canada. Major banners include Sobeys, Foodland,… Read More

Sobeys is Ready to Grow Again

The supermarket industry is becoming increasingly competitive. Drug stores and other non-food retailers are adding grocery products to improve customer traffic and spending per visit.

In the past, supermarkets responded to increased competition by cutting prices. But profit margins are typically less than 2% of sales,… Read More