Best Canadian Companies To Own In Right Now

What follows is an edited and slightly abridged transcript of the November 2013 Australian Edge/Canadian Edge/Utility Forecaster online chat.

This is a live, Internet-based chat where subscribers submit questions and I answer them via the web-based interface.

The way it works is I review submitted questions, prepare an answer and then approve the question and post my reply.

We’ve just come out of a basically positive earnings reporting season for North American companies, with some impressive operating and financial results as well as dividend increases from several of our favorites.

Although the mystery of the US Federal Reserve’s “tapering” looks like it will continue into 2014, fundamentals appear to be sturdy. There are some pockets of bubbliness out there, but there’s also value to be found.

Our focus, as ever, is on the continuing health of underlying businesses.

5 Best Promising Stocks To Invest In Right Now: TotalFinaElf S.A.(TOT)

TOTAL S.A., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated oil and gas company worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Upstream, Downstream, and Chemicals. The Upstream segment engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas. It also involves in the transportation, trade, and marketing of natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as in LNG re-gasification and natural gas storage operations. In addition, this segment engages in the shipping and trade of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG); power generation from gas-fired power plants, nuclear, or renewable energies; production, trade, and marketing of coal, as well as in solar power systems and technology operations. As of December 31, 2010, it had combined proved reserves of 10,695 Mboe of oil and gas. The Downstream segment involves in refining, marketing, trading, and shipping crude oil and petroleum products. It also produces a range of specialty products, s uch as lubricants, LPG, jet fuel, special fluids, bitumen, marine fuels, and petrochemical feedstock. This segment holds interests in 24 refineries located in Europe, the United States, the French West Indies, Africa, and China, as well as operates a network of 17,490 service stations. The Chemicals segment produces base chemicals, including petrochemicals and fertilizers, as well as engages in rubber processing, resins, adhesives, and electroplating activities. TOTAL S.A. was founded in 1924 and is based in Paris, France.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  BP PLC (BP), Chevron Corp. (CVX) , ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM), Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A), Statoil ASA� (STO) and Total S.A. (TOT). These six companies combined have 46 UDW rigs under contract which is 44.2% of the global market. This means they are the leaders in the movement of demand, and likewise, increasingly authoritative in deciding market day rate…

• [By Paul Ausick]

  What�� really interesting about this sale though, is the buyer. Rosneft will join other big oil companies like BP plc (NYSE: BP), Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE: RDS-A), and Total SA (NYSE: TOT) as an owner of its own oil trading desk. Rosneft already owns an oil trading business and late last year essentially borrowed $10 billion from commodity traders Vitol and Glencore to help fund Rosneft�� purchase of BP�� stake in BP-TNK. The Russian company pledged some 500 million barrels of future production to the two trading houses in exchange for the cash.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of French oil giant Total (TOT) have gained 1.9% t $58.27 this morning after Barclays�upgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Underweight.

  Associated Press

  Barclays’�Lydia Rainforth and team explain their reasoning:

  Total�� Capital Markets Day presentation did enough to convince us that it can�control capex more than we had previously anticipated. In doing so, it also set out a�more credible path to returning the company to cash flow neutrality post both capex and dividends potentially as soon as 2015. There remain challenges to delivering the 2017 operating cashflow aspiration, as evidenced by an implicit reduction in prior cashflow assumptions over the 2015-2017 period, but the coming 12 months should see Total show both improved production and cashflow with the start up of a number of key projects scheduled. It is this combination of improved operational momentum we forecast for Total together with much better visibility on capex and free cash flow, which drives our upgrade on the stock to Equal Weight…

  Total’s strength comes as U.S oil majors have stalled today. Exxon Mobil (XOM) has ticked down 0.1% to $87.69 , Chevron (CVX) has fallen o.4% to $125.07 and�ConocoPhillips (COP) has dropped 0.3% to $70.35.

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  Lesson learned
  The financial situation at Amyris is less than enviable. Whereas fellow industrial biotech company Solazyme has hit every major milestone and had no problem raising funds, Amyris has had to take the more dilutive route for shareholders. Still, large commercial partners Total (NYSE: TOT  ) and Cosan (NYSE: CZZ  ) haven't backed down in their support of the company. Total upped its investment in Amyris during several rough patches in the past year after incurring significant paper losses on the roughly 20% stake in the company. Total even has its own webpage for the partnership, which speaks to its long-term vision for Amyris' platform, especially in renewable diesel.

Best Canadian Companies To Own In Right Now: Transcananda Pipelines Ltd.(TRP)

Transcanada Corporation operates as an energy infrastructure company in North America. The company operates in three segments: Natural Gas Pipelines, Oil Pipelines, and Energy. The Natural Gas Pipelines segment develops and operates energy infrastructure, including natural gas pipelines and regulated gas storage facilities. Its network of natural gas pipelines extends approximately 60,000 km tapping into gas supply basins in North America. The Oil Pipelines segment operates Keystone crude oil pipeline system, which includes completed 3,467 km Wood River/Patoka and Cushing Extension phases, and the proposed 2,673 km U.S. Gulf Coast Expansion. The Energy segment engages in the acquisition, development, construction, ownership, and operation of electrical power generation plants; the purchase and marketing of electricity; the provision of electricity account services to energy and industrial customers; and the development, construction, ownership, and operation of non-regulat ed natural gas storage in Alberta. The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Rapier]

  Of course Canada will build its own additional pipelines to the coast. TransCanada (NYSE: TRP) — the company behind Keystone XL — is planning a 4,500-kilometer Energy East pipeline that would carry 1.1-million barrels of crude oil per day from Alberta and Saskatchewan to refineries in Eastern Canada. This project alone would be nearly 50 percent larger than the Keystone XL, and will almost certainly get built. The project involves converting an existing natural gas pipeline to an oil transportation pipeline, constructing new pipelines to link up with the converted pipeline, and then building the associated facilities required to move crude oil from Alberta to Quebec and New Brunswick. This pipeline is expected to be in service to Quebec by 2017 and to New Brunswick by 2018. A recent open season for the project received over 900,000 bpd in shipping commitments for 20 years.

• [By Aaron Levitt]

  The saga surrounding TransCanada�� (TRP) Keystone XL pipeline system is getting a bit ridiculous. After years of delays, setbacks, protests and other headaches, things looked like they were heading in the right direction for the massive infrastructure project and potentially TRP stock.

Best Canadian Companies To Own In Right Now: CNH Global N.V. (CNH)

CNH Global N.V. manufactures, markets, and distributes a line of agricultural and construction equipment and parts worldwide. It operates in three segments: Agricultural Equipment, Construction Equipment, and Financial Services. The Agricultural Equipment segment provides tractors, combine harvesters, hay and forage equipment, seeding and planting equipment, tillage equipment, and sprayers, as well as cotton picker packagers, and sugar cane and grape harvesters primarily under the Case IH and New Holland brands. The Construction Equipment segment offers heavy construction equipment, such as crawler and wheeled excavators, wheel loaders, graders, dozers, and articulated haul trucks; and light construction equipment, including backhoe loaders, skid steer and tracked loaders, mini and midi excavators, compact wheel loaders, and telehandlers primarily under the Case and New Holland Construction brands. This segment serves construction companies, municipalities, local governmen ts, rental fleet owners, quarrying and aggregate mining companies, waste management companies, forestry-related concerns, contractors, residential builders, utilities, road construction companies, landscapers, logistics companies, and farmers. The Financial Services segment provides financial products and services, including retail financing for the purchase or lease of the company�s and other manufacturers� new and used products; and facilitates the sale of insurance products and other financing programs to retail customers. This segment also offers wholesale financing to its dealers and rental equipment operators, as well as financing options to dealers to finance working capital, real estate, and other fixed assets and maintenance equipment. CNH Global N.V. sells and distributes its products through dealers and distributors in approximately 170 countries. The company was founded in 1991 and is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. CNH Global N.V. is a subsidiary of Fiat Netherlands Holding N.V.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By vaninaegea]

  In august, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) published the mid-year review for the agricultural sector. Their findings point to a slowdown for the industry, highlighting a 9.5% decline on exports through the first half of 2013. Also, late soybean planting in the USA is expected to compound the industry�� slowdown. So, what are the prospects for AGCO (AGCO), CNH Global (CNH), and Deere & Co. (DE) under such conditions?

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Kubota isn't the only company aggressively challenging Deere. AGCO (NYSE: AGCO  ) has made aggressive expansion efforts in Africa, working with specialty agricultural lender Rabobank to try to help farmers on the continent buy more farming equipment. Moreover, both AGCO and CNH Global (NYSE: CNH  ) have made emerging markets like Latin America a high priority, reaping benefits from the more rapidly expanding economies among Latin American nations. Deere has targeted Latin America as well, but it hasn't been as aggressive with its international efforts as its peers. Deere's stock price has reflected its lack of initiative in expanding globally:

Best Canadian Companies To Own In Right Now: PPL Corporation(PPL)

PPL Corporation, an energy and utility holding company, generates and sells electricity; and delivers natural gas to approximately 5.3 million utility customers primarily in the northeastern and northwestern U.S. The company operates in four segments: Kentucky Regulated, International Regulated, Pennsylvania Regulated, and Supply. The Kentucky Regulated segment engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity; and the distribution and sale of natural gas to approximately 1.3 million customers in Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. The International Regulated segment owns and operates electricity distribution businesses in the United Kingdom that deliver electricity to 7.7 million customers. The Pennsylvania Regulated segment delivers electricity to approximately 1.4 million customers in eastern and central Pennsylvania. The Supply segment owns and operates power plants to generate electricity using coal, uranium, natural gas, oil, and water res ources; markets and trades electricity and other purchased power to wholesale and retail markets; and acquires and develops domestic generation projects. It controls or owns a portfolio of generation assets of approximately 11,000 megawatts in Montana and Pennsylvania. As of December 31, 2010, the company?s distribution system included 649 substations with a capacity of 25 million kVA, 28,838 circuit miles of overhead lines, and 24,131 cable miles of underground conductors in the United Kingdom. It also operated 377 substations with a capacity of 31 million kVA, 33,122 circuit miles of overhead lines, and 7,368 cable miles of underground conductors in Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1920 and is headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Maria Armental and Anna Prior]

  Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services and Fitch Ratings downgraded PPL Energy (PPL) after parent company PPL Corp. said it would spin off the power-generation business to its shareholders.

• [By Justin Loiseau]

  PP&L
  PP&L (NYSE: PPL  ) reported earnings May 2, missing on sales expectations but managing to squeak past earnings estimates. Top lines have been tumbling across the sector, and PPL's bottom line took a major hit when trimmed hedged wholesale power prices pushed its unregulated earnings down more than 50%.