Growth portfolio December 15, 2007:

There will not be any changes to the growth portfolio this month as the markets are still too volatile to add to existing exposure. The portfolio currently holds core positions in the Canadian market, metals, energy, gold, transportation, agricultural and Canadian Western Bank which has proven to be one of the only financial companies in North America that will not have major write offs due to exposure to US subprime mortgages, Asset Backed Commercial Paper (ABCP) or Structured Investment Vehicles (SIVs), which have been leaking value like a sieve.

Growth Portfolio as at December 15, 2007:

Original cost as at April 15, 2004

Company Profiles:

Cameco (CCO):

Cameco is the worlds lowest cost producer of uranium and supplies approximately 20% of the world’s production. The company has total proven and probable reserves of 550 million pounds of uranium. The company operates three mines in Northern Saskatchewan, McArthur River, Key Lake, and Rabbit Lake along with two properties in the US, Smith Ranch-Highland in Wyoming and Crow Butte in Nebraska. Cameco also owns 31.6% of Bruce Power which is a joint venture with TransCanada Corp and BPC Generation Infrastructure Trust. Bruce Power has leased eight Candu reactors located in Ontario, six of which are operational; the six reactors can produce 4,700megawatts of electricity enough to supply approximately 20% of the provinces power requirements. The company recently split the shares 3:1 and increased the annual dividend by 20% to a post split $0.24 per share.

Target Price: $65.00

HudBay Minerals (HBM):

HudBay is a Canadian zinc and copper producer. HudBay is the third largest producer of both zinc and copper in Canada and is the third largest producer of zinc oxide in North America. The company has the annual capacity to produce 115,000 tonnes of zinc, 100,000 tonnes of copper, 100,000 of gold, 1.4 million ounces of silver and 45,000 tonnes of zinc oxide.

Target Price: $26.00

Teck Cominco (TCK.B):

Teck is the largest zinc producer in the world and the third largest refined zinc producer. At facilities at the Red Dog mine in Alaska and the Trail metallurgical complex in BC. Besides zinc the company produces copper at its 64% owned Highland Valley Copper mine in BC and the Antamina copper-zinc mine in Peru, gold at the 50% owned Williams and David Bell mines in Ontario, and coal through its 41% interest in the Elk Valley Coal Partnership which is the worlds second largest producer of metallurgical coal. This diversified company has exposure to most of the metals that are increasingly in demand globally. 

Target Price: $55.00

Canadian Western Bank (CWB):

CWB is a schedule 1 bank operating with 31 retail branches in BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan. The bank operates an insurance subsidiary and offers commercial lending services and trust services as well. The region in which CWB operates is the growth region of Canada and this offers the bank an excellent opportunity for growth. Target Price: $30.00

CN Rail (CNR):

Canadian National Railway Company is a leading North American railway, after acquiring Illinois Central in 1999 and Great Lakes Transportation in 2004 along with the partnership agreement with BC Rail in 2004. The company has 19,560 miles of track in Canada and the US operating from coast to coast and down to the Gulf of Mexico serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans and Mobile Alabama.

CN transports a variety of products including petroleum, chemicals, grain, fertilizers, coal, metals, forest products and autos. The company generates revenue from the US (56%), Canada (25%) and international traffic (19%).

Target Price: $63.00

EnCana Corp (ECA):

ECA is one of the largest independent oil & gas companies in the world. Focusing on natural gas production from properties located in Western Canada and the US Rockies region. ECA has the largest land holding of any gas company in North America. Low natural gas prices have created a buying opportunity for investors. Target Price: $75.00

Suncor (SU): Suncor Energy Inc. is an integrated oil & gas company with operation focused in the Alberta oil sands, one of the world’s largest petroleum reserves, which represents 85% of current production.

The company has operations concentrated in the oil sands areas near Fort McMurray, Alberta, mining bitumen and upgrading it into refinery feedstock and diesel fuel. Natural gas is produced in Western Canada and managed from Calgary, Alberta most of the natural gas is produced for internal use in the recovery process in the oil sands operations. The company operates a refinery in Sarnia, Ontario and products are marketed in Ontario, Quebec and northeastern United States. Suncor operates 500 service stations in Ontario and recently acquired 43 Phillips 66 service stations along with a refinery in Denver Colorado.

The company has huge potential reserves the oil sands estimated at 10 billion barrels of oil. This positions Suncor as a long term supplier of petroleum products. Target price: $110.00

Gold Corp (G): Gold Corp is one of the world largest gold producers and one of the lowest cost producers as well. The company recently acquired mid tier producer Glamis Gold which increased reserves and production. The acquisition also diversified the company geographically as well. Target Price: $35.00

Kinross Gold (K):

A Canadian gold producer with 11 mines operating in The US, Canada, South America, Africa and Russia which produce 1.6 million ounces of gold annually. The company is a now one of the ten largest gold producers in the world. Kinross is a low cost producer of gold with a cash cost of production of only $265.00 an ounce. The company is well managed and well positioned to take advantage of the current high price of gold. Target price: $18.00

Agrium Inc. (AGU):

One of the largest fertilizer manufacturers in the world, Agrium is currently the largest agricultural retailer in the US offering farmers seed, fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. The company sells a combined 8 million tons of nitrogen, potash and phosphates globally, most of that in the Americas. Target Price: $60.00