The Globe and Mail attempts to identify steady Canadian companies showing consistent returns on equity in its Friday, July 3, edition. The Globe's Ian Tam writes in the Number Cruncher column that he looked for companies showing positive trends in return on equity -- and have also had a consistently positive ROE over five-year and 10-year periods. As an added metric to find predictable companies, Mr. Tam also used the Morningstar CPMS earnings-variability metric that looks at the historical volatility of a company's earnings. Companies with lower earnings variability have had consistent earnings over time. The strategy ranks stocks on the best combination of the following metrics: quarterly ROE momentum (trailing four quarters ROE versus the same number, one quarter ago); trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple; and earnings variability. Qualifying stocks have a trailing P/E less than 18 times, a five-year average ROE greater than 6 per cent, a 10-year average ROE greater than 9 per cent and a market cap greater than $400-million. Firms with consistent ROE are Bombardier, Centerra Gold, Power Corp. of Canada, Power Financial, Corus Entertainment and BCE.