The Globe and Mail attempts to identify low-beta Canadian companies -- those with low sensitivity to market moves -- that have surprised analysts in the most recent reported quarter in its Thursday edition. The Globe's Ian Tam writes in the Number Cruncher column that he ranked stocks on two factors -- earnings surprise and the five-year price beta. The earnings surprise of a company measures the percentage difference between the latest quarter's operating earnings per share and analysts' expectations just prior to the company reporting. Companies with positive surprises tend to exhibit upward trends in price after the report date. Mr. Tam coupled this with the five-year price beta which measures the historical sensitivity of price movement relative to the S&P/TSX composite index. He says when the general market trends upward or downward, low beta stocks (beta less than 1) move less than the market, while high beta stocks (beta greater than 1) move more than the market. Mr. Tam's picks have at least five analysts covering the company and a beta less than 0.7. Mr. Tam recommends Intact Financial, Dollarama, Absolute Software, Great Canadian Gaming and Alimentation Couche-Tard.