ISHARES S&P/TSX GLOBAL GOLD INDEX FUND $24.22 (Toronto symbol XGD; buy or sell through brokers) aims to mirror the performance of the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index.

This index is made up of gold stocks from Canada and around the world. The weight of any one company is capped at 25% of the index’s market capitalization. The fund’s MER is 0.55%. …read more »

ISHARES MSCI CANADA INDEX FUND $25.44 (New York symbol EWC; buy or sell through brokers) is like a market-cap-based index fund, but its managers try to improve performance by tinkering with the index-fund formula. They do this through their proprietary Morgan Stanley Capital International Canada Index. The fund has an MER of 0.55%.

The index’s top holdings are: Royal Bank, 7.1%; …read more »

POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $43.96 (Nasdaq symbol QQQQ; buy or sell through brokers), formerly called Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares, holds the stocks that represent the Nasdaq 100 Index. That index is made up of the 100 largest shares on the Nasdaq exchange based on market cap.

The Nasdaq 100 Index contains firms from a number of major industries, including computer hardware and …read more »

ISHARES DOW JONES CANADA SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX FUND $18.63 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through a broker) holds 30 of the highest-yielding Canadian stocks. Its selections are based on dividend growth, yield and payout ratio. The weight of any one stock is limited to 10% of assets. The fund’s MER is 0.50%. It yields 4.0%.

The fund’s top holdings are …read more »

ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX FUND $16.78 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through a broker) (units split 4-for-1 in August 2008) is a good, low-fee way to buy the top stocks and income trusts on the TSX. The units are made up of stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index, which consists of the 60 largest, most heavily traded stocks …read more »

VANGUARD GROWTH ETF $52.22 (New York symbol VUG; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the MSCI U.S. Prime Market Growth Index, a broadly diversified index that mainly consists of stocks of large U.S. companies. The fund has an MER of just 0.14%.

The $17.1-billion fund’s top holdings are Microsoft, IBM, Apple Inc., Cisco Systems, Wal-Mart Stores, Google Inc., Hewlett-Packard, …read more »

VANGUARD EMERGING MARKETS ETF $38.85 (New York symbol VWO; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which is made up of common stocks of companies located in emerging markets around the world. The fund has an MER of 0.27%.

The fund’s top holdings are China Mobile (China: wireless), Gazprom (Russia: gas utility), Samsung Electronics (South …read more »

Pennsylvania-based Vanguard Group is one of the world’s largest investment-management companies. It manages over $1 trillion U.S. in 150 mutual funds.

Vanguard, which went into business in 1975, offers low-fee index mutual funds. Generally speaking, Canadians can’t buy units of mutual funds that are registered in the U.S., because they aren’t registered with provincial securities commissions. For that matter, some Canadian …read more »

We generally advise against investing in bonds right now, because today’s low interest rates make them unattractive. That’s especially so in light of the potential rise in inflation that may follow the heavy deficit spending and rapid expansion of the money supply that is now underway.

However, if you need stable income and want to hold bonds, here are two bond …read more »

ISHARES DOW JONES CANADA SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX FUND $19.08 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through a broker) holds 30 of the highest-yielding Canadian stocks. Its selections are based on dividend growth, yield and payout ratio. The weight of any one stock is limited to 10%. The fund’s MER is 0.50%. It yields 4.0%.

The ETF’s top holdings are CIBC, 7.9%; …read more »