Yum! Brands Inc., New York symbol YUM, operates 38,000 fast-food restaurants in over 110 countries. Its main banners include KFC (fried chicken), Pizza Hut and Taco Bell (Mexican food). Yum is also a leader in investing in China. It was the first fast-food company to enter the country, in 1987.

We analyze Yum in Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter for …read more »

Nordstrom Inc., symbol JWN on New York, mainly sells upscale clothing, accessories and footwear. The company owns and operates 212 outlets in the United States. It expects to open another nine stores this year.

In March 2011, Nordstrom paid $180 million for HauteLook. The Los Angeles-based online retailer has more than 4 million members and annual sales of over $100 million. …read more »

ISHARES DOW JONES CANADA SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX FUND $21.64 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through a broker; ca.ishares.com) 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 2.7%.

The fund’s top holdings …read more »

SPDR S&P 500 ETF $133.97 (New York symbol SPY; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the stocks in the S&P 500 Index, which consists of 500 major U.S. stocks that are chosen based on their market cap, liquidity and industry group.

The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Exxon Mobil, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Apple, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Johnson & …read more »

McCormick & Co., Inc., New York symbol MKC, makes spices, herbs, seasonings, specialty foods and flavours, and markets them to the food industry.

McCormick is one of the companies we analyze in Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter for investing in U.S. stocks.

In its second quarter, which ended May 31, 2011, McCormick’s earnings rose 11.2%, to $73.6 million from $66.2 …read more »

SPDR DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE ETF $126.09 (New York Exchange symbol DIA; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The fund’s top holdings are IBM, ExxonMobil, Chevron Corp., 3M, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald’s Corp., Coca-Cola Co., Caterpillar Inc., United Technologies and Boeing Co. The fund’s expenses are about 0.18% …read more »

H&R Block, symbol HRB on New York, is the world’s largest provider of income-tax-preparation services.

The company is one of the investments we analyze in Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter for U.S.A. stock market investing.

In its 2011 fiscal year, which ended April 30, 2011, H&R Block’s U.S. offices prepared 14.8 million tax returns, up 3.6% from fiscal 2010. The …read more »

POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $58.18 (Nasdaq symbol QQQQ; buy or sell through brokers; www.invescopowershares.com), 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 …read more »

SPDR S&P CHINA ETF $78.27 (New York Exchange symbol GXC; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) is an exchange-traded fund that aims to track the S&P China BMI Index. This index is made up of all of the publicly traded Chinese stocks that are available to foreign investors. Right now, it holds 153 stocks.

The $759-million fund’s top holdings are: China …read more »

GUGGENHEIM CHINA SMALL CAP ETF $28.48 (New York Exchange symbol HAO; buy or sell through brokers; www.guggenheimfunds.com) aims to track the AlphaShares China Small Cap Index. This index is made up of all investable Chinese stocks with market caps between $200 million and $1.5 billion.

The $296.7-million fund’s top holdings are China Shanshui Cement Group, 1.9%; Mindray Medical, 1.5%; BBMG Corp., …read more »