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Bond funds are mutual funds that specifically invest in different government and corporate bond offerings.
Many bond funds posted strong results in the past, with yields of 6%, 8% or 10% over five or 10 years. This, though, was a function of the trend in interest rates; at the start of those periods, the funds were buying bonds with …read more »
One challenge with researching investments over time is that companies sometimes change names as they grow and mature. As you search through our archives, one such example of this you will find is Trimark investments.
Long known as Trimark Investments or AIM Trimark, the company changed its name in August 2008 to Invesco Trimark to reflect its relationship with Invesco Ltd., …read more »
Cautious investors wonder if they own enough different stocks, or perhaps even too many.
The right number of stocks for investors to own for portfolio diversification depends, in part, on where they are in their investing careers.
When they’re just starting out, most people have modest amounts of money to invest. Even so, it generally pays to invest at least several …read more »
Ethanol is a liquid alcohol obtained from fermenting sugar, or starch converted to sugar. In Canada and the U.S., fuel ethanol is made from grains, such as corn, wheat and barley. Small quantities have been made on an experimental basis from low-cost agricultural cellulosic biomass, like trees and grasses. This has led to two different groups of companies amongst ethanol …read more »
ISHARES CDN REIT SECTOR INDEX FUND $7.22 (Toronto symbol XRE; buy or sell through a broker) holds the 11 Canadian real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index. The weight of any one REIT is limited to 25% of this index’s value.
RioCan REIT makes up 23.3% of the index’s total value; Canadian REIT, 14.1%; Boardwalk REIT, 11.3%; …read more »
BCE $24.79 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 791.6 million; Market cap: $19.6 billion; SI Rating: Above Average) earned $1.8 billion in 2008, down 3.9% from $1.9 billion in 2007. Earnings per share fell 3.8%, to $2.25 from $2.34 on more shares outstanding. Revenue fell 0.3%, to $17.7 billion from $17.75 billion. These figures exclude restructuring charges, mainly job cuts, and …read more »
FIDELITY GROWTH AMERICA FUND $11.98 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (Fidelity Investments Canada, 483 Bay St., Suite 200, Toronto, Ont. M5G 2N7. 1-800-263-4077; Web site: www.fidelity.ca., load fund — available from brokers) uses a broad “bottom-up” approach to identify undervalued companies using fundamentals, such as earnings, dividend yield, book value, cash flow and debt level.
The $160.2-million Fidelity Growth America Fund’s top holdings, …read more »
BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $27.59 (Toronto symbol BNS: Shares outstanding: 991.9 million; Market cap: $27.4 billion; SI Rating: Above Average) is taking advantage of the depressed prices of banks around the world to increase its stake in Thailand’s Thanachart Bank from 24.98% to 49%. That’s the regulatory limit for foreign banks in Thailand.
Thanachart is Thailand’s eighth-largest bank by assets, and …read more »
TEMPLETON EMERGING MARKETS FUND $7.87 (New York symbol EMF; CWA Fund Rating: Speculative) is a closed-end fund that invests in equities from emerging economies. Franklin Templeton manages the fund.
Templeton Emerging Market Fund’s holdings are spread around the world. Although volatile, the fund gives investors access to countries like Brazil, China, India and others that still have strong growth prospects.
The $187.6-million …read more »
We’ve long advised that investing outside of Canada and the United States can expose you to increased volatility and risk. The sharp downturn in many foreign markets during the current global slowdown proves this. But there are still regions or countries that offer lots of growth potential.
We still think that for most investors, the best way to invest in these …read more »
