Canada

Members of Pat McKeough’s Inner Circle enjoy a double benefit when it comes to taking advantage of our investment research. They get to address investment questions directly to Pat and his research associates; AND they get to see all other members’ questions, and our answers (of course, we eliminate any personal information). Members usually ask about stocks they own or …read more »

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are one of the more benign financial innovations to come along in the past few years.

ETFs are set up to mirror the performance of a stock-market index or sub-index. They hold a more-or-less fixed selection of securities that represent the holdings that go into the calculation of the index or sub-index.

ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just …read more »

Even though today’s house prices are high, mortgage interest costs are near historic lows. And owning your own home has a number of advantages.

For example, owning your house is a great tax shelter. That’s because gains on your principal residence are exempt from capital-gains taxes. However, this tax benefit only applies to your principal residence. You must still pay …read more »

Now that the Olympic flame is out in Vancouver, the attention of the sporting world is starting to turn to the next winter games, in Sochi, Russia, in 2014.

That’s also true of the investing world, as companies line up to get a piece of the roughly $12 billion (Canadian) that is being spent to build the Russian Olympics in Sochi. …read more »

Discover how to structure your investment portfolio in a way that could save you thousands of dollars

Click here to immediately download our new free report, Capital Gains Canada: 7 Secrets for Managing your Canadian Capital Gains Tax Liabilities.

As you consider how to manage your tax bill for the current income-tax season, you really shouldn’t be without our new free report, …read more »

We think investors will profit most — and with the least risk — by buying shares of well-established, dividend-paying stocks with strong business prospects.

These are companies that have strong positions in healthy industries. They also have strong management that will make the right moves to remain competitive in a changing marketplace.

Here are 3 ways dividend paying stocks can help …read more »

The U.S. restaurant industry has faced tough challenges over the past 18 months. That’s because the economic downturn has prompted more consumers to eat at home, or to spend less when they dine out.

The best U.S. restaurants have done a good job of cutting costs during the slowdown. Some have improved their menus by introducing new items and focusing on …read more »

Many Canadian firms have tried to expand into the U.S. over the years. Some, like Tim Hortons (symbol THI on Toronto), have had difficulty in the United States. Other companies’ expansion efforts have failed miserably.

Canadian Tire (symbol CTC.A on Toronto) provides a memorable example of a failed U.S. expansion. In 1982, the retailer bought a chain of Whites automotive-retail …read more »

Last week, Newmont Mining (symbol NEM on New York), one of the world’s biggest gold producers, said that it believes that gold could rise as high as $1,350 U.S. an ounce this year. Gold has fallen from the all-time high of $1,214.80 U.S. that it reached in late 2009, and now trades around $1,092 U.S.

We cover Newmont in our …read more »

Investors sometimes ask us how to select the best investments for young children. If children are under the age of 18, they cannot yet invest as adults. However, there are a couple of savings and investment options available.

The first option is for you (or the child) to open a bank account in the child’s name. Interest paid on small balances …read more »