How To Invest

In addition, Pat thinks then beginner investors should cultivate two important qualities: a healthy sense of skepticism and patience.

Investors should approach all investments with a healthy sense of skepticism. This can help keep you out of fraudulent stocks that masquerade as high-quality stocks. It will also keep you out of legally operated, but poorly managed, companies that promise more than they can possibly deliver.

If you are a new investor, you should also realize that losing patience can cause you to sell your best choices right before a big rise. All too often, investors buy a promising stock just as it enters a period of price stagnation. Even the best-performing stocks run into these unpredictable phases from time to time. They move mainly sideways in a wide range for months or years before their next big rise begins. (Stock brokers often refer to these stocks as “dead money.”)

If you lack patience, you run a big risk of selling your best choices in the midst of one of these phases, prior to the next big move upward. If you lose patience and sell, you are particularly likely to do so in the low end of the trading range, when stock prices have weakened and confidence in the stock has waned.

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ISHARES MSCI BRAZIL INDEX FUND $50.15 (New York Exchange symbol EWZ; buy or sell through brokers) is an exchange traded fund that is designed to track the Brazilian stock market. The fund’s top holdings are Petrobras (oil and gas), 12.7%; Vale do Rio Doce (mining), 8.4%; Cia Itau Unibanco Holding (banking), 7.4%; Banco Brandesco (banking) preferred, 6.5%; Cia de Bebidas das Americas (beer and beverages), 5.5%; and BRF SA (food), 3.6%.

The ETF was launched on July 10, 2000. It has an expense ratio of 0.60%.

The fund’s focus on the resource sector and its concentration in certain stocks, such as Petrobras and Vale do Rio Doce, add risk. However, both are high-quality stocks.
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ISHARES MSCI CHILE INVESTABLE MARKET INDEX FUND $56.48 (New York Exchange symbol ECH; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that aims to track the MSCI Chile Investable Market Index, which consists of stocks that are mainly traded on the Santiago Stock Exchange.

The fund’s top holdings are Enersis AS (electricity), 8.0%; Empresas Copec SA (conglomerate), 7.4%; Cencosud SA (retailer), 7.2%; S.A.C.I. Falabella (retail), 6.6%; Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (electricity), 6.2%; LATAM Airlines SA, 5.7%; Quimica y Minera de Chile (mining), 5.0%; Banco Santander Chile (banking), 4.4%; and Empresas CMPC (pulp and paper), 3.9%.

The fund’s industry breakdown is: Utilities, 24.8%; Financials, 17.2%; Consumer Staples, 13.6%; Materials, 12.6%; Industrials, 9.3%; Consumer Discretionary, 8.3%; Energy, 7.4%; Telecommunications, 3.2%; and Information Technology, 2.5%.
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ISHARES MSCI GERMANY FUND $25.89 (New York Exchange symbol EWG; buy or sell through brokers) tracks the stocks in the MSCI Germany Index. This index aims to replicate 85% of the total market capitalization of the German stock market. The remaining 15% is unavailable for investment, partly due to limitations on foreign ownership.

The ETF’s top holdings are BASF (chemicals), 8.7%; Siemens (engineering conglomerate), 8.6%; Bayer (diversified chemicals), 8.6%; Allianz (insurance), 6.9%; SAP (software), 6.7%; Daimler (autos), 5.7%; Deutsche Bank, 4.6%; Linde AG (industrial gases), 3.5%; and Munich Re (reisurance), 3.3%.

The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Consumer Discretionary, 19.3%; Financials, 17.2%, Materials, 15.4%; Industrials, 13.7%; Health Care, 13.1%; Information Technology, 7.9%; Utilities, 4.7%; Consumer Staples, 4.3%; and Telecommunication Services, 3.1%.
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ISHARES MSCI SOUTH KOREA INDEX FUND $57.12 (New York Exchange symbol EWY; buy or sell through brokers) is an exchange traded fund that aims to track the MSCI Korea Index.

The ETF’s top holdings are Samsung Electronics, 23.1%; Hyundai Motor Co., 5.3%; Posco (steel), 3.4%; Hyundai Mobis (auto parts), 3.2%; SK Hynix Semiconductor, 2.8%; Shinhan Financial, 2.7%; Kia Motors, 2.6%; KB Financial, 2.2%; LG Chemical, 2.1%; and NHN (Internet content), 2.1%.

The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Information Technology, 32.3%; Consumer Discretionary, 18.2%; Financials, 14.7%; Industrials, 13.2%; Materials, 10.0%; Consumer Staples, 5.4%; Energy, 2.7%; Utilities, 1.4%; Telecommunication Services, 1.2%; and Health Care, 0.8%.
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ISHARES MSCI EMERGING MARKETS INDEX FUND $40.56 (New York symbol EEM; buy or sell through brokers) is an exchange traded fund that aims to track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. Its geographic breakdown includes China, 17.8%; South Korea, 14.8%; Brazil, 12.1%; Taiwan, 11.5%; South Africa, 6.7%; India, 6.7%; Russia, 5.6%; Mexico, 5.2%; Malaysia, 3.9%; and Indonesia, 3.0%.

The ETF’s top holdings are Samsung Electronics (South Korea), 4.1%; Taiwan Semiconductor (computer chips), 2.4%; China Mobile, 1.7%; China Construction Bank, 1.6%; Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, 1.2%; Gazprom (Russia: gas utility), 1.1%; America Movil (Brazil: wireless), 1.1%; and Itau Unibanco (Brazil: banking), 1.1%.

The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Financials, 27.4%; Information Technology, 14.6%; Energy, 11.5%; Materials, 9.9%; Consumer Staples, 9.4%; Consumer Discretionary, 8.1%; Telecommunication Services, 7.5%; and Industrials, 6.4%.
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ISHARES MSCI JAPAN INDEX FUND $10.60 (New York Exchange symbol EWJ; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) is an exchange traded fund that tries to match the return of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Japan index.

The ETF’s top holdings include Toyota, 6.6%; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, 3.0%; Honda Motor, 2.5%; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, 2.1%; Softbank Corp., 1.9%; Mizuho Financial Group, 1.8%; Canon, 1.6%; Japan Tobacco, 1.5%; Takeda Pharmaceutical, 1.4%; and Hitachi, 1.3%.

The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Consumer Discretionary, 21.8%; Financials, 20.1%; Industrials, 18.9%; Information Technology, 10.7%; Consumer Staples, 6.5%; Health Care, 6.2%; Materials, 6.2%; Telecommunication Services, 4.7%; Utilities, 3.1%; and Energy, 1.3%.
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GLOBAL X COPPER MINERS ETF $10.23 (New York symbol COPX; buy or sell through brokers; www.globalxfunds.com) tracks the Solactive Global Copper Miners Index, which includes between 20 and 40 international companies that mine, refine or explore for copper. Germanybased Structured Solutions AG created this index.

Canadian companies make up 48.3% of the fund’s holdings. It also includes companies based in Australia (7.2%), Poland (5.0%), Peru (5.7%) and Mexico (6.7%). Global X Copper Miners ETF’s MER is 0.65%.

Its top 10 holdings are Turquoise Hill Resources at 5.8%; Capstone Mining, 5.5%; Vendanta Resources, 5.5%; Freeport Copper, 5.1%; First Quantum Minerals, 5.1%; Taseko Mines, 5.0%; Cudeco Ltd., 5.0%; Lundin Mining, 4.9%; Antofagasta plc, 4.9%; and Jiangxi Copper Company, 4.8%.
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GLOBAL X SILVER MINERS ETF $14.42 (New York symbol SIL; buy or sell through brokers; www.globalxfunds.com) tracks the Solactive Global Silver Miners Index.

This index includes 31 international companies that mine, refine or explore for silver. Germanybased Structured Solutions AG developed the Global X Silver Miners Index.

Canadian companies make up 46.6% of the fund’s holdings, but it also includes companies based in the U.S. (11.0%) and Mexico (14.6%). The ETF’s MER is 0.65%.
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ISHARES S&P/TSX GLOBAL GOLD INDEX FUND $12.91 (Toronto symbol XGD; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) aims to mirror the performance of the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index.

This index is made up of 54 gold stocks from Canada and around the world. The fund’s MER is 0.60%. iShares S&P/TSX Global Gold Index Fund began trading on March 23, 2001.

The fund’s top 10 holdings are Goldcorp at 13.1%; Barrick Gold, 13.8%; Newmont Mining, 11.3%; Yamana Gold, 5.8%; Kinross, 4.9%; Randgold Resources (ADR), 4.8%; AngloGold Ashanti (ADR), 4.6%; Franco Nevada, 4.1%, Eldorado Gold, 3.8%; and Agnico-Eagle Mines, 3.7%.
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MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $35.75 (Toronto symbol MBT; Shares outstanding: 67.5 million; Market cap: $2.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 4.8%; www.mts.ca) has agreed to sell its Allstream subsidiary to Accelero Capital Holdings, a private firm controlled by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris.

In 2004, the company paid $1.6 billion for Allstream, which provides integrated telephone, Internet and other communication services to over 50,000 businesses across Canada.

The sale price is $520 million, which is equal to 22% of Manitoba Telecom’s $2.4-billion market cap. If you disregard closing costs, Manitoba Telecom will receive $405 million. Assuming regulators approve, the company expects to complete the sale in the second half of 2013.
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