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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ENERPLUS CORP. $16.05 (Toronto symbol ERF; Shares outstanding: 197.6 million; Market cap: $3.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 6.7%) produces an average of 82,108 barrels of oil equivalent per day (weighted 51% to natural gas and 49% to oil). Its properties are mainly in Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C., North Dakota and Montana, as well as the Marcellus Shale, which passes through Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia.
In the three months ended June 30, 2012, Enerplus’s cash flow per share was unchanged at $0.74 from a year earlier.
In June 2012, the company cut its monthly dividend by 50%. It now yields 6.7%.
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In the three months ended June 30, 2012, Enerplus’s cash flow per share was unchanged at $0.74 from a year earlier.
In June 2012, the company cut its monthly dividend by 50%. It now yields 6.7%.
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ISHARES MSCI JAPAN INDEX FUND $9.06 (American 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, 5.2%; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, 2.8%; Honda Motor, 2.5%; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, 2.0%; Takeda Pharmaceutical, 1.8%; Canon, 1.8%; Mizuho Financial Group, 1.8%; Fanuc Corp., 1.5%; Softbank Corp., 1.4%; and Japan Tobacco Inc., 1.3%.
The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Industrials, 20.6%; Consumer Discretionary, 19.1%; Financials, 18.5%; Information Technology, 11.1%; Consumer Staples, 7.2%; Health Care, 7.2%; Materials, 6.3%; Telecommunication Services, 4.5%; Utilities, 2.7%; and Energy, 1.6%.
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The ETF’s top holdings include Toyota, 5.2%; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, 2.8%; Honda Motor, 2.5%; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, 2.0%; Takeda Pharmaceutical, 1.8%; Canon, 1.8%; Mizuho Financial Group, 1.8%; Fanuc Corp., 1.5%; Softbank Corp., 1.4%; and Japan Tobacco Inc., 1.3%.
The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Industrials, 20.6%; Consumer Discretionary, 19.1%; Financials, 18.5%; Information Technology, 11.1%; Consumer Staples, 7.2%; Health Care, 7.2%; Materials, 6.3%; Telecommunication Services, 4.5%; Utilities, 2.7%; and Energy, 1.6%.
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BAXTER INTERNATIONAL INC. (New York symbol BAX; www.baxter.com) makes medical products, such as intravenous pumps and kidney dialysis equipment. It also makes vaccines and drugs. Half of its sales come from single-use products that need to be continually reordered. Demand for the company’s products continues to improve, particularly as an aging population needs more medical devices and drugs. Baxter’s sales rose 23.4%, from $11.3 billion in 2007 to $13.9 billion in 2011....
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines jargon as the “technical terminology” of a special activity or group. But it also defines it as “confused unintelligible language.” Every industry and group has its own special jargon. This specialized language always has the same purpose. It simplifies communications within the industry, and helps make insiders feel they are part of a tightly knit community. It also helps the group pursue its goals. It shapes concepts that will establish lines of thought and discussions that match the industry’s view of the world. But it can be confusing for those who are not insiders in the group....
CAE INC. (Toronto symbol CAE; www.cae.com) is the world’s leading maker of flight simulators for commercial airlines, with 70% of the market. It also makes simulators for military clients. The company began training pilots for its customers in 2001; it now has over 100 flight schools in 30 countries. CAE gets 50% of its revenue from military clients. That cuts its exposure to cyclical commercial airlines, which supply 45% of its revenue....
From time to time, we are asked about ethical investing (or “socially responsible investing”). I’d say it works as a marketing angle for a handful of small investment companies, and it may make you feel better about your investments. But it won’t do much to improve your investment results, or cut down on what you see as unethical corporate behaviour. If you refuse to invest in an ethically questionable company, you don’t hurt the company. But you do help others who are willing to invest in the company, because they get to buy it a little cheaper....
Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a new or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you advice on how to trade stocks and other investment topics that will help you develop a successful approach to investing. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental tip and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Today’s tip: “Practice accounts are advertised as a good way to learn how to invest, but they can encourage investors to develop bad habits.”...
PEYTO EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT CORP. $24.65 (Toronto symbol PEY; Shares outstanding: 143.9 million; Market cap: $3.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 2.9%; www.peyto.com) produces and explores for oil and natural gas in Alberta.
Peyto’s average daily production of 41,343 barrels of oil equivalent is 89% gas and 11% oil.
In the three months ended June 30, 2012, the company’s cash flow was $0.47 a share, down 16.1% from $0.56 a share a year earlier. Lower gas prices offset a 20.0% rise in production.
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Peyto’s average daily production of 41,343 barrels of oil equivalent is 89% gas and 11% oil.
In the three months ended June 30, 2012, the company’s cash flow was $0.47 a share, down 16.1% from $0.56 a share a year earlier. Lower gas prices offset a 20.0% rise in production.
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BONAVISTA ENERGY $18.01 (Toronto symbol BNP; Shares outstanding: 169.2 million; Market cap: $3.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 8.0%; www.bonavistaenergy.com) explores for oil and natural gas in Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C.
Bonavista produces an average of 69,506 barrels of oil equivalent per day, weighted 61% to gas and 39% to oil.
In the three months ended June 30, 2012, the company’s cash flow per share fell 44.3%, to $0.49 from $0.88 a year earlier. Lower gas prices more than offset a 5.3% production increase.
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Bonavista produces an average of 69,506 barrels of oil equivalent per day, weighted 61% to gas and 39% to oil.
In the three months ended June 30, 2012, the company’s cash flow per share fell 44.3%, to $0.49 from $0.88 a year earlier. Lower gas prices more than offset a 5.3% production increase.
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IBM $210.51 (New York symbol IBM; Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $231.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 1.7%) continues to expand its software business. In the latest quarter, software accounted for 24% of its total revenue and 43% of its pre-tax earnings.
The company recently paid an undisclosed sum for U.K.-based Butterfly Software Ltd. Businesses use this private firm’s software to collect data from older computers and securely transfer it to remote servers.
Butterfly’s products nicely complement IBM’s growing analytics software operations, which help companies quickly gather and analyze a wide range of information.
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The company recently paid an undisclosed sum for U.K.-based Butterfly Software Ltd. Businesses use this private firm’s software to collect data from older computers and securely transfer it to remote servers.
Butterfly’s products nicely complement IBM’s growing analytics software operations, which help companies quickly gather and analyze a wide range of information.
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