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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PENGROWTH ENERGY TRUST $17.85 (Toronto symbol PGF.UN; SI Rating: Average) produces oil and gas in western Canada, as well as offshore Nova Scotia. Pengrowth’s average daily production of 89,633 barrels of oil equivalent is weighted 48% toward oil and liquids and 52% natural gas. In the latest quarter, the company’s average realized price for oil was $71.81 U.S. and $7.61 U.S. for natural gas. In the three months ended June 30, 2007, Pengrowth’s revenue rose 56.6%, to $444 million from $283.5 million, largely due to acquisitions. Cash flow per unit rose 29.1%, to $1.02 from $0.79....
ARC ENERGY TRUST $20.75 (Toronto symbol AET.UN; SI Rating: Speculative) produces oil and gas in western Canada. In the three months ended June 30, 2007, ARC’s revenue fell slightly, to $305.6 million from $306.7 million. Cash flow per unit fell 16.7%, to $0.80 from $0.96. The decline in cash flow came largely from higher production costs. ARC’s average daily production of 61,637 barrels of oil per day equivalent is weighted 52% toward crude oil and 48% natural gas. In the latest quarter, its average realized price for oil was $65.21 U.S., down 9.3% from $71.86 a year earlier. However, natural gas was $7.38 U.S., up 16.2% from $6.35....
H&R REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $23.88 (Toronto symbol HR.UN; SI Rating: Extra risk) holds interests in 35 office properties, 114 single-tenant industrial properties and 144 retail properties. Over half are in the Greater Toronto Area. The rest are elsewhere in Ontario, in Quebec, western Canada and the U.S. The company now has an industry-leading portfolio occupancy rate of 99.7%. H&R recently acquired a portfolio of 12 refrigerated distribution facilities in six provinces for $215 million. The cold storage properties are leased for an average term of 19.3 years to a major Icelandic client. Revenue in the three months ended June 30, 2007 was $152.3 million, up 12.1% from $135.8 million a year earlier. Cash flow per unit was unchanged at $0.47. H&R’s units now pay $0.1142 per month for a yield of 5.7%....
CANADIAN REIT $30.23 (Toronto symbol REF.UN; SI Rating: Extra Risk) owns a portfolio of more than 140 income properties consisting of retail, industrial and office properties across Canada and in the Chicago, Illinois area. CREIT’s revenue in the three months ended June 30, 2007 was $70.9 million, up 8.5% from $65.3 million a year earlier. Cash flow per unit rose 8.8%, to $0.53 from $0.49. The units now yield 4.4%. CREIT focuses on acquiring properties in prime locations, usually near major metropolitan centres, that attract strong tenants, maintain high occupancy rates and deliver a reliable stream of rental income....
RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $25.40 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; SI Rating: Average) is Canada’s largest REIT. RioCan has ownership interests in a portfolio of 207 retail properties across Canada, including 10 under development. These properties contain over 53 million square feet of leasable area. RioCan’s revenue in the three months ended June 30, 2007 was $179.5 million, up 15.5% from $155.4 million a year earlier. Cash flow per unit rose 8.6%, to $0.38 from $0.35. RioCan recently increased its annual distribution by 2.3%, to $1.35 from $1.32. Its units now yield 5.2%. RioCan is still a buy.
ISHARES MCSI CANADA INDEX FUND $30 (American Exchange symbol EWC; buy or sell through brokers) invests in most of the stocks in the Morgan Stanley Capital International Canada Index. These stocks represent Canada’s largest and most-established public companies, accounting for about 60% of the market capitalization of all publicly traded stocks. This fund has an MER of 0.54%. These shares are managed by Barclays Global Investors. There are now 18 different MCSI index funds. MCSI Canada’s MER is more than triple the 0.17% MER on the S&P/TSE 60 units, also managed by Barclays. We think that defeats the main advantage of index funds. The spread between iShares MCSI Canada’s high MER and that of a low-fee fund may not appear to make a lot of difference in a single year, but there is no point in paying more than you need to....
DIAMONDS TRUST SHARES $133 (American Exchange symbol DIA; buy or sell through brokers) hold the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Currently, the fund’s top 10 holdings are IBM, 3M, Boeing Co., United Technologies, Caterpillar, Altria Group, American International Group, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble and Exxon Mobil....
S&P DEPOSITORY RECEIPTS $148 (American Exchange symbol SPY; buy or sell through brokers) are commonly called ‘Spiders’. The fund holds the stocks in the S&P 500 Index. This index is comprised of 500 major U.S. stocks chosen for market size, liquidity, and industry group representation....
NASDAQ-100 TRUST SHARES $49.18 (Nasdaq Exchange symbol QQQQ; buy or sell through brokers) or ‘Qubes’, hold the stocks that represent the Nasdaq-100 Index. This index is made up of the 100 largest and most heavily traded stocks on the Nasdaq Exchange. The index reflects firms across major industry groups including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain financial companies. Expenses are about 0.20% of assets. The top 10 highest-weighted stocks are Apple Computer, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Google, Cisco, Intel, Research in Motion, Comcast, Oracle and e-Bay. Nasdaq-100 Trust Shares are a buy for aggressive investors only.
ISHARES CDN LARGECAP 60 INDEX FUND $79.86 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through a broker) (formerly called iUnits S&P/TSX 60 Index Participation Fund) is a good low-fee way to buy the top stocks on the TSX. The units hold a basket of stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index. The index is made up of the 60 largest and most heavily traded stocks on the TSX. Expenses on the units are just 0.17% of assets. Most of the 60 stocks in the index are good quality companies. However, to meet the requirement that all sectors are represented, the index holds a few firms we wouldn’t include, such as Cott Corporation and Celestica. The index’s top holdings are: Royal Bank, 6.6%; Manulife, 5.8%; TD Bank, 4.7%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.7%; EnCana Corporation, 4.4%; Suncor Energy, 3.9%; Research in Motion, 3.7%; Canadian Natural Resources, 3.5%; Bank of Montreal, 3.1%; CIBC, 3.3%; BCE Inc., 2.6%; Barrick Gold, 2.8%; Sun Life Financial, 2.9%; and Potash Corp., 2.6%....