Latest Stock Advice
Signet Jewelers Ltd. is still subject to changes in consumer confidence, but it’s making smart moves to spur growth
Sun Life Financial Inc. and Manulife Financial Corp. each offers a combination of solid earnings growth, ongoing share repurchases, and impressive dividend yields.
Top pick Yum Brands Inc. gives you sales growth, steady EPS growth, and a solid dividend
Nutrien Ltd. offers exposure to potash and nitrogen prices, a stable retail base and strong profitability.
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Tax shelters in Canada aim to reduce or eliminate your tax liability, they are great ways for Canadian investors to cut their tax bills.
In some ways, stock buyback benefits are better than dividends. In particular, they give you a tax-deferral option that you don’t get with cash dividends.
Asset allocation funds aim to improve returns and/or reduce risk by switching back and forth among stocks, bonds and cash. We think they are likely to hurt your portfolio returns rather than enhance them.
ALPHABET INC., Nasdaq symbols GOOG (class C non-voting), $683.57, and GOOGL (class A voting), $703.76, is the new holding company for Google’s Internet search business and its smaller, riskier operations. These smaller businesses, which the company calls “Other Bets,” sell home thermostats and high-speed Internet and digital TV services. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, Alphabet’s revenue rose 17.8%, to $21.3 billion from $18.1 billion a year earlier, beating the consensus forecast of $20.8 billion. The main search engine business accounted for 99% of the total. That division’s revenue gained 17.7%. The number of paid clicks on advertisers’ ads jumped 31%, helping offset a 13% drop in the average amount advertisers paid per click. More people are using mobile devices to access the Internet, but advertisers pay lower rates for mobile ads because they’re harder to see on smaller screens. Revenue from Other Bets (1% of revenue) jumped 42.5%....
BCE INC., $58.16, Toronto symbol BCE, continues to benefit from strong demand for its wireless, high-speed Internet and Fibe TV services. That’s offsetting weaker revenue from traditional telephone services. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, the company’s earnings rose 0.8%, to $615 million from $610 million a year earlier. Per-share profits were unchanged at $0.72 on more shares outstanding. These figures exclude unusual items, such as costs related to acquisitions and early debt repayments. On that basis, the latest earnings matched the consensus estimate....
ISHARES MSCI GERMANY FUND $24.15 (New York symbol EWG; buy or sell through brokers) tracks the stocks in the MSCI Germany Index. This index aims to replicate 85% of the 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 Bayer (diversified chemicals), 8.9%; SAP (software), 7.6%; Siemens (engineering conglomerate), 7.3%; Allianz (insurance), 7.1%; Daimler (automobiles), 6.5%; BASF (chemicals), 5.9%; Deutsche Telekom, 5.5%; Munich Reinsurance, 3.1%; BMW AG, 2.7%; Fresenius (health care), 2.5%; Linde AG (industrial gases), 2.4%; Deutsche Bank AG, 2.4%; and Deutsche Post AG, 2.3%....