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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.

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%....

POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $101.65 (Nasdaq symbol QQQ; buy or sell through brokers; www. invescopowershares.com), formerly called Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares, holds stocks representing the Nasdaq 100 Index, which consists of the 100 largest companies on the Nasdaq exchange by market cap. The Nasdaq 100 Index contains shares of companies in a number of major industries, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain financial firms. The fund’s MER is about 0.20%. It yields 1.4%. The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, 10.9%; Alphabet Inc., 10.2%; Microsoft, 8.8%; Amazon.com, 5.4%; Facebook, 5.4%; Intel Corp., 2.9%; Comcast, 2.8%; Gilead Sciences, 2.5%; Cisco Systems, 2.4%; and Qualcomm, 1.3%....

SPDR S&P 500 ETF $191.30 (New York symbol SPY; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the stocks in the S&P 500 Index, which consists of 500 major U.S. companies chosen based on their market cap, liquidity and industry group. The fund’s MER is just 0.10%, and it yields 2.5%. The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, 3.2%; Microsoft, 2.6%; Alphabet, 2.6%; Exxon- Mobil, 1.9%; Johnson & Johnson, 1.7%; General Electric, 1.6%; Facebook, 1.5%; Berkshire Hathaway, 1.4%; Wells Fargo & Co., 1.4%; Amazon.com, 1.3%; AT&T, 1.3%; Procter & Gamble, 1.3%; and JPMorgan Chase, 1.3%. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF is a top ETF pick for 2016.

ISHARES CANADIAN SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX ETF $20.37 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds 30 of the highestyielding Canadian stocks. Its selections are based on dividend growth, yield and payout ratio. The weight of any one stock is limited to 10% of the ETF’s assets. The fund’s MER is 0.55%, and it yields 5.0%. Its top holdings are CIBC, 9.7%; Bank of Montreal, 7.4%; Royal Bank, 6.8%; BCE, 6.5%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.6%; Rogers Communications, 5.2%; Laurentian Bank of Canada, 5.0%; Manitoba Telecom, 5.0%; TD Bank, 4.7%; IGM Financial, 4.4%; and TransCanada Corp., 4.4%. The ETF holds 58.6% of its assets in financial stocks. The top Canadian finance stocks have sound prospects, but if you invest in this ETF, be sure to adjust the rest of your portfolio so it won’t be overly concentrated in the financial sector....

ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX ETF $18.65 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) is a good low-fee way to buy the top stocks on the TSX. The units are made up of stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index, which consists of the 60 largest, most heavily traded stocks on the exchange. The ETF’s MER is just 0.18% of assets, and the units yield 3.2%. The index mostly consists of high-quality companies. However, it must ensure that all sectors are represented, so it holds a few we wouldn’t include. The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 8.7%; TD Bank, 8.0%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.6%; CN Railway, 4.8%; BCE, 4.0%; Bank of Montreal, 3.9%; Suncor Energy, 3.8%; Valeant Pharmaceuticals, 3.5%; Enbridge Inc., 3.3%; and Manulife Financial Corp., 3.1%....

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY $159.03 (Toronto symbol CP; Shares outstanding: 153.8 million; Market cap: $25.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Yield: 0.9%; www.cpr.ca) reported 5.9% lower freight volumes in the latest quarter, mainly because of falling prices for oil, minerals and other commodities. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, CP earned $419 million, down 8.9% from $460 million a year earlier. However, per-share earnings gained 1.5%, to $2.72 from $2.68, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue fell 4.1%, to $1.69 billion from $1.76 billion. Still, revenue from forest products jumped 20.4%, and fertilizer shipments rose 18.0%....

ALLIED PROPERTIES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $32.83 (Toronto symbol AP.UN; Units outstanding: 78.3 million; Market cap: $2.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.6%; www.alliedreit.com) owns 147 office buildings, mostly in major Canadian cities. These mainly Class I properties contain over 10.5 million square feet of leasable area. Class I refers to 19th- and early-20th-century industrial buildings that have been converted to retail space. They usually feature exposed beams, interior brick and hardwood floors....

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $25.02 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 320.4 million; Market cap: $7.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.6%; www.riocan.com) is Canada’s largest real estate investment trust. In the three months ended September 30, 2015, RioCan’s cash flow rose 5.0%, to $140.2 million from $133.6 million a year earlier. Per-unit cash flow gained 2.3%, to $0.44 from $0.43, on more units outstanding. The trust has now agreed to sell its 49 U.S. malls for $1.2 billion (Canadian). It expects to complete the sale in April 2016....

TORSTAR $2.21 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Shares outstanding: 79.9 million; Market cap: $182.1 million; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 11.8%; www.torstar.com) will close its money-losing printing plant in Vaughan, Ontario, just north of Toronto, in July 2016. It will then transfer printing of The Toronto Star newspaper to Transcontinental Inc. Torstar will also sell the Vaughan plant and land. This will help offset its closing costs. It will also give it more cash for Star Touch, the tablet-newspaper app it launched in October. So far, more than 200,000 users have downloaded Star Touch, which uses technology licensed from Montreal’s La Presse newspaper. The app should help Torstar attract younger readers and sell more online ads....

MANULIFE FINANCIAL $18.16 (Toronto symbol MFC; Shares outstanding: 2.0 billion; Market cap: $37.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.7%; www.manulife.ca) sells life and other related forms of insurance, as well as mutual funds and investment management services. In the three months ended September 30, 2015, Manulife’s earnings per share, excluding one-time items, gained 10.3%, to $0.43 from $0.39 a year earlier. Revenue rose 16.2%, to $7.48 billion from $6.44 billion. The company continues to expand in growing Asian markets. Right now, about 40% of its insurance premiums come from that region....

GREAT-WEST LIFECO $34.22 (Toronto symbol GWO; Shares outstanding: 993.4 million; Market cap: $34.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Yield: 3.8%; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is one of Canada’s largest insurance firms. It also offers mutual funds and wealth management. Power Financial owns 67.2% of Great-West. In the three months ended September 30, 2015, Great-West’s earnings rose 4.3%, to $0.72 a share from $0.69 a year earlier. The company continues to benefit from two recent acquisitions. In 2013, it paid $1.75 billion for Irish Life, Ireland’s largest pension manager and life insurance provider. In 2015, it paid an undisclosed sum for the Irish operations of Legal & General Group plc, which provides investment and taxplanning services to wealthy individuals....

BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $55.78 (Toronto symbol BNS; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $67.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 5.0%, www.scotiabank.com) is considering selling all or part of its 49% stake in Thailand’s Thanachart Bank, which has a book value of $2.4 billion. Like many Asian nations, Thailand prohibits foreign firms from controlling domestic banks. Economic weakness and political uncertainty have also hurt loan demand in the country. Bank of Nova Scotia would probably use the proceeds from any sale to expand in Latin America. The bank gets around 30% of its earnings from its international operations....

ENERPLUS CORP. $4.34 (Toronto symbol ERF; Shares outstanding: 206.5 million; Market cap: $813.8 million; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 8.3%) produces oil and gas from properties mainly in Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C., North Dakota and Montana, as well as in the Marcellus Shale, which passes through Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia. Enerplus increased its output by 6.5% in the three months ended September 30, 2015, to an average of 110,794 barrels of oil equivalent per day (55% gas and 45% oil), from 104,035 a year earlier. However, that wasn’t enough to offset sharply lower oil and gas prices; cash flow per share fell 44.2%, to $0.58 from $1.04. Like Bonavista, Enerplus will cut exploration spending this year. Its outlays will now total $350.0 million, down 31.4% from $510.0 million in 2015. It spent $811.0 million in 2014....

BONAVISTA ENERGY $1.83 (Toronto symbol BNP; Shares outstanding: 211.7 million; Market cap: $367.5 million; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 6.6%; www.bonavistaenergy.com) explores for oil and gas in Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C. Its output is 75% gas and 25% oil. In the quarter ended September 30, 2015, Bonavista’s cash flow per share fell 26.7%, to $0.44 from $0.60 a year earlier. Most of that drop came from lower oil and gas prices; output rose 5.2%, to 78,599 barrels of oil equivalent a day from 74,720 barrels. Like many producers, the company is cutting back on exploration and development spending. In 2016, it will devote $210 million to this purpose. That’s down from the $283.4 million it spent in 2015, and down sharply from its $639.6 million in 2014....

ENBRIDGE INC. $47.87 (Toronto symbol ENB; Shares outstanding: 856.7 million; Market cap: $40.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above A v e r a g e ; D i v i d e n d y i e l d : 4 . 4 % ; www.enbridge.com) has agreed to buy two natural gas processing plants and related pipelines in northeastern B.C. from Murphy Oil (New York symbol MUR). These facilities purify raw gas from producers in B.C.'s Montney region. They also have long-term contracts with these clients, which helps cut risk. Enbridge will pay $538 million when it closes the deal by March 31, 2016. To put that in context, it earned $399 million, or $0.47 a share, in its latest quarter....

GLOBAL X SILVER MINERS ETF $19.09 (New York symbol SIL; buy or sell through brokers; www.globalxfunds.com) tracks the Solactive Global Silver Miners Index. That index includes 25 international firms that mine, refine or explore for silver. It was developed by Germany-based Structured Solutions AG. Canadian firms make up 58.0% of the fund’s holdings, but it also includes miners in the U.S. (12.3%) and Mexico (11.2%). Its MER is 0.65%....

ISHARES S&P/TSX GLOBAL GOLD INDEX FUND $9.38 (Toronto symbol XGD; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) aims to mirror the performance of the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index, which is made up of 35 gold stocks from Canada and around the world. The ETF began trading on March 23, 2001. Its MER is 0.61%. The fund’s top holdings are Barrick Gold at 14.3%; Newmont Mining, 13.1%; Goldcorp, 11.7%; Franco-Nevada, 8.6%; Randgold Resources (ADR), 8.1%; Agnico-Eagle Mines, 8.0%; AngloGold Ashanti (ADR), 4.2%; and Gold Fields (ADR), 2.9%. iShares S&P/TSX Global Gold Index is a hold.

GLOBAL X COPPER MINERS ETF $10.06 (New York symbol COPX; buy or sell through brokers; www.globalxfunds.com) tracks the Solactive Global Copper Miners Index, which includes 20 to 40 international companies that mine, refine or explore for copper. Germany-based Structured Solutions AG created this index. Canadian firms make up 38.8% of the ETF’s holdings. It also includes companies based in Australia (15.6%), Mexico (5.5%), Peru (5.4%) and Poland (5.0%). The fund’s MER is 0.65%. Its top holdings are Southern Copper at 6.9%; Oz Minerals, 6.8%; CST Mining Group, 6.4%; Kaz Minerals plc, 5.9%; Sandfire Resources, 5.9%; Grupo Mexico, 5.7%; Glencore plc, 5.4%; Turquoise Hill, 5.4%; Lundin Mining, 5.4%; Jiangxi Copper, 5.4%; Copper Mountain Mining, 5.3%; and Antofagasta plc, 4.6%....

BCE INC. $56.74 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 849.3 million; Market cap: $48.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.6%; www.bce.ca) has formed a new partnership with U.S.-based iHeartRadio, which streams live radio stations and other audio broadcasts over the Internet. iHeartRadio has more than 75 million users in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. BCE plans to use iHeartRadio’s technology to launch a free-to-use, advertising-supported streaming service in Canada in mid-2016. This service will also feature BCE’s 106 radio stations, as well as other content from its TV channels. BCE is a buy....

TRANSCANADA CORP. $48.05 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 709.0 million; Market cap: $34.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.3%; www.transcanada.com) has launched two legal challenges to the U.S. government’s recent decision to block its proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would have pumped crude oil from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The company spent $4.3 billion on Keystone XL and now expects to write off between $2.5 billion and $2.9 billion of this total. TransCanada plans to appeal the U.S. decision under the North American Free Trade Agreement and will ask for $15 billion U.S. in damages. In a separate case, it will challenge the U.S. president’s authority to deny a construction permit....

MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $30.95 (Toronto symbol MBT; Shares outstanding: 79.3 million; Market cap: $2.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 4.2%; www.mts.ca) has completed the sale of its Allstream division to U.S.-based Zayo Group (New York symbol ZAYO). The company received $420.0 million, net of transaction costs. It will probably put the proceeds toward its long-term debt, which was $677.1 million as of September 30, 2015. That’s equal to 29% of its $2.4-billion market cap. Manitoba Telecom is still a hold.

Growth investing fills in the gaps in an investor’s portfolio and can lead to an increase in portfolio returns

IBM $124.72 (New York symbol IBM; Shares outstanding: 970.1 million; Market cap: $137.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.2%; www.ibm.com) reported better-than-expected results in its latest quarter. In the quarter ended December 31, 2015, revenue fell 8.5%, to $22.06 billion from $24.11 billion a year earlier. However, that beat the consensus of $22.04 billion. IBM gets 60% of its revenue from outside the U.S., and the higher U.S. dollar hurts the value of these sales. The company continues to expand in fastergrowing areas like cloud computing and analytics software. In the latest quarter, IBM’s cloud and analytics businesses increased their revenue by 16%. That revenue now accounts for 35% of the company’s total. It also helps offset weaker demand for IBM’s consulting services and mainframe computers....

High dividend yields and low P/E ratios are two signs that you need to research a stock very thoroughly before investing in it.