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Flow-through limited partnerships offer big tax breaks but may not be the best things for your portfolio.

With this short-term investing strategy, you may be missing out on long-term profits in favour of giving short term profits to your broker

Home Depot continues to benefit from a boom in home renovations and seeks to maintain its strong growth against stiff competition.

United Technologies keeps its dividends rising with smart acquisitions and innovation in the aviation and building systems industries.

Invest like fabled investor Warren Buffett by looking for long-term fundamental value.

We have just released our special report for the tax-loss selling season—our most popular report on capital gains taxes....

Peak Oil theory believers thought we were in danger of running out of oil

SNC-Lavalin readies for more public works contracts, acquires oil and gas-focused contractor

A corporate spin-off and a new issue or IPO are like two sides of a coin—one favourable to investors, the other unfavourable.

Our take on Nordic American Tanker, an energy stock that has had surprisingly good results despite the low price of oil.

It’s easier to launch a promising company than to create a successful business. That’s why only a minority of penny stocks ever go on to significant success. And while penny stocks can be a worthwhile addition to the aggressive portion of a diversified portfolio, you should in general only buy them with money you’re willing to lose.

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Canadian Pacific Railway, Toronto Symbol CP, is one of our long-time favourites. However, we also have a very high opinion of its larger rival, Canadian National Railway—one of North America’s most efficient railways, Toronto symbol CNR.

Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) transports freight over a rail network between Montreal and Vancouver. In the U.S., subsidiaries connect CP’s Canadian lines to major hubs in the Midwest and Northeast. Alliances with other railways extend its reach to Mexico.

Not only was CP our #1 stock pick for 2012, but we recommended CP in our very first issue of The Successful Investor in January 1995. At that time, CP held a variety of businesses beyond railways, such as hotels, coal, and oil and gas. We saw these as undervalued assets. In 2001, CP unlocked some of this hidden value by spinning off these businesses as separate firms....

Our look at Brookfield Property Partners, a growth stock with worldwide properties, a high dividend yield and big plans for more growth.

With plans to boost production by 75% over three years, Alamos Gold is poised to benefit from a recovery in the gold price

Mutual funds, index funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs) often engage in securities lending. That is, they lend securities to third-party borrowers, mostly hedge funds and investment firms. These borrowers then mainly use them for short selling. That is, they sell the securities with the hope of buying them back at a lower price. This is, of course, a way of speculating on a share price decline.

The lending institution or fund receives all the dividends and interest it was entitled to as an investor in the security, plus a fee for making the securities loan.

There is negligible risk of losing money on the loan, since the borrower puts up collateral of at least 102% of the borrowed securities’ value. This collateral typically consists of cash, T-bills or highly rated short-term debt instruments. The borrower is liable for any shortfall between the value of the collateral and the value of the securities. If the value of the securities rises, the borrower has to add to the collateral on a daily basis to maintain coverage at 102%.

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Falling commodity prices have hammered Sherritt International’s stock, but at under $1, this established producer has a lot to offer.

MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $29.57 (Toronto symbol MBT; Shares outstanding: 79.3 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 4.4%; www.mts.ca) has agreed to sell its Allstream division, which offers telephone, Internet and other communication services to businesses across Canada.

Allstream supplies 40% of Manitoba Telecom’s revenue. The remaining 60% comes from its MTS division, which has 1.3 million telephone and wireless customers in Manitoba. The buyer is U.S.-based Zayo Group (New York symbol ZAYO), which will pay $465.0 million.

Manitoba Telecom will probably use some of the proceeds to pay down its long-term debt of $677.1 million, which is equal to 29% of its $2.3-billion market cap (or the value of all outstanding shares).

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ISHARES MSCI SOUTH KOREA INDEX FUND $ISHARES MSCI SOUTH KOREA INDEX FUND55.29 (New York symbol EWY; buy or sell through brokers) has rebounded from the low of $42.94 it dropped to in August 2015.

That’s because the South Korean economy grew at its fastest pace in five years in the third quarter of 2015, boosted by higher domestic demand after a big government stimulus program. That offset slowing exports caused by slowing demand, particularly in China.

The South Korean government launched the stimulus spending after an outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome cut heavily into tourism and consumer spending in the second quarter.

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ISHARES MSCI JAPAN INDEX FUND $12.34 (New York Exchange symbol EWJ; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) is an ETF that tries to match the return of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Japan index. The fund’s top holdings include Toyota, 5.8%; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, 2.9%; Honda Motor, 1.9%; Softbank Corp., 1.8%; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, 1.8%; Mizuho Financial Group, 1.4%; KDDI Corp. (telecom), 1.4%; Takeda Pharmaceutical, 1.3%; Japan Tobacco, 1.3%; and Sony Corp., 1.2%.

Japan’s economy shrank 1.6% in the second quarter of 2015, mostly on lower consumer spending. The government raised the country’s sales tax to 8% from 5% on April 1, 2014, to raise funds to pay down debt. However, its ongoing stimulus package has only partly offset the resulting fall in consumer spending.

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ISHARES INDIA 50 ETF $27.86 (Nasdaq symbol INDY; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) is an ETF that invests in the 50 largest, most liquid Indian securities.

The fund’s top holdings are Infosys (information technology), 7.9%; Housing Development Finance, 7.0%; ITC Ltd. (conglomerate), 6.6%; ICICI Bank, 5.7%; Reliance Industries (conglomerate), 5.5%; HDFC Bank, 4.9%; Tata Consultancy Services (information technology), 4.5%; Larsen & Toubro (conglomerate), 4.1%; Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, 3.3%; and Tata Motors, 2.6%. The ETF has a 0.93% expense ratio.

The iShares India 50 ETF rose as high as $30 early this year in the wake of Narendra Modi’s May 2014 election as prime minister. However, it has since moved down to today’s price along with the slowing global economy. Modi has also faced difficulties getting reforms through the upper house of parliament, where he doesn’t hold a majority, These reforms include a bill to make it easier for the government to expropriate land for transportation, industrial and urbanization projects; a goods and services tax; more flexible labour laws; and the sale of state-owned assets.

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ALGONQUIN POWER & UTILITIES CORP. $10.09 (Toronto symbol AQN; Shares outstanding: 240.5 million; Market cap: $2.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 5.0%; www.algonquinpower.com) has agreed to jointly develop the 150-megawatt Deerfield wind project in central Michigan with Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc.

In all, Deerfield will cost $303 million U.S. to build.

Wind farms are often risky because they rely on uncertain government subsidies. However, Algonquin only invests in renewable energy projects that have presold their power under long-term guaranteed contracts.

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VERESEN $10.85 (Toronto symbol VSN; Shares outstanding: 293.1 million; Market cap: $3.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 9.2%; www.vereseninc.com) owns pipelines, power plants and gas-processing facilities across North America.

A major holding is 50% of the Alliance gas line, which runs 3,000 kilometres between Chicago and Fort St. John, B.C. Veresen also owns the Alberta Ethane Gathering System, 42.7% of the Aux Sable natural gas liquids plant and the Hythe/Steeprock natural gas gathering and processing complex in the Cutbank Ridge region of Alberta and B.C. In the three months ended September 30, 2015, Veresen’s cash flow per share rose 31.6%, to $0.25 from $0.19 a year earlier.

In late 2014, Veresen paid $1.43 billion for 50% of the Ruby pipeline, which runs 1,100 kilometres from Wyoming to Oregon. Partner Kinder Morgan operates the line, which generates steady cash flow.

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PENGROWTH ENERGY $1.36 (Toronto symbol PGF; Shares outstanding: 540.7 million; Market cap: $789.4 million; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 2.9%; www.pengrowth.com) continues to sell less important properties and focus on more promising operations. This includes its Lindbergh oil sands project in Alberta.

The company has now agreed to sell its Bodo project in eastern Alberta for $95 million. Including this deal, it has now sold $300 million worth of properties in 2015 and expects to reach its full-year goal of $600 million.

Pengrowth will use the proceeds to pay down its long-term debt, which stood at $1.9 billion on June 30, 2015. That’s a high 2.4 times its currently depressed market cap.

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CENOVUS ENERGY $21.19 (Toronto symbol CVE; Shares outstanding: 833.3 million; Market cap: $17.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 3.0%; www.cenovus.com) gets 35% of its revenue from its Western Canadian oil sands properties and conventional oil and gas wells. Chief among these assets are its 50%-owned Christina Lake and Foster Creek oil sands projects.

Refining—which gains from lower oil prices— supplies the remaining 65% of Cenovus’s revenue. The company ships its oil to its 50%-owned refineries in Illinois and Texas. (Phillips 66 owns the other 50%.)

In the three months ended September 30, 2015, the company’s production rose 5.7%, to 210,422 barrels a day from 199,089 a year earlier. However, lower oil prices cut its cash flow per share by 59.2%, to $0.53 from $1.30.

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IMPERIAL OIL $44.63 (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $37.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.3%; www.imperialoil.ca) is a major integrated oil company with oil sands projects in Alberta and conventional oil and gas operations across Western Canada. It also operates three refineries and 1,700 Esso gas stations. Imperial recently finished the second phase of its 71%-owned Kearl oil sands project in northern Alberta.

In the three months ended September 30, 2015, Imperial’s share of Kearl’s output was 192,000 barrels a day. That helped push its overall production up 25.7%, to 386,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day from 307,000 a year earlier.

However, lower oil prices cut its revenue by 25.9%, to $7.2 billion from $9.7 billion. Cash flow per share fell 32.9%, to $1.10 from $1.64. Imperial plans to keep expanding Kearl and Cold Lake, its two main oil sands properties. These projects will prosper when oil prices recover, and they should last for decades. Meanwhile, the company’s refineries cut its exposure to falling oil prices, as cheaper crude cuts the refineries’ input costs and increases their profit margins.

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