Search

POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $53.53 (Nasdaq symbol QQQQ; buy or sell through brokers; www.invescopowershares.com), formerly called Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares, holds the stocks that represent the Nasdaq 100 Index. That index is made up of the 100 largest shares on the Nasdaq exchange, based on 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 companies. The fund’s expenses are about 0.20% of its assets. The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Google, Cisco Systems, Intel, Amazon.com, Oracle Corp., Comcast Corp. and Amgen Inc....

SPDR DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE ETF $109.28 (New York symbol DIA; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The fund’s top holdings are IBM, ExxonMobil, Chevron Corp., 3M, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald’s Corp., Coca-Cola Co., Caterpillar Inc., United Technologies and Procter & Gamble. The fund’s expenses are about 0.18% of its assets. SPDR Dow Jones ETF is a buy....

SPDR S&P 500 ETF $114.42 (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. stocks that are chosen based on their market cap, liquidity and industry group. The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Exxon-Mobil, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Apple, Wells Fargo & Co., Johnson & Johnson, IBM, Chevron, General Electric, Pfizer Inc., Coca-Cola Co. and AT&T. The fund’s expenses are just 0.10% of its assets....

ISHARES DOW JONES CANADA SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX FUND $19.60 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through a broker; ca.ishares.com) holds 30 of the highest-yielding Canadian stocks. Its selections are based on dividend growth, yield and payout ratio. The weight of any one stock is limited to 10% of its assets. The fund’s MER is 0.50%. Its yield is 2.7%. The fund’s top holdings are CIBC, 6.6%; Bank of Montreal, 5.3%; Bonterra Energy, 5.2%; National Bank, 4.9%; TD Bank, 4.9%; Telus, 4.8%; IGM Financial, 4.3%; Enbridge, 4.2%; BCE, 4.2%; Canadian Utilities, 3.7%; and Manitoba Telecom, 3.7%. The fund holds 50.2% of its assets in financial stocks. Utilities are next, at 26.4%. The top Canadian finance stocks have sound prospects. However, 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....

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions on stocks and other investment topics from the members of his Inner Circle. Every week, his comments and recommendations on a selection of the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. And every Friday, we offer you one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions. This week, a particularly interesting request concerned a U.S. retailer with a reputation for quality. Deckers Outdoors has many popular brands, but it is contending with a highly competitive market. ...

ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX FUND $16.56 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through a broker; 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. Expenses are just 0.17% of assets. Most of the stocks in the index are high-quality companies. However, as it must ensure that all sectors are represented, it holds a few we wouldn’t include. The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 6.7%; TD Bank, 6.4%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.5%; Barrick Gold, 4.8%; Suncor Energy, 4.1%; Potash Corp., 3.9%; Goldcorp, 3.8%; Bank of Montreal, 3.7%; Canadian Natural Resources, 3.2%; CN Railway, 3.2%; BCE Inc., 3.0%, TransCanada Corp., 2.9%, CIBC, 2.9%; Enbridge, 2.6%; Cenovus Energy, 2.3% and Manulife Financial, 2.1%....

In international stock markets ABB has taken advantage of the strong Swiss currency to make an acquisition to strengthen its holdings in the U.S. ABB LTD. American Depository Receipt “ADR” (New York symbol ABB; www.abb.com)is a leading maker of power technologies for utilities. The Switzerland-based company’s products include transformers, transmission systems and circuit breakers. ABB also makes automation systems and robotics. Clients in a wide range of industries use these systems to make their facilities more productive....

ISHARES DEX UNIVERSE BOND INDEX FUND $31.08 (CWA Rating: Income) (Toronto symbol XBB; buy or sell through a broker) mirrors the performance of the DEX Universe Bond Index. The 502 bonds in the portfolio have an average term to maturity of 9.31 years. The fund’s MER is 0.32%. The bonds in the index are 70.6% government and 29.4% corporate. The fund yields 3.6%, compared to the Short Term Bond Fund’s 3.2%. Its yield to maturity is 2.40%, 0.88% above the Short Term Fund. That reflects the added risk of holding long-term bonds....

When you seek investment advice on what to do with a particular stock you should always consider the source. Most investors get their advice from brokers.

ISHARES DEX SHORT TERM BOND INDEX FUND $29.29 (CWA Rating: Income) (Toronto symbol XSB; buy or sell through a broker) mirrors the performance of the DEX Short-Term Bond Index. This index consists of a wide range of investment-grade federal, provincial, municipal and corporate bonds with between one- and five-year terms to maturity. The fund holds 264 bonds with an average term to maturity of 2.85 years. The bonds in the index are 66.7% government and 33.3% corporate. The fund’s MER is 0.26%. iShares DEX Short Term Bond Index Fund yields 3.2%. However, this high yield is due to the fact that some of the fund’s bonds pay above-market interest rates. But as a result, they trade above their face value. When these bonds mature, holders will only get the bonds’ face value, which means the portfolio will incur predictable capital losses. These losses will offset some of the appeal of the above-market yields....

Investors often focus on when to sell aggressive stocks when prices go down. However, you also need to consider when to sell after strong moves up by hot small cap stocks. ...

BCE INC. $38.22 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 777.1 million; Market cap: $30.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 5.4%; www.bce.ca) is Canada’s largest provider of telephone, Internet and wireless services. It also sells wireless and satellite-TV services across Canada. In the three months ended June 30, 2011, BCE’s earnings per share rose 10.3%, to $0.86 from $0.78. Revenue rose 11.6%, to $5.0 billion from $4.4 billion a year earlier. Revenue fell 2.0% at the wireline division, which accounts for 53% of total revenue. This division, which includes BCE’s traditional land-line business, faces rising competition. As well, many customers are cancelling their land lines and switching to wireless devices. Revenue from wireless services (26% of total revenue) rose 6.1%. The company’s recent network upgrades continue to attract new subscribers and prompt existing customers to upgrade their mobile-phone plans. BCE is also benefiting from rising use of smartphones, which generate higher monthly fees....

Many investors are concerned about today’s market outlook. However, a strong point over the past few years has been the reliability of Canadian dividend stocks. A good example of this is BCE, a utility stock that has grown its dividend and continues to provide capital gains to patient investors. BCE Inc. (Toronto symbol BCE; www.bce.ca) earned $663 million in the three months ended June 30, 2011. That’s up 11.4% from $595 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 10.3%, to $0.86 from $0.78, on more shares outstanding. The latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $0.81 a share....

Newmont Mining Corp., New York symbol NEM, links future dividend hikes to the price of gold: it will raise the quarterly rate by $0.05 a share for each $100-per-ounce rise in its average selling price for gold in the preceding quarter. The company has now enhanced this policy. If gold prices exceed $1,700 an ounce, it will raise the quarterly dividend by an additional $0.025 a share, for a total increase of $0.075 a share. If gold prices rise above $2,000 an ounce, Newmont will raise the dividend by an additional $0.05 a share, for a total increase of $0.10 a share....

Medical Facilities Corp., symbol DR owns majority interests in four specialty surgical hospitals located in South Dakota & Oklahoma

Adobe Systems Ltd., symbol ADBE on Nasdaq, makes software that lets computer users create, edit and share documents in the popular PDF format. As well, graphic designers use Adobe’s software to create print publications and web pages. The company also makes Adobe Flash, which lets web site developers make web pages more interactive by adding animation and video. In its third quarter, which ended September 2, 2011, the tech stock’s earnings fell 15.2% to $195.1 million, or $0.39 a share. A year earlier, it earned $230.1 million, or $0.44 a share. Without one-time items, earnings per share would have risen 1.9%, to $0.55 from $0.54. That beat the consensus estimate of $0.54 a share. Revenue rose 2.3%, to $1.01 billion from $990.3 million. That missed the consensus revenue estimate of $1.03 billion....

An American Depositary Receipt, or ADR, is a certificate that represents a foreign stock that trades in the United States. Banks and brokerage firms in the U.S. issue or sponsor ADRs, and investors buy and sell them on U.S. stock markets, just like regular stocks. If you own an American Depositary Receipt, you have the right to obtain the foreign stock it represents. However, investors usually find it more convenient to continue holding ADRs as part of their strategy for portfolio diversification....

Loblaw Companies Ltd., Toronto symbol L, continues to expand its private-label business. That’s because the company earns higher profits selling private-label merchandise than national brands. In October 2011, Loblaw is launching a new line of gourmet foods under the President’s Choice Black Label brand. These foods include mustards, condiments, dressings and sauces, biscuits, crackers, nuts and desserts. Products like these should help Loblaw compete with high-end food retailers like U.S.-based Whole Foods, which is now expanding in Canada. ...

Stock option investing includes selling options; covered call writing is where you sell a call option against a stock you currently own.

General Mills, New York symbol GIS, is one of the world’s largest food makers. Its top brands include Big G (cereal), Green Giant (canned and frozen vegetables), Pillsbury (baking dough), Old El Paso (tacos) and Progresso (soups and salads). In its fiscal 2012 first quarter, which ended August 28, 2011, General Mills’ sales rose 8.9%, to $3.8 billion from $3.5 billion a year earlier. That’s mainly because the company raised its prices to offset rising fuel and ingredient costs. As well, General Mills recently bought 51% of the company that makes Yoplait yogurt. This purchase accounted for a third of General Mills’ sales growth in the latest quarter. However, earnings fell 14.1%, to $405.6 million, or $0.61 a share, from $472.1 million, or $0.70 a share, a year earlier. Besides higher ingredient costs, earnings were also held back by the cost of the Yoplait purchase and a 7% rise in advertising spending....

Today’s market volatility makes some investors wonder how much cash they should hold. I can think of three reasons why you might want to sell some stocks and hold cash now or at any time.

...

CanAlaska Uranium Ltd., symbol CVV on Toronto, has agreed to sell up to 3,150,000 units for $0.69 each. Each unit consists of one common share and one half of a warrant. One whole warrant will let the holder buy an additional common share for $0.83. CanAlaska will receive roughly $2.2 million from the unit sale. That’s equal to 22% of this uranium stock’s $10.1 million market cap. It will use the cash to further explore and develop its 21 uranium projects in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin region, sometimes referred to as the “Saudi Arabia of uranium.” ...

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 does that by shaping concepts so that they facilitate lines of thought and discussions that match the industry’s view of the world. This natural human tendency has probably been going on ever since language began....

Gennum Corp., Toronto symbol GND, designs chips and other electronic equipment that lets television broadcasters store, edit and transfer video signals without losing picture quality. It also designs chips that make computer networks faster. In its third quarter, which ended August 31, 2011, Gennum’s sales rose 6.6%, to $36.7 million from $34.4 million a year earlier (all amounts in U.S. dollars). The gain mainly reflects the contribution from U.K.-based Nanotech Semiconductor Ltd., which Gennum recently bought. Nanotech designs chips for fibre-optic communications networks. ...

Members of our Inner Circle service often ask about technology stocks. Recently, I replied to this question concerning a Canadian stock that processes materials that have been in the news frequently these past few years, rare earth elements. Q: Hi Pat: Could you give me your opinion on the following stock: Neo Material Technologies? I appreciate the advice! Thanks....