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It pays to take a skeptical view of companies that use acquisitions to expand. Unforeseen problems with these new operations can limit expected profit increases. In extreme cases, multiple problems can force the buyer to write off the entire purchase.

Of course, some companies do succeed with growth by acquisition....

If you feel the need to invest in “sure thing” hot growth stocks, be sure you’re not gambling away too much of your portfolio.

Before you borrow to make any investment, even the best Canadian dividend stocks, we have six ways to tell if borrowing is right for you.

Many investors look for high dividend yield stocks to boost their investment returns— but need to take a close look at the sustainability of a company’s dividend.

With the June 23, 2016, referendum, UK voters did in fact choose to “Leave” rather than “Remain.”

How has this affected North American stock markets?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 5.1% after the Brexit vote, but is now down just 0.6%. Our Toronto market fell 3.8%....

IBM $148.46 (New York symbol IBM; Shares outstanding: 960.0 million; Market cap: $142.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.8%; www.ibm.com) recently acquired several assets from The Weather Company. These include its Internet properties, brands and mobile phone apps....

TELUS $41.89 (Toronto symbol T; Shares outstanding: 593.0 million; Market cap: $24.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.4%; www.telus.com) gets most of its revenue from its wireless and regular telephone divisions.

In the past few years it has expanded into other businesses....

BCE INC. $60.87 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 868.6 million; Market cap: $52.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.5%; www.bce.ca) recently agreed to acquire MANITOBA TELECOM $37.67 (Toronto symbol MBT; Shares outstanding: 74.4 million; Market cap: $2.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 3.5%; www.mts.ca)....

TORSTAR $1.64 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Shares outstanding: 79.9 million; Market cap: $129.9 million; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 15.9%; www.torstar.com) has invested a lot of time and money in the past decade or more looking for ways to cut its reliance on shrinking print ad revenue and to build a source of online profit....

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $29.27 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 323.8 million; Market cap: $9.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 4.8%; www.riocan.com) has formed a new 50/50 joint venture with Plaza Retail REIT (Toronto symbol PLZ.UN)....

H&R REIT $22.37 (Toronto symbol HR.UN; Units outstanding: 281.5 million; Market cap: $6.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 6.0%; www.hr-reit.com) owns or has a stake in 518 office buildings, industrial properties and shopping malls in Canada and the U.S....

CANADIAN REIT $48.25 (Toronto symbol REF.UN; Units outstanding: 73.1 million; Market cap: $3.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 3.8%; www.creit.ca) owns 197 properties, including retail, industrial and office buildings, across Canada and in Chicago....

ENCANA $10.53 (Toronto symbol ECA; Shares outstanding: 849.9 million; Market cap: $9.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 0.7%; www.encana.com) will sell its Gordondale land and infrastructure in northwestern Alberta to Birchcliff Energy Ltd....

ARC RESOURCES $21.81 (Toronto symbol ARX; Shares outstanding: 350.3 million; Market cap: $7.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; Dividend yield: 2.8%; www.arcresources.com) produces oil and natural gas in Western Canada. Its average daily output of 124,224 barrels of oil equivalent is 66% gas and 34% oil....

ENERPLUS CORP. $8.69 (Toronto symbol ERF; Shares outstanding: 207.1 million; Market cap: $2.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; Dividend yield: 1.4%) produces oil and gas from properties in Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C., North Dakota and Montana, as well as in the Marcellus Shale....

NEWMONT MINING $37.69 (New York symbol NEM; Shares outstanding: 530.5 million; Market cap: $20.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 0.3%; www.newmont.com) is one of the world’s largest gold and copper producers, with major mines in the U.S., Peru, Suriname, Australia, Ghana and Indonesia....

VANGUARD FTSE EMERGING MARKETS ETF $34.88 (New York symbol VWO; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) Emerging Markets Index. It’s made up of the common stock of companies in developing countries. The ETF was launched on March 4, 2005....

VANGUARD GROWTH ETF $106.09 (New York symbol VUG; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) U.S. Large Cap Growth Index. It’s a broadly diversified index that mainly consists of big U.S. companies.

The $50.6 billion fund holds Apple, Alphabet, Facebook, Amazon.com, Coca-Cola, Home Depot, and Walt Disney....

BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $64.51 (Toronto symbol BNS; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $77.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.5%, www.scotiabank.com) is the third-largest of Canada’s Big Five banks.

In the second quarter ended April 30, 2016, revenue rose 11.1%, to $6.6 billion from $5.9 billion a year earlier....

MANULIFE FINANCIAL CORP. $17.42 (Toronto symbol MFC; Shares outstanding: 2.0 billion; Market cap: $34.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.3%; www.manulife.ca) offers life and other related forms of insurance, as well as mutual funds and investment management services....

SUN LIFE FINANCIAL $42.21 (Toronto symbol SLF; Shares outstanding: 612.7 million; Market cap: $25.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.8%; www.sunlife.ca) sells life insurance, savings, retirement and pension products to individuals and corporations....

TRANSCANADA CORP. $57.90 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 702.0 million; Market cap: $40.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.9%; www.transcanada.com) will build a new 800- kilometre natural gas pipeline in Mexico.

The project—called Sur de Texas-Tuxpan- —will cost $2.1 billion U.S....

INNERGEX RENEWABLE ENERGY $14.35 (Toronto symbol INE; Shares outstanding: 108.0 million; Market cap: $1.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield 4.5%; www.innergex.com) operates 27 hydroelectric plants, six wind farms and one solar power field....

PEMBINA PIPELINE $39.10 (Toronto symbol PPL; Shares outstanding: 388.0 million; Market cap: $15.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 4.5%; www.pembina.com) owns pipelines that carry almost all of B.C.’s oil and half of Alberta’s conventional oil....

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY $164.05 (Toronto symbol CP; Shares outstanding: 153.0 million; Market cap: $25.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Yield: 1.2%; www.cpr.ca) ships freight over a 22,000-kilometre rail network between Montreal and Vancouver....