Pat: I own equal shares of BCE and Bell Aliant. Do they complement each other? I was thinking of selling BCE and buying more Bell Aliant for increased yield. Your opinion please. Thanks.

BCE, $24.99, symbol BCE on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 767.8 million; Market cap: $19.2 billion), has over 7.5 million telephone and Internet customers in Ontario and Quebec. It also has 6.5 million wireless subscribers across Canada. BCE continues to lose traditional phone customers, but these losses… Read More

Thanks for your not-quite-perfect advice over the years. What am I missing with the Brompton VIP Fund? It looks like a closed-end fund trading at less than net asset value and a 16% return. Thanks.

Brompton VIP Income Fund, $6.28, symbol VIP.UN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 47.2 million; Market cap: $296.4 million), holds a portfolio of mostly income trusts, along with some common stocks and bonds.

The fund focuses on business trusts, with smaller weightings in real estate investment trusts… Read More

Big telcos still a top choice for income

Canada’s telephone companies face growing competition from cable companies and Internet-based phone services. New entrants in the wireless industry will also push the established wireless companies to cut their rates.

We feel these four telecom companies will continue to dominate their markets. Steady cash flow from… Read More

Bell Aliant Teams Up With BCE

BELL ALIANT REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS INCOME FUND $22.70 (Toronto symbol BA.UN: Shares outstanding: 127.0 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; SI Rating: Above average) has agreed to help BCE upgrade the connections between Bell Mobility’s wireless networks in Atlantic Canada and certain rural areas of Ontario and… Read More

High Yielding Trusts With Moderate Risk

We recommend few income trusts. That’s because most trusts involve substantial risk, such as focusing on a single commodity or geographic area.

Here are four trusts we do see as buys. Despite Ottawa’s plan to start taxing trust distributions in 2011, they should continue to pay… Read More