canadian

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. $142 (www.cn.ca) is a buy. The railway shipped 3.12 million tonnes of Canadian grain and related products in the month of November 2020. That’s a new record for the month. CN expects grain volumes will continue to improve....

CAE INC. $32 is still a buy. The company (Toronto symbol CAE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 282.5 million; Market cap: $9.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; Dividend suspended in March 2020; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cae.com) is a leading maker of flight simulators for commercial and military aircraft....

TRANSCONTINENTAL INC. $19 is still a buy for aggressive investors. Canada’s leading commercial printer (Toronto symbol TCL.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 87.0 million; Market cap: $1.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 4.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.tctranscontinental.com) has sold most of its newspapers and other media operations in the past few years....

Canadian Utilities and its parent company, ATCO, continue to simplify their operations. That’s good news, as investors prefer pure-play companies. Their quality businesses should also let them keep raising their dividends.


CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD....

Technological advances can be very appealing, but Canadian tech stocks need other characteristics, like hidden assets, to be worthwhile investments

Most precious-metal stocks dropped, along with stock markets, in March 2020. They then quickly reversed that trend to soar for investors. In fact, In August 2020, gold jumped to over $2,000 U.S. an ounce for the first time ever. Gold stocks also jumped.


The extra burst reflects investor fears about many things, including stock market volatility because of COVID-19 and the length and depth of the resulting economic slowdown.


For many investors, gold and silver represents a “safe harbour” in turbulent times....

ENBRIDGE INC. $41.56, is a buy. The firm (Toronto symbol ENB; Shares o/s: 2.0 billion; Market cap: $82.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 7.8%; www.enbridge.com) has won two key permits—from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and the U.S....

Business for our two top Canadian insurance recommendations remains steady, although COVID-19 has slowed their share-price growth. Still, both firms should rebound quickly once the coronavirus outbreak eases. That will lift the value of their shares. Meanwhile, each insurer offers you a high, sustainable dividend yield.


MANULIFE FINANCIAL CORP., $22.43, is a buy. This safety-conscious blue-chip company (Toronto symbol MFC; Shares o/s: 1.9 billion; Market cap: $43.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 5.0%; www.manulife.ca) is Canada’s largest life insurer.


Manulife sells other forms of insurance, including health, dental and travel plans; its mutual funds and investment management services further diversify its revenue stream.


As of September 30, 2020, the company had $1.3 trillion in assets under administration....

If you’re looking for an ETF with quality holdings and exceptionally low fees, then Pennsylvania-based Vanguard Group offers you strong options. Vanguard is one of the world’s largest investment management companies. In all, it administers over $6.2 trillion U.S....

High fees, often not directly visible to investors, can substantially lower investment returns over time. It is therefore key that investors carefully consider fees before deciding to buy an ETF or mutual fund.

The damaging effect of high fees

The following example demonstrates the outcome of a $100,000 investment in two identical vehicles that both produce an annual return of 10%....