dow

The six ETFs we update below mainly hold high-quality stocks that are widely traded on Canadian and U.S. exchanges. Each fund tracks the performance of a major stock market index. That’s different from ETFs focused on narrower indexes or themes such as cryptocurrencies or biotechnology.


Of course, you pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell these investments....

Commodities are the raw materials that production and manufacturing rely on. Investing in them can help investors diversify their portfolios and win greater protection from inflation.


However, commodities as a group have been out of favour for almost a decade and investors would rightly question the wisdom of either directly holding commodities or commodity producers in their portfolios.

A decade of underperformance

To consider the performance of physical commodities as a group, we selected the Dow Jones Commodity Index....

DOWDUPONT INC. $39 (New York symbol DWDP; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 2.3 billion; Market cap: $89.7 billion; Takeover Target Rating: Lowest; Dividend yield: 4.2%; www.dow-dupont.com) began trading on September 1, 2017, following the merger of Dow Chemical and DuPont....

Here’s the text of the most-recent letter I sent to our Portfolio Management clients in January.

“The media routinely publish all sorts of hour-by-hour and day-to-day statistics on stock-market fluctuations, with comments and associated predictions. Some of this can make interesting reading, but its overall investment value is negligible....

The six ETFs we update below mainly hold high-quality stocks that are widely traded on Canadian and U.S. exchanges. Each fund tracks the performance of a major stock market index. That’s different from ETFs focused on narrower indexes or themes such as cryptocurrencies or biotechnology.


Of course, you pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell these investments....

Governments around the world know the benefits that flow from the development of better infrastructure. However, their stretched budgets and a reluctance to increase taxes constrain their ability to initiate these projects. This provides opportunities for private companies to develop and manage these assets.


Here are three ETFs that invest in publicly listed companies that own and operate infrastructure assets (see the supplement on page 20 for more information).


FLEXSHARES STOXX GLOBAL BROAD INFRASTRUCTURE ETF $45.49 (New York symbol NFRA; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $791.0 million) tracks the Stoxx Global Broad Infrastructure Index....

The six ETFs we update below mainly hold high-quality stocks that are widely traded on Canadian and U.S. exchanges. Each fund tracks the performance of a major stock market index. That’s different from ETFs focused on narrower indexes or themes such as cryptocurrencies or biotechnology.


Of course, you pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell these investments....

LISTEN:

Chemical giant DowDuPont continues to plan for its split into three new businesses, following last year’s big merger.


The stock has suffered in the past few months over concerns trade disputes could slow global growth....

Chemical giant DowDuPont continues to plan for its split into three new businesses, following last year’s big merger.


The stock has suffered in the past few months over concerns trade disputes could slow global growth. Cyclical industrial manufacturers, such as automakers, are the company’s major customers and they depend on that growth.


However, DowDuPont’s upcoming breakup should help unlock significant value for its shareholders.


DOWDUPONT INC....

VELOCITYSHARES DAILY 2X VIX SHORT-TERM ETN $47.22 (Nasdaq symbol TVIX) is an exchange-traded note (ETN) that tracks the VIX Short-Term Futures Index.


While they are technically debt instruments like bonds, ETNs pay no interest and offer no protection for an investor’s principal....