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The major Canadian and U.S. stock markets, while still subject to volatility, continue to offer attractive returns for investors—especially if you buy the top stocks. All in all, we think that if you can afford to stay in the market for several years or longer, now is a good time for new buying....

Corteva shares offer investors a number of pluses: Not only is the company at the forefront of key agricultural trends, the stock is a spinoff. Over the years, we’ve found that spinoffs are about as close as you can get to a sure thing in investing. It’s one key reason why we think there are significant gains ahead for existing Corteva investors and for new ones....

Dividend-paying companies have done well over the longer term, although the recent performance of this group lagged the main market indexes. That’s because higher interest rates on fixed-income investments made their dividends less attractive to income investors....

Global military spending reached an all-time high of $2.44 trillion U.S. in 2023, spurred by major regional wars and large-scale investments by several countries. That spending might slow in the coming years as governments are forced to re-examine their military budgets in the wake of massive stimulus spending to deal with COVID-19....

Corteva offers you exposure to key agricultural growth areas given its leadership in the corn and soybean markets and its strong position in crop protection products. While those markets can be volatile due to weather and economic conditions, the company’s size, geographic and product diversification, and solid balance sheet mitigate those risks.

Note that the stock, itself, is a spinoff....

We like the outlook for these two industrial firms as they move to simplify their operations. Still, we can only recommend one as a buy right now.


DUPONT DE NEMOURS INC. $85 is a buy. The company (New York symbol DD; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 430.0 million; Market cap: $36.6 billion; Dividend yield: 1.8%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.dupont.com) took its current form on June 1, 2019, when it set up Corteva (its agriculture business) as a separate company (New York symbol CTVA)....

A: Linde plc, $481.26, symbol LIN on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 477.5 million; Market cap: $229.5 billion; www.linde.com), is the largest industrial gas company in the world.

Linde was created by the merger of Praxair Inc....

These high-yielding utility stocks continue to move up, as falling interest rates make them more attractive to income-seeking investors. Lower interest rates will also make it easier for them to fund their new projects and acquisitions. That ultimately makes room for more dividend increases.


FORTIS INC....

The major Canadian and U.S. stock markets, while still subject to volatility, continue to offer attractive returns for investors—especially if you buy the top stocks. All in all, we think that if you can afford to stay in the market for several years or longer, now is a good time for new buying....

MICROSOFT CORP., $428.02, Nasdaq symbol MSFT, remains a buy for aggressive investors.

The company is the world’s largest computer software firm. Its main product is the Windows operating system, which powers about 85% of the world’s personal computers....