dow

SPDR DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE ETF $146.74 (New York symbol DIA; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The fund’s top holdings are IBM, ExxonMobil, Chevron, 3M, Travelers Companies, McDonald’s, Johnson & Johnson, Caterpillar, United Technologies and Boeing. The fund’s expenses are about 0.17% of its assets.

SPDR Dow Jones ETF is a buy.
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ISHARES DOW JONES CANADA SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX FUND $22.02 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds 30 of the highest-yielding Canadian stocks. Its selections are based on dividend growth, yield and payout ratio. The weight of any one stock is limited to 10% of its assets. The fund’s MER is 0.50%. It yields 4.3%.

The fund’s top holdings are CIBC, 6.5%; Bonterra Energy, 6.4%; National Bank, 5.8%; TD Bank, 5.5%; Bank of Montreal, 5.3%; Telus Corp., 4.9%; BCE Inc., 4.4%; Royal Bank, 4.4%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.1%; and IGM Financial, 4.1%.

The fund holds 51.4% of its assets in financial stocks. The top Canadian finance stocks have sound prospects. However, if you invest in this ETF, be sure to adjust the rest of your portfolio so it won’t be overly concentrated in the financial sector.
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Most U.S. markets have risen lately, while Canada’s resource-heavy Toronto Stock Exchange has lagged. But as always, both remain subject to unexpected downturns. One way to profit from rising markets is to add exchange traded funds (ETFs) that track major stock indexes to your portfolio. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. Prices are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You must pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell ETFs, but their low management fees still give them a cost advantage over most mutual funds....

Most U.S. markets have risen lately, while Canada’s resource-heavy Toronto Stock Exchange has lagged. But as always, both remain subject to unexpected downturns. Even so, the long-term outlook is for higher stock prices.

One way to profit from rising markets is to add exchange traded funds (ETFs) that track major stock indexes to your portfolio.

ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks....

THE BOEING CO. (New York symbol BA; www.boeing.com grounded all of its new 787 Dreamliner passenger planes in January 2013 after a battery problem forced one to make an emergency landing in Japan....

PROCTER & GAMBLE CO. (New York symbol PG; www.pg.com) is one of the world’s largest makers of household and personal-care products. Its top brands include Tide detergent, Crest toothpaste, Head & Shoulders shampoo and Pampers diapers. The company faces rising competition from generic brands. Last year, it responded with a major restructuring plan, which mainly involves cutting 5% of its workforce and closing plants....

If you lost interest in the market last year and haven’t paid much attention to it since, you might think of today as a “pinch-me” moment—in other words, “Am I dreaming?” A lot of investors are in that position. In the past year or two, many have come to take it for granted that stock prices face years of stagnation or decline. This was quite different from our view—almost the opposite. The stock market hit bottom in 2009. Since then, we have felt the long-term outlook was for rising prices. In the meantime, stocks were providing dividend yields that beat bank or bond interest. Stocks presented an attractive buying opportunity, even if they often moved erratically in the past few years....

SPDR DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE ETF $138.76 (New York symbol DIA; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The fund’s top holdings are IBM, ExxonMobil, Chevron Corp., 3M, Travelers Companies, Mc- Donald’s Corp., Johnson & Johnson, Caterpillar Inc., United Technologies and Boeing. The fund’s expenses are about 0.18% of its assets.

SPDR Dow Jones ETF is a buy.

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ISHARES DOW JONES CANADA SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX FUND $22.24 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds 30 of the highest-yielding Canadian stocks. Its selections are based on dividend growth, yield and payout ratio. The weight of any one stock is limited to 10% of its assets. The fund’s MER is 0.50%. It yields 4.2%.

The fund’s top holdings are CIBC, 6.7%; Bonterra Energy, 6.0%; National Bank, 6.0%; TD Bank, 5.5%; Bank of Montreal, 5.4%; Royal Bank, 4.4%; Telus Corp., 4.4%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.1%; BCE Inc., 4.1%; and IGM Financial, 3.9%.

The fund holds 51.5% of its assets in financial stocks. The top Canadian finance stocks have sound prospects. However, if you invest in this ETF, be sure to adjust the rest of your portfolio so it won’t be overly concentrated in the financial sector.

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iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index Fund ETF, $21.88, symbol ITB on New York (Units outstanding: 95.0 million; Market cap: $2.1 billion; us.ishares.com), aims to track the 29 stocks in the Dow Jones U.S. Select Home Construction Index. The ETF’s MER is 0.46%. U.S. house prices rose 8.3% in December 2012 from December 2011. That’s the strongest rise since May 2006. Prices also gained 0.4% from November 2012. Prices increased in 46 of 50 states during the year. Arizona saw the strongest rise, at 20.2%, though prices in the state were still down 39.8% from their peak. Across the U.S., prices were 26.9% below their April 2006 peak....