dow

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) may have a place in your portfolio. That’s because, unlike many other financial innovations, they don’t load you up with heavy management fees, or tie you down with high redemption charges if you decide to get out of them. Instead, they give you a low-cost, flexible, convenient alternative to mutual funds. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. Prices are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You’ll have to pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell ETFs. However, ETFs’ low management fees still give them a cost advantage over most conventional mutual funds. As well, shares are only added or removed when the underlying index changes. As a result of this low turnover, you won’t incur the regular capital-gains bills generated by the yearly distributions most conventional mutual funds pay out to unitholders....

SPDR DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE ETF $112.30 (New York Exchange 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, Exxon Mobil, Chevron Corp., 3M, Procter & Gamble, McDonald’s Corp., Johnson & Johnson, Caterpillar Inc., United Technologies and Boeing Co. The fund’s expenses are about 0.18% of its assets. SPDR Dow Jones ETF is a buy....

ISHARES DOW JONES CANADA SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX FUND $20.26 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through a broker; 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 assets. The fund’s MER is 0.50%. It yields 5.3%. The fund’s top holdings are CIBC, 8.0%; Bank of Montreal, 6.4%; National Bank, 5.7%; TD Bank, 5.6%; Telus, 5.2%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.6%; Manitoba Telecom, 4.5%; IGM Financial, 4.2%; Royal Bank, 4.0%; Enbridge, 3.5%, TMX Group, 3.5%; and TransCanada Corp., 3.3%. The fund holds 60.1% of its assets in financial stocks. Utilities are next, at 23.0%. 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....

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) may have a place in your portfolio. That’s because, unlike many other financial innovations, they don’t load you up with heavy management fees, or tie you down with high redemption charges if you decide to get out of them. Instead, they give you a low-cost, flexible, convenient alternative to mutual funds. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. Prices are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You’ll have to pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell ETFs. However, ETFs’ low management fees still give them a cost advantage over most conventional mutual funds. As well, shares are only added or removed when the underlying index changes. As a result of this low turnover, you won’t incur the regular capital-gains bills generated by the yearly distributions most conventional mutual funds pay out to unitholders....

Corning Inc., $17.85, symbol GLW on New York (Shares outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $27.9 billion), began making glass products in 1851. The company has a long history of innovation, including making glass bulbs for Thomas Edison’s first electric lights in 1879. In 1947, Corning became the first company to mass produce cathode-ray tubes for TV sets. Today, Corning makes advanced materials for a wide range of products at 60 plants in 13 countries. Asian customers account for about 60% of Corning’s sales. The company has five divisions:...

Small-cap stocks, generally thought of as those with a market capitalization under $1 billion, have not performed as well as larger companies during the recent market volatility. Over the past year, the Russell 3000 Index, which has median market cap of $807 million, has gained 5.0%, compared to 7.4% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. That’s because most investors prefer larger companies with steady earnings and dividends in times of economic uncertainty. Like many small caps, the four industrial stocks below have been volatile lately. However, we feel they are suitable for most portfolios. That’s because all four are leaders in their industries, which gives them a competitive advantage. They are also cutting costs. However, only two are buys right now. TENNANT CORP. $32 (New York symbol TNC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 19.0 million; Market cap: $608.0 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 1.8%; WSSF Rating: Average) makes industrial floor-cleaning equipment, including scrubbers, sweepers and polishers. It also makes cleaning equipment for garages, stadiums, parking lots and city streets. Tennant’s clients are mainly municipal governments and businesses....

Desalination is the process of removing excess salt and other minerals from seawater. It’s also used where saltwater has entered underground fresh-water aquifers. Right now, there are more than 13,000 desalination plants operating in over 120 countries. In all, these plants produce more than 12 billion gallons of fresh water a day. About three-quarters of these plants are in the Middle East. That’s because desalination plants are very expensive to build, so they’re only really cost-effective where there is no fresh water. When fresh water is available, it can be pumped up to 1,600 kilometres and still cost less per litre than water from a desalination plant. The world’s largest desalination plant is the Jebel Ali Desalination Plant (Phase 2) in the United Arab Emirates. This plant can produce 219 million gallons of water per day. By comparison, the largest desalination plant in the U.S. is in Tampa Bay, Florida. That plant can produce 25 million gallons of water per day....

SPDR DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE ETF $100.29 (New York Exchange symbol DIA; buy or sell through brokers) holds the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The fund’s top holdings are IBM, Exxon Mobil, Chevron Corp., 3M, Procter & Gamble, McDonald’s Corp., Johnson & Johnson, Caterpillar Inc., United Technologies and Boeing Co. The fund’s expenses are about 0.18% of its assets. SPDR Dow Jones ETF is a buy.

ISHARES DOW JONES CANADA SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX FUND $18.63 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through a broker) 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 assets. The fund’s MER is 0.50%. It yields 4.0%. The fund’s top holdings are CIBC, 7.7%; Bank of Montreal, 6.8%; TD Bank, 5.8%; National Bank, 5.3%; Telus, 5.1%; Manitoba Telecom, 4.7%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.6%; Royal Bank, 4.2%; IGM Financial, 4.0%; and TransCanada Corp., 3.5%. The fund holds 60.3% of its assets in financial stocks. Utilities are next, at 23.0%. 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....

ISHARES DOW JONES CANADA SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX FUND $19.08 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through a broker) 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%. The fund’s MER is 0.50%. It yields 4.0%. The ETF’s top holdings are CIBC, 7.9%; Bank of Montreal, 7.2%; TD Bank, 5.8%; National Bank, 5.3%; Telus, 4.8%; Manitoba Telecom, 4.8%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.5%; Royal Bank, 4.3%; IGM Financial, 4.1%; and Sun Life, 3.4%. The fund holds 61.4% of its assets in financial stocks. Utilities are next at 22.6%. The top Canadian finance stocks offer 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....