enbridge

The Bank of Canada increased its benchmark interest rate in January 2018 from 1.00% to 1.25%. That’s because the Canadian economy is growing and unemployment is low. Inflation has also moved up, to 2.1% in November 2017.

We continue to caution against investing in bonds....

ENBRIDGE INC. $50.67 (Toronto symbol ENB; Shares outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $83.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 5.3%; www.enbridge. com) operates pipelines that pump oil and natural gas from Western Canada to eastern Canada and the U.S....

ENBRIDGE INC. $49 (Toronto symbol ENB; Income-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 1.65 billion; Market cap: $80.9 billion; Dividend yield: 5.5%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.enbridge.com) operates pipelines that pump oil and natural gas from Western Canada to eastern Canada and the U.S....

ENBRIDGE INC. $49 (Toronto symbol ENB; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $78.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 5.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.enbridge.com) operates pipelines that pump oil and natural gas from Western Canada to eastern Canada and the U.S....

Here are three new ETF launches. Each uses “quanitative modelling.” That may make their investment approach sound scientific; however, in our view, it will likely detract from their long-term returns. Many ETFs that use a socalled “black box” to pick stocks find the approach works only for a while, or in retrospect....

A: Dividend 15 Split Corp., $10.88, symbol DFN on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 31.6 million; Market cap: $343.8 million; www.dividend15.com), is a split-share investment corporation that holds shares of 15 companies: BCE Inc., CI Financial Corporation, Bank of Nova Scotia, Thomson Reuters, National Bank of Canada, Loblaw Cos., Sun Life Financial, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, TransCanada Corporation, Manulife Financial, TD Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Montreal, Telus Corporation and Enbridge.

The company can also invest up to 15% of its portfolio in other stocks....

ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX ETF $24 (Toronto symbol XIU; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Conservative Market cap: $10.8 billion) is a low-fee way to buy the top Canadian listed stocks. Specifically, the ETF holds stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index—the largest, most heavily traded equities on the TSX.

The ETF’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 8.7%; TD Bank, 8.0%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.9%; Enbridge, 5.3%; CN Railway, 4.8%; Suncor Energy, 4.5%; Bank of Montreal, 3.8%; TransCanada Corp., 3.3%; BCE, 3.3%; Manulife Financial, 3.1%, Canadian Natural Resources, 3.0%; CIBC, 3.0%; Brookfield Asset Management, 2.8% and Canadian Pacific Railway, 1.9%.

The industry breakdown is as follows: Financials (41%), Resources (29%), Industrials (9%), Telecommuncations (6%), Consumer discretionary (5%), Consumer staples (4%), Information technology (2%), Utilities (2%) and others (2%).

Still, this ETF’s assets are highly concentrated in the financial and resources sectors.

The fund began trading in September 1999....

Political and environmental opposition to new oil pipelines has prompted TransCanada and Enbridge to acquire big U.S. pipeline firms. Using acquisitions to expand adds risk, but those new businesses own regulated assets with predictable cash flows.

Both TransCanada and Enbridge have pledged to use the extra cash flow from their new businesses to increase their dividends....

These six ETFs mostly hold high-quality stocks that are widely traded on Canadian and U.S. exchanges. Each fund mirrors, or tracks, the performance of a major stock market index. That’s different from ETFs focused on narrower indexes or themes such as solar power and biotechnology....

ALGONQUIN POWER & UTILITIES $13.36 (Toronto symbol AQN; Shares outstanding: 273.3 million; Market cap: $5.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.4%; www.algonquinpower.com) will buy the St. Lawrence Gas Company for $70.0 million U.S.

The seller is ENBRIDGE INC....