enbridge

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....

CAPITAL POWER INCOME L.P. $18.80 (Toronto symbol CPA.UN; Shares outstanding: 55.1 million; Market cap: $1.0 billion; SI Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 9.4%) has interests in 20 power plants in Canada and the U.S. These facilities generate a total of 1,378 megawatts, and are mostly natural-gas fired. Capital Power sells all of its power under long-term contracts. In the three months ended June 30, 2010, Capital Power’s cash flow per unit fell 22.5%, to $0.55 from $0.71. That’s because low water volumes held back power production at its Curtis & Palmer plant in New York State. As well, a lack of plant materials and wood waste pushed down production at its Ontario biomass plants. Capital Power’s production should return to normal for the rest of this year....

DUNDEE CORP. $12 (Toronto symbol DC.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 71.2 million; Market cap: $854.4 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; No dividends paid; SI Rating: Average) is a holding company with subsidiaries in three main areas: wealth management, real estate and resources. In the three months ended June 30, 2010, Dundee earned $51.2 million, or $0.64 a share. That’s up 71.5% from $29.9 million, or $0.39 a share, a year earlier. In the latest quarter, Dundee realized a $45.7-million gain on the sale of securities. A year earlier, these gains totalled just $120,000. That was the main reason for the higher earnings. Dundee is a hold....

FORT CHICAGO ENERGY PARTNERS L.P. $11.72 (Toronto symbol FCE.UN; Units outstanding: 143.8 million; Market cap: $1.7 billion; SI Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 8.5%) owns and operates energy pipelines and processing plants across North America. One of its major holdings is a 50% interest in the Alliance natural-gas pipeline, which runs 3,000 kilometres from Fort St. John, B.C., to Chicago. Enbridge Inc. owns the other 50%. Fort Chicago and Enbridge also own 85.4% of the Aux Sable natural gas liquids plant. As well, Fort Chicago owns 100% of the 1,324-kilometre Alberta Ethane Gathering System. In the three months ended June 30, 2010, Fort Chicago’s revenue rose 12.5%, to $168 million from $149.3 million a year earlier. Cash flow per unit rose 17.2%, to $0.34 from $0.29....

TRANSALTA CORP. $21 (Toronto symbol TA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 218.6 million; Market cap: $4.6 billion; Price-to-sales: ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 5.5%; SI Rating: Average) is working on Project Pioneer, which will capture and store carbon emissions from its coal-fired power plants in Alberta. The company plans to sell the reclaimed carbon to oil producers, who would use it to extract more oil. Enbridge Inc. (Toronto symbol ENB) recently agreed to participate in Project Pioneer. Enbridge’s pipeline and carbon-sequestration expertise should help ensure the project’s success. TransAlta is a buy.

FORT CHICAGO ENERGY PARTNERS L.P. $10.11 (Toronto symbol FCE.UN; Units outstanding: 140.7 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; SI Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 9.9%) owns and operates energy pipelines and processing plants across North America. One of its major holdings is a 50% interest in the Alliance natural-gas pipeline, which runs 3,000 kilometres from Fort St. John, B.C., to Chicago. Enbridge Inc. owns the other 50%. Fort Chicago and Enbridge also own 85.4% of the Aux Sable natural gas liquids plant. As well, Fort Chicago owns 100% of the 1,324-kilometre Alberta Ethane Gathering System. In the three months ended March 31, 2010, Fort Chicago’s revenue rose 6.1%, to $160 million from $150.8 million a year earlier. Cash flow per unit was unchanged at $0.23....

PEMBINA PIPELINE INCOME FUND $17.86 (Toronto symbol PIF.UN; Units outstanding: 160.0 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; SI Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 8.7%) owns nine pipeline systems with a total length of over 8,000 kilometres. This network is the largest feeder operation in Canada. These pipelines bring oil and gas from fields in northeastern B.C. and western and northern Alberta to refineries, or feed into major pipelines, such as the Enbridge Pipeline System. Pembina also owns the Syncrude, Horizon and Cheecham pipelines, which transport crude oil from the Alberta oil sands. As well, it holds a 50% interest in the Fort Saskatchewan Ethylene Storage Limited Partnership. In June 2009, Pembina paid $300 million for the Cutbank Complex, a network of natural-gas gathering and processing facilities. In the three months ended September 30, 2009, Pembina’s cash flow per unit rose 7.7%, to $0.42 from $0.39 a year earlier. The gain was mainly due to the Horizon pipeline, which was completed in November 2008, and the Cutbank Complex....

Dividend 15 Split Corp., $11.69, symbol DFN on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 11.2 million; Market cap: $131.2 million), is a split-share investment corporation that holds shares of 15 companies: BCE Inc., CI Financial Corporation, AGF Management, TransAlta Corporation, SunLife Financial, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, TransCanada Corporation, Manulife Financial, TD Bank, TMX Group, Royal Bank of Canada, Loblaw, Bank of Montreal, Telus Corporation and Enbridge. The company can also invest up to 15% of its portfolio in other equity issues. Dividend 15 Split Corp. has two share classes: Dividend 15 Split Corp. capital shares (Toronto symbol DFN), and Dividend 15 Split Corp. preferred shares (Toronto symbol DFN.PR.A)....

FORT CHICAGO ENERGY PARTNERS L.P. $10.05 (Toronto symbol FCE.UN; Units outstanding: 137.9 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; SI Rating: Extra Risk) has announced that it plans to convert to a dividend-paying corporation before Ottawa starts taxing income trusts on January 1, 2011. The trust’s conversion will likely take place in the fourth quarter of 2010. Fort Chicago owns and operates energy infrastructure across North America. One of its major holdings is a 50% interest in the Alliance natural-gas pipeline, which runs 3,000 kilometres from Fort St. John, B.C., to Chicago. Enbridge Inc. owns the other 50%. Unitholders will be able to exchange their units for common shares of the new corporation on a tax-deferred basis — you won’t pay capital gains tax until you sell....