etf

Australia weathered the financial crisis without going into recession — unlike almost all other major global economies. Stimulus spending helped, but it also benefited from strong demand for its exports from China. As well, like Canada, Australia has a strong banking sector that didn’t need government bailouts. Australia’s recent election has resulted in a minority government. That should benefit the Australian economy, because it will stop all parties from pursuing their dumbest or most extreme ideas. It pays to remember that our minority government has put Conservatives and Liberals in a similar balancing act. That helps explain why Canada has done better economically than the U.S., and continues to do so....

Gold and silver continue to rise. Gold is up 30% from a year ago, and is trading at $1,248 U.S. an ounce. Silver is at $19.35 U.S. an ounce, up 38%. Gold and silver could well move higher over the longer term, although they will likely remain volatile. Higher prices would arise from investor fears that low interest rates and governments injecting money into their economies will spur inflation or weaken their currencies. If you want to hold a number of gold or silver stocks, these two exchange-traded funds offer top-quality global miners and low fees....

Exports to the U.S., Europe and other developed nations are a significant source of growth for emerging economies. However, expanding domestic demand is increasingly supporting those economies. That’s helping offset slower growth internationally. And with savings rates as high as 53% of GNP in China, 33% in India and 16% in Brazil, compared to just 12% in the U.S., there’s lots of room for domestic consumption to grow in many emerging countries. One of the best ways to invest in emerging markets is through exchange-traded funds (ETFs). You’ll need to be selective, but ETFs make it easy to invest internationally. As well, the best ETFs offer a great combination of low fees and top-quality stocks. Here are four emerging market ETFs we like:...

Members of Pat McKeough’s Inner Circle sometimes ask us how to find good investments for young children. If children are under the age of 18, they cannot yet invest as adults. However, there are a couple of savings and investment options available:

1. You (or the child) can open a bank account in the child’s name: Interest paid on small balances may range from zero to, say, 0.50% annually, paid monthly. All of the major banks have special bank accounts for children, usually without service fees on basic transactions. However, once the child has accumulated $500, he or she could move the money into an interest-paying guaranteed investment certificate (GIC).
2. Informal in-trust account: If you want to build up an investment portfolio for a child, then an informal in-trust account is a low-cost and flexible option. (Investments or investment accounts in the name of a child must be set up in trust because minors are not allowed to enter into binding financial contracts.) An adult must be responsible for providing the investment instructions and signing the contract on the child’s behalf. An informal in-trust account has a donor (or “settlor”) who contributes funds to the trust. The trustee is the person in charge of the account, and is responsible for managing the funds for the child (the “beneficiary”). The settlor should not act as the trustee. The settlor’s spouse can be a trustee, however. The money belongs to the child, but only the trustee can make withdrawals if the child is under the age of 18. Once the child reaches 18, the money is theirs to do with as they wish.
   
   

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BHP Billiton’s (symbol BHP on New York) $38.6-billion takeover bid for Potash Corp. (symbol POT on Toronto) has attracted a lot of investor attention to commodity investments lately.

In light of the takeover bid and other recent changes in this fast-moving sector, I’ve written a new free report. Click here to immediately download my new free report, Commodity Investments: Fertilizer Stocks and Potash Stocks That Will Profit from Rising Food Demand....

Market Vectors Global Agribusiness ETF, $44.20, symbol MOO on New York (Shares outstanding: 39.1 million; Market cap: $1.7 billion), aims to track the DAXglobal Agribusiness Index. The index includes 46 agricultural companies from around the world. To be included in the index, a company must be publicly traded, have a market cap over $150 million U.S., and meet certain minimum trading requirements. The index contains five major sub-sectors: agriculture chemicals and fertilizers (39.3%), agricultural product operations (32.6%), agricultural equipment (15.2%), livestock operations (10.1%) and biofuels, including ethanol and biodiesel (2.7%). Geographically, the DAXglobal Agribusiness Index is broken down as follows: the U.S., 45.8%; Singapore, 14.7%; Canada, 8.5%; Switzerland, 8.0%; Germany, 4.5%; Malaysia, 4.1%; Japan, 4.0%; Norway, 3.3%; Hong Kong, 1.8%; Indonesia, 1.8%, the U.K., 1.2%; and other countries, 2.3%....

The investment industry has created all sorts of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in recent years. However, quality varies. All too many exist to tap into popular, but risky, themes and fads, so you need to be highly selective with your ETF holdings. ETFs offer very low management fees. In addition to low fees, the best ETFs offer well-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios of high-quality stocks. Here are five foreign ETFs we like:...

CLAYMORE/ALPHASHARES CHINA SMALL CAP INDEX ETF $27.17 (New York Exchange symbol HAO; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that aims to track the AlphaShares China Small Cap Index. This index is made up of all investable Chinese stocks with market caps between $200 million and $1.5 billion. The $314.2-million fund’s top holdings are Air China, 2.3%; Shandong Wiegao Group Medical, 2.0%; China Everbright, 1.7%; China Eastern Airlines, 1.7%; PICC Property & Casualty, 1.6%; Cosco Pacific, 1.6%; China Resources Gas Group, 1.6%; ZTE Corp., 1.5%; Weichai Power Co., 1.5%; and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, 1.4%. As China’s economy matures, and consumers feel more protected by the expanding social safety net, domestic spending should rise. This fund is well positioned to benefit from that trend....

Market Vectors Nuclear Energy ETF, $20.81, symbol NLR on New York (Shares outstanding: 8.1 million; Market cap: $168.5 million), aims to track the performance of the DAXglobal Nuclear Energy Index. The index includes 23 companies in the nuclear-energy industry. These firms are located in a number of different countries. To be included in the index, a company must be publicly traded, have a market cap over $150 million U.S. and meet certain minimum trading requirements. The index is divided into seven different areas of the nuclear industry: uranium mining (41.6%), nuclear generation (23.9%), plant infrastructure (17.9%), uranium enrichment (5.2%), nuclear conglomerates (4.3%), uranium storage (4.0%), and nuclear fuel transport (3.1%). The index’s top 10 holdings are Exelon Corp. (8.4%), Cameco Corp. (8.4%), Electricite de France (7.7%), Paladin Energy (7.7%), Constellation Energy Group (7.5%), Uranium One (5.6%), Uranium Participation Corp. (4.7%), Areva SA (4.7%), Energy Resources of Australia (4.6%), and USEC Inc. (4.6%)....

Energy ETFs (exchange-traded funds) can be a good, low-cost way to hold energy stocks. In our newsletters, we recommend a number of energy stocks that would be good additions to a stock portfolio. If you want to hold an energy ETF, here’s one that invests in the biggest Canadian energy firms: iShares S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index Fund, $17.99, symbol XEG on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 45.2 million; Market cap: $813.1 million) aims to mirror the performance of the S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index, which is made up of the largest-capitalization energy stocks on the Toronto exchange. The weight of any one company is capped at 25% of the index’s market capitalization. The fund’s MER is 0.55%. It yields 2.5%. iShares S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index Fund’s top-10 holdings are Suncor Energy, 18.0%; Canadian Natural Resources, 13.8%; Encana Corp., 8.1%; Cenovus Energy, 7.9%; Talisman Energy, 6.2%; Canadian Oil Sands Trust, 4.8%; Nexen, 3.9%; Imperial Oil, 3.6%; Penn West Energy Trust, 3.2% and Crescent Point Energy, 3.2%....