general electric

SPDR S&P 500 ETF $132.47 (New York symbol SPY; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the stocks in the S&P 500 Index, which consists of 500 major U.S. stocks that are chosen based on their market cap, liquidity and industry group.

The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple Inc. ExxonMobil, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Wells Fargo & Co., Johnson & Johnson, IBM, Chevron, General Electric, Pfizer Inc., Coca-Cola Co. and AT&T.

The fund’s expenses are just 0.10% of its assets.

...

Desalination is the process of removing excess salt and other minerals from seawater. It’s also used where saltwater has entered underground freshwater aquifers. Right now, there are more than 14,500 desalination plants operating in over 120 countries. In all, these plants produce more than 45.4 billion litres 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 in the United Arab Emirates. This plant can produce 829 million litres of water per day. By comparison, the largest desalination plant in the U.S. is in Tampa Bay, Florida. That plant can produce 94.6 million litres of water per day....

Our view is that virtually all Canadian investors should have 20% to 30% of their portfolios in U.S. stocks, like the ones we recommend in Wall Street Stock Forecaster. We feel now is a good time to hold high-quality U.S. stocks, and we see U.S. dollar exposure as a plus—a valuable form of diversification. Another option is to add some foreign exchange traded funds (ETFs), such as those we recommend in Canadian Wealth Advisor, to your portfolio in reasonable quantities, perhaps 10% of your holdings if you are a conservative investor (including 5% or so in higher-risk funds, such as emerging market ETFs)....

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....

Alterra Power Corporation, $0.57, symbol AXY on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 465.1 million; Market cap: $265.1 million, www.plutonic.ca), was formed through the merger of Magma Energy and Plutonic Power in May 2011. The company owns 191 megawatts of geothermal capacity in Iceland and Nevada, 235 megawatts of run-of-river hydro capacity in B.C and 144 megawatts of wind capacity in B.C. Alterra has a number of development projects underway, including an expansion of its Reykjanes plant in Iceland and a project in Chile. As well, the company continues to work with partner General Electric on hydrological and financial analyses related to the Upper Toba hydro development in B.C. In the three months ended September 30, 2011, Alterra’s revenue jumped to $17.0 million from $8.3 million a year earlier (all figures expect share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). The company lost $0.02 a share in the latest quarter, compared to a profit of $0.02 a share. Cash flow was positive, at $0.003 compared to $0.025 a year earlier....

Northstar Aerospace Inc., $0.74, symbol NAS on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 30.7 million; Market cap: $22.7 million; www.nsaero.com), makes a wide variety of parts for airplanes and helicopters, including gears, gearboxes, rotor shafts and transmissions. The company is based in Chicago, but it has plants in Ontario, Illinois and Arizona. Northstar gets about 80% of its revenue by selling parts to military-related customers, such as the U.S. Department of Defense and Boeing. The remaining 20% comes from commercial aircraft customers, including General Electric Aviation, Honeywell and Rolls-Royce. In the three months ended September 30, 2011, Northstar’s revenue rose 7.1%, to $45.9 million from $49.4 million a year earlier (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Defense sales rose 2.8%, but commercial sales fell 31.2%, due to lower demand from Honeywell and Rolls-Royce....

VISA INC. $99 (www.visa.com) has raised its quarterly dividend by 46.7%, to $0.22 a share from $0.15. The new annual rate of $0.88 yields just 0.9%. However, Visa should continue to profit as more consumers pay for their purchases with credit cards instead of cash and cheques. Best Buy. GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. $17 (www.ge.com) continues to report lower loan losses at its lending division. As a result, GE has raised its quarterly dividend by 13.3%, to $0.17 a share from $0.15. The new annual rate of $0.68 yields 4.0%. Buy. BOEING CO. $70 (www.boeing.com) has raised its quarterly dividend by 4.8%, to $0.44 a share from $0.42. The new annual rate of $1.76 yields 2.5%. The company also received an order from Southwest Airlines for 150 of its new 737 MAX passenger jets and 58 other planes. The deal is worth $19 billion, or 29% of Boeing annual revenue of $66 billion. Buy.

The backlog means that General Electric has customer orders or contracts outstanding worth a record $189 billion. This figure is relevant because these orders will be taken into revenue as they are completed. This indicates that GE’s revenue will likely continue to grow over the next few years....

Alterra Power Corporation, $0.47, symbol AXY on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 243.6 million; Market cap: $114.5 million; www.alterrapower.ca), was formed when Magma Energy and Plutonic Power merged in May 2011. Alterra’s assets include 147 megawatts of geothermal power generation capacity in Iceland and Nevada, 94 megawatts of run-of-river hydro capacity in B.C and 73 megawatts of wind capacity (also in B.C.). Alterra has a number of development projects underway, including an expansion of its Rekjanes plant in Iceland and a project in Chile. In addition, it continues to work with General Electric on the Upper Toba hydro project in B.C. The partners are still deciding whether to go ahead with this project. Alterra needs to successfully implement its growth plans to keep improving its cash flow. However, it could report cash flow of as much as $0.07 U.S. a share next year....

SPDR S&P 500 ETF $114.42 (New York symbol SPY; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the stocks in the S&P 500 Index, which consists of 500 major U.S. stocks that are chosen based on their market cap, liquidity and industry group. The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Exxon-Mobil, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Apple, Wells Fargo & Co., Johnson & Johnson, IBM, Chevron, General Electric, Pfizer Inc., Coca-Cola Co. and AT&T. The fund’s expenses are just 0.10% of its assets....