index etf

iShares MSCI World Index Fund ETF, $34.01, symbol XWD on Toronto (Units outstanding: 5.8 million; Market cap: $197.3 million; ca.ishares.com), holds large- and mid-cap stocks across 23 developed countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Singapore, the U.K. and the U.S. The ETF holds 1,507 stocks covering about 85% of the market in each nation. It does this by holding units of the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (54.3% of assets), the iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (41.6%) and the iShares MSCI Canada ETF (4.0%). iShares MSCI World Index Fund ETF has an MER of 0.47% and yields 1.6%....

iShares S&P 500 Fund, $24.65, symbol XUS on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 3.4 million; Market cap: $83.8 million; ca.ishares.com), holds the stocks in the S&P 500 Index, which is made up of 500 major U.S. companies selected by industry group, market size and liquidity. The index’s 10 highest-weighted stocks are Apple, Exxon Mobil, Google, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Chevron, Procter & Gamble, Berkshire Hathaway and Wells Fargo. The ETF’s MER is 0.14%. It yields 1.6%....

BMO Equal Weight U.S. Health Care Hedged to CAD Index ETF, $30.38, symbol ZUH on Toronto (Units outstanding: 2.1 million; Market cap: $63.4 million; www.etfs.bmo.com), holds 48 U.S. health care stocks. The fund’s top holdings are Forest Laboratories, 3.0%; Illumina Inc., 2.6%; Actavis plc, 2.5%; Perrigo Company plc, 2.5%; Allergan, 2.4%; HCA Holding, 2.4%; Bristol-Myers Squibb, 2.4%; Thermo Fisher Scientific, 2.4%; St. Jude Medical, 2.3%; and Biogen Idec, 2.3%. The ETF is hedged against movements of the U.S. dollar against the Canadian dollar. Its value rises and falls solely with the stocks in its portfolio, so it wouldn’t give you any diversification through U.S. dollar exposure....

iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund (CAD-Hedged) ETF, $21.12, symbol XIN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 47.6 million; Market cap: $1.0 billion; ca.ishares.com), is an exchange traded fund that tries to match the return of the Morgan Stanley Capital International Europe Australasia Far East (MSCI EAFE) Index. The MSCI EAFE Index is used as a benchmark to measure international stock performance. It is made up of 22 MSCI country indexes representing developed markets in Europe, Australasia and the Far East. The fund is hedged against movements of foreign currencies against the Canadian dollar, so its value rises and falls with the stocks in its portfolio. Note, however, that such exposure adds to the diversification in your investments....

We haven’t found any water-focused stocks we recommend as buys. That’s mostly because the water business has limited growth prospects in developed countries, and is subject to a lot of regulatory hurdles. It may offer more opportunity in developing countries, many of which are in desperate need of clean water, but investing in these countries exposes you to political risk. However, here’s a look at the iShares S&P Global Water Index ETF: iShares S&P Global Water Index ETF, $21.31, symbol CWW on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 1.5 million; Market cap: $32.0 million; ca.ishares.com), aims to match the performance of the S&P Global Water Index. The index is made up of 50 stocks selected from companies listed on global developed market exchanges. The companies are picked based on the relative importance of the global water industry to their businesses....

BMO Junior Gold Index ETF, $8.50, symbol ZJG on Toronto (Units outstanding: 6.2 million; Market cap: $52.7 million; www.etfs.bmo.com), aims to mirror the performance of the Dow Jones North America Select Junior Gold Index. This index is made up of 30 junior gold stocks from Canada (84.8% of assets) and the U.S. (15.2%). The fund’s MER is 0.55%. The BMO Junior Gold Index ETF began trading on January 19, 2010. The fund’s top 10 holdings are Alamos Gold at 11.1%; B2Gold Corp., 9.6%; Coeur Mines, 8.1%; AuRico Gold, 7.8%; Detour Gold Corp., 7.0%; Argonaut Gold, 5.8%; Torex Gold Resources, 5.2%; Alacer Gold Corp., 3.7%; Centerra Gold, 3.7%; and Allied Nevada Gold, 3.7%....

The outlook for U.S. banks is mixed. For some, such as J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.—a buy recommendation of our Wall Street Stock Forecaster newsletter—the outlook is positive. J.P. Morgan, $50.48, symbol JPM on New York (Shares outstanding: 3.8 billion; Market cap: $193.2 billion; www.jpmorgan.com), earned a record $21.3 billion in 2012. That’s up 12.2% from $19.0 billion in 2011. Earnings per share rose 16.1%, to $5.20 from $4.48, on fewer shares outstanding. That beat the consensus estimate of $5.00 a share. More borrowers are repaying their loans on time. As a result, Morgan set aside $3.4 billion to cover bad loans in the latest quarter, down 55.3% from $7.6 billion a year earlier. This was the main reason for the higher earnings....

BMO Equal Weight U.S. Health Care Hedged to CAD Index ETF, $22.62, symbol ZUH on Toronto (Units outstanding: 615,000; Market cap: $13.9 million; www.etfs.bmo.com), holds 48 U.S. health care stocks. Its top holdings are Boston Scientific at 2.7%; Life Technologies, 2.6%; Calgene Corp., 2.5%; Cigna, 2.5%; Aetna, 2.5%; Thermo Fisher Scientific, 2.5%; Allergan, 2.4%; Gilead Sciences, 2.4%; DaVita HealthCare, 2.4%; and Mylan Inc., 2.4%. BMO Equal Weight U.S. Health Care Hedged to CAD Index ETF is hedged against movements of the U.S. dollar against the Canadian dollar. Its value rises and falls solely with the stocks in its portfolio. So it would not give you U.S. dollar exposure....

Vanguard Canadian Short-Term Bond Index ETF, $24.96, symbol VSB on New York (Shares outstanding: 1.7 million; Market cap: $42.4 million; www.vanguard.com), mirrors the performance of the Barclays Global Aggregate Canadian Government/Credit 1-5 Year Float Adjusted Bond Index. This index consists of a wide range of investment-grade federal, provincial, municipal and corporate bonds with between one- and five-year terms to maturity. The fund holds 184 bonds with an average term to maturity of 3.0 years. The bonds in the index are 72.9% government and 27.1% corporate. The fund’s MER is 0.15%. The Vanguard Canadian Short-Term Bond Index ETF yields 2.8%. However, this high yield is due to the fact that some of the fund’s bonds pay above-market interest rates. But as a result they trade above their face value. When these bonds mature, holders will only get the bonds’ face value, which means the portfolio will incur predictable capital losses. These losses will offset some of the appeal of the above-market yields....

BMO Junior Gold Index ETF, $16.65, symbol ZJG on Toronto York (Units outstanding: 6.7 million; Market cap: $111.6 million; www.etfs.bmo.com), aims to mirror the performance of the Dow Jones North America Select Junior Gold Index. This index is made up of 33 junior gold stocks from Canada (76.1% of assets) and the U.S. (23.9%). The fund’s MER is 0.55%. BMO Junior Gold Index ETF began trading on January 19, 2010. The fund’s top 10 holdings are Allied Nevada Gold Corp. at 12.1%; Coeur d’Alene Mines, 9.8%; Alamos Gold, 8.5%; AuRico Gold, 7.5%; B2Gold Corp., 5.5%; NovaGold Resources, 4.8%; McEwen Mining, 4.2%; Argonaut Gold, 3.6%; Banro Corp., 3.6%; and Dundee Precious Metals, 3.5%....