investment

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD., $93.97, Toronto symbol CP, is your #1 Conservative Buy for 2022.

CP ships freight over a 23,700-kilometre rail network, mainly between Montreal and Vancouver. It also links to hubs in the U.S. Midwest and Northeast.

The company is now in the process of merging with U.S.-based railway Kansas City Southern....

Mondelez has held up well during the recent market turmoil. While the stock is down about 3% since the start of 2022, the S&P 500 Index has suffered a 12% drop.


We feel the stock remains a solid pick for conservative investors. Mondelez continues to launch more-healthful, premium-priced products....

BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS INC. $147 is a buy. The company (New York symbol BR; High-Growth Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 116.2 million; Market cap: $21.0 billion; Dividend yield: 1.4%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.broadridge.com) serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications, securities processing and transaction clearing.


The company has raised its dividend each year since Automatic Data Processing spun it off to its shareholders in 2007....

Last week we published Part One of the text of the most-recent letter I sent to our Portfolio Management clients, in February this year.

Part Two appears below. It covers the hidden risks in the so-called “alternative investments” that have come on the market in recent years....

STEINWAY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS HOLDINGS INC. has filed paperwork with U.S. regulators for an initial public offering (IPO) of common shares. The shares will trade on New York under the symbol STWY.

The company is planning to have two classes of shares with Class B shareholders entitled to 10 votes per share, versus the one vote for share assigned to Class A shareholders....

YAMANA GOLD INC., $7.52, is a buy. The miner (symbol YRI on Toronto) owns and operates five gold mines, in Canada, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. This includes the Cerro Moro gold/silver mine in Argentina. It started up in mid-2018.

Yamana now plans to seek better terms from its lenders including Bank of Nova Scotia and Citigroup.

That’s after earning an upgrade from debt-rating service S&P Global Ratings....

NIELSEN HOLDINGS PLC $27 is a hold. The New York-based company (New York symbol NLSN; Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 356.5 million; Market cap: $9.9 billion; Dividend yield: 0.9%; Takeover Target Rating: Highest; www.nielsen.com) is a provider of information and measurement services to give companies a better understanding of consumer behaviour....

PRIMARIS REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $15 is a buy. The REIT (Toronto symbol PMZ.UN; Manufacturing sector; Units outstanding: 98.3 million; Market cap: $1.5 billion; Distribution yield: 5.3%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.primarisreit.com) owns 35 enclosed and open-air shopping malls in Canada....

This is the time in each calendar quarter when we usually devote this spot in our Inner Circle to our latest letter to Portfolio-Management clients. However, recent events call for a change in our routine. In particular, before we get into the client letter, I want to address an issue that is showing up a lot in the media, in questions from our clients and readers, and in my own mind:

• What should investors do about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
• Do we need to worry that the conflict can explode into World War III?
• How should investors react—if at all—to Vladimir Putin’s veiled threats to bring nuclear weapons into the battlefield?

To get started, I’m going to ask readers a question: Do these lyrics sound familiar?

“In 1814, we took a little trip
Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip’
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans
And we caught the bloody British in the town of New Orleans

We fired our guns and the British kep’ a-comin’
There wasn’ nigh as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more and they began to runnin’
way down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

We looked down the river
And we see’d the British come
And there must have been a hundred of ‘em
Beatin’ on the drums
They stepped so high and they made their bugles ring
We hid behind our cotton bales and didn’t say a thing

We fired our guns and the British kept a-comin’
There wasn’ nigh as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more and they began to runnin’
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

Old Hickory said we could take ‘em by surprise
If we didn’t fire our muskets
‘Til we looked ‘em in the eye

We held our fire
‘Til we see’d their faces well
Then we opened up our squirrel guns
And really gave ‘em, well….we…

… fired our guns and the British kept a-comin’
There wasn’ nigh as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more and they began a’runnin’
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

Yeah, they ran through the briars
And they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes
Where a rabbit couldn’t go
They ran so fast
That the hounds couldn’t catch ‘em
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

—from “The Battle of New Orleans,” by Johnny Horton, 1958

I don’t offer the following as an exhaustive or scholarly analysis by any means....

TWITTER INC., $45.08, symbol TWTR on New York, offers users a global platform to express themselves on the Internet in real time. Its website lets people create, distribute, and discover content. Platform partners include publishers, media outlets, and developers.

Advertisers use Twitter’s Promoted Products, the majority of which are pay-for-performance, to promote their brands, products, and services....