investment

While the Omicron variant could lead to more lockdowns, Choice Properties and RioCan’s high-quality tenants should continue to support their current distributions.


CHOICE PROPERTIES REIT $15 is a buy. Canada’s biggest REIT (Toronto symbol CHP.UN; Cyclical-Growth Payer Portfolio; Manufacturing & Industry sector; Units outstanding: 723.3 million; Market cap: $10.8 billion; Distribution yield: 4.9%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.choicereit.ca) owns 718 retail, industrial, office space, and residential properties....

Concerns that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 will lead to new lockdowns have hurt the stock prices of these two fast-food companies. However, their customers continue to embrace online ordering and home delivery, which should spur their long-term earnings.


YUM! BRANDS INC....

A: Harvest Healthcare Leaders Income ETF, $8.60, symbol HHL on Toronto, (Units outstanding: 89.7 million; Market cap: $771.4 million; www.harvestportfolios.com), holds a portfolio of 20 large-cap global healthcare companies, selected by the manager for their potential to provide attractive monthly income and long-term growth.

The ETF holds mostly attractive stocks with sound long-term prospects....

A: Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF, $165.46, symbol VIG on New York (Units outstanding: 404.8 million; Market cap: $67.0 billion; www.vanguard.com), aims to track the S&P U.S. Dividend Growers Index.

The ETF has a very low 0.06% MER....

Dear Inner Circle Member,

Some of my most productive investment thinking occurs when I answer a question and it leads me to think about an old concept in a new or different way.

Recently, for example, an Inner Circle member asked about the term “blue chip.” My first reaction is that it’s an old-fashioned investment cliché, and that it implies high investment quality coupled with low risk....

ADT keeps signing and retaining security customers. Additions to the company’s range of services are a key driver of that growth. They include its new smart-home offerings in partnership with Google-parent Alphabet. Now, through its acquisition of Sunpro Solar, ADT will be able to cross-sell an entirely new product to its existing clients....

AGNICO EAGLE MINES LTD. $63 is a hold. The company (Toronto symbol AEM; Resources Sector; Shares outstanding: 244.9 million; Market cap: $15.4 billion; Dividend yield: 2.8%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.agnicoeagle.com) has eight gold mines: five in Canada (LaRonde, Meadowbank, Meliadine, Goldex and Malarctic), one in Finland (Kittila), and two in Mexico (Pinos Altos and La India).


Agnico is buying Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd....

Department store chains are favourite targets of activist investors, as markets tend to discount their real estate holdings. That’s largely why they want Macy’s and Kohl’s to spin off their e-commerce businesses. The faster-growing online operations would probably trade at a much high multiple than the combined business....

A: VanEck Vectors Social Sentiment ETF, $22.78, symbol BUZZ on New York (Units outstanding: 6.8 million; Market cap: $154.9 million; www.vaneck.com), holds 75 stocks, each with a market cap of $5 billion or more; each also generates social media attention.

The fund tracks the BUZZ NextGen AI U.S....

Many investors spend way too much time trying to analyze the market outlook for stocks, based on little more than recent stock-price trends. They generally fall in one of two camps.

Momentum investors: These investors like to buy stocks that have been going up for some time....