investment

The price of gold has been on an upwards trajectory since it dropped to $1,050 U.S. an ounce in December 2015. It’s now 62% higher at $1,699. Still, that’s below the previous peak of $1,897 per ounce reached in September 2011. Meantime, gold stocks have also started to perform better after a prolonged slump....

Australia was a major beneficiary of the boom in the Chinese economy over the past three decades. In the process, China became the largest buyer of Australia’s natural resources, and an important participant in the Australian tourism and education industries. However, the COVID-19 pandemic—and the recent souring of the relationship between the countries—is a big new challenge for investors.


ISHARES MSCI AUSTRALIA ETF $20.31 (New York symbol EWA; TSI Network ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $1.1 billion) gives you exposure to 69 of the country’s major stocks.


Financial Services account for 32.5% of the fund’s assets, while Mining (19.1%), Healthcare (14.8%), Consumer Non-Cyclicals (6.5%), Consumer Cyclicals (6.0%), and Industrials (5.5%) are other key segments.


The ETF holds a portfolio of 69 stocks....

If you expect the price of an asset to rise, you may be tempted to buy ETFs.using borrowed funds to boost their returns. But beware—leveraged ETFs often have big added risks.


Leveraged ETFs use a combination of derivatives and debt to double or triple any value gains for the asset or index they track.


Here is one example: Horizons offers the BETAPRO GOLD BULLION 2X DAILY BULL ETF $12.18 (Toronto symbol HBU), which aims to provide 2 times the daily percentage change in the near-term futures price of gold....

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $17 is still a buy. The REIT (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Units outstanding: 317.7 million; Market cap: $5.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.1; Dividend yield: 8.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.riocan.com) owns all or part of 220 shopping centres and other properties across Canada.


Due to COVID-19, RioCan collected 55% of its total rental payments in April 2020....

How does options trading work? Learn the ins and outs so you’ll know not just the promised returns, but also the hidden risks that will likely cost you money

Follow our guidelines and you’ll find more top growth stocks

A: iShares MSCI Switzerland ETF, $39.99, symbol EWL on New York (Units outstanding: 38.8 million; Market cap: $1.6 billion; www.ishares.com/us), tracks an index composed of large and mid-sized Swiss equities.

The ETF’s biggest holdings are: Nestle SA, Roche Holding, Novartis, Zurich Insurance, UBS Group, Lonza Group, ABB, Givaudan SA, Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA and Alcon AG.

The $1.5 billion fund has a reasonable MER of 0.50%.

As it has for most countries, the coronavirus has had a huge impact on the Swiss economy.

The services sector has been particularly hard hit by measures to contain the virus....

Last week we published our latest quarterly client letter, which we sent to our portfolio- management clients in April. In it, we talked about the evolution of drug stocks as investments.

We explained why we mostly stayed out of drug stocks for much of the past two decades, and why we now feel the environment for drug stock investment has improved a great deal....

Finding a safe way to add Nasdaq penny stocks to your portfolio

POWER CORP., $24.71, is a buy. The conglomerate (Toronto symbol POW; Shares o/s: 664.1 million; Market cap: $17.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Divd. yield: 7.2%; www.powercorporation.com) is a holding company with a diversified list of businesses.


Its primary investments are controlling stakes in Great-West, IGM, and Pargesa....