investment

Here’s how to find undervalued stock picks—those that are reasonably priced, if not cheap, in relation to their sales, earnings and assets—tand maximize your long-term profits

Dear safe-money investor:


We’ve selected our top picks for 2019—one stock, one real estate investment trust (REIT) and one exchange-traded fund (ETF). Each offers an attractive combination of growth prospects and a reasonable price.


We feel that investors profit the most by holding a well-balanced portfolio of high-quality stocks and REITs—like our first two recommendations....

Low management fees, broad diversification, and lower-risk holdings are all aspects of the best Vanguard funds for retirement portfolio building that investors should look for

Our best investing help for beginners: Focus on building a diversified portfolio of high-quality stocks or ETFs that you can hold for a long time

A: Real-return bonds pay you a rate of return that’s adjusted for inflation.

Here’s how they work:

When a real-return bond is issued, the level of the consumer price index (CPI) on that date is applied to the bond. After that, both the principal and interest payments are adjusted every six months, upwards or downwards from that base level, to compensate for a rise or fall in the CPI.

Government of Canada real-return bonds pay interest semi-annually, on June 1 and December 1.

Here’s an example:

The Bank of Canada issues $400 million of 30-year bonds maturing on December 1, 2048....

It is difficult to truly understand how to pick winning penny stocks because winners are uncommon. However, we do have seven tips for making the best picks

The share price for each of these fast-food leaders may seem expensive in relation to its earnings. However, we feel both p/e’s are reasonable given operational investments that should spur their earnings for years to come.


MCDONALD’S CORP....

When we single out stocks of the year, we zero in on those that offer a “heads-you-win-tails-you-break-even” advantage. Even so, no investment comes with a true guarantee.


All three of our 2018 top picks struggled last year—along with the rest of the market....

For 2019’s Stocks of the Year, we’ve once again selected one company from each of our portfolios—Conservative, Aggressive and Income. All three stocks have attractive growth prospects for 2019 and, quite frankly, for several years beyond that.


UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORP....

By “hidden value,” we mean a company’s valuable assets that fail to get the attention they deserve. That can include, for example, its brand names, loyal clientele or real estate. When those assets are largely ignored, or hidden, the company’s shares trade for less than they’re worth....