investment

The surest long-term profits go to those who choose stocks from the middle of the risk spectrum—not too aggressive, but also not too “safe.” (I put the word in quotation marks, to stress that investment safety is a matter of opinion.)

Many investors say they usually agree with this idea, at least in respect to aggressive stocks....

One of Canada’s leading software companies, Open Text has attracted an activist investor from the U.S. Share buybacks, dividend increases and a potential acquisition are all part of the activist’s plan to raise the company’s profile south of the border.

There are several ways to gauge the performance of an ETF, among them is a look at the fund’s total return. This method calculates capital appreciation (or decline) and adds any other income such as dividends.


First, capital appreciation is measured using the price gain or loss of the ETF over the holding period....

A key advantage of ETFs is their relatively low management fees when compared to mutual funds. In the U.S., for example, the average expense ratio for ETFs is 0.23% compared to 0.57% for mutual funds.


Apart from the fees paid directly to a broker when buying or selling an ETF on the stock market, investors will also indirectly pay for expenses necessary to manage and operate the fund....

3D PRINTING ETF $26 (New York symbol PRNT; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $48 million) invests in publicly listed companies involved in the production and distribution of hardware, software and other materials related to 3-dimensional printing....

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD. $250 (Toronto symbol CP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 143.1 million; Market cap: $35.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.5; Dividend yield: 1.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cpr.ca) should benefit from new federal regulations meant to encourage rail operators to refurbish Canada’s fleet of grain railcars (called “hoppers”)....

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $24 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Units outstanding: 317.4 million; Market cap: $7.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 6.2; Dividend yield: 6.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.riocan.com) and department store operator Hudson’s Bay Co....

High costs, strong competition, and a lack of brand loyalty make pharmaceutical penny stocks very speculative investments, even if the company has a drug that’s reached commercialization

A: Flow-through limited partnerships developed out of a Canadian government plan to encourage the exploration and development of the country’s natural resources. Under the plan, companies involved in oil and gas, mining and base metals and other natural resource industries are permitted to fully deduct specific exploration expenses known as the Canadian Exploration Expense (CEE)....

As with any investment theme, consider clean energy stocks very carefully before you dive in.