investment

ISHARES MSCI GERMANY FUND $29.42 (New York symbol EWG; buy or sell through brokers) tracks the stocks in the MSCI Germany Index.

This index aims to replicate 85% of the market capitalization of the German stock market. The remaining 15% is unavailable for investment, partly due to limitations on foreign ownership.

The ETF’s top holdings are Bayer (diversified chemicals), 9.9%; Daimler (autos), 7.5%; BASF (chemicals), 7.3%; Siemens (engineering conglomerate), 7.9%; Allianz (insurance), 8.2%; SAP (software), 5.3%; Deutsche Telekom, 4.7%; Deutsche Bank AG, 3.7%; BMW AG, 3.4%; and Volkswagen AG, 3.1%.

...

Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific stock advice as well as questions on investment strategy and the economy. Every week, his comments and recommendations on the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. And each week, we offer you one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions. We give you Pat’s buy-hold-sell recommendation as well as his analysis of the stock. This is part of the specific buy, hold and sell advice we offer you in our daily posts. Every week you get “A Stock to Sell” on Monday, “Best Canadian Stocks” on Tuesday, and “U.S. Stock Picks” on Thursday. Q: Hello, Pat. Can I get your thoughts on Under Armour? Thanks....

CHEMTRADE LOGISTICS INCOME FUND $21.38 (Toronto symbol CHE.UN; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (416-496-5856; www.chemtradelogistics .com; Units outstanding: 68.5 million; Market cap: $1.5 billion; Dividend yield: 5.6%) is one of North America’s largest providers of removal services for resource firms, such as oil refineries and base metal processors, whose operations create sulphur, acid and other by-products. Chemtrade converts these substances into useful chemicals, like sulphuric acid. The company’s revenue rose 55.4% in the three months ended December 31, 2014, to $313.3 million from $201.6 million a year earlier. That’s largely due to General Chemical, which Chemtrade bought for $900 million U.S. in January 2014. General makes a range of chemicals, including aluminum sulphate, aluminum chlorohydrate and ferric sulphate (all of which are used in water treatment), as well as ingredients for prescription drugs, nutritional supplements and veterinary products....

GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $35 (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 996.7 million; Market cap: $34.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 3.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is paying an undisclosed sum for the Irish operations of Legal & General Group plc. This business provides investment and tax-planning services to wealthy individuals. It looks like a nice fit with Irish Life, a leading insurance firm Great-West acquired in 2013.

Thanks to Irish Life’s contribution and savings from eliminating duplicate functions, Great-West’s earnings jumped 34.7% in the three months ended December 31, 2014, to $0.66 a share from $0.49 a year earlier. Revenue rose 33.1%, to $10.7 billion from $8.1 billion.

The company has also raised its quarterly dividend by 6.0%, to $0.3260 a share from $0.3075. The new annual rate of $1.30 yields 3.7%.

...

CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE $93 (Toronto symbol CM; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 397.2 million; Market cap: $36.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 4.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cibc.com) sold half of its Aeroplan accounts to TD Bank (see page 31) when TD took over the plan at the start of 2014.

The sale cut CIBC’s revenue by 4.7% in the three months ended January 31, 2015, to $3.5 billion from $3.6 billion a year earlier.

Excluding a gain on the Aeroplan sale and other unusual items, earnings improved 0.5%, to $956 million from $951 million. Per-share profits rose 2.2%, to $2.36 from $2.31, on fewer shares outstanding.

...

Every Thursday we bring you one of our best U.S. stock picks. You get our specific recommendation on the stocks we profile, with a full explanation of how we arrived at our opinion. You will read about stocks making moves you should know about, most often from coverage in our newsletter on U.S. investing, Wall Street Stock Forecaster.

WAL-MART STORES INC. (New York symbol WMT; www.walmart.com) gets about 60% of its sales from its 4,516 stores in the U.S., including 3,407 supercentres, which sell both groceries and general merchandise. Groceries now supply 56% of Wal-Mart’s U.S. sales.

In 1991, the company opened its first store outside of the U.S. through a joint venture with a Mexican retailer. Its international division (29% of total sales) now operates 6,290 stores in 26 countries.

...

SCITI Trust, $9.13, symbol SIN.UN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 30.3 million; Market cap: $276.6 million; www.scotiamanagedcompanies.com), first issued units at $10 and began trading on Toronto in April 2003. The trust was scheduled to wind up on April 29, 2008, but unitholders voted to keep it going for another five years in March 2008 and again in March 2013. It’s now scheduled to wind up on April 30, 2018, though it could be extended again. The trust’s portfolio is based on the Scotia Capital High-Yielding Equity Index, which tracks the highest-yielding stocks (including many real estate investment trusts and former income trusts) on the Toronto exchange. SCITI Trust now holds the top 50 highest-yielding issues in the index, on a roughly equal-weight basis....

Building on the strong performance of its shopping mall empire, RioCan REIT unlocks more property value in a deal with Hudson’s Bay.

Because its properties are concentrated smaller cities, Partners REIT faces limited growth prospects and a setback with its dividend.

DirectCash Payments Inc., a leading ATM operator in Canada, Australia and the U.K. this Canadian firm keeps on expanding through a series of small takeovers