investment
An investment is an asset or property acquired to generate income or gain appreciation. Appreciation is the increase in the value of an asset over time. It requires the outlay of a resource today, like time, effort, and money, for a greater payoff in the future or for generating a profit.
An investment involves using capital in the present to increase an asset’s value over time.
Investments may include bonds, stocks, real estate, or alternative investments.
Investments can be diversified to reduce risk, though this may reduce the amount of earning potential.
In business contexts, investments are financial; however, consider how some people spend time to make higher incomes in the future (i.e. invest in a college education).
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DUNDEE CORP. $17 (Toronto symbol DC.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 54.1 million; Market cap: $919.7 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.dundeecorp.com) owns businesses in the wealth management, real estate, natural resource and agriculture industries.
The company lost $92.6 million, or $1.88 a share, in 2013. That’s a big drop from the $25.2 million, or $0.29 a share, it earned in 2012. Revenue fell 6.3%, to $200.7 million from $214.2 million.
The declines are mainly because weak commodity prices hurt the contribution of Dundee’s resource holdings. As well, fewer firms issued shares in 2013, which hurt profits at its Dundee Securities brokerage firm. The company is also spending more to expand its agriculture businesses, which further depressed results.
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The company lost $92.6 million, or $1.88 a share, in 2013. That’s a big drop from the $25.2 million, or $0.29 a share, it earned in 2012. Revenue fell 6.3%, to $200.7 million from $214.2 million.
The declines are mainly because weak commodity prices hurt the contribution of Dundee’s resource holdings. As well, fewer firms issued shares in 2013, which hurt profits at its Dundee Securities brokerage firm. The company is also spending more to expand its agriculture businesses, which further depressed results.
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GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $30 (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 999.2 million; Market cap: $30.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend Yield: 4.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is one of Canada’s largest insurance companies, with $758.3 billion of assets under administration. It also offers mutual funds, retirement planning and wealth management. Power Financial (Toronto symbol PFC) owns 67.0% of Great-West.
The company continues to benefit from its recent $1.75-billion purchase of Irish Life Group, Ireland’s largest pension manager and life insurance provider.
If you exclude integration costs, Great-West earned $2.05 billion in 2013, including $85 million of profits from Irish Life. The latest earnings are also up 5.4% from $1.95 billion in 2012. Due to more shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 2.9%, to $2.11 from $2.05.
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The company continues to benefit from its recent $1.75-billion purchase of Irish Life Group, Ireland’s largest pension manager and life insurance provider.
If you exclude integration costs, Great-West earned $2.05 billion in 2013, including $85 million of profits from Irish Life. The latest earnings are also up 5.4% from $1.95 billion in 2012. Due to more shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 2.9%, to $2.11 from $2.05.
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RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $27
Canada’s inflation rate is just 1.1%, well below the Bank of Canada’s 2% target. That lets the bank keep interest rates low, which holds down our dollar, making our exports cheaper in world markets. That’s good for Canada’s economic growth, but bad for income investors. We continue to advise against investing in bonds right now. Today’s low interest rates make them unattractive for income. Rising rates would push down their asset value....
ALLIED PROPERTIES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $34.29 (Toronto symbol AP.UN; Units outstanding: 68.7 million; Market cap: $2.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.1%; www.alliedpropertiesreit.com) owns 133 office buildings, mostly in major Canadian cities. These mainly Class I properties contain over 9.5 million square feet of leasable area.
Class I refers to 19th- and early-20th-century light industrial buildings that have been converted to retail space. They usually feature exposed beams, interior brick and hardwood floors.
The trust bought $400 million worth of properties in 2012. In 2013, it added $182.4 million more.
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Class I refers to 19th- and early-20th-century light industrial buildings that have been converted to retail space. They usually feature exposed beams, interior brick and hardwood floors.
The trust bought $400 million worth of properties in 2012. In 2013, it added $182.4 million more.
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TRANSCANADA CORP. $51.57 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 707.5 million; Market cap: $36.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.7%; www.transcanada.com) operates 68,500 kilometres of natural gas pipelines in Canada and the U.S. It also has interests in over 11,800 megawatts of power generation, including the Bruce Power nuclear plant.
In the three months ended December 31, 2013, TransCanada’s revenue rose 11.6%, to $2.3 billion from $2.1 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 28.9%, to $0.58 from $0.45.
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Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a new or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you specific investment advice, including stock trading advice that can help you reduce the risk of more aggressive investing. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental piece of investing strategy, and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Today’s tip: “Although risk and volatility are magnified with thinly-traded stocks, if you can identify the stocks that will grow and prosper, the rewards could be tremendous.”...
Many investors spend a lot of time worrying about the wrong things. In particular, they worry about things that are unpredictable. Even if they happen, these things may have only an indirect impact on their long-term profits. As a result, they have little time to pay attention to things that have a direct impact on the value of their investments. For instance, at times they may mull over every tidbit of economic information that comes out, and how it differs from its predecessor of a week or a month earlier. They hope to detect a pattern—a sign that the economy is mending and headed for a return to steady growth, say, or perhaps deteriorating and doomed to plunge into a new recession. Others look for patterns or omens in domestic or international politics, or in demographic data, or in the price of gold. This can eat up an awful lot of time....
We haven’t found any cruise line or casino companies that we want to recommend as buys, but here’s a look at two of the most prominent cruise operators, as well as two casino stocks. Carnival Corp., $37.38, symbol CCL on New York (Shares outstanding: 592.2 million; Market cap: $22.1 billion; www.carnival.com), operates a fleet of 101 cruise ships worldwide. In North America, these vessels operate under the Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Seabourn banners. Other global brands include AIDA Cruises, Costa, Cunard, Ibero Cruises and P&O Cruises....
SYMANTEC CORP. (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; www.symantec.com) sells computer-security technology, including anti-virus and email-filtering software, to businesses and consumers. It also offers data-archiving software. In Symantec’s fiscal 2014 third quarter, which ended December 27, 2013, its earnings per share rose 13.3%, to $0.51 from $0.45 a year earlier. The gains were mainly due to savings from a new restructuring plan that includes laying off 30% to 40% of its managers and simplifying its product lines....
