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iShares S&P/TSX SmallCap Index Fund, $16.41, symbol XCS on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 7.3 million; Market cap: $119.8 million), holds the stocks in the S&P/TSX SmallCap Index. This index is made up of the smaller companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange. These stocks are chosen by market size (their market caps must be between $100 million to $1.5 billion) and liquidity. The fund’s expenses are 0.55% of its assets. The 10 highest-weighted stocks of the 178 companies in the index are New Gold, 1.74%; Quadra FNX Mining, 1.68%; Semafo, 1.67%; Trican Well Service, 1.60%; SXC Health Solutions, 1.57%; Toromont Industries, 1.41%; HudBay Minerals, 1.40%; IESI-BFC, 1.40%; Detour Gold, 1.39%; and Keyera Facilities Income Fund, 1.36%. The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Materials, 32.6%; Energy, 23.7%, Financials, 14.3%; Industrials, 11.7%; Consumer Discretionary, 6.4%; Consumer Staples, 3.6%; Health Care, 3.3%, Information Technology, 2.0% and Utilities, 1.7%....
High-quality foreign stocks are a great way to diversify your portfolio. Moreover, many fast-growing markets, like China and India, have positive outlooks. That’s because their people are generally younger than North Americans, and rising incomes are helping more of them advance into the middle class. Even so, world stock market investing remains riskier than investing in North America. That’s because many emerging countries have language barriers, weak investor-protection laws, less commitment to openness, fairness and so on. Here are 3 simple ways to tap into world stock market profits at lower risk:...
DPF India Opportunities Fund, $5.50, symbol DPF.UN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 23.1 million; Market cap: $127.1 million), is a closed-end fund that invests in Indian stocks. It holds shares of mostly large-cap, well-established Indian companies. The fund has a high 3.31% MER. We like the outlook for the Indian economy. However, for new buying, we recommend the iShares S&P India Nifty 50 Index Fund, $31.28, symbol INDY on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 3.35 million; Market cap: $104.8 million). iShares S&P India Nifty 50 Index Fund is an exchange-traded fund that aims to track the S&P CNX Nifty Index. This index represents the 50 largest, most liquid Indian securities on the National Stock Exchange of India. The fund’s MER is just 0.89%....
iShares MSCI Israel Capped Investable Market Index Fund, $56.35, symbol EIS on New York (Shares outstanding: 2.4 million; Market cap: $135.2 million), is an exchange-traded fund that aims to track the MSCI Israel Capped Investable Market Index. The weight of any one company is capped at 24% of the index’s market capitalization. iShares MSCI Israel Capped Investable Market Index Fund’s top holdings are Teva Pharmaceutical, 21.3%; Israel Chemicals, 9.6%; Bank Leumi Le-Israel, 8.3%; Bezeq Israeli Telecom, 6.3%; Bank Hapoalim, 5.3%; Nice Systems, 3.1%; The Israel Corp., 2.9%; Partner Communications, 2.9%; Cellcom Israel, 2.3%; and Elbit Systems, 2.3%. The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Financials, 27.3%; Health Care, 22%; Materials, 15.2%; Telecommunication Services, 11.8%; Industrials, 8.3%; Information Technology, 6.9%; Energy, 3.4%; Consumer Staples, 3.4%; and Consumer Discretionary, 1.5%....
ISHARES DEX UNIVERSE BOND INDEX FUND $30.29 (CWA Rating: Income) (Toronto symbol XBB; buy or sell through a broker) mirrors the performance of the DEX Universe Bond Index. This index consists of a wide range of investment-grade Canadian government and corporate bonds with terms to maturity of more than one year. The 351 bonds in the portfolio have an average term to maturity of 9.04 years. The fund’s MER is 0.30%. The bonds in the index are 71.4% government and 28.6% corporate. The fund sticks with high-quality government bonds from issuers such as Canada Housing Trust, Government of Canada and Province of Ontario, plus high-quality corporate bonds from issuers such as Bank of Montreal, TransCanada Pipelines, Bank of Nova Scotia and Bell Canada....
ISHARES DEX SHORT TERM BOND INDEX FUND $29.15 (CWA Rating: Income) (Toronto symbol XSB; buy or sell through a broker) mirrors the performance of the DEX Short-Term Bond Index. This index consists of a wide range of investment-grade federal, provincial, municipal and corporate bonds with between one- and five-year terms to maturity. The fund holds 201 bonds with an average term to maturity of 2.92 years. Top issuers include the Government of Canada, Canada Housing Trust and the Province of Ontario. The bonds in the index are 72.1% government and 27.9% corporate. The fund’s MER is 0.25%....
The German economy grew at an annualized rate of 9% in the second quarter of 2010. Unemployment has dropped for 14 consecutive months, and is now at 7.6%. That’s the lowest since 1992, and about where it was before the recession. The German economy contracted 4.7% in 2009. Germany has the largest economy in Europe, and the world’s fourth largest. It’s the second-biggest global exporter, behind China. German exports, which account for 45% of its economy, have been rising. That has helped Germany rebound while other European countries, such as Ireland, Greece, Spain and Portugal, struggle....
We continue to advise against investing in bonds right now, because today’s low interest rates make them unattractive. That’s especially so in light of the potential rise in inflation that may follow the heavy deficit spending and rapid expansion of the money supply that is now underway. However, if you need stable income and want to hold bonds, here are two bond funds that have low fees and high-quality holdings. ISHARES DEX SHORT TERM BOND INDEX FUND $29.15 (CWA Rating: Income) (Toronto symbol XSB; buy or sell through a broker) mirrors the performance of the DEX Short-Term Bond Index....
If you need steady income and want to hold bond funds, we advise you to focus on those with short-term maturity dates (see below for more on bond funds). That’s because bonds with shorter terms face a lower risk from interest-rate increases. You should also avoid funds that take part in any kind of speculative trading.
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Low fees, high-quality holdings are pluses for this bond ETF
The iShares DEX Short Term Bond Index Fund (symbol XSB on Toronto) is a bond exchange-traded fund (ETF) that we cover in our Canadian Wealth Advisor newsletter. The fund cuts risk by avoiding speculative trading and emphasizing government bonds....
Tata Motors (ADR), $24.04, symbol TTM on New York (Shares outstanding: 506.4 million; Market cap: $12.2 billion), designs, makes and sells vehicles, including cars, trucks and buses, mainly in India. It also makes and sells related parts and accessories. Tata is based in Mumbai, India. Tata Motors is part of the Tata Group, one of India’s leading business conglomerates. Tata Group has interests in a number of areas, including steel, software services, hotels, chemicals, insurance and asset management. Tata’s sales have grown along with the Indian economy. In 2003, its revenue was $3.2 billion. By 2006, revenue had more than doubled, to $7.7 billion. Earnings jumped 37.5%, to $1.10 a share from $0.80 a share. Cash flow per share rose 29.6%, to $1.49 from $1.15....