ishares

Despite their strategic importance, major components of the transport industry, particularly shipping, trucking, and airlines, remain cyclical. For some companies, this means considerable swings in their profitability. Still, the best stocks in this area—and the ETFs that hold them—adapt well to the ever-changing industry landscape and are sound investments.


Below we take a look at 3 ETFs that provide investors with exposure to the expanding transportation industry....

Momentum-based investing generally involves buying growth stocks with rising earnings and stock prices. It’s largely unconcerned with the absence of value markers like moderate p/e ratios or high dividend yields.


Top stock selections are oftentime momentum favourites—but they’re really only good buys if their profit growth is sustainable over long periods....

A: There’s little doubt that the developing world’s aging population will continue to spend more on medical services for years to come. Medical device makers are well positioned to capture a share of that increased spending. In turn, investors in the industry’s leading companies stand to benefit from growing demand.

Medical-device ETFs aim to provide a diversified and low-fee way for investors to participate in this expanding industry beyond one or two leading stocks.

Here’s one of the top ETFs in this area:

iShares U.S....

ISHARES CHINA LARGE-CAP ETF $41.10 (New York symbol FXI; buy or sell through brokers) tracks the 50 largest, most-liquid Chinese stocks. The ETF started up October 4, 2004, and has a high MER of 0.74%. It yields 2.1%.


Top holdings for the $5.3 billion fund are Tencent (Internet services), 9.0%; China Construction Bank, 9.0%; Industrial & Commercial Bank, 7.3%; China Mobile, 6.6%; Ping An Insurance, 6.3%; Bank of China, 4.6%; CNOOC (oil), 4.0%; and China Petroleum, 3.5%.


China still has strong growth potential....

We think foreign stocks can safely make up 10% of a conservative investor’s portfolio. One way is through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with an overseas focus.


The best of those ETFs continue to offer very low management fees and well-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios of high-quality stocks.


Here’s a look at four international ETFs we see as suitable for new buying and two others we feel you should continue to hold.


ISHARES MSCI EMERGING MARKETS ETF $41.77 (New York symbol EEM; buy or sell through brokers) is designed to track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.


The fund’s geographic breakdown is as follows: China, 31.8%; South Korea, 12.0%; Taiwan, 11.2%; India, 8.6%; Brazil, 7.9%; South Africa, 5.8%; Russia, 3.9%; Thailand, 2.9%; Mexico, 2.4%; Indonesia, 2.1%; Malaysia, 2.1%; and Saudi Arabia, 1.4%.


Its top stocks are Tencent Holdings (China: Internet), 4.9%; Alibaba Group (China: e-commerce), 4.5%; Taiwan Semiconductor (computer chips), 3.8%; Samsung Electronics (South Korea), 3.5%; Naspers (South Africa: media and Internet), 2.0%; China Construction Bank, 1.4%; Ping An Insurance Group (China), 1.2%; China Mobile, 1.0%; Housing Development Finance Corp....

LISTEN:

Malaysia has an steady track record of economic growth and ranks as one of the most competitive nations among the emerging markets....

It’s a rare investor who makes enough profit from long-term currency investing activities to compensate for the risk involved.

Malaysia has an steady track record of economic growth and ranks as one of the most competitive nations among the emerging markets. Its stock market performance remains weak. However, greater political certainty following the the country’s 2018 election should help drive stock market growth....

The attraction of holding cash has diminished greatly over the past decade due to a low interest rates. Still, many investors hold it in their investment portfolios. That’s not necessarily to earn income, but as a byproduct of their normal portfolio activities or as a reserve, so they can take advantage of market opportunities as they arise.


Here are three low-risk money market ETFs that let investors hold cash and at the same time earn reasonable income....

The six ETFs we update below mainly hold high-quality stocks that are widely traded on Canadian and U.S. exchanges. Each fund tracks the performance of a major stock market index. That’s different from ETFs focused on narrower indexes or themes such as cryptocurrencies or biotechnology.


Of course, you pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell these investments....