ishares

ISHARES MSCI GERMANY FUND $24.15 (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), 8.9%; SAP (software), 7.6%; Siemens (engineering conglomerate), 7.3%; Allianz (insurance), 7.1%; Daimler (automobiles), 6.5%; BASF (chemicals), 5.9%; Deutsche Telekom, 5.5%; Munich Reinsurance, 3.1%; BMW AG, 2.7%; Fresenius (health care), 2.5%; Linde AG (industrial gases), 2.4%; Deutsche Bank AG, 2.4%; and Deutsche Post AG, 2.3%....

ISHARES CANADIAN SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX ETF $20.37 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds 30 of the highestyielding Canadian stocks. Its selections are based on dividend growth, yield and payout ratio. The weight of any one stock is limited to 10% of the ETF’s assets. The fund’s MER is 0.55%, and it yields 5.0%. Its top holdings are CIBC, 9.7%; Bank of Montreal, 7.4%; Royal Bank, 6.8%; BCE, 6.5%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.6%; Rogers Communications, 5.2%; Laurentian Bank of Canada, 5.0%; Manitoba Telecom, 5.0%; TD Bank, 4.7%; IGM Financial, 4.4%; and TransCanada Corp., 4.4%. The ETF holds 58.6% of its assets in financial stocks. The top Canadian finance stocks have sound prospects, but if you invest in this ETF, be sure to adjust the rest of your portfolio so it won’t be overly concentrated in the financial sector....

ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX ETF $18.65 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) is a good low-fee way to buy the top stocks on the TSX. The units are made up of stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index, which consists of the 60 largest, most heavily traded stocks on the exchange. The ETF’s MER is just 0.18% of assets, and the units yield 3.2%. The index mostly consists of high-quality companies. However, it must ensure that all sectors are represented, so it holds a few we wouldn’t include. The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 8.7%; TD Bank, 8.0%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.6%; CN Railway, 4.8%; BCE, 4.0%; Bank of Montreal, 3.9%; Suncor Energy, 3.8%; Valeant Pharmaceuticals, 3.5%; Enbridge Inc., 3.3%; and Manulife Financial Corp., 3.1%....

We feel that investors will profit the most by holding a well-balanced portfolio of high-quality stocks. However, if you don’t want to build a portfolio, or you want to supplement your individual stock holdings, then ETFs can provide a great alternative. The main factors we use to evaluate ETFs are the stocks they hold, the diversification of their holdings across the five economic sectors and the fees (MERs) they charge. In general, investors holding mainly ETFs would want, say, 60% in Canadian ETFs and 20% to 30% in U.S. ETFs....

In 2011, gold shot up to a high of $1,950 U.S. an ounce, and silver reached a peak of $48.48. Gold prices then fell steadily, hitting a low of $1,050 in December 2015 for the first time since early 2010. The metal now trades at $1,143. Silver also declined to a five-year low of $13.65 an ounce in December 2015. It now trades at $14.68. Longer term, gold and silver could well regain their 2011 highs. This would simply reflect the vast inflationary expansion in the U.S. money supply since the 2008 financial crisis....

ISHARES S&P/TSX GLOBAL GOLD INDEX FUND $9.38 (Toronto symbol XGD; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) aims to mirror the performance of the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index, which is made up of 35 gold stocks from Canada and around the world. The ETF began trading on March 23, 2001. Its MER is 0.61%. The fund’s top holdings are Barrick Gold at 14.3%; Newmont Mining, 13.1%; Goldcorp, 11.7%; Franco-Nevada, 8.6%; Randgold Resources (ADR), 8.1%; Agnico-Eagle Mines, 8.0%; AngloGold Ashanti (ADR), 4.2%; and Gold Fields (ADR), 2.9%. iShares S&P/TSX Global Gold Index is a hold.

If you need stable income and want to hold bonds, these two Canadian bond ETFs offer low fees and high-quality holdings.

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are set up to mirror the performance of a stock market index or sub-index. They hold a more or less fixed selection of securities that represent the holdings that go into the calculation of the index or sub-index. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. That’s different from mutual funds, which you can only buy at the end of the day at a price that reflects the fund’s value at the close of trading. Prices of ETFs are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell them, but their low management fees give them a cost advantage over most mutual funds....

The Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate to 0.50% from 0.75% in July 2015. The move came as the Canadian economy slowed along with falling prices for oil and other commodities. Even so, the long-term outlook is for higher interest rates—especially after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate by 0.25% in December 2015 and signaled further increases to come. We continue to advise against investing in bonds right now. That’s because today’s low interest rates make bonds unattractive, and rising rates would push down their future value....

Profiting from the global stock market has never been easier for investors