oil and gas

We think conservative investors can hold up to 10% of their portfolios in foreign stocks. One way to do that is by choosing exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with an overseas focus.


The best of those funds 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 buys, and two we feel you should continue to hold.


ISHARES MSCI EMERGING MARKETS INDEX FUND $47.90 (New York symbol EEM; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.


The fund’s geographic breakdown follows: China, 29.8%; South Korea, 15.0%; Taiwan, 11.6%; India, 8.1%; Brazil, 7.4%; South Africa, 6.7%; Russia, 3.6%; Mexico, 2.9%; Malaysia, 2.5%; Thailand, 2.4%; Indonesia, 2.1%; and Poland, 1.2%.


Its top stocks are Tencent Holdings (China: Internet), 5.4%; Samsung Electronics (South Korea ), 4.6%; Alibaba Group (China: e-commerce), 3.8 %; Taiwan Semiconductor (computer chips), 3.7%; Naspers (South Africa: media and Internet ), 1.9%; China Construction Bank, 1.6%; Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, 1.2%; China Mobile, 1.20%; Baidu (China: Internet ), 1.1%; and Ping An Insurance Group (China), 1.0%.


iShares launched the ETF on April 7, 2003....

These two firms are subject to the ups and downs of cyclical industries, but their strong reputations and high-quality clientele should let them keep raising their dividends.


SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC. $55 (Toronto symbol SNC; Cyclical-Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares o/s: 175.5 million; Market cap: $9.7 billion; Dividend yield: 2.1%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.snclavalin.com) is a leading Canadian engineering and construction firm specializing in large infrastructure projects, including roads, bridges and water-treatment plants.


Starting in March 2018, SNC increased its quarterly dividend by 5.1%, to $0.287 a share from $0.273....

WAJAX CORP. $24.63 (Toronto symbol WJX; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (905-212-3300; www.wajax.ca; Shares outstanding: 20.0 million; Market cap: $493.3 million; Dividend yield: 4.1%) sells and services cranes, forklifts and other heavy equipment....

CHESAPEAKE ENERGY $3.23 (New York symbol CHK; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (405-848-8000; www.chk.com; Shares outstanding: 909.2 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; No dividends paid) is the second-largest producer of natural gas in the U.S....

Energy penny stocks may seem like an intriguing early-stage investment, but the problems with these stocks are numerous, including the potential for environmentally, politically, or financially unstable situations. There are better energy stocks, with more proven prospects, for you to buy.

Africa’s fifth largest nation by population, South Africa is the continent’s third biggest economy by gross domestic product. But weak commodity prices have slowed its economic growth and the controversial leadership of former president Jacob Zuma has zapped business confidence....

Almost half of the world’s stocks trade on exchanges outside of North America, where the economic and political climate can increase risk. However, even in developed countries with stable markets, price-to-earnings ratios are generally more attractive than they are in the U.S....

SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC. $56 (Toronto symbol SNC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 175.4 million; Market cap: $9.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 2.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.snclavalin.com) is a leading Canadian engineering and construction firm.

In July 2017, the company paid $3.6 billion for U.K.- based engineering firm WS Atkins plc....

Investors who want to know how to make good investments need to focus on five strategic components: investment style, compound interest, smart ETF picks, hidden assets, and stocks with a history of value

There are seven main reasons for the volatility of natural gas stocks. However, even with this volatility, there are some ways that investing in natural gas can lead you to long-term gains from a sector that is often considered a hedge against inflation ----------------------- Successful energy stocks pioneer technological advances. For instance, advances in gas drilling technology have helped bring huge new supplies of natural gas to the market. The new technologies made it possible to vastly increase oil and gas production, even from deposits that were once considered worthless. Even so, the price of natural gas stocks is highly volatile, and influenced both up and down by a wide range of factors. So it’s a bad idea to base investment decisions on predictions of future natural gas prices, and their effects on natural gas stock prices, because these predictions are simply not reliable.