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A: Pool Corporation, $304.95, symbol POOL on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 39.1 million; Market cap: $11.8 billion; www.poolcorp.com), is the world’s largest wholesale distributor of swimming pool and related backyard products.

The company operates 415 sales centres across North America, Europe and Australia....

IAMGOLD CORP., $3.34, is a buy. The company (symbol IMG on Toronto) owns 41% of the Sadiola gold mine in Mali; 90% of the Essakane mine in Burkina Faso; 100% of the Westwood mine in Quebec; and 95% of the Rosebel mine in Suriname.

IAMGold continues to make moves to secure the financing it needs for the ongoing construction of a mine at its flagship Cote gold project....

This month we highlight two ETFs from Harvest that use leverage and call-option writing in an effort to enhance the returns of their portfolios.


HARVEST BRAND LEADERS ENHANCED INCOME ETF $10.36 (Toronto symbol HBFE) invests indirectly in large U.S....

SUN LIFE FINANCIAL INC. $62 is a buy. The stock (Toronto symbol SLF; Conservative-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 586.3 million; Market cap: $36.4 billion; Dividend yield: 4.6%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.sunlife.ca) is Canada’s third-largest life insurance company after Manulife (No....

LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD., $110.94, Toronto symbol L, is a buy.

The company operates 1,092 supermarkets under several banners, including Loblaws, Zehrs, Provigo, Real Canadian Superstore and No Frills.

In March 2014, it purchased the Shoppers Drug Mart chain for $12.3 billion in cash and shares....

Merck—like other big pharmaceutical makers Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson—recently spun off some of its legacy businesses. Merck’s split came in June 2021 with the creation of Organon & Co. Investors received one share in the new firm for every 10 Merck shares they held.


Since the Organon spinoff, its former parent has gained 32%, which is far better than the 6% decline for the S&P 500 Index over that same period....

Many investors over-emphasize investment predictions as a way to choose investments, especially when just starting out. It’s easy to understand. Following predictions can be easy and fun, like betting on tips at a racetrack or a casino.

Investing newcomers may also downplay portfolio balance and diversification....

As we’ve often said, we think spinoffs are about as close as you can get to a sure thing in investing. Statistics show that after a company sets up one (or more) of its businesses as a separate publicly traded entity and “spins it off,” the shares of both the parent and the spinoff generally do better than comparable companies for a number of years, if not decades.

We were so impressed by the proven long-term benefit of spinoff investing that we launched an investment advisory around it—our Spinoffs & Takeovers newsletter.

Of course, this “spinoff effect” can take months or years to show itself....

MERCK & CO. INC., $93.26, is a #1 Power Buy for 2022. The drugmaker (New York symbol MRK; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average) (www.merck.com; Shares outstanding: 2.5 billion; Market cap: $239.7 billion; Dividend yield: 3.0%) has now exercised an option to jointly develop and potentially sell an mRNA-based cancer vaccine along with Moderna (symbol MRNA on Nasdaq).


The vaccine, mRNA-4157, is being tested in conjunction with Merck’s blockbuster cancer immunotherapy Keytruda, in a mid-stage trial for patients with high-risk melanoma....

A: Evolve Global Healthcare Enhanced Yield Fund, $20.63, symbol LIFE on Toronto (Units outstanding: 8.7 million; Market cap: $179.5 million; www.evolveetfs.com), aims to track the Solactive Global Healthcare 20 Index Canadian Dollar Hedged Index.

LIFE invests primarily in the stock holdings of that index....