stanley

iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund (CAD-Hedged) ETF, $21.12, symbol XIN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 47.6 million; Market cap: $1.0 billion; ca.ishares.com), is an exchange traded fund that tries to match the return of the Morgan Stanley Capital International Europe Australasia Far East (MSCI EAFE) Index. The MSCI EAFE Index is used as a benchmark to measure international stock performance. It is made up of 22 MSCI country indexes representing developed markets in Europe, Australasia and the Far East. The fund is hedged against movements of foreign currencies against the Canadian dollar, so its value rises and falls with the stocks in its portfolio. Note, however, that such exposure adds to the diversification in your investments....

MCKESSON CORP., $157.39, New York symbol MCK, recently agreed to buy Celesio AG, a German firm that distributes prescription drugs in Europe and Brazil. The company will pay $8.3 billion for Celesio, including its debt. To put that in context, McKesson’s market cap (or the value of all its outstanding shares) is $36.2 billion. Shareholders representing at least 75% of Celesio’s votes must approve the deal. The family of Celesio’s founder, which controls 50.01%, has already agreed to the takeover. However, Elliott Management, a private equity firm that holds roughly 25% of Celesio’s shares, now opposes the purchase....

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are set up to mirror the performance of a stock-market index or subindex. 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....

Our view is that virtually all Canadian investors should have 20% to 30% of their portfolios in the U.S. stocks we recommend in Wall Street Stock Forecaster. These investments can provide all the foreign exposure most investors need. If you do want to add more foreign content, you could buy individual stocks. But for most investors, directly investing in foreign stocks can add an extra layer of risk and expense. As well, timely and accurate information about overseas companies is not always available, and securities regulations vary widely between countries. It can also be hard for your broker to buy shares on foreign markets without paying a premium. Tax rules and restrictions on transferring funds between nations add further uncertainty and cost. We think one of the best ways to invest in foreign (non-U.S.) markets is through exchange traded funds (ETFs). You could add some of these ETFs in reasonable quantities: perhaps 10% of your holdings if you’re a conservative investor (including 5% or so in higher-risk funds, such as emerging market ETFs)....

ISHARES MSCI JAPAN INDEX FUND $11.81 (New York Exchange symbol EWJ; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) is an exchange traded fund that tries to match the return of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Japan index.

The ETF’s top holdings include Toyota, 6.6%; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, 3.1%; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, 2.4%; Softbank Corp., 2.4%; Honda Motor, 2.3%; Mizuho Financial Group, 1.9%; Japan Tobacco, 1.5%; Takeda Pharmaceutical, 1.4%; Canon, 1.3%; and Hitachi, 1.2%.

The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Financials, 21.4%; Consumer Discretionary, 21.1%; Industrials, 19.6%; Information Technology, 9.6%; Consumer Staples, 6.3%; Materials, 6.2%; Health Care, 5.9%; Telecommunication Services, 5.1%; Utilities, 2.8%; and Energy, 1.2%.
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GOOGLE INC., $1,011.41, Nasdaq symbol GOOG, jumped 14% on Friday after the company reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue. In the three months ended September 30, 2013, earnings rose 23.3%, to $3.6 billion from $3.0 billion a year earlier. Due to more shares outstanding, earnings per share rose at a slower rate of 21.1%, to $10.74 from $8.87....

We think conservative investors could hold up to 10% of their portfolios in foreign stocks. One way to do that is to buy carefully chosen exchange traded funds (ETFs) that have an overseas focus....

We think conservative investors could hold up to 10% of their portfolios in foreign stocks. One way to do that is to buy carefully chosen exchange traded funds (ETFs) that have an overseas focus.

The best ETFs offer very low management fees and well-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios of highquality stocks.

Here are six international ETFs we like:

ISHARES MSCI JAPAN INDEX FUND $11.81 (New York Exchange symbol EWJ; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) is an exchange traded fund that tries to match the return of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Japan index.

The ETF’s top holdings include Toyota, 6.6%; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, 3.1%; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, 2.4%; Softbank Corp., 2.4%; Honda Motor, 2.3%; Mizuho Financial Group, 1.9%; Japan Tobacco, 1.5%; Takeda Pharmaceutical, 1.4%; Canon, 1.3%; and Hitachi, 1.2%.

The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Financials, 21.4%; Consumer Discretionary, 21.1%; Industrials, 19.6%; Information Technology, 9.6%; Consumer Staples, 6.3%; Materials, 6.2%; Health Care, 5.9%; Telecommunication Services, 5.1%; Utilities, 2.8%; and Energy, 1.2%.

iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund was launched on March 12, 1996....

The U.S. is the sole country worldwide that requires its citizens to file an income tax return and report any income regardless of where they live or whether they hold dual citizenship in another country. That’s unlike Canada, which mainly bases its tax system on country of residence, like most other nations. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimates that five to seven million American citizens reside abroad. Of that total, about one million live in Canada. Most U.S. citizens paying income taxes in Canada pay no additional U.S. income tax. However, they still have U.S. tax filing and compliance requirements....

A key part of our three-part investing approach is to downplay or avoid stocks in the broker/media limelight (the other two parts are invest mainly in well-established stocks and to spread your money out across the five main economic sectors).

Stanley is a good example of an out-of-the-limelight stock....