stock exchange

Rambler Metals & Mining plc, $0.52, symbol RAB on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 143.3 million; Market cap: $73.4 million; www.ramblermines.com), is a U.K.-based mining and development company. The stock is also listed on the AIM market in the U.K. (AIM is the London Stock Exchange’s international market for smaller companies.) In 2012, Rambler brought its first mine—the 100%-owned Ming copper-gold-silver project—into commercial production. The mine is on Newfoundland’s Baie Verte peninsula. Rambler shipped its first load of concentrate from the project through its deepwater port facility at Goodyear’s Cove in November 2012. Rambler also has interests in other early-stage properties, as well as small, formerly producing mines, in the general area of the Ming mine....

VANGUARD FTSE EMERGING MARKETS ETF $37.39 (New York symbol VWO; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) Transitions Index, which is made up of common stocks of companies in developing countries. The fund has an MER of just 0.18%.

Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF’s top holdings include Taiwan Semiconductor (Taiwan: computer chips), China Mobile (China: wireless), Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Brazil: oil and gas), Vale SA (Brazil: mining), Gazprom (Russia: gas utility), China Construction Bank, Tencent Holdings (China: Internet), Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, Naspers Ltd. (South Africa: media) and MTN Group (South Africa: wireless telecommunications)

The $62.4-billion fund’s breakdown by country is as follows: China (22.1%), Taiwan (13.6%), Brazil (13.2%), South Africa (9.5%), India (9.3%), Russia (7.1%), Mexico (5.8%), Malaysia (4.9%), Indonesia (2.5%), Thailand (2.5%), Chile (1.9%), Poland (1.7%), Turkey (1.7%) and others (4.2%).
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BANK OF MONTREAL $70 (Toronto symbol BMO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 644.5 million; Market cap: $45.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 4.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bmo.com) is Canada’s fourth-largest bank, with $537.3 billion of assets. The bank is buying U.K.-based F&C Asset Management, which sells investment services to individuals and institutional clients, such as pension plans and insurance companies. F&C has $136 billion U.S. in assets under management, which will increase the assets that Bank of Montreal’s Global Asset Management division administers to $269 billion U.S. The purchase will also add many wealth management clients outside North America....

In addition to TD (see page 21), we also like the outlook for Canada’s other four big banks. Each has its particular risks, but all are good choices for long-term growth and income.

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $71 (Toronto symbol RY; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $99.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.7; Dividend yield: 3.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.rbc.com) is Canada’s second-largest bank, with $860.8 billion of assets.

Royal recently agreed to sell its 13 branches and related operations in Jamaica....

Royal Canadian Mint Gold Reserves Exchange Traded Receipts (ETRs), $13.61, symbol MNT on Toronto (Receipts outstanding: 35.8 million; Market cap: $540.4 million; www.reserves.mint.ca), are receipts issued by the Royal Canadian Mint (the Crown corporation responsible for minting and distributing Canada’s circulation coins) that let investors own gold bullion stored in the Mint’s vaults. The value of these ETRs varies with the price of gold. Investors can trade their ETRs on the stock exchange, or once a month they can redeem them for gold coins or bullion with a minimum purity of 99.99%. This requires at least 10,000 ETRs plus redemption and fabrication fees for the gold coins or bars. Instead of physical gold, investors can choose to redeem their units for cash equal to 95% of the lesser of: a) the ETR price on the redemption date; or b) the volume-weighted average price of the ETRs for five trading days prior to and including the redemption date....

Pennsylvania-based Vanguard Group is one of the world’s largest investment management companies. The group administers over $2 trillion U.S. in 170 mutual funds.

Vanguard, which went into business in 1975, offers low-fee index mutual funds. Generally speaking, Canadians can’t buy units of mutual funds that are registered in the U.S., because they aren’t registered with provincial securities commissions....

PLEASE NOTE: Next week, Canadian Wealth Advisor will reveal its “#1 Safety-Conscious Stock Pick for 2014.” One week from today, on February 7, 2014, shortly after the stock market closes at 4:00 p.m. Toronto time, we will reveal our our #1 Safety-Conscious Pick for 2014 to subscribers of Canadian Wealth Advisor. You can be among the first to hear about our #1 pick for 2014. Because you’re a loyal subscriber, we are happy to offer you a bargain-priced, no-risk introduction to Canadian Wealth Advisor. It gives you the first month—and the 2013 U.S. Stock of the Year—FREE. But you must act now. Click here. BANK OF MONTREAL, $68.06, Toronto symbol BMO, has agreed to buy U.K.-based wealth management firm F&C Asset Management. F&C sells a variety of investment services to individuals and institutional clients, such as pension plans and insurance companies. It has $136 billion U.S. in assets under management, which will increase the assets Bank of Montreal’s Global Asset Management division administers to $269 billion U.S. The purchase will also add many wealth management clients outside North America....

ISHARES MSCI CHILE INVESTABLE MARKET INDEX FUND $45.70 (New York Exchange symbol ECH; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that aims to track the MSCI Chile Investable Market Index, which consists of stocks that are mainly traded on the Santiago Stock Exchange.

The fund’s top holdings are S.A.C.I. Falabella (retail), 9.2%; Empresas Copec SA (conglomerate), 8.6%; Enersis AS (electricity), 8.4%; Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (electricity), 6.7%; Cencosud SA (retailer), 5.7%; LATAM Airlines, 5.6%; Banco Santander Chile (banking), 4.7%; Banco de Chile, 4.3%; Empresas CMPC (pulp and paper), 4.2%; and Quimica y Minera de Chile (mining), 3.5%.

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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 $12.04 (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, 6.1%; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, 3.1%; Softbank Corp., 3.0%; Honda Motor, 2.5%; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, 2.4%; Mizuho Financial Group, 1.8%; Hitachi, 1.4%; Takeda Pharmaceutical, 1.3%; Canon, 1.3%; and Mitsubishi Estate Co., 1.3%.

The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Financials, 21.5%; Consumer Discretionary, 20.9%; Industrials, 19.3%; Information Technology, 10.4%; Consumer Staples, 6.3%; Health Care, 6.0%; Materials, 5.9%; Telecommunication Services, 5.8%; Utilities, 2.5%; and Energy, 1.2%.

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