stock exchange

ISHARES MSCI JAPAN INDEX FUND $10.60 (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, 3.0%; Honda Motor, 2.5%; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, 2.1%; Softbank Corp., 1.9%; Mizuho Financial Group, 1.8%; Canon, 1.6%; Japan Tobacco, 1.5%; Takeda Pharmaceutical, 1.4%; and Hitachi, 1.3%.

The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Consumer Discretionary, 21.8%; Financials, 20.1%; Industrials, 18.9%; Information Technology, 10.7%; Consumer Staples, 6.5%; Health Care, 6.2%; Materials, 6.2%; Telecommunication Services, 4.7%; Utilities, 3.1%; and Energy, 1.3%.
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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. The best ETFs offer very low management fees and well-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios of high-quality stocks. Here are two international ETFs that we follow regularly. ISHARES MSCI CHILE INVESTABLE MARKET INDEX FUND (New York Exchange symbol ECH; us.ishares.com; 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....

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 high quality stocks.

Here are six international ETFs we like:

ISHARES MSCI JAPAN INDEX FUND $10.60 (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, 3.0%; Honda Motor, 2.5%; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, 2.1%; Softbank Corp., 1.9%; Mizuho Financial Group, 1.8%; Canon, 1.6%; Japan Tobacco, 1.5%; Takeda Pharmaceutical, 1.4%; and Hitachi, 1.3%.

The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Consumer Discretionary, 21.8%; Financials, 20.1%; Industrials, 18.9%; Information Technology, 10.7%; Consumer Staples, 6.5%; Health Care, 6.2%; Materials, 6.2%; Telecommunication Services, 4.7%; Utilities, 3.1%; and Energy, 1.3%.

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

Most U.S. markets have risen lately, while Canada’s resource-heavy Toronto Stock Exchange has lagged. But as always, both remain subject to unexpected downturns. One way to profit from rising markets is to add exchange traded funds (ETFs) that track major stock indexes to your portfolio. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. Prices are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You must pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell ETFs, but their low management fees still give them a cost advantage over most mutual funds....

The ETF, or exchange traded fund, is the biggest advance for individual investors since the introduction of discount brokers. But keep in mind that ETFs are a limited-purpose investing tool. You might think of an ETF as a discount version of a mutual fund. Instead of actively managing the ETF’s portfolio, the fund operator generally manages the fund so that it mirrors the performance of a market index. This lets the operator charge an MER (management expense ratio) of as little as 0.1%, compared to an average MER on conventional mutual funds of 2.6%. Thanks to this fee discrepancy, ETFs automatically perform better than many actively managed mutual funds. That’s because few mutual funds beat the index by a wide enough margin to offset their MERs....

Most U.S. markets have risen lately, while Canada’s resource-heavy Toronto Stock Exchange has lagged. But as always, both remain subject to unexpected downturns. Even so, the long-term outlook is for higher stock prices.

One way to profit from rising markets is to add exchange traded funds (ETFs) that track major stock indexes to your portfolio.

ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks....

TECK RESOURCES LTD., $25.21, Toronto symbol TCK.B, fell 10% this week, along with other mining stocks, mainly due to concerns about weakening economic growth in China. The Chinese economy grew by 7.7% in the first three months of 2013, down from 7.9% in the fourth quarter of 2012. The latest figure also fell short of the consensus estimate of 8% growth. China is a major consumer of coal, copper and other resources, so the news pushed down the prices of these commodities. As well, British Columbia environmental regulators have ordered Teck to develop a plan to reduce runoff from its coal mines because it is polluting adjacent rivers. The company estimates that building water-diversion systems and treatment facilities will cost $600 million over the next five years. To put that in context, Teck earned $1.5 billion, or $2.60 a share, in 2012....

ISHARES MSCI CHILE INVESTABLE MARKET INDEX FUND $65.88 (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 Empresas Copec SA (conglomerate), 8.0%; LATAM Airlines SA, 7.2%; Cencosud SA (retailer), 6.4%; Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (electricity), 6.2%; S.A.C.I. Falabella (retail), 5.7%; Quimica y Minera de Chile (mining), 5.4%; Banco Santander Chile (banking), 5.4%; Enersis AS (electricity), 4.8%; and Empresas CMPC (pulp and paper), 4.5%.

The fund’s industry breakdown is: Utilities, 21.6%; Financials, 17.7%; Materials, 13.7%; Consumer Staples, 12.4%; Industrials, 10.7%; Energy, 8.0%; Consumer Discretionary, 7.2%; Telecommunications, 3.1%; and Information Technology, 2.0%.

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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.

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 $10.17 (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%; Honda Motor, 2.7%; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, 2.4%; Mizuho Financial Group, 2.2%; Canon, 1.8%; Takeda Pharmaceutical, 1.8%; Softbank Corp., 1.5%; Fanuc Corp., 1.3%; and Japan Tobacco Inc., 1.2%.

The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Consumer Discretionary, 20.7%; Financials, 20.1%; Industrials, 20.0%; Information Technology, 10.8%; Health Care, 6.9%; Materials, 6.6%; Consumer Staples, 6.3%; Telecommunication Services, 4.4%; Utilities, 2.6%; and Energy, 1.6%.

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

TELUS $70.62 (Toronto symbol T; Shares outstanding: 324.9 million; Market cap: $22.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.6%; www.telus.com) has finished converting its 151 million non-voting class A shares into regular common shares (which have one vote each) on a one-for-one basis.

The move diluted common shareholders’ voting power, but it lets the common shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol TU)....