stock exchange

SARA LEE CORP., $20.13, New York symbol SLE, will break itself into two publicly traded companies on June 28, 2012. Under this plan, Sara Lee will hand out shares of one of these new companies, D.E. Master Blenders 1753 N.V., to its own shareholders. D.E. Master Blenders will consist of Sara Lee’s international coffee and tea businesses. It will be based in the Netherlands, and its shares will trade on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange under the DE symbol. Investors will receive one share of D.E. Master Blenders for each Sara Lee common share they hold. This is a tax-deferred distribution, so investors will only be liable for capital-gains taxes on their new shares when they sell them. Shareholders will also receive a special cash dividend of $3.00 a share....

American Depositary Receipts make foreign investing easier and safer for individual investors. The foreign company must provide detailed financial information to U.S. regulators and to the sponsor, or depositary, bank or broker. As well, since ADRs trade on U.S. stock exchanges in U.S. dollars, you don’t have to worry about currency exchange rates, foreign stock exchange rules, or language barriers. Today we highlight one of the world’s most prominent commodity stocks, an ADR with its home base in Australia, and one that made headlines in Canada when its attempted takeover of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (Toronto symbol POT) was blocked by Ottawa in 2010....

American Depositary Receipts make foreign investing easier and safer for individual investors. The foreign company must provide detailed financial information to U.S. regulators and to the sponsor, or depositary, bank or broker. As well, since ADRs trade on U.S. stock exchanges in U.S. dollars, you don’t have to worry about currency exchange rates, foreign stock exchange rules, or language barriers. We have a high opinion of these four global leaders, but not all are buys right now. BHP BILLITON LTD. ADRs $63 (New York symbol BHP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; ADRs outstanding: 2.7 billion; Market cap: $170.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 3.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.bhpbilliton.com) is the world’s largest mining company, with operations in Australia, South Africa, Chile and the U.K. It produces iron ore, coal, oil, natural gas, aluminum, manganese, diamonds and titanium....

I have a couple of problems with the term “blue chip.” First, I find it encourages sloppy thinking. The New York Stock Exchange defines a blue chip as stock in a company with a national reputation for quality, reliability and the ability to operate profitably in good times and bad. The problem is that “reputation” plays a key role in the definition. Many companies acquire a blue-chip reputation by displaying the qualities that the definition suggests. Others get it through a strong public relations effort or by being in the right industry or business situation at the right time and place. Regardless of how it got there, this blue-chip label sticks with companies long after they quit living up to it. If you shop purely on reputation and fail to investigate before you buy, you can assume you’ll eventually get burned, regardless of whether you are looking for consumer goods or investments....

ISHARES MSCI CHILE INVESTABLE MARKET INDEX FUND $67.90 (New York Exchange symbol ECH; buy or sell through brokers), is an ETF that aims to track the MSCI Chile Investable Market Index. This index consists of stocks that are mainly traded on the Santiago Stock Exchange.

The fund’s top holdings are Empresas Copec SA (conglomerate), 10.3%; Quimica y Minera de Chile (mining), 7.7%; Cencosud SA (retailer), 7.6%; Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (electric power), 7.4%; Enersis AS (electric power), 6.7%; Banco Santander Chile (banking), 6.6%; Empresas CMPC (pulp and paper), 5.2%; LAN Airlines SA (Chilean national airline), 4.8%; S.A.C.I. Falabella (retail), 4.7%; and CAP SA (iron mining and steel), 4.6%.

The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Utilities, 22.4%; Materials, 18.3%; Industrials, 18.0%; Financials, 17.4%; Consumer Staples, 13.0%; Consumer Discretionary, 6.1%; Telecommunications, 2.7%; and Information Technology, 1.3%.

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Vietnam has a fast-growing economy, largely thanks to its low wages and rising exports. The country’s labour and production costs are as little as one-third of similar costs in China. Plus, over 50% of Vietnam’s population of 85 million is under 25 years of age, so it has a large future labour pool. The country is steadily integrating itself into the global economy. Vietnam hosted the 2006 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Hanoi. While there, President Bush visited the Vietnam stock exchange in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) and rang a gong to open trading. Vietnam became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007. This gave the country’s businesses improved access to more markets and investment capital worldwide. Vietnam is a major producer of agricultural products—it’s currently the world’s biggest exporter of cashew nuts and the second-largest exporter of coffee and rice. However, the country is quickly adding manufacturing to its export base—and it’s doing that by attracting more foreign investment....

Your best chance of getting rich is by putting your money in your own business. But this can be risky investment advice. Many new businesses wind up failing.

MCDONALD’S CORP., $96.84, New York symbol MCD, reported lower-than-expected same-store sales for February 2012. That caused the stock to fall 2% this week. The restaurant chain’s same-store sales rose 7.5% during the month. That missed the consensus forecast of a 7.7% increase. Even so, it’s a big jump from the 3.9% sales gain the company reported in February 2011. Most of the increase came from its U.S. operations, where same-store sales rose 11.1% thanks to strong demand for a new popcorn chicken product (Chicken McBites), premium coffees and breakfast items. Same-store sales rose 4.0% in Europe, where strong gains in the U.K. and Russia offset lower sales in other markets due to severe winter weather. Same-store sales rose just 2.4% in Asia, partly due to lower sales in Japan, which is still recovering from last year’s earthquake/tsunami....

Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a new or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you specific investment advice on a wide range of topics, including the best strategies to use in international stock markets. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental piece of investing strategy, and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Today’s tip: “There are 3 convenient ways to invest in foreign growth without getting out of your comfort zone.”...

Carnival Corp., $30.32, symbol CCL on New York, and its affiliate, Carnival plc, symbol CCL on the London Stock Exchange (Shares outstanding: 777.1 million; Market cap: $18.1 billion; www.carnivalcorp.com), operate as single business but have separate exchange listings. The combined company is the world’s largest cruise ship operator, with 99 vessels. It took its current form in 2003 through the merger of Carnival and rival P&O Princess. Apart from Carnival Cruise Lines, the company’s major brands include Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Costa Cruises and Cunard Line. The company also operates ports and hotels....