Telus Corp.

A: The iShares S&P/TSX Composite High Dividend Index ETF, $17.60, symbol XEI on Toronto (Units outstanding: 35.3 million; Market cap: $621.3 million; www.blackrock.com/ca), aims to track the S&P/TSX Composite High Dividend Index, which effectively holds the 75 highest-yielding Canadian stocks.

The index is market-capitalization weighted, with each stock capped at 5% (any stock may rise above 5% temporarily until rebalancing)....

BCE and Telus are high-quality firms with businesses well-prepared to withstand the COVID-19 slowdown.


Longer term, the recent launch of their new ultrafast 5G wireless networks will provide strong growth prospects and boost their cash flow to pay for dividend increases.


BCE INC....

CANADIAN TIRE CORP. (class A non-voting) is a buy. This Canadian stock (Toronto symbols CTC $212 and CTC.A $129; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares o/s: 60.8 million; Market cap: $7.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 3.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadiantire.ca) had to temporarily close its more than 1,700 stores due to COVID-19....

Based on lots of things we’re looking at, we’re still reasonably sure that stock and ETF prices will be higher in a year or two than they are today. But the market rarely goes straight up or down. Instead we should expect a series of abrupt movements in either direction.


That volatility is all the more reason for conservative investors to keep a high proportion of their holdings in dividend-paying stocks—or ETFs that hold those stocks.


The best dividend stocks provide a consistent dividend yield year after year....

NortonLifeLock is the new name for Symantec—one of our long-time tech stock favourites. The company changed its name following the sale late last year of its corporate cybersecurity business.

Brokers and traders are inclined to say that the asset sale gives the company’s investors exposure to the leading “pure-play” provider of consumer cybersecurity and identity-protection software....

Central banks are keeping interest rates down in order to counter the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. (The Supplement on page 69 offers you more info on how high deficits and low interest rates in the wake of the coronavirus will affect governments going forward.)


Utilities as a sector will benefit from the lower rates....

Telus’s long-term commitment to improving the speed and capacity of its wireless and Internet networks continues to pay off for investors. That’s especially so during the coronavirus pandemic and the sharp rise in Canadians using their home Internet service to work remotely....

TELUS $24.53 is a #1 Buy for 2020. The stock (Toronto symbol T; Shares outstanding: 1.3 billion; Market cap: $31.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.8%; www.telus.com) is Canada’s third-largest wireless carrier after Rogers Communications (No....

TELUS CORP. $23 is still a buy. The company (Toronto symbol T; Income-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 1.3 billion; Market cap: $29.9 billion; Dividend yield: 5.1%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.telus.com) is Canada’s third-largest wireless carrier after Rogers Communications (No....

BCE and Telus are high-quality companies with businessess well-prepared to withstand the coronavirus slowdown, and protect their balance sheets and investor dividends.


Each telecom will suffer some revenue losses as it waives data caps and late payment charges to help customers in need.


Governments and regulators are likely to look favourably on those efforts long after the coronvirus crisis lifts....