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Artificial intelligence (AI) is an example of an investment idea that could boost your investment returns—or more likely end up of costing you money. All in all, we think that the biggest, surest gains from AI will come from investing in established businesses that are already profitable and growing, and that can gain all the more by applying AI to their operations.


Here are two companies that are already profitably taking advantage of AI, and they will be among the leaders in the push to extend AI’s use:


TWILIO INC., $61.44, is a buy. The company (Nasdaq symbol TWLO; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (www.twilio.com; Shares outstanding: 171.2 million; Market cap: $10.5 billion; No dividends paid.) spends a high 30% of sales on R&D—that includes spending to expand its Twilio CustomerAI technology.


The hi-tech offering combines AI with real-time customer data flowing through Twilio’s Customer Engagement Platform....

Pipeline giant TC Energy has set the terms for the upcoming spinoff of its oil pipeline business (called South Bow Corp.): investors will receive 0.2 of a South Bow share for every TC share they hold. The new shares will trade on the Toronto and New York exchanges under the “SOBO” symbol....

Our of our favorite long-term stocks is FedEx thanks to its earnings growth now and into the future while the shares trade at just 14.3 times forecast earnings.

A: Robinhood Markets Inc., $18.25, symbol HOOD on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 892.7 million; Market cap: $14.8 billion; www.robinhood.com), is an online discount brokerage whose stated mission is to “democratize finance for all.”

In the U.S., Robinhood customers can trade U.S....

TWILIO INC., $60.10, symbol TWLO on Nasdaq, is a buy. The company offers a key service to software developers who create mobile apps. Specifically, its own software is used to connect apps to essential functions elsewhere on a device, including dealing with phone calls and messaging.

In the quarter ended March 31, 2024, revenue rose 4.0%, to $1.05 billion from $1.01 billion....

TC ENERGY INC., $52.78, Toronto symbol TRP, is a buy.

TC generates steady cash flow for investors mainly through a 93,600-kilometre pipeline network that pumps natural gas from Alberta to eastern Canada and the U.S. Its other operations include 4,900 kilometres of crude oil pipelines and nine power plants.

With the April 2024 payment, TC raised your quarterly dividend by 3.2%....

Savers Value Village reported a 66% earnings increase after reporting rising sales, opening new stores and improving its efficiency while cutting costs.

Medium-sized companies are a bit like the proverbial middle child—they tend not to get as much attention from investors as the smallest or the biggest. But this creates opportunities for investors who are prepared to add the best of those stocks—or the ETFs that hold them—to their portfolios.


High-quality mid-cap stocks can offer the stability and balance sheet strength of large caps, while at the same time, they give investors growth potential similar to small caps.


What are mid-cap stocks?


Mid-cap stocks fall between large-cap stocks and small-cap stocks but the average size of mid-cap companies varies from market to market.


Index provider S&P ranks all U.S....

Physical gold and silver have been strong performers over the past two decades even beating the S&P 500. Gold has also been much less volatile than the equity markets.


Investors shouldn’t overindulge in any one investment, and that includes gold, silver, platinum or any other precious metals....

An informal economy (or underground economy) is the part of an economy that is neither taxed nor monitored by any form of government. Informal economic activity ranges from unregistered legal activities to outright illegal activities. Examples include undocumented employment, fraudulent accounting practices, small-scale farming, gambling, prostitution, drug dealing and smuggling.


Economists identify two main factors that drive economic activity underground—the pace of economic development and the quality of societal institutions....