The root of the term “blue chip” stems from the game of poker, as the blue chips represent the highest value. Investing in blue chip stocks can give you an additional measure of safety in today’s turbulent markets.
Pat McKeough believes investors will profit most, and with the least amount of risk, by putting the bulk of your stock portfolio in shares of blue chip companies—those that are well-established, with strong balance sheets and steady earnings and cash flow. These are companies that have bright prospects in healthy and growing industries.
The best blue chips offer both capital gains growth potential and regular dividend income. The dividend yield is certainly one of the most concrete indicators of a sound investment. It is the percentage you get when you divide the current yearly dividend payment by the share or unit price of the investment. It’s an indicator we pay especially close attention to when we select stocks to recommend in our investment newsletters.
We feel most investors should hold the largest part of their investment portfolios in securities from blue chip companies. All these stocks should offer good “value”—that is, they should trade at reasonable multiples of earnings, cash flow, book value and so on. Ideally, they should also have above average-growth prospects in expanding markets.
Meanwhile, when investing in any type of stock, at TSI Network we recommend using our three-part Successful Investor strategy:
1-Invest mainly in well-established companies;
2-Spread your money out across most if not all of the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry; Resources & Commodities; Consumer; Finance; Utilities);
3-Downplay or avoid stocks in the broker/media limelight.
[text_ad]
The Specsavers locations will provide convenient access to comprehensive eye examinations, prescription eyewear, contact lenses, and specialized eye care services. All locations will be staffed by qualified independent optometrists and opticians.
That’s mainly because TD has sold its entire 10.1% stake in Charles Schwab Corp. (New York SCHW) for about $20 billion. It’s using $8 billion of that cash to buy back 5.7% of its outstanding shares.
BCE is paying $3.65 billion U.S. in cash (about $5 billion Cdn.) for this business. It will also assume $2 billion (Cdn.) of Ziply’s debt.
Earnings excluding one-time items gained 16.6%, to $2.65 billion from $2.28 billion. Due to more shares outstanding, per-share earnings rose 15.2%, to $2.80 from $2.43.
The U.S. government recently approved the use of stablecoins—a form of cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to the U.S. dollar or other currency—for electronic payments. That could hurt volumes on Visa’s network, which charges higher processing fees.
Rising demand for LNG—along with Ottawa’s plan to streamline the construction of new infrastructure projects—bodes well for TC Energy. It built and operates the Coastal GasLink pipeline that supplies gas to the Kitimat facility and it will likely play a big role in connecting future LNG facilities with gas producers in Alberta and B.C.
What’s more, TC operates most of its pipelines under rate-regulated or take-or-pay contracts with gas producers. Those predictable cash flows cut the risk of these new projects. They also give the company plenty of room to keep increasing your dividend.
Quantum technology uses electrons rather than transistors....
INTACT FINANCIAL, $305.99, is a Power Buy. The insurer (Toronto symbol IFC; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (www.intactfc.com; Shares outstanding: 178.3 million; Market cap: $54.6 billion; Dividend yield: 1.7%) is Canada’s largest provider of property and casualty coverage: its policies cover more than five million individuals and businesses....
Starting with the July 2025 payment, investors will receive $0.4375 a share instead of $0.9975....