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ETFs

What are ETFs?

ETF is an acronym for exchange traded fund. These exchange traded funds are used to track indexes as closely as possible, since investors cannot actually buy an index outright.

Exchange traded funds trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. Investors can buy them on margin, or sell them short. The best exchange-traded funds offer well-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios with exceptionally low management ETF fees. They are also very liquid.

Investors use ETFs in a variety of ways, and some investors work only with ETFs and no other type of investment in portfolio creation.

An amazing aspect of ETFs is their diversity. Some investors may create an entire portfolio solely from a few well-diversified ETFs.

ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. That’s different from mutual funds, which you can only buy at the end of the day at a price that reflects the fund’s value at the close of trading.

Prices of ETFs are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell them, but their low management fees give them a cost advantage over most mutual funds.

As well, shares are only added or removed when the underlying index changes. As a result of this low turnover, you won’t incur the regular capital gains taxes generated by the yearly distributions most conventional mutual funds pay out to unitholders.

ETFs have a place in every investor’s portfolio, at TSI Network we also recommend using our three-part Successful Investor strategy:

Invest mainly in well-established companies;
Spread your money out across most if not all of the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry; Resources & Commodities; the Consumer sector; Finance; Utilities);
Downplay or avoid stocks in the broker/media limelight.

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ETFs Library Archives

ETFs

Japan’s exports on the rise

ISHARES MSCI JAPAN INDEX FUND $50.84 (New York Exchange symbol EWJ; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) is an ETF that tries to match the return of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Japan index.

The fund’s top holdings include Toyota, 5.2%; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, 2.2%; KDDI Corp....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Updates on six North American ETFs

These six ETFs hold mostly blue-chip stocks that are widely traded on Canadian and U.S. exchanges. Each ETF mirrors, or tracks, the performance of a major stock market index. That’s different from narrower indexes that focus on resources or themes such as solar power or biotech.

Of course, you pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell these ETFs....

4 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

This China ETF is a hold

ISHARES CHINA LARGE-CAP ETF $35.51 (New York symbol FXI; buy or sell through brokers) holds the 50 largest, most-liquid Chinese stocks.

The ETF’s top holdings include Tencent Holdings, China Mobile, China Construction Bank, Bank of China, Ping An Insurance, and China Petroleum and Chemical Corp....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Hold off on new buying

ISHARES CDN REIT SECTOR INDEX FUND $16.09 (Toronto symbol XRE; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds all 16 Canadian real estate investment trusts in the S&P/TSX REIT Index.

The fund’s MER is 0.61%, and it yields 5.1%.

The ETF’s top ten holdings are: RioCan REIT at 19.6%, H&R REIT (14.2%), Smart REI...

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

These bond funds offer top quality holdings

The Bank of Canada is unlikely to raise interest rates any time soon. That’s because low prices for oil should continue to offset government stimulus spending as well as increased exports due to the weak Canadian dollar. The federal government’s tighter mortgage rules should also cool housing markets and further limit the need to raise interest rates.

Even so, interest rates are expected to rise in the long term....

2 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Copper outlook uncertain

GLOBAL X COPPER MINERS ETF $17.31 (New York symbol COPX; buy or sell through brokers; www.globalxfunds.com) tracks the Solactive Global Copper Miners Index, which includes 20 to 40 international companies that mine, refine and explore for copper. Germany-based Structured Solutions AG created the index in April 2010.

Canadian firms make up 46.2% of the ETF’s holdings....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Best ETFs for gold and silver exposure

In 2011, gold shot up to a high of $1,950 U.S. an ounce, and silver reached a peak of $48.48.

Gold prices then fell steadily, dropping to $1,050 an ounce in December 2015 for the first time since early 2010. That month, silver also declined to a five-year low of $13.65 an ounce.

Gold now trades at $1,297 and silver at $18.49....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

India’s reforms need time

ISHARES INDIA 50 ETF $29.21 (Nasdaq symbol INDY; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) is an ETF that tracks the Nifty 50 index—the 50 largest, most liquid Indian securities. The ETF began trading in November 2009.

The fund’s top holdings are: Housing Development Finance, 7.0%; ITC Ltd....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Low-fee way to buy U.S. and emerging stocks

Pennsylvania-based Vanguard Group is one of the world’s largest investment management companies. In all, it administers almost $3 trillion U.S. across 175 mutual funds and ETFs.

Generally speaking, Canadians are unable to buy mutual funds that are registered in the U.S....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Hold off buying these two China ETFs

Chinese stocks have rebounded around 33% from their February 2016 lows. But they are still well below their mid-2015 highs.

While the economy grew 6.7% in the latest quarter, that was fuelled by goverment spending, record lending by the banks and a red-hot housing market....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

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Browse Premium Topics

Cannabis

Spinoffs

One of the ways a company can try to unlock its own hidden value is by creating a separate company out of a corporate subsidiary. The parent company can either sell stock in the new company to the public, or spin it off—hand the stock out to its own investors.

Dividend Stocks

Dividend stocks make cash payouts that serve as a way for companies to share the wealth they’ve accumulated. These payouts are drawn from earnings and cash flow and paid to the shareholders of the company. Typically, these dividends are paid quarterly, although they may be paid annually or even monthly as well.

ETFs

What are ETFs?

ETF is an acronym for exchange traded fund. These exchange traded funds are used to track indexes as closely as possible, since investors cannot actually buy an index outright.

Value Stocks

What are value stocks?

One of the sweetest and most profitable pleasures of successful investing is to buy high-quality “value stocks” (or stocks that are reasonably priced, if not cheap, in relation to its sales, earnings or assets), then hold on to them as mainstream investors recognize the value and push up the share price.

Blue Chip Stocks

Blue chip stocks are big, well-established, dividend-paying corporations with strong business prospects. These are companies that also have sound management that should be able to make the right moves to keep competing successfully in a changing marketplace.

Penny Stocks

A penny stock in general trades for under five dollars a share, and as the name implies, sometimes for pennies. Most of the time they’re young companies, or start-ups in speculative markets like mining or technology.

Growth Stocks

Growth stocks are companies that are likely to have sales and earnings growth well above market average. Frequently they pay few, if any, dividends. Instead they typically reinvest any extra cash flow to promote further growth. Chosen wisely—according to Pat McKeough’s advice—high-quality growth-oriented stocks can be worthwhile additions to most well-diversified portfolios.

Wealth Management

Wealth management is the practice of putting your savings to work so that it continues to grow over your lifetime and will also benefit your heirs. Wealth management encompasses many different areas of investing like long term investment planning and retirement planning.

Mining Stocks

Mining stocks are investments in companies that produce or explore for minerals. Some of these minerals include uranium, coal, molybdenum (which is used in steelmaking), copper, silver and gold. They are affected by fluctuating commodity prices in addition to their own business and operating risks.

How To Invest

Pat McKeough has been making investing for beginners simple—and profitable—by helping investors make big gains for more than 25 years. His advice to beginning investors is the same as it is for all investors: buy high-quality, mostly dividend paying stocks (or ETFs that hold these stocks) and evenly spread your investments over the five main economic sectors (Resources, Manufacturing, Finance, Utilities and Consumer). Pat also believes investors should avoid stocks in the broker/media limelight and focus on those with hidden or little-noticed assets.

Energy Stocks

What are energy stocks?

Businesses that work in the extraction, refining and delivery of energy sources such as natural gas, oil, uranium and coal, are considered energy stocks.