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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

The universe of actively managed ETFs keeps growing

Exchange-traded funds have traditionally been managed as passive, index-tracking investment vehicles. But that continues to change as more promoters launch actively managed ETFs into the market. Active management is when a fund manager picks stocks on an ongoing basis, rather than aiming to match benchmark indexes....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Semiconductor ETFs offer long-term promise

Many semiconductor (computer chip) stocks posted big gains after the pandemic hit in early 2020. That’s because sales of chips for personal electronics, such as computers, gaming hardware and so on, soared.

With COVID easing, demand for advanced chips—chips for automotive applications, datacentres, 5G technology and the Internet of Things (IoT)—has remained strong....

4 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Fundamental value wins in the long run

One of the best methods of building wealth over time is to zero in on the shares of companies (or the ETFs that hold them) with sound fundamental value. That includes a history of consistently strong sales and earnings, or cash flow. A solid balance sheet and a strong hold on a growing clientele are also pluses.

Here are two ETFs that aim to select high-quality companies with solid value....

3 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

EVs bolster copper’s outlook

GLOBAL X COPPER MINERS ETF, $39.58, is a buy. The ETF (New York symbol COPX; buy or sell through brokers; www.globalxfunds.com) lets you track the Solactive Global Copper Miners Index, with 40 global mining and exploration firms....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Top ETFs to drive your precious-metal gains

Most precious-metal stocks dropped, along with the market, in March 2020. They then quickly reversed that trend to soar for investors, in part because of gold’s appeal as a “safe harbour” in times of economic uncertainty. In fact, in August 2020, gold jumped to over $2,000 U.S....

2 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Tap the top solar shares

INVESCO SOLAR ETF, $76.55, is a buy for aggressive investors. The ETF (New York symbol TAN; buy or sell through brokers) tracks solar-related companies (including technology firms and utilities) listed on global exchanges.

The fund’s top holdings are First Solar (China; solar panels) at 11.6%; SolarEdge Technologies (Israel; solar-power batteries), 10.1%; Enphase Energy (U.S.; home solar systems), 6.7%; GCL Technology (China; polysilicon), 5.7%; Xinyi Solar (China; solar panels), 5.6%; and Sunrun (U.S.; solar panels), 4.6%. The ETF charges a relatively high MER of 0.69%.

Renewable stocks have drifted since early 2021; that follows big run-ups in 2020 on President Biden’s support for sun, wind and hydro power—plus strong investor interest in stocks that will gain from the push for global decarbonization....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

These ETFs are ideal for your foreign buying

Generally speaking, Canadians are blocked from buying mutual funds that are registered in the U.S. unless those funds are also registered with provincial securities commissions. (Moreover, some Canadian mutual funds are only available in a limited number of provinces.)

Investors in this country can, however, buy exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, listed on U.S....

2 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Exchange-traded Funds Portfolio for March 2023

You can see our Exchange-traded Funds Portfolio for March 2023 here.

ETFs in brief

Exchange-traded funds are set up to mirror the performance of a stock-market index or sub-index....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Don’t overlook mid-cap stock opportunities

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 you 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....

3 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Here are new ETFs for Canadian investors

Purpose Investments launched a series of leveraged single-stock ETFs in December 2022. Here we discuss the ETF that holds Apple shares but there are also similar ETFs that invest in single large U.S. companies, These include Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, Alphabet, and Exxon....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

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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.