As you’re no doubt familiar, as part of our three-pronged approach to investing, we recommend investors avoid companies in the media limelight. (The other two parts are diversifying your holdings across the five main economic sectors, and sticking to well-established companies).

A great example of an out-of-the-limelight stock is uniform rental company Cintas....

SEZZLE INC., $212.96, symbol SEZL on Nasdaq, provides a platform for merchants in the U.S. and Canada that lets customers pay for merchandise through installments, better known as BNPL or “buy now, pay later.”

The company had 462,000 active subscribers as of June 30, 2024, up from 210,000 on September 30, 2023.

The BNPL and point-of-sale financing market in North America accounts for less than 2% of the estimated $207-billion market for total commerce transaction value....

CANADIAN PACIFIC KANSAS CITY LTD., $107.18, Toronto symbol CP, is still your #1 Conservative Buy for 2024.

The company took its current form in April 2023 when it acquired U.S.-based railway Kansas City Southern (KCS).

CP paid $31 billion U.S....

BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORP., $84.73, is a buy. The company (symbol BSX on New York) develops and markets medical devices used in minimally invasive procedures. Its products are used for angioplasty (blood vessel repair), blood clot filtration, cardiac rhythm management, catheter-aided ultrasound imaging, and many other surgical procedures....

GENUINE PARTS CO., $114.24, New York symbol GPC, is still a buy for long-term gains.

The company has over 10,800 company-owned and independent auto parts stores in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Most of them operate under the famous NAPA banner....

MCDONALD’S CORP., $292.61, New York symbol MCD, is still your #1 Conservative Buy for 2024.

The company is the world’s largest fast-food chain with over 42,000 restaurants in 119 countries. It serves a wide variety of food but is best known for its hamburgers and french fries.

The stock fell 8% this week after the U.S....

You can’t fake a record of dividends....

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $173 is a buy. The bank (Toronto symbol RY; Income-Growth Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $242.2 billion; Dividend yield: 3.3%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.rbc.com) is Canada’s largest chartered bank by market cap....

Networking equipment maker Cisco recently acquired Splunk, which specializes in cybersecurity software. The purchase will improve its hardware products, and let it tap Splunk’s expertise in the rapidly growing field of artificial intelligence (AI) software.


CISCO SYSTEMS INC....

SUNCOR ENERGY INC. $53 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol SU; Cyclical-Growth Payer Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.3 billion; Market cap: $68.9 billion; Dividend yield: 4.1%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.suncor.com) is Canada’s largest integrated oil firm, with major projects in the Alberta oil sands.


With the December 2023 payment, Suncor raised your quarterly dividend by 4.8%, to $0.545 a share from $0.52....