CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL INC., $56.12, is a buy. The stock (symbol CMG on New York) lets you tap this Mexican restaurant chain, headquartered in Denver. The company is a fast-food leader charging slightly higher prices than its competitors but offering better quality food, including naturally raised meat.

Chipotle has announced that it will bring back its Smoked Brisket at participating restaurants in the U.S....

GENERAL MILLS INC., $73.71, New York symbol GIS, is still a hold.

This consumer staples giant is one of the world’s largest foodmakers. Its top brands include Cheerios (cereal), Pillsbury (baking dough), Progresso (soups and salads) and Blue Buffalo (pet food), which it acquired in April 2018 for $8.0 billion.

The company has agreed to sell its North American yogurt business....

VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC., $44.43, New York symbol VZ, is a buy.

The telecom provider is the second-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. after AT&T, with 114.2 million consumer cellphone subscribers. It also sells traditional telephone lines, high-speed Internet and TV services.

With the November 2024 payment, Verizon will raise your quarterly dividend by 1.9%, to $0.6775 a share from $0.655....

TC ENERGY INC., $63.27, Toronto symbol TRP, is a buy.

TC generates steady cash flow for investors mainly through a 93,300-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 seven power plants.

On October 1, 2024, the company will complete the spinoff of its oil pipeline business as separate company South Bow Corp....

The demand for healthcare products and services has been growing for decades. That trend should only continue as the population of the developed world grows older and medical services expand in the developing world.


Meanwhile, significant new developments in the field of medical technology, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI), should add to the outlook for suppliers of healthcare products and services.


In the next section, we summarize some of the main developments in the field of AI, and its usefulness for the healthcare sector.


Artificial intelligence comes to healthcare


The data-processing and predictive capabilities of AI let health professionals better manage their resources and take a more proactive approach to various aspects of healthcare.


With these technologies, doctors can make quicker and more accurate diagnoses, patients can receive more timely and personalized treatments, and scientists can speed up drug discoveries....

Companies that own and operate unique infrastructure assets have characteristics such as stable profits and cash flows that make them attractive to long-term investors. And investors seeking exposure to these assets have several publicly listed options, including ETFs.


Indexes that track the performance of listed infrastructure companies have performed as well as the broad global equity markets over the long term; they have also experienced similar or lower volatility than the markets....

ETFs in brief


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

Japan’s population is getting older, and with an average age of 49.5 years, is the oldest population in the world. While people are living longer the fertility rate is declining—women are expected to bear only 1.3 children during their lifetimes.


Given the low fertility rate, the Japanese population is expected to decline by about a quarter, from 125 million today to 96 million by 2060....

This month we look at an ETF from Brompton that selects companies with a high free cash flow yield. A second highlighted ETF comes from RBC iShares. It invests in the companies held in the S&P 500 Index, but reduces stock concentration by capping individual stock weights at 3%.


Brompton International Cash Flow Kings ETF $9.82 (Toronto symbol KNGX) invests in listed companies outside North America with high free cash flow (regular cash flow less maintenance capital expenditures) per share....