Despite the significant long-term growth potential in food demand, the prices of agricultural commodities are volatile and as a group have performed poorly over the past 17 years. Still, many of the top companies involved in the industry have done well and outperformed the S&P 500 since 2007.


Certainly, investors should note the high level of volatility and risk involved with both agriculture commodities and the shares of the producers....

This month we look at new ETFs that use derivative instruments to target specific investment outcomes. The BMO U.S. Equity Buffer ETF aims to offer upside market gains, combined with limited protection against market declines. The Harvest Industrial Leaders Income ETF aims to supplement the income and yield of a portfolio of U.S....

Tourism has become one of the major segments of Vietnam’s economy in recent years, but the industry was severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, the country’s tourism sector continues to recover following the reopening of its border to international tourists in March 2022.


The growth in the Vietnamese tourism industry has been impressive....

The Vietnamese economy continues to expand steadily in the wake of the pandemic—with tourism playing a key role. Longer-term, it should also continue to attract foreign manufacturers looking to steer clear of any China-U.S. trade issues. Meanwhile, the country’s free-trade pact with the European Union came into effect in August 2020....

Information technology has been the best-performing market segment over the past 25 years, although there have been some big downs along with the big ups. Going forward, we still see top information technology stocks—and the ETFs that hold them—as an attractive component of an investor’s overall Manufacturing sector holdings.


Please see the supplement on page 70 for more information about the risks and rewards involved in technology ETFs....

Closed-end funds work with a fixed asset base invested in a portfolio of securities. The value of their assets rises and falls depending on how they invest. Their units trade like stocks, and most often on a stock exchange.


They may trade above the per-unit value of the investments they hold—or, as brokers say, “at a premium” to their net asset value....

Crop and food prices will continue to fluctuate from year to year, but it’s a good bet that global food production and consumption will continue to increase. We think the best way to profit is through shares of well-established companies with a range of operations to help offset swings in commodity prices....

We designed our Portfolios to help you build the kind of portfolio we advocate....

GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $40 (www.greatwestlifeco.com) is a hold. The insurer earned $1.09 a share (or a total of $1.01 billion) in the first quarter of 2024, up 22.5% from $0.89 a share (or $826 million) a year earlier....

Nutrien’s shares shot up to $148 in April 2022 on a sharp increase in potash prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The stock is now down 47% as potash supplies and prices stabilize. We still like the company’s long-term outlook, particularly as the world’s rising population and declining arable land per person will require farmers to use more fertilizers to increase their crop yields.


NUTRIEN LTD....