A: Brilliant Earth Group Inc., $3.41, symbol BRLT on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 97.1 million; Market cap: $315.4 million; www.brilliantearth.com), is a direct-to-consumer retailer that claims to provide customers with what it calls the best in ethically sourced diamonds and other jewellery.

The company offers a collection of premium-quality diamond engagement and wedding rings, gemstone rings, and fine jewellery, conceptualized by its in-house design studio and then created by expert jewellers.

Established in 2005 with a single showroom in San Francisco, California, the company has since expanded into a nationwide business with more than 37 bricks-and-mortar showrooms....

On Black Friday this year—November 24, the day after U.S. Thanksgiving, which is the traditional start of the U.S. Christmas shopping season—the Wall Street Journal ran an interesting article entitled “You’re Probably Falling for Fake Product Reviews.”

The Journal quoted a University of California at Los Angeles professor, Brett Hollenbeck, who has studied the subject....

TORONTO-DOMINION BANK, $81.01, Toronto symbol TD, is a buy.

The bank is now raising your quarterly dividend by 6.3%. Starting with the January 2024 payment, investors will receive $1.02 a share instead of $0.96. The new annual rate of $4.08 yields a solid 5.0%.

TD continues to benefit from rising interest rates, which is letting it earn higher interest income on its loans....

SYMBOTIC INC., $50.33, symbol SYM on Nasdaq, manufactures AI-powered autonomous robots, which major companies use in their warehouse fulfillment and distribution processes to save time and money. Customers using the Symbotic platform include Walmart, Target, and C&S Grocery Wholesalers.

Symbotic went public in June 2022 through a merger with SVF Investment Corp....

NORTH WEST COMPANY, $39.65, is a buy. The retailer (symbol NWC on Toronto) sells food, and everyday products and services through 222 stores. Those locations are mainly in northern communities across Canada and Alaska. Through your shares, you also tap the company’s operations in remote regions of Hawaii, the wider South Pacific and the Caribbean.

North West’s food offerings consist of perishable and non-perishable products including groceries, dairy, produce, meat, convenience foods, food service, home meal replacement, health and beauty aids, paper products and cleaning supplies....

MCDONALD’S CORP., $285.52, New York symbol MCD, is your #1 Conservative Buy for 2023.

The company is the world’s largest fast-food chain with over 40,000 restaurants in 119 countries. It serves a wide variety of food but is best known for its hamburgers and french fries.

McDonald’s shares have gained over 50% in the past five years....

TELUS CORP., $25.06, Toronto symbol T, is your #1 Income Buy for 2023.

The company had 12.87 million wireless subscribers as of September 30, 2023. It also sells landline phone, Internet and TV services in B.C., Alberta and eastern Quebec.

Telus recently acquired additional wireless spectrum (or radio frequencies) from the federal government....

ETFs in brief


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

Here’s a look at some of the factors that make the three ETFs we see as buys on pages 3 and 4 attractive—and why we don’t like the fourth.


Healthy profits in healthcare equipment


With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare equipment providers were hurt as hospitals prioritized emergency care over non-critical procedures....

Higher interest rates in Canada, the U.S. and many other parts of the world have made high-yielding securities, including real estate investment trusts (REITs), much less appealing compared to bonds for income-seeking investors. In fact, over the past two years or so, ETFs focused on U.S....