TRANSCONTINENTAL INC. $20 is a buy for aggressive investors. The company (Toronto symbol TCL.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 83.6 million; Market cap: $1.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 4.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.tctranscontinental.com) is Canada’s leading printer of newspapers, advertising flyers, magazines and books. It also makes plastic packaging for consumer products.


Transcontinental has developed a new type of plastic film called BOPE (advanced biaxially oriented polyethylene).

Exchange-traded funds are set up to mirror the performance of a stock-market index or sub-index. They hold a more or less fixed selection of securities that represent the holdings of that index or sub-index and will allow the fund to “track” its performance.


The MER (Management Expense Ratio) is generally much lower on traditional ETFs than on conventional mutual funds. That’s because most traditional ETFs take a much simpler approach to investing. Instead of actively managing clients’ investments, ETF providers invest so as to mirror the holdings and performance of a particular stock-market index.

Market data and academic studies have consistently shown that high-quality companies tend to outperform the overall market over extended periods. The risk involved in these investments is also lower than the broad market.




Investors have different descriptions of high-quality companies. For some, it is the quality of management, products, and customer service; for others, it is high levels of profitability or financial strength. Still, there are overlaps in these definitions, including characteristics such as consistent profitability, high returns on capital, strong cash flows, and pristine balance sheets.



MSCI is one of the main providers of indexes that track the performance of high-quality companies. MSCI identifies three characteristics of these companie

Medium-sized companies are often overlooked as investors tend to focus their attention on large, stable companies or high-growth smaller companies. However, market research suggests that mid-cap stocks offer an attractive combination of stability and growth, providing interesting opportunities for investors who are prepared to do their homework.




Mid-cap stocks fall between large-cap stocks and small-cap stocks, but the size of mid-cap companies varies from country to country.



The index provider, S&P, ranks all U.S. listed stocks by market capitalization and then considers the top 500 to be large-cap, the next 400 as mid-cap, and the rest as small-cap. In the U.S., mid-cap stocks generally have market capitalizations between $2 billion and $20 billion. In the smaller Canadian market, mid-cap stocks mostly have market values between $1 billion U.S. and $6 billion U.S.

This month, we highlight a new ETF from BMO that invests in collateralized corporate loans. Our second ETF relies on a mix of stocks and fixed-income investments.


BMO BBB CLO ETF $30.05 (CBOE symbol ZBBZ) invests in the BBB-rated, collateralized loan obligations of issuers based outside of Canada, mainly in the U.S.



Collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) are financial products that pool together corporate loans for sale to investors in different risk and return categories called tranches.

Despite the occasional political challenges, the trade relationship between China and Australia has grown considerably over the years as both countries have found it mutually beneficial.


As China’s economy developed rapidly, it needed large quantities of natural resources for its infrastructure development and manufacturing expansion. Australia was a ready supplier. The relationship got a further boost when the two countries signed a free trade agreement that came into effect in December 2015.

The Australian economy has rebounded strongly in the wake of the pandemic. In fact, it’s now hitting all-time highs. In the near term, though, it faces challenges from still-high inflation, which is hurting consumer spending; as well, it must contend with uncertain global growth amid still-elevated interest rates. Still, global demand for commodities will boost exports. That should help to offset risks such as the ongoing tension between the U.S. and China, as well as a shortage of skilled workers and the service industry’s generally high labour costs.


ISHARES MSCI AUSTRALIA ETF $27.23 (New York symbol EWA; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Conservative; Market cap: $1.5 billion) tracks the performance of a basket of Australian listed companies.



Financial Services account for 41% of its assets, while Basic Materials (20%), Healthcare (8%), and Consumer Cyclicals (8%) are other key segments.