Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia continue to rebound as the economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, they have lagged the gains of Canada’s other four big banks (see page 43).


That’s mainly because Bank of Nova Scotia has shifted its international focus in the past few years to four countries in Latin America—Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Chile....

A: Mastercard Inc., $363.96, symbol MA on New York (Shares outstanding: 969.7 million; Market cap: $358.7 billion; www.mastercard.com), is the world’s second-largest payment processor behind only Visa (symbol V on New York).

Mastercard makes money from every transaction it processes for Mastercard-branded credit cards both domestically and cross-border....

A: FactSet Research Systems Inc., $439.92, symbol FDS on New York (Shares outstanding: 37.8 million; Market cap: $16.4 billion; www.factset.com), is a leading provider of financial data and portfolio analytics to investment firms worldwide.

On December 27, 2021, FactSet announced that it would acquire CUSIP Global Services for $1.93 billion in cash....

A: RealtyMogul Apartment Growth REIT is a private REIT (more on those below) with around $236 million in assets. The company pays quarterly distributions that yield a high 4.5%. The REIT has a 1.25% management fee.

RealtyMogul Apartment Growth REIT invests in apartment buildings located in markets its managers believe can offer current income as well as growth potential.

The REIT currently owns eight properties: four in Texas, and one each in Connecticut, Michigan, Florida and New York state.

To boost investor returns, the REIT aims to add value to its properties through property exterior and unit improvements....

A: Tricon Residential Inc., $19.67, symbol TCN on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 272.2 million; Market cap: $5.4 billion; www.triconresidential.com), owns and operates a portfolio of more than 37,000 single-family rental (SFR) homes and multi-family rental apartments in the U.S....

A: PayPal Holdings Inc., $118.23, symbol PYPL on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $142.0 billion; www.paypal.com), remains a buy, but only for aggressive investors.

The company gives investors a way to tap into the fast-growing field of online transaction processing....

Here are three rules for investing successfully in fast-growing stocks:

1. These stocks tend to be highly volatile, but not consistently so. They may go racing up and down, but also go through long periods of relative price stability.
2. If you wait to buy on a dip, you may sit through a long rise and miss out on a huge gain.
3. A bigger risk of waiting to buy on a dip is that the downturn that spurs you to buy may look like a dip at first, but turn out to be the start of a major decline.

Waiting for a dip sounds like conservative, risk-reduced investing....

UPSTART HOLDINGS INC., $109.03, symbol UPST on Nasdaq, is a California-based artificial intelligence (AI) lending platform that aims to help its bank partners make better credit decisions resulting in more loans at lower risk. The company also operates Upstart Auto Retail, a platform that aims to help auto dealers close more sales.

Upstart’s platform connects consumers looking for loans with its network of Upstart AI-enabled bank partners....

INTEL CORP., $48.11, Nasdaq symbol INTC, remains a buy for long-term gains.

The company is the world’s leading maker of computer chips: its products power 90% of all personal computers and more than 80% of all datacentres.

With the March 2022 payment, Intel raised your quarterly dividend by 5.0%....

PFIZER INC., $51.57, New York symbol PFE, is your #1 Income Buy for 2022.

The company is one of the world’s largest makers of prescription drugs. Its top-selling brands include Eliquis (stroke), Ibrance (breast cancer) and Prevnar (pneumonia).

Pfizer has increased its dividend rate each year since 2011....