Buying just a Canadian index fund is not good enough. You need to diversify further, especially in Canada where three sectors—financials, materials and energy—are so heavily weighted in the S&P/TSX   Read More

Investor’s Digest of Canada technical analyst Brian Hoffman says rising wedge patterns have formed in the precious metals sector, the oil patch,  financial companies and with broader market indexes. A   Read More

Regular Investor’s Digest of Canada columnist Keith Richards observes that seasonality is a likely catalyst for corrections and suggests some exchange traded funds that may be best suited to capitalize   Read More

Follow the money into cyclical emerging markets or hunker down with some steady defensive stalwarts? The MoneyLetter’s regular investment strategy columnist John Stephenson recommends a combination of two emerging market   Read More

Portfolio manager Keith Richards, a regular Investor’s Digest columnist, reminds us that mining is not just a precious metals game. He finds some industrial metals that offer intriguing possibilities as   Read More

Have your cake and eat it too. Impossible? Maybe not, says portfolio manager Keith Richards. Mr. Richards names some stock sectors and specific exchange traded funds that you can use   Read More

Investors confused by the plethora of stocks available to build a balanced portfolio often turn to funds as an alternative. That’s when they discover that there seems to be more   Read More

Technical analyst and portfolio manager Keith Richards says bonds, utilities and consumer staples tend to do well in the weaker market months of May to November. He names some favourite   Read More

Most bond funds are conservative, produce reliable returns and are unexciting. But most of them have trouble keeping up with the bond market. That’s why you’re better off buying a   Read More

Have your cake and eat it too. Impossible? Maybe not, says portfolio manager Keith Richards. Mr. Richards names some stock sectors and specific exchange traded funds that you can use   Read More

Voters in the United Kingdom have voted to leave the European Union. The U.S. Fed has signaled that U.S. interest rates will remain lower for longer, perhaps not rising until   Read More

Markets have hit some resistance as the weather has warmed and seasonality is a likely catalyst for the correction. The S&P/TSX Composite Index has found resistance just above 14,000. Technical   Read More

Technical analyst and portfolio manager Keith Richards says bonds, utilities and consumer staples tend to do well in the weaker market months of May to November. He names some favourite   Read More

All that glitters is not gold—especially gold exchange-traded funds that hold no gold but only derivative contracts based on gold. Nick Barisheff is president and CEO of Bullion Management Group,   Read More

Preferred shares have continued to struggle to recoup the losses incurred earlier this year. So far this quarter, the S&P/TSX Preferred Share Index has gained 1.6 per cent, though it’s   Read More

Barrie, Ont.-based ValueTrend portfolio manager Keith Richards thinks so and he offers nine indicators as the evidence that convinced him to adopt a bearish market outlook and a defensive investment   Read More

The value of an exchange traded fund hinges on the assets held in the fund. Toronto-based Canaccord Genuity portfolio manager Kim Inglis tells why you should ensure that the markets   Read More

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant,   Read More

Chartered Market Technician Don Vialoux combines technical, fundamental and seasonality analysis to predict that Canadian metals and mining companies and U.S. industrial companies are set to rise this spring. He   Read More

If you believe a continued market downtrend for the intermediate term is likely, then shorting the market with exchange traded funds, stocks, currencies and gold might be of interest to   Read More

Chartered Market Technician Don Vialoux combines technical, fundamental and seasonality analysis to predict that Canadian metals and mining companies and U.S. industrial companies are set to rise this spring. He   Read More

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offer low management fees. That lets you keep more yield for yourself when you invest in ETFs that focus on higher dividends. Here’s one high dividend-paying ETF   Read More

David Cockfield, Markham, Ont.-based portfolio manager and managing director of Northland Wealth Management, says determining how much a security can lose is a vital part of picking investments. He recommends   Read More

Are you concerned about rising interest rates effect on stocks in the U.S.? Keith Richards, portfolio manager at Barrie, Ont.-based ValueTrend Wealth Management and a frequent contributor to The MoneyLetter,   Read More

The Money Reporter, written for “investors whose interest is more interest”, publishes a list of the 13 best exchange traded funds for an income-oriented portfolio. Using this list of 13   Read More

Though most investors believe that equities will, over time, outperform fixed-income investments, they still fear the stock market. They worry that they, or their mutual fund, will pick the wrong   Read More

Alternative investments such as gold and silver bullion are stuck in a bear market that is still intact. So says Toronto-based Brian Hoffman, CPA, CA, a member of the Canadian   Read More

This choppy, sideways market is no place for a buy-and-hold investment strategy. The best approach is one of constant sector rotation. So says Keith Richards, a portfolio manager at Barrie,   Read More

One of the main ideas behind index exchange traded funds, or “ETFs,” is to minimize costs. After all, these funds need no special portfolio-management skills. The manager simply duplicates the   Read More

Despite hand-wringing over America’s rising debt levels, U.S. markets continue to lead the world and the S&P 500 Composite Index has risen sharply over the past six years. Keith Richards,   Read More

This summer is shaping up to be one where macroeconomic trends will bulk large. Elvis Picardo, vice president, research, as well as portfolio manager, at Global Securities in Vancouver, identifies   Read More

Basing patterns are often a buy signal and Canadian banks, global agriculture stocks and U.S. junk bonds are poised to take off says Keith Richards, portfolio manager at Barrie, Ont.-based   Read More

Conventional wisdom is, well, conventional—and often inappropriate. Sunil Vidyarthi, president of Oakville, Ont.-based Value Sciences Inc., says the wisdom of putting bonds in your RRSP is flawed. In fact stocks   Read More

To ride out a correction, raise your cash limit. That’s the market outlook from Keith Richards, portfolio manager of Barrie, Ont.-based Value Trend/Wealth Management. With lots of change in your   Read More

After posting modest returns in 2014, Canadian bonds have gotten off to a strong start so far this year. Year to date, the FTSE Universe Bond Index has gained 4.2   Read More

Nature is springing back to life. But the markets are likely to correct significantly. Rebalance to emphasize cash and low-beta stocks. Keith Richards, portfolio manager at Barrie, Ont.-based ValueTrend suggests   Read More

In the past, buying all the shares that make up a stock index was a course of action available to only the largest investors. These days, however, Canadian stock-market investors   Read More

Remember all the talk a year or so ago how gold would take off? Well, guess what? It didn’t. In fact, it’s now trading at an even lower price. Keith   Read More

While the United States is entering an extended period of monetary tightening, Europe is beginning its experiment of unbridled and unrestrained monetary stimulus. One thing that investors know from the   Read More

Closed-end funds offer an alternative to traditional fund investing. One big difference is price. Even the best closed-end funds usually trade at a discount to their underlying asset value.
Closed-end funds   Read More

Limit the risk of your holdings. Adopt an investment strategy that will let you profit from—rather than be victimized by—bear market conditions.   Read More

 “As a technical analyst, I tend to avoid making longer-term predictions about markets, sectors or commodity prices. I find that forecasting market movements or events out beyond a few months   Read More

It’s the job of any financial writer to see through fresh eyes, to look for traps and false assumptions in the world of money. Investors who weathered the stormy bear markets of 2000 to 2003 and 2008 to 2009 know only too well what can happen to the unwary.   Read More

Recent market action indicates why it’s essential to hold Canadian equity index ETFs as part of a larger, well-diversified portfolio. Heavy concentration in just a few industry sectors makes Canadian   Read More

Bonds account for much of Canadians’ investments. And bond funds make up a large part of Canada’s mutual fund business. But investing in bond funds can deny you the very   Read More

Emerging markets have taken it on the chin lately. But this doesn’t mean it’s time to jump ship. For value-oriented folks, these markets are still good places in which to   Read More

Hamilton, Ont.-based Ken Norquay is a CMT (Chartered Market Technician) and the author of the behavioural finance book Beyond the Bull which discusses the impact of your personality on your   Read More

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam-based Peter Pham wrote recently in Investor’s Digest of Canada that the Greenback’s growing strength shows continued confidence in the American economy. He told readers how   Read More

A criticism of the standard market capitalization-weighted exchange-traded fund, or ETF, is that it mimics an index that gives greater weight to stocks that are high in demand among investors,   Read More

“If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” When Shelley wrote his famous poem “Ode to the West Wind”, he was looking forward to the gentler times of spring. Instead,   Read More

Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, offer low-cost exposure to indexes and sub-indexes on many stock markets throughout the world. In Canada, there are 340 exchange-traded products listed on the Toronto Stock   Read More

Though balanced funds are extremely popular with Canadian investors, we see little appeal in these investment products. It’s better to create your own balanced fund by selecting stock funds and   Read More