“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

Key market indicators are back in a ‘buy’ mode and it’s time to buy says Keith Richards, a portfolio manager at ValueTrend Wealth Management in Barrie, Ontario.

“It’s no secret that   Read More

John Bogle, Vanguard Group founder and the father of the indexing concept, takes a highly academic route to his conclusion that no one can predict the future performance of any   Read More

The advantage of investing internationally lies mainly in broadened diversification, which cuts risk. Similarly, you can cut risk by investing in dividend-paying stocks.

Here are two complementary exchange-traded funds that together   Read More

We see little appeal in bond exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, right now. That’s because even shorter-term bond ETFs are vulnerable to the potential of rising interest rates over the next   Read More

Aston Hill VIP Income Fund (TSX – VIP.UN) continues to benefit from strong equity market returns, particularly in the U.S., as well as relatively attractive performance in the high-yield credit   Read More

Sometimes things just go on and on and on. Take, for example, the loonie’s duel with the greenback.

So observes Keith Richards, Barrie, Ontario-based portfolio manager of Value Trend/Wealth Management, who   Read More

When stock markets are undervalued, it’s usually a good time to invest aggressively in the index offerings that track them. When market valuations rise, however, a more circumspect approach is   Read More

It pays to keep an eye on an exchange-traded fund’s volatility as well as on its performance. That can affect your comfort level with your investments. And you may prefer   Read More

Exchange-traded funds, such as iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index, have their advantages and disadvantages. But if you’re content with returns that are generally no better, or no worse than the market,   Read More

Here’s a bond exchange traded fund (ETF) that arranges its portfolio in the same way you should if you’re setting up your own fixed-income portfolio. Its yield-to-maturity is low but   Read More

Quick, now: can you name the new whipping boy in the investment world? If you said bonds, you’d be right. After last year’s “taper tantrum” — i.e., the sell-off in   Read More

A look back at some investment hits and misses

When I worked for a major brokerage firm many years ago, I was always amazed to see how few of the Investment   Read More

This overly bullish market may be expecting a pullback this summer. Time to.. Get Defensive!

There has been a noticeable rotation lately out of higher-risk securities such as biotech, U.S. Small   Read More

We think now is a good time to seek exposure to emerging-markets equities because they offer compelling value. Investors have two avenues available for ETF investing: through a cap-weighted ETF   Read More

In view of our previous recommendation to ETF investors that they buy unhedged ETFs when investing in the U.S., we now recommend such an ETF for investors seeking exposure to   Read More

Individual investors once had few asset classes (or types of investments) to choose from: There were common stocks, fixed-income investments (including preferred shares) and cash such as Treasury bills or   Read More

One of the most important investment principles you can follow is to sidestep investments you don’t understand.

It’s a principle that some of the most successful, well-known investors, such as Warren   Read More

If you prefer to invest in index funds or ETFs, make sure that you don’t stop with offerings that track the Canadian market. Invest also in offerings that give you   Read More

With all of our other investment choices, be it stocks or trusts or bonds or cash, we all make our own decisions on what and when to buy and sell.   Read More

Markets have behaved perversely in recent months. Good economic news was sometimes greeted with a selloff as investors feared better times would only encourage the U.S. Federal Reserve to begin   Read More

Some investors bought gold for protection against potential inflation and paper currencies. But deflation is more a threat. And gold has drawbacks.

Gold is trading at US$1,318 an ounce. This is   Read More

Though balanced funds are extremely popular with Canadian investors, we see little appeal in these investment products. A better fund strategy is to create your own balanced fund by selecting   Read More

Regardless of whether or not the U.S. stock market has another stellar year in 2014, we believe you should always have some exposure to U.S. equities. And if you’re an   Read More

Investor’s Digest of Canada, MPL Communications Inc.
133 Richmond St.W., Toronto, ON, M5H 3M8. 1-800-804-8846

-By Brian Hoffman

Should American equities start to climb higher — and, steeper — we could see a   Read More

Investor’s Digest of Canada, MPL Communications Inc.
133 Richmond St.W., Toronto, ON, M5H 3M8. 1-800-804-8846

–  by Keith Richards
 
If you don’t want to buy individual names, consider iShares S&P/TSX Small-Cap Index fund.
  Read More

The MoneyLetter, MPL Communications Inc.
133 Richmond St.W., Toronto, ON, M5H 3M8. 1-800-804-8846

– Keith Richards

As we begin the New Year, many of us find ourselves reflecting on past decisions we’ve made   Read More

The MoneyLetter, MPL Communications Inc.
133 Richmond St.W., Toronto, ON, M5H 3M8. 1-800-804-8846

 
If you want to include only exchange-traded funds for your portfolio, we’ve suggested in the past that you keep   Read More

Investor’s Digest of Canada, MPL Communications Inc.
133 Richmond St.W., Toronto, ON, M5H 3M8. 1-800-804-8846

– Edited from an article by Sunil Vidyarthi, M.B.A., PhD
 
What’s your take on the umpteenth version of   Read More

Canadian Mutual Fund Adviser, MPL Communications Inc.
133 Richmond St.W., Toronto, ON, M5H 3M8. 1-800-804-8846
 

Recent market action indicates why it’s essential to hold Canadian
equity index ETFs as part of a   Read More

The MoneyLetter, MPL Communications Inc.
133 Richmond St.W., Toronto, ON, M5H 3M8. 1-800-804-8846

The recent squabble over the debt ceiling in Washington serves to illustrate why it’s a good idea to diversify   Read More

The Investment Reporter,, MPL Communications Inc.
133 Richmond St.W., Toronto, ON, M5H 3M8. 1-800-804-8846
Rebalancing leads to trading costs. These include brokerage fees when you sell one investment and reinvest in another,   Read More

Investor’s Digest of Canada, MPL Communications Inc.
133 Richmond St.W., Toronto, ON, M5H 3M8. 1-800-804-8846
  – Edited from an article by Keith Richards By this time, you already know America isn’t going to   Read More

Canadian Mutual Fund Adviser, MPL Communications Inc.
133 Richmond St.W., Toronto, ON, M5H 3M8. 1-800-804-8846

Interest rates have dipped in the wake of the government shutdown in the U.S. If you   Read More

Investor’s Digest of Canada, MPL Communications Inc.
133 Richmond St.W., Toronto, ON, M5H 3M8. 1-800-804-8846- Edited from an article written by Brian Hoffman

In the months leading up to the October ’87   Read More

Canadian Mutual Fund Adviser, MPL Communications Inc.
133 Richmond St.W., Toronto, ON, M5H 3M8. 1-800-804-8846

Though many investors believe that equities will, over time, outperform fixed-income investments, they still fear the stock   Read More

Investor’s Digest of Canada, MPL Communications Inc.
133 Richmond St.W., Toronto, ON, M5H 3M8. 1-800-804-8846

Investors who follow seasonal trends know that the best-six- month strategy begins in late October or early   Read More

Rising interest rates are a real risk in today’s bond market. But there’s a way to reduce your risk by choosing bonds, bond funds or bond ETFs with relatively low   Read More