With news of numerous brokerages going to $0 trading commissions, the trend toward direct indexing just got a lot more compelling for investors. Direct indexing essentially lets an investor buy the underlying securities within an index (say the TSX 60 or the S&P 500) automatically at their broker without owning them through some sort of fund or ETF.
Dividend and income investors, particularly those in retirement, know the importance of distribution frequency when it comes to selecting the securities they invest in. Although most companies pay quarterly dividends, there is a sizable amount of companies that pay their dividends monthly which makes the flow of income a lot smoother for investors. For this blog post we will address the pros and cons of monthly dividend investing and provide a downloadable list of securities that pay dividends monthly at the end of the article for members to access.
New Cannabis or Pot related ETFs are coming to market to allow investors to short and double down on the already volatile space. There are a few reasons why this is something markets and investors simply do not need.
The longer you invest or are involved in the investment industry, the more humbled you become. You quickly realize that there is rarely a cut-and-dried answer to, well, anything, and that in a large majority of cases an investment decision can be ‘justified’ through some sort of argument, process or logic for better or for worse.
However, there is one issue that is continuously encountered for which to the best of my ability I cannot think of any justification. That is the issue of holding diversified Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) or Mutual Funds in low weightings in a portfolio.
You cannot turn on a T.V. or open up a computer without hearing about trade wars or tariffs it seems. The United States has increased pressure on China, sending the Shanghai Composite into bear market territory, down 20% from its high.
It has also impacted companies in Canada that are deemed to be susceptible to higher prices from the tariffs and almost ironically, even companies in the US that they are trying to ‘protect’ such as Harley Davidson which has noted it is moving some production to Europe to help combat higher prices from tariffs.
While how this will impact any single economy or company remains uncertain, the common thread here is that it is adding a lot of uncertainty for investors and markets hate uncertainty. For investors looking for ways to stay invested while hopefully avoiding significant trade disruptions, here are a few areas we think that an investor can focus their attention on...
It was a big week for US bank earnings, and markets showed concerns over President Donald Trump’s ability to push through his pro-growth policies, following a setback to the healthcare bill. Bank of America (BAC), the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, beat quarterly earnings expectations but experienced a slowdown in trading revenue and trimmed its expectations for growth in net interest income. Goldman Sachs (GS) dipped after also beating earnings expectations but posted a 40% drop in bond trading revenue. Telecom company Rogers Communications (RCI.B) reported a greater-than-expected 35% jump in second-quarter profit, as a gain in wireless subscribers offset declines in its cable TV business. Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, as it earned more from higher shipments of commodities, but executives were cautious on grains for the second half of the year. Here are stories we found interesting this week:
What if I told you that as of June 28, 2017, essentially half way through the calendar year, only one sector out of ten (including REITs with Financials) was negative?
What if I told you that out of those ten sectors, six of them had returned over 5% in the year-to-date period and three of those had returned in excess of 10% over the year-to-date period?
With the TSX flat to slightly negative over the same period, you would likely call shenanigans, but it’s true.
Only one sector is negative for the TSX in 2017 and due to its heavy weighting, it has been the main contributor to the lack of any returns on the TSX so far this year.
