Buying dividends

The protracted slump in crude and the ongoing weakness of commodities over the last two years triggered a dividend crisis for Canadian investors. A raft of dividend darlings in the energy patch slashed or even terminated their dividends as they battled to shore up over-levered balance sheets and protect diminishingContinue Reading

Precious metals

With the stock markets fraught with uncertainty, investors are worried about what could happen to their portfolios if the markets tumble. An offbeat way to reduce your portfolio risk is to consider precious metals stocks. Precious metals stocks can be volatile as their fortunes are linked directly to the pricesContinue Reading

Tax-free income

If you want more income, one of the first places you can explore is real estate investment trusts (REITs). They own portfolios of properties that are diversified geographically and across many tenants. Some are diversified across asset types as well. Most importantly, many REITs pay juicy distributions that can helpContinue Reading

Short Canada

It hasn’t been a terribly good week for the TSX Composite Index. Canada’s benchmark stock index has fallen more than 1% from the beginning of the week through Thursday’s close. Normally, a 1% move in just under a week is the very epitome of much ado about nothing. Stocks areContinue Reading

Investing mistakes

Last weekend, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A)(NYSE:BRK.B) held the annual shareholder meeting. For the second year, the meeting was broadcast live over the internet, and investors had the opportunity to follow along without having to make the trip to Omaha, Nebraska. While the event had a number of formalities, investors thoroughlyContinue Reading

Selling Stocks

Value investing has been a hugely popular and successful investment strategy for decades. Proponents of value investing include Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffett – both of whom went on to achieve staggering returns over a prolonged period of time. While the rewards from value investing appear to be relatively high,Continue Reading

Retirement reality

Even though many of us are still decades away from retirement, it’s a constant worry. Nobody wants to run out of cash during their golden years. With record housing prices, higher food costs, and increasing financial commitments despite stagnant salaries, saving for retirement is tougher than ever. And with interest rates hittingContinue Reading

Stocks Investing

Dividend stocks are the foundation of great portfolios, because as history has shown, they far outperform non-dividend-paying stocks over the long term. With this in mind, let’s take a closer look at two high-quality dividend stocks that you could buy today and hold for decades. Pattern Energy Group Inc. PatternContinue Reading