Income Investing for Canadians: Comparing 3 iShares ETFs

By 2 Cents on May 24th, 2011 | Category: Investing | One comment
Canadian-income

It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.

~Roy Disney

Last week we looked at 3 New ETFs for Canadians. For that article, we focused on iShares ETFs. While doing a little research on the iShares site, I realized that the selection of ETFs for investors looking for income from equities has changed a little since the last time I looked.

If you check out the iShares website, you’ll notice a category of ETFs called “Specialty.” There you’ll find ETFs that track stocks with higher environmental and social standards (XEN), preferred stocks (XPF) and Real Estate Investment Trusts or REITs (XRE).

There are 3 other ETFs in that category, and all of them offer some type of exposure to regular income derived mainly from equities. That had me wondering what the differences were between each [...]

Read on and enjoy … Income Investing for Canadians: Comparing 3 iShares ETFs

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3 New ETFs for Canadians

By 2 Cents on May 17th, 2011 | Category: Investing | 6 comments
Canadian currency

Life is the sum of all your choices.

~Albert Camus

If Camus was right, and life really is just a tally of all your choices, then perhaps the same can be said for your investment returns. These days, there’s no shortage of choices facing investors. In fact, many have argued that we have too many choices.

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) have been steadily gaining in popularity over the past decade or so, and it now seems like a new batch is released several times a year. While those who argue enough is enough definitely have a case, the Canadian markets have some peculiarities that have not been adequately addressed by issuers of ETFs – until recently.

Canadian Quirks

Many Canadians prefer to invest in domestic companies listed on the TSX for a variety of reasons:

No nasty exchange rate surprises: If you invest in [...]

Read on and enjoy … 3 New ETFs for Canadians

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A Dozen Good Reasons to Move to Canada

By 2 Cents on July 1st, 2010 | Category: Economics | 7 comments

Happy Canada Day! In honour of the occasion, I thought I might go over some of the economic reasons we love living here, and why you might want to move here if you don’t already. These aren’t my ideas, by the way. I found them in an amusing post over at The Daily Reckoning that cautioned as follows: Don’t Underestimate Canadian Economic Growth.

I’ve acknowledged the waves of applause our home and native land has received over the past few years for our stronger financial regulations and sound(er) fiscal policies. I’ve also raised a couple of concerns over our housing market (CMHC: Fannie Mae Canadian Style?) and the growing levels of household debt many of us are servicing (Canada: Golden Child or Tag Along Sibling?). Although these concerns are valid, there’s no other country in the world I’d rather call home, so today [...]

Read on and enjoy … A Dozen Good Reasons to Move to Canada

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Canada: Golden Child or Tag Along Sibling?

By 2 Cents on June 3rd, 2010 | Category: Economics | 3 comments

The Canadian Economy does not operate in a vacuum and we are not isolated from global events, as we saw in 2008 and early 2009.

~ David Rosenberg

Update: This article was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance #260 posted at Rainy Day Saver. Thanks!

On Tuesday the Bank of Canada became the first central bank of the G7 countries to raise interest rates. Granted, the BoC’s overnight rate now sits at .50%, up from .25% before the announcement. We’re still basically offering free money for borrowers to finance and even increase their debts.

Usually, central banks raise rates when the economy is accelerating in an attempt to control inflationary pressures. A rate hike implies that things are improving in the Canadian economy. Indeed, recent manufacturing and GDP stats support that conclusion and lend support to the frequently cited [...]

Read on and enjoy … Canada: Golden Child or Tag Along Sibling?

Category: Economics | Tags: , , |