American Express is a credit and charge card issuer. Most of its customers pay off their cards monthly and so the company is more of a payments processor than a source of lending.



Bonds to the rescue… February updates: Firm Capital, Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners, Brookfield Infrastructure LP, Baytex Energy… New RRSP book


Mutual Fund Recommended List Review… Model Portfolio Review… Portfolio Theory – Benchmarking Performance


RRSP Portfolio beats target… Ryan Irvine takes a page from Buffett… Ryan Irvine updates Parex Resources, Mart Resources, Athabasca Minerals, Sangoma Technologies… Frontier markets holding up well… Gordon Pape’s updates: Suncor Energy, BCE… Your Questions: Preferreds in a pullback… Members’ Corner: RBC money funds


This ETF tracks the performance of major stocks in what are known as frontier markets. This is high-risk niche investing that focuses on countries that have not yet even reached emerging markets status.


Better times ahead? Construction industry surprisingly bullish… Tom Slee picks Aecon Group… Understanding book value… Tom Slee’s updates: TransForce, ShawCor… Gordon Pape’s updates: Fortis, Wells Fargo, Walmart, AT&T… EFMI newsletter


Aecon is an infrastructure construction company whose credits (with predecessor companies) include the St. Lawrence Seaway, the CN Tower, and the Vancouver Sky Train.


Searching for greenbacks… Interest rates likely to inch up in 2014… Time to buy interest-sensitive stocks?… January’s Top Pick: Capital Power Corporation… January Updates: FLY Leasing, TAL International, Canexus Corp., Bank of Nova Scotia 5.6% Series 17 Preferreds, Canadian General Investments 4.65% Class A Series 2 Preferreds… Your Questions: Convertible debentures and interest rates


Capital Power is an Alberta-based North American power generator, with nearly 6,000 megawatts (MWs) of installed capacity and an additional 900 MW under construction. Its power sources are primarily derived from clean energy such as gas and wind.


The loonie’s freefall… Glenn Rogers kicks some tires… Glenn Rogers updates Yelp, Flowserve, Plum Creek Timber, Whirlpool, eBay… Buy and Hold Portfolio updated… Gordon Pape’s updates: Saputo Inc… Members’ Corner: Free course


Magna is an international auto parts manufacturer, based in Canada. The company is taking a leadership role in producing parts for electric vehicles.


The coming correction… All that glitters… Beam gets a bid… Updates: Gibson Energy, Enghouse Systems, CGI Group, TransCanada Corp… Your Questions: U.S. withholding tax, hedging silver ETFs… EFMI newsletter set to launch


An income strategy for 2014… January updates: Rogers 5.75% convertible debentures, iShares 1-5 Years Laddered Corporate Bond Index Fund, iShares DEX All Corporate Bond Index Fund, iShares DEX Short Term Bond Index Fund, iShares DEX Universe Bond Index Fund, iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index Fund, RioCan REIT, H&R REIT… Emerging and Frontier Markets newsletter





The best of 2013… Funds you asked for… January’s Top Funds…


The year ahead… Five simple strategies for any market… Ryan Irvine updates Exco Technologies… Gordon Pape updates four iShares ETFs… New RRSP book launched – excerpt… Emerging and Frontier Markets newsletter


The one fund to own for 2014… Revisiting 2013’s Predictions… My top picks for 2014… The Best & Worst of 2013… Portfolio Theory – Defining Asset Allocation… Reader Questions


How did we do? The top story of 2013… Two international stocks for 2014… Stocks: How much gas left in the tank? Tom Slee’s top picks for 2014… Your Questions: Claiming the pension credit… Newsletter coming soon


Time to kick the habit… More stocks for 2014… Glenn Rogers gets Sirius… Glenn Rogers updates Generac, McDonalds, Cisco Systems, Las Vegas Sands… Ryan Irvine reviews past picks… Members’ Corner: Confused about American Airlines merger




Stocks for the coming year… Falling loonie not all bad… A year when optimism triumphed… Gordon Pape?s updates: Metro Inc., BCE Inc…. Correction re BMO fund… 2014 prices… Christmas shopping


Nasdaq joins the party… Profits from a new middle class… Gavin Graham updates Mead Johnson Nutrition, Leucadia National, Capstone Infrastructure… Irwin Michel’s updates: Genworth MI Canada, Canam Group… Gordon Pape’s updates: Silver Wheaton, CGI Group… Members’ Corner: Apple vs. Google


This small Regina-based company provides exclusive registry and information services for Saskatchewan.


A correction – but when?… Airline merger offers opportunity… Glenn Rogers updates Boeing, General Electric… Filtering out the rubbish… Ryan Irvine updates High Arctic, WiLAN… A security to watch… New book…


A cautionary tale… Shawn Allen likes Toll Brothers… Think pipelines!… Tom Slee’s updates: CN Rail, Bombardier, Industrial Alliance, Stantec… CRA says bitcoins taxable… Gordon Pape’s updates: AT&T… New book


Toll Brothers is primarily a builder of executive and “affordable luxury” single-family homes, and it also develops the raw land into lots for those houses. It operates in almost half of the US states and is concentrated on the coasts and in the more h …


This is a short-term ETF that provides some exposure to Maple Bonds, which are Canadian-dollar bonds from foreign issuers such as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs.


What’s next?… The key developments of 2013… Sun, wind, water, and gas… Gavin Graham updates Home Capital Group, Copa Holdings… Gordon Pape’s updates: Cenovus Energy, Limited Brands, W.W. Grainger


High yield portfolio does well…The Fed’s credibility is in tatters… October’s Top Pick: Ensco plc… October Updates: Dundee International REIT, Canadian Pacific Railway Notes, iShares Diversified Monthly Income Fund, City of Hamilton 4.95% Debentures… Your Questions: Confused about rates


A momentous week… Glenn Rogers focuses on Obamacare… Glenn Rogers updates Coastal Contacts, Baidu, Westport Innovations… Gordon Pape’s updates: Southern Company, Coach Inc., Suncor Energy, Blue Ribbon Income Fund, iShares BRIC Fund, iShares Japan Fundamental Index Fund… Your Questions: Objects to tax rate… Member’s Corner: GIC alternative, World Money Show reminder


This ETF contains some of the premier pharmaceutical companies in the world including Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer Inc., Merck and Company, Amgen, and the big healthcare insurer, UnitedHealth Group.  


Out of step… Why unemployment is likely to stay high… Tom Slee updates Bombardier, ShawCor, Stella Jones, Chicago Bridge and Iron, TransForce, New Flyer Industries, Alimentation Couche-Tard… Gordon Pape’s updates: Brookfield Asset Management, Shaw Communications… Your Questions: Zunghui Haixi, worried about GIC, U.S. dividends paid to TFSAs, saving taxes




What could go right?… Defensive Portfolio update… Is the stock market expensive or cheap?… Ryan Irvine updates Enghouse Systems… Gordon Pape’s updates: Trinidad Drilling… Members’ Corner: U.S. withholding tax



  Melcor is an Edmonton headquartered real estate development company. Its business is now about evenly split between developing land for sale as residential building lots in western Canada and the development and rental of retail and office build …


Meta (formerly Facebook)  is the giant within social media companies. It is witnessing a resurgence in its business. t FB is  highly profitable and will dictate ad rates for some time to come. Facebook also has four of the seven most popular social med …


Think growth… TFSA performance improves… From flop to high-flyer… Glenn Rogers updates Teck Resources, Freeport McMoRan, Yelp… Shawn Allen likes Melcor Developments… Your Questions: Life insurance or TFSA?, pension worries… Your Questions: Life insurance or TFSA?, pension worries… Members’ Corner: U.S. withholding tax


Five years later… Cyclicals should benefit from GDP growth… A gold producer that stands out from the crowd… Gordon Pape’s updates: CIBC, Metro Inc… Your Questions: Pension puzzle… World Money Show


Growth funds save RRSP portfolio… Banks running into headwinds… Tom Slee’s updates: Scotiabank, National Bank, TD Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Rogers Communications, Alimentation Couche-Tard… Gordon Pape’s updates: Saputo, Gibson Energy… Gordon Pape’s updates: Saputo, Gibson Energy… Your Questions: What to do with $100,000… Housekeeping


What could go wrong?… Gold rebounds… Gordon Pape’s gold updates… Ryan Irvine looks at three small caps… Your Questions: Vanguard ETFs… Members’ Corner: TD Waterhouse… Housekeeping



Get over market fear… Turning fat into profits… Glenn Rogers’s updates: Barrick Gold, Diageo, Telefonica… Gordon Pape’s updates: Target Corp., TransCanada Corp., CGI Group, Constellation Software… Members’ Corner: Problems with transfer


A very public brawl… Gordon Pape’s telecom updates… Shawn Allen likes Stantec… Gavin Graham: No place like Home… Members’ Corner: Problems with transfer, global warming, mortgages… Housekeeping


Home Capital, through its mortgage lender Home Trust Co., makes loans that the banks normally refuse. These are usually to borrowers with credit histories that do not match the banks’ criteria. They include recent immigrants, the self-employed, and tho …