ETFs offer broad access to U.S. blue chips

ETFs offer broad access to U.S. blue chips

These ETFs, like mutual funds, track major stock market indexes, but their low management fees set them apart.

SPDR S&P 500 ETF (New York symbol SPY; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the stocks in the S&P 500 Index; they consist of 500… Read More

Our top U.S. stock picks for 2017

Dear client: We’ve selected three stocks as our top picks for 2017— one from each of our portfolios (Conservative, Aggressive and Income).

Each of the stocks offers a particularly attractive combination of long-term growth prospects and a reasonable price. Our selection of three stocks also reflects… Read More

Updates on six North American ETFs

These six ETFs hold mostly blue-chip stocks that are widely traded on Canadian and U.S. exchanges. Each ETF mirrors, or tracks, the performance of a major stock market index. That’s different from narrower indexes that focus on resources or themes such as solar power or… Read More

Q: Pat: Could you please give me your opinion on two American closed-end funds: Liberty All-Star Equity Fund and AllianzGI Equity & Convertible Income Fund? The yields are great on each fund and you are getting their holdings at a discount. Thank you in advance.

A: Liberty All-Star Equity Fund, $5.22, symbol USA on New York (Units outstanding: 186.8 million; Market cap: $975.1 million; www.all-starfunds.com), is a closed-end fund that aims to combine the stock recommendations of three value-style and two growth-style investment managers.
The fund started up on October 31,… Read More

Alphabet maintains its strong appeal

Dear client,
Despite Alphabet’s strong revenue and earnings growth, the stock has risen just 4% since we named it our top Aggressive pick for 2016. The S&P 500 Index has jumped 16% in that time.
Alphabet’s slower rise is partly due to its complex ownership structure,… Read More

These ETFs focus on widely traded U.S. stocks

These ETFs focus on widely traded U.S. stocks

These low-fee ETFs track major indexes and give investors access to today’s most widely traded U.S. stocks.

These ETFs hold mostly blue chip, widely traded stocks on U.S. exchanges. All of them mirror, or track, the performance of major stock market indexes. That’s opposed to… Read More