Most pension plans in Canada are restricted by the Pension Benefits Standards Act of 1985 from owning more than 30% of the votes attached to shares issued by a public company. The rationale, among other things, is to prevent pension plans from controlling large chunks of the Canadian economy.

 I was digging around for information on companies that regularly raise their dividends and came across a document published by Mergent Inc. It has a rather impressive table showing how dividend-growth stocks have outperformed the S&P 500 Index over 1-, 3-, 5-, 10-, 15- and 20-year periods with less volatility.

The second quarter was easier on the nerves for the One-Minute Portfolio than the first quarter. The stock market continued its upward climb through April to June. As a result, the portfolio is up 15.4% from the annual rebalancing in December. The average annual gain since inception (early 2003) is ...

A thread on the Financial Webring discussion forum asks “How safe is BCE's Dividend?” One poster said the dividend on the common stock, now yielding 6.4%, was getting too “yummy” and possibly signaling trouble ahead. Another referenced a Globe and Mail article highlighting increased rivalry between BCE and Rogers Communication ...

Two new iShares exchange-traded funds (ETFs) began trading yesterday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. They give Canadians new ways to diversify into foreign stock markets. Coverage that I have seen so far includes pieces by Jonathan Chevreau and Rudy Luukko.

A number of studies in peer-reviewed journals have looked at the impact of the media on stock markets. The most recent finds that a portfolio of stocks with no media coverage outperforms a portfolio of stocks with high media coverage by 3% annually (after adjusting for market, size, book-to-market, momentum, ...

Rajiv Silgardo led the development of Barclays Canada’s family of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and is now leading the development of BMO Financial Group’s family of ETFs (launched recently). In the following Q&A, he discusses why he left Barclays, why there is room for another ETF family in Canada, how BMO ...

Bear markets have often been times when investors swear off stocks. But this time around, online discount brokerages are reporting sizable jumps in clientele during one of the steepest sell-offs in decades. Scotiabank’s discount broker, for example, racked up 60% growth in accounts over the past year. Other major online ...

The divergence in natural-gas and crude-oil prices has gone to an extreme. Natural-gas prices have fallen below $4 (U.S.) per million British thermal units while crude oil prices have shot up and are hovering close to $70 (U.S.) a barrel, leaving the ratio of oil-to-gas prices nearly double the historic ...

I’m reading a great book on stock options entitled The Rookie’s Guide to Options: The Beginner’s Handbook of Trading Equity Options, written by Mark Wolfinger. It looks like a textbook (a slim one) but don’t be scared off: it isn’t a dull or strenuous read at all – at least ...