Looking for investing ideas? Here’s your weekly digest of the Globe’s latest insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies plus what investors need to know for the week ahead.
How Canada’s big banks are plotting to dominate the ETF world
Canada’s big banks are muscling into exchange-traded fund offerings and forcing a transformation of an industry dominated by independents, even while putting at risk the high profits and huge asset bases of their traditional mutual-fund businesses. With a fourth Canadian bank recently announcing plans to offer ETFs, and several new product offerings coming to market from others, a shakeup is materializing in the wealth-management industry that has parallels to the banks’ successful move to dominate the mutual-fund industry in the late 1990s.
Read more: BMO to launch its first actively managed ETFs this month
ETF frenzy: Canadian institutional investors have highest allocation of funds globally
Aurora Cannabis to buy MedReleaf for $3.2-billion as sector consolidation looms
Two of Canada’s largest legal growers of medical marijuana are tying the knot, striking a landmark transaction with a record price tag, Christina Pellegrini writes. Aurora Cannabis Inc. said on Monday that it agreed to acquire rival MedReleaf Corp. in an all-stock deal valued at about $3.2-billion. Aurora says adding MedReleaf will make it the country’s largest legal marijuana grower by several metrics, including sales, dethroning titan Canopy Growth Corp. – for now, at least. The tie-up comes nearly two weeks after The Globe and Mail first reported that Aurora and MedReleaf were in talks, and that MedReleaf was searching for an alternative offer.
Employees of MedReleaf are photographed trimming cannabis plants in one of the company's facilities in Markham, On., on Friday, February 2, 2018. (Christopher Katsarov for The Globe and Mail)Christopher Katsarov
Read more: Canopy Growth applies for first NYSE listing by a marijuana producer
Related: Pot firms merge in bet bundled services beat volume
What investors need to know for the week ahead
The week ahead will see the release of Canadian wholesale trade numbers; companies posting their earnings include Hewlett Packard, Kohl’s, CIBC, RBC, TD and Best Buy.
Why Enbridge shares have bottomed out
You have to give credit to Enbridge’s management team, Gordon Pape writes. They’re doing all they can to right this listing ship. It appears they are making some progress. The share price has bounced back from its five-year low of $37.36 in late April. Enbridge still has some problems to overcome, but, based on the latest news, the April 25 low may have been the bottom of this cycle.
Related: Enbridge to consolidate assets in $11.4-billion restructuring
Read more: One of my favourite energy stocks is now offering a juicy 6.26% yield
Gambling stocks hit jackpot, but investors should hedge their bets
Gambling stocks hit the jackpot after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for states to legalize sports betting on individual games, a move that could open up an opportunity worth US$50-billion or more. Stars Group, the Toronto-based online-gambling company formerly known as Amaya, was one of the bigger winners, jumping 9.4 per cent after the decision was announced. Today’s eager stock buyers may be getting ahead of themselves, though, Ian McGugan writes.
Related: Casino stocks jump after U.S. sports-wagering ban gets overturned
Bond yields are ruining the year for safety-first, dividend-hungry investors
Any risk-averse investor who has hunkered down with stable, dividend-spinning stocks must be wondering what upside-down world they’re living in, David Berman writes. Safe investments are being clobbered – again − as bond yields rise to multiyear highs.
Read more: A dividend strategy that resists rising interest rates
Subscribe to the Globe Investor newsletter and get stock picks, market news and investing advice delivered directly to your inbox three times a week.
Two stocks a $8.5-billion TD fund manager is buying - and one he’s given up on
David Sykes likes dividend stocks, but it’s not the yield he’s watching. Instead, the managing director and head of fundamental equities at TD Asset Management prefers to focus on a company’s dividend growth and how sustainable it is.
Looking for more investing ideas and opinion?
Berkshire doubles Teva stake, adds to Apple, ends a newspaper bet
A rare tech stock trading at a value price
How rising oil prices will turn into a bumpy ride for TSX investors
What does $3-billion even buy Tesla these days?
The U.S. stock market’s lifeboat may be sinking
At long last, there are decent returns in just sitting in cash