Investment capsules: equities, mutual funds, closed-end funds, fixed income, mortgage rates

Money Digest, Feb, 1997

The common stocks mentioned here pay dividends that are above 5.0%. This is equal to an interest yield of 6.25% or above.

Stocks with dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs for short) will allow you to reinvest your dividends automatically into the company's shares. This will save you commission. Some companies will even offer a discount if you use DRIPs. The companies listed here have an additional feature--they will also let you buy additional shares in the company with no commission. This feature is called the Share Purchase Plan (SPP)

The stocks listed in the right panel have both DRIPs as well as SPPs.

QUALITY STOCKS THAT PAY HIGH DIVIDENDS

STOCK                SYMBOL  PRICE  DIVIDEND  YIELD
                                 $         $      %


Centrefund Rlty         CFE  14.50      0.80    5.5
Fortis                  FTS  34.10      1.76    5.2
IPL Energy              IPL  39.80      2.06    5.2
Maritime T&T            MTT  23.20      1.28    5.5
NewTel Ent.             NEL  24.30      1.36    5.6
Nova Scotia Power       NSI  14.10      0.80    5.7
Quebec Telelphone        QT  24.00      1.32    5.5
Transalta Utilities      TA  16.65      0.98    5.9
Utility A             UTC.A  29.25      1.50    5.1

STOCKS WITH DIVIDEND REINVESTMENT PLANS (DRIPs)

STOCK                        SYMBOL  RECENT PRICE $  DIVIDEND $  YIELD %


Alberta Energy                  AEC           32.50        0.40      1.2

Alcan (1)                        AL           49.10        0.60      1.6

BC Gas                          BCG            20.9        0.90      4.3

BC Telecom                      BCT           29.75        1.32      4.4

BCE Inc.                          B           68.80        2.72      3.9

Bank of Montreal                BMO           45.35        1.60      3.5

Bank of Nova Scotia             BNS           46.65        1.48      3.1

Bruncor                         BRR           31.45        1.28      4.1

Cdn. Imperial Bank (CIBC)        CM           59.05        1.82      3.4

Canadian Pacific                 CP           36.15        0.48      1.3

Dofasco                         DFS           25.95        1.00      3.8

Fortis                          FTS           34.10        1.76      5.2

Hudson's Bay Company            HBC           24.50        0.72      2.9

IPL Energy                      IPL           39.80        2.06      5.2

Imasco                          IMS           35.20        1.08      3.1

Imperial Oil                    IMO           65.45        2.20      3.4

Inco (1)                          N           33.00        0.32      1.3

Island Tel                       IT           28.00        1.28      4.5

MDS Health `A' (B)            MHG.A           25.75        0.10      0.4

MacMillan Bloedel                MB           18.60        0.60      3.2

Maritime T & T                  MTT           23.20        1.28      5.5

Molsons                       MOL.A           22.00        0.72      3.3

Moore (1)                       MCL           27.70        0.94      4.5

National Bank                    NA           13.95        0.50      3.6

National Trustco                 NT           22.20        0.88      3.9

NewTel Ent                      NEL           24.30        1.36      5.6

NorTel (1)                      NTL           96.75        0.52      0.7

Nova                            NVA           12.90        0.40      3.1

Nova Scotia Power               NSI           14.10        0.80      5.7

Telus                           AGT           19.25        0.92      4.8

TransAlta Utilities              TA           16.65        0.98      5.9

TransCanada Pipeline (TCPL)     TRP           24.10        1.16      4.8

Westcoast Energy                  W           23.60        1.16      4.9

(1) Stocks whose dividends are paid in U.S. dollars.

Funds listed in this section are open-end mutual funds. They have been selected on the basis of their previous 12-month performance. Mutual funds should be judged on their long-term, and consistent performance. The listing here is mainly intended to point out the current trends. You may want to compare your fund's performance with the top-performing funds. But do not switch in a hurry.

Equity Funds include funds whose objectives are long-term capital appreciation or a combination of capital appreciation and income. Lists of both RRSP and non-RRSP-eligible funds are given here.

Real Estate Funds invest primarily in commercial real estate.

Bond and Mortgage Funds invest in bonds, mortgages, or both. Many of these funds are RRSP-eligible.

BEST 12-MONTH PERFORMANCE

FUND                             COMMISSION (1)  1 YR.  3YR.  5 YR.  10 YR.
                                              %      %     %      %       %


CANADIAN
EQUITY FUNDS--RRSP
ELIGIBLE
BPI Cdn. Opportunities RSP Fund             F/B   89.1     -      -       -
Colonia Special Gr. Fund                      B   69.8  25.9      -       -
AIC Advantage Fund                          F/B   66.5  23.9   27.9    17.0
AIC Diversified Canada F                    F/B   65.1     -      -       -
Beutel Goodman Small Cap Fund                NL   52.8     -      -       -
Bissett Small Cap Fund                       NL   51.0  17.7      -       -
BPI Cdn. Small Co.                          F/B   50.5  20.5   23.1       -

SPECIAL
EQUITY/RESOURCE
EQUITY FUNDS
Friedberg Currency Fund                      NL   72.0     -      -       -
Green Line Precious Metals                   NL   70.1     -      -       -
Dynamic Global Resource                     F/B   68.5     -      -       -
Maxxum Prec. Metals                           F   58.7  18.9   28.6       -
Global Strat Gold Plus                      F/B   57.5  20.6      -       -
AGF Cdn. Resources Fund `A'                   F   50.5  14.4   25.3    13.2
AGF Cdn. Resources Fund `B'                   B   50.3     -      -       -

U.S. EQUITY
FUNDS--NON-RRSP
ELIGIBLE
AIC Value                                   F/B   35.4  19.5   20.6       -
Cote 100 Amerique                            NL   31.1  14.2      -       -
fCo-Operators U.S. Equity                    NL   27.8     -      -       -
Optima Strategy U.S. Equity                 F/B   27.0     -      -       -

INTERNATIONAL
EQUITY FUNDS--NON-RRSP
ELIGIBLE
Scudder Emerging Markets Fund                 F   43.8     -      -       -
20/20 Latin America                         F/B   42.7     -      -       -
Universal European Opp.                     F/B   39.2     -      -       -
Spectrum United Eur. Growth                   B   37.1     -      -       -
Canada Life European Equity                   B   35.2     -      -       -
GT Global Latin America Class                 F   35.2     -      -       -
Dynamic Europe Fund                         F/B   34.7  13.7   13.9

REAL ESTATE FUNDS
Dynamic Real Estate Equity                  F/B   48.3     -      -       -
Investors Real Property                     F/B    4.2   3.3    1.4     4.6
Royal Lepage Comm. Real Est.                 NL   -0.9   3.9    0.5       -

BOND & MORTGAGE FUNDS
Fidelity Emerg. Mkts. Bond                   NL   38.1     -      -       -
C.I. New World Income                       F/B   23.2     -      -       -
C.I. Canadian Bond                          F/B   14.0   9.2      -       -
Atlas Cdn. High Yield Bond                   NL   13.9     -      -       -
Mawer Cdn. Inc. Fund                         NL   13.8   8.2      -       -
Navigator Cdn. Inc. Fund                    F/B   13.3     -      -       -
Altamira Spec. High Yield Bond               NL   13.0     -      -       -
Batirente-Section Obligations                NL   13.0   9.6   11.3       -

(1) Commissions

NL - No load, F - Front-end load, B - Back-end load; F/B - Option of Front
or Back-end load