Investment capsule: equities; mutual funds; fixed income; mortgage rates; tables

Money Digest, April, 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.

QUALITY STOCKS THAT PAY HIGH DIVIDENDS

STOCK                SYMBOL  PRICE  DIVIDEND  YIELD

                                 $         $      %

Centrefund Rlty         CFE  14.95      0.80    5.4
Chrysler                  C  42.25      1.60    5.1
Fortis                  FTS  33.25      1.76    5.3
IPL Energy              IPL  39.85      2.06    5.2
Maritime T&T            MTT  25.20      1.28    5.1
New Tel Ent.            NEL  26.25      1.36    5.2
Nova Scotia Power       NSI  14.25      0.81    5.7
Quebec Telelphone        QT  23.65      1.32    5.6
Transalta Utilities      TA  16.90      0.98    5.8

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)

STOCKS WITH DIVIDEND REINVESTMENT PLANS (DRIPs)

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

STOCK                        SYMBOL  RECENT PRICE $  DIVIDEND $  YIELD %

Alberta Energy                  AEC           28.70        0.40      1.3

Alcan(1)                         AL           51.10        0.60      1.6

BC Gas                          BCG           21.35        0.90      4.2

BC Telecom                      BCT           31.00        1.32      4.3

BCE Inc.                          B           66.30        2.72      4.1

Bank of Montreal                BMO            52.8        1.60      3.0

Bank of Nova Scotia             BNS           53.70        1.48      2.8

Bruncor                         BRR           32.00        1.28      4.0

Cdn. Imperial Bank (CIBC)        CM           67.25        2.00      3.0

Canadian Pacific                 CP           34.20        0.48      1.4

Chrysler                          C           42.25        1.60      5.1

Dofasco                         DFS           25.00        1.00      4.0

Echo Bay Mines                  ECO            9.95        0.08      1.1

Fortis                          FTS           33.25        1.76      5.3

IPL Energy                      IPL           39.85        2.06      5.2

Imasco                          IMS           37.95        1.20      3.2

Imperial Oil                    IMO           63.70        2.20      3.4

Inco(1)                           N           50.35        0.40      1.1

Island Tel                       IT           25.90        1.28      4.9

MDS Health `A' (B)            MHG.A           28.75        0.10      0.3

MacMillan Bloedel                MB           19.00        0.60      3.2

Maritime T & T                  MTT           25.20        1.28      5.1

Molsons                       MOL.A           23.95        0.72      3.0

Moore(1)                        MCL           29.35        0.94      4.4

National Bank                    NA           15.95        0.60      3.8

National Trustco                 NT           24.15        0.88      3.6

NewTel Ent                      NEL           26.25        1.36      5.2

NorTel(1)                       NTL            93.5        0.52      0.8

Nova                            NVA           12.25        0.40      3.3

Nova Scotia Power               NSI           14.25        0.81      5.7

Telus                           AGT           21.70        0.92      4.2

TransAlta Utilities              TA           16.90        0.98      5.8

TransCanada Pipeline (TCPL)     TRP           25.95        1.16      4.5

Westcoast Energy                  W           24.85        1.16      4.7

(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.

[Part 1 of 2]

BEST 12-MONTH PERFORMANCE

FUND                                      RRSP           1 YR.  3YR.  5 YR.
                                   ELIGIBLE(3)  LOAD(1)      %     %      %

CANADIAN EQUITY FUNDS
AIC Advantage Fund                           Y      F/B   62.0  27.6   27.0
AIC Diversified Canada F                     Y      F/B   58.4
Colonia Special Gr. Fund                     Y        B   57.2  27.7
Bissett Small Cap Fund                       Y       NL   52.0  20.2   31.8
Special Opportunities                        Y        F   50.8  20.1   17.9
Average(2)                                                25.7  12.7   14.0

SPECIALTY AND OTHER RESOURCE
EQUITY FUNDS
Friedberg Currency Fund                      N       NL   92.3
BPI Canadian Opp. RSP                        Y      F/B   70.8
Green Line Energy                            Y       NL   50.0
Universal Canadian                           Y      F/B   38.1  13.0   29.6
Dynamic Global Resource                      N      F/B   35.7
Green Line Resource                          Y       NL   34.9  14.1
Average(2)                                                13.6  12.1   19.5

U.S. EQUITY FUNDS
Glo Mgr US Geared Fund                       N        F   38.6
AIC Value                                    N      F/B   37.4  23.1   20.7
Optima Strat. US Equity                      N      F/B   32.1
McLean Budden Amer. Eq.-Pld.                 N       NL   28.1  22.5   17.4
Average(2)                                                15.2  13.7   13.5

INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUNDS
20/20 Latin Amer.                            N      F/B   49.3
GT Latin Amer. Gr.                           N      F/B   44.2
Scotia Excel Latin Am.                       N       NL   38.5
Glo Mgr. German Geared                       N        F   37.3
Dynamic Europe Fund                          N      F/B   36.2  15.3   15.3
Universal European Opp.                      N      F/B   36.2
Scudder Emerging Markets Fund                N        F   36.1
Average(2)                                                10.3   4.8   11.6

REAL ESTATE FUNDS
Dynamic Real Estate Equity                   N      F/B   49.4
Investors Real Property                      Y      F/B    3.8   3.2    1.5
Royal Lepage Comm. Real Est.                 Y       NL    0.6   4.4    0.8
Average                                                   17.9   3.8    1.1

BOND & MORTGAGE FUNDS
Fidelity Emerg. Mkts. Bond                   N       NL   41.9
C.I. New World Income                        N      F/B   23.1
Altamira Spec. High Yield Bond               N       NL   19.3
Glo Mgr. U.K. Gilt Index                     N        F   18.1
Green Line Real Return Bond                  Y       NL   17.7
Average(2)                                                 9.1   7.0    8.9

[Part 2 of 2]

BEST 12-MONTH PERFORMANCE

FUND                               10 YR.
                                        %

CANADIAN EQUITY FUNDS
AIC Advantage Fund                   16.8
AIC Diversified Canada F
Colonia Special Gr. Fund
Bissett Small Cap Fund
Special Opportunities
Average(2)                            8.6

SPECIALTY AND OTHER RESOURCE
EQUITY FUNDS
Friedberg Currency Fund
BPI Canadian Opp. RSP
Green Line Energy
Universal Canadian                   11.7
Dynamic Global Resource
Green Line Resource
Average(2)                            7.3

U.S. EQUITY FUNDS
Glo Mgr US Geared Fund
AIC Value
Optima Strat. US Equity
McLean Budden Amer. Eq.-Pld.         13.4
Average(2)                            9.5

INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUNDS
20/20 Latin Amer.
GT Latin Amer. Gr.
Scotia Excel Latin Am.
Glo Mgr. German Geared
Dynamic Europe Fund
Universal European Opp.
Scudder Emerging Markets Fund
Average(2)                            6.9

REAL ESTATE FUNDS
Dynamic Real Estate Equity
Investors Real Property               4.4
Royal Lepage Comm. Real Est.
Average                               4.4

BOND & MORTGAGE FUNDS
Fidelity Emerg. Mkts. Bond
C.I. New World Income
Altamira Spec. High Yield Bond
Glo Mgr. U.K. Gilt Index
Green Line Real Return Bond
Average(2)                            9.2

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

(2) Averages based on all funds within each group

(3) Y - RRSP eligible without restrictions, N - May be eligible under
foreign content rules, please check