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

Closed-end funds are companies whose main business is to invest. They do not accept money from investors on a continuous basis. If you are interested in buying them you have to buy from other investors. They are traded on stock exchanges like other stocks. All closed-end funds mentioned here have a discount of over 19%.

CLOSED-END FUNDS THAT TRADE AT A DISCOUNT

STOCK                         SYMBOL  NAV (1)   PRICE  DISC.
                                            $       $      %


BioCapital Investments        BCK.IR     7.51    3.25   56.7
DDJ Canadian High Yield Fund  HYB.IR    12.91    9.35   27.6
Canadian World Fund              CWF     6.29    4.70   25.3
BGR Precious Metals            BPT.A    15.67   12.00   23.4
Economic Investment T            EVT   166.18  127.50   23.3
Phoenix Hedge Fund            PHF.UN    18.12   14.00   22.7
United Corporations              UNC    71.79   57.00   20.6
NCE Diversified Inc.          NCD.UN     4.85    3.90   20.0
Templeton Emerg Mkts. App.    TEM.UN    13.74   11.00   19.9
First Mercantile Currency     FMF.UN    16.50   13.35   19.1

(1) NAV stands for net asset value per share. Since the above mentioned
shares trade at a discount, their net asset values are higher than their
market price.

FIXED INCOME

The minimum amounts required to get the interest rates indicated in this table are $5,000 for term deposits and $1,000 for Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs)

HIGHER INTEREST RATES ON DEPOSITS

TERM      INTEREST %                                WHO PAYS


TERM DEPOSITS (MINIMUM $5,000)
30 days         4.30                           Peoples Trust

60 days         4.55                     Home Savings & Loan

90 days         4.65                     Home Savings & Loan

120 days        4.65                     Home Savings & Loan

GICS (MINIMUM $1,000)

1 year          4.88                            Sun Life Tr.

3 years         5.00  Standard Life, Sun Life Tr, Trimark Tr

5 years         5.20                             Trimark Tr.

Prepayable refers to open mortgages; non-prepayable to closed mortgages

MORTGAGE BACKED SECURITIES (MBS)

PREPAYABLE     YIELD (%)  NON-PREPAYABLE     YIELD (%)


CIBC '07            5.92  PAFCO '07               5.74

CIBC '04            5.66  Maritime Life '07       5.74

MRS Trust '02       5.62  SunLife '04             5.58

Nat Bank '02        5.62  Manulife '02            5.55

MORTGAGE RATES

Mortgage rates change frequently. Please check the rates

BEST MORTGAGE RATES

TYPE              %  WHERE


Variable Rate  6.50  Several financial institutions
1-year closed  6.00  Citizens Bank of Canada.
2-year closed  6.10  Citizens Bank of Canada
3-year closed  6.10  Citizens Bank of Canada
5-year closed  6.15  Citizens Bank of Canada