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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.



Barclays lists three Canadian stocks among top picks for Americas

When it comes to natural resources, the Canadian market is still home to some of the continent’s top stock picks, according to Barclays, Tim Shufelt writes. Its individual equity analysts have selected Cenovus Energy as the top pick among North American integrated oil companies, while Teck Resources tops the mining list. The only other Canadian name on the list is Manulife Financial Corp., as the top-ranked Canadian financial services stock. Here’s a look at each of Barclays’ Canadian picks, stock by stock, plus its full list for the Americas.

Read more: Searching for Canadian dividend all-stars

Six stocks uncovered by using the ‘magic formula’

Avoid overpaying for stocks. That’s the consistent message from the world’s most successful investors, writes John Reese, CEO of Validea.com. Warren Buffett’s technique is to buy well-priced stocks of quality companies. It is a slight twist on the view of Benjamin Graham, the father of value investing, who looked for stocks that were trading cheaply relative to others and the value of the underlying businesses. Joel Greenblatt, the investor, academic and author, developed what he calls a “magic formula” that combines Mr. Buffett’s quality with Mr. Graham’s value approach. Here are six stocks (three U.S. and three Canadian) that score highly based on the Magic Formua on Validea.

Read more: A value stock yielding 4% with a 25% return expected

Rob Carrick’s 2019 ETF Buyer’s Guide: Best global equity funds

Global funds are where we find the ETF industry going to extremes to be all things to all investors, Rob Carrick writes. There isn’t a permutation of investing outside Canada that you can’t cover with exchange-traded funds. There are ETFs that give you the world outside Canada, and that exclude both Canada and the United States while giving you everything else. This edition of the Globe and Mail ETF Buyer’s Guide focuses on funds that have been around at least three years and preferably five. All are core funds, which means they’re suitable as your one-and-only international or global fund.

More from Rob Carrick: It’s time to stop pretending RRSPs are a universal retirement-savings vehicle

What this analyst from a market-beating value fund has been buying and selling

Amar Pandya understands why investors are so anxious right now. After the market meltdown in the fourth quarter of last year, it’s hard to trust the comeback seen so far in 2019. But instead of focusing on the market swings – and whether the upward trend will stick – Mr. Pandya and his team at Vancouver-based PenderFund Capital Management are watching smaller stocks that are largely out of the limelight. “We are value-focused, contrarian and long-term oriented,” says Mr. Pandya, senior investment analyst and associate portfolio manager at PenderFund Capital Management Ltd., which has about $1.4-billion in assets under management. The Globe and Mail recently spoke to Mr. Pandya about his take on the markets, what stocks he’s been buying and selling and one he wished they owned.

Open this photo in gallery:

Amar Pandya (Photo by Rafal Gerszak for The Globe and Mail)Rafal Gerszak/The Globe and Mail

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Fed up with all the market volatility? This ETF may be the solution

Stocks went into a deep plunge in December. Then they staged a strong rally in January and February. But March has started off on the downside again. Fed up with all the volatility? There is a way to smooth out these wild swings, Gordon Pape writes. Many companies are now offering low-volatility exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds that are specifically designed to minimize the effect of market turbulence. They have different names: low-volatility, minimum-volatility, low-risk. But they all have the same mandate – a portfolio consisting of stocks with a history of price movements that are less than those of the broad market. The BMO Low Volatility Canadian Equity ETF is the one that stood out in his research. Here’s why.

What investors need to know for the week ahead

In the coming week, eyes will be on Bill Morneau as the Finance Minister presents his pre-election budget on Tuesday. In the United States, the Federal Reserve makes its latest policy announcement on Wednesday, and is expected to keep its key rate steady. Companies releasing financial results include Tilray, Alimentation Couche Tard, Franco-Nevada, Power, Power Financial and Nike. Economic data on tap this week: Canadian international securities transaction for January (Monday); U.S. factory orders for January (Tuesday); Canada’s wholesale trade for February (Thursday); Canada’s inflation figures for February and retail sales for January, as well as U.S. existing home sales for February (Friday).

Looking for more investing ideas and opinions?

A stock yielding 4% with a stable dividend and steady earnings growth

Visa, Oaktree Capital and more of the Globe’s stars and dogs of investing for the week

Why I’m overweight U.S. stocks (and likely to stay that way)

How to tell if the fees you pay your adviser are money well spent

A proper adjusted cost base can lead to tax savings

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