Four safe ETFs and how the wealthy invest to stay that way: What you need to know in investing this week

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 do the wealthy stay that way? They don’t invest like the rest

• ETFs aren’t as risky as you think. Here are four safe options for income-focused investors

• Once-iffy U.S.-focused pot stocks are becoming investor darlings/a>

• Fifteen undervalued Canadian stocks where risk of decline is minimized

• Apple hits $1-trillion stock market valuation

• What investors need to know for the week ahead

• Looking for more investing ideas and opinions?

How do the wealthy stay that way? They don’t invest like the rest

To the average investor, how rich people manage their portfolios is likely a mystery. Do they have access to secret tools and vehicles that the rest of us don’t? Can the average person benefit from using their techniques? But while their investments may be larger in size, they are usually made up of the same kinds of assets as those with smaller portfolios, Terry Cain writes. Here’s how a broader playing field often results in greater returns for high-net-worth investors and what you can learn from them.

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Gordan Pape: ETFs aren’t as risky as you think. Here are four safe options for income-focused investors

Some ETFs can be extremely risky. Look at the Horizons BetaPro bull-bear leveraged funds, which can swing wildly in either direction on any given day, depending on price movements in the underlying commodity. But there are many that are safe, such as short-term bond funds, and others that provide the right balance between risk and return that most investors seek. Gordan Pape has recommended many ETFs over the years and some have done outstandingly well, both in providing steady income and in delivering capital gains as a bonus. Here are four of them.

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Once-iffy U.S.-focused pot stocks are becoming investor darlings

U.S.-focused cannabis stocks, once considered a risky play on a legally iffy product, are seeing heightened levels of investor interest while their Canadian peers drift back to Earth. This is shrinking the discount for U.S. pot companies that was exacerbated in January when U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he’d reverse an Obama-era policy that helped states legalize recreational marijuana. As more states including Massachusetts and New Jersey push ahead regardless, investors are becoming more comfortable with the sector, buying up Canadian-listed companies with expanding U.S. businesses at the expense of pure-play Canadian pot stocks that had soared until this year.

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Fifteen undervalued Canadian stocks where risk of decline is minimized

It’s not uncommon to hear a money manager describe themselves as a “value investor.” Value investing refers to the practice of purchasing stocks that are currently considered undervalued relative to their “intrinsic value” – the value the stock is expected to be worth based on analysis. While this style of investing is very popular, you also bear the risk that one or more of your undervalued stocks may continue to decline in value, writes Emily Halverson-Duncan. This strategy takes into account momentum factors to find Canadian stocks that are undervalued relative to peers.

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Apple hits $1-trillion stock market valuation

Apple Inc. became the first U.S.-based company with a market value of $1-trillion. The shares rose 2.9 per cent to close at US$207.39 in New York on Thursday, propelling the consumer-technology giant’s market value to US$1.002-trillion. PetroChina Co. briefly crossed the trillion-dollar mark in late 2007, but slumped quickly as oil prices collapsed in the financial crisis. Other tech giants are not far behind Apple today, with Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft Corp. worth more than US$800-billion each.

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What investors need to know for the week ahead

With Canadian markets closed on Monday, the spotlight is on Canada’s housing and labour market later this week as Canada releases its building permits for June on Wednesday and Canadian housing starts for July the next day. The country can also watch out for Canada’s New Housing Price Index on Thursday morning. Experts estimate it will be unchanged from May and up 0.7 per cent year over year. The labour market takes centre stage on Friday, with Canada releasing its jobs numbers for July, along with average hourly wages.

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