Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now

It wasn’t that long ago that steel stocks like US Steel (X) and AK Steel (AKS) had been left for dead. Now, they’re among the hottest in the market.

Reuters

Don’t believe me? Nucor (NUE), the underperformer of the bunch, has gained 12% during the past three months, more than four times the S&P 500′s 2.7% rise during the same period. AK Steel, meanwhile, has jumped 30%, Steel Dynamics (STLD) has climbed 37% and US Steel is up a whipping 81% during the past three months.

And it’s not like there hasn’t been plenty of good news to go around. On Tuesday, for instance, US Steel announced big changes that would hopefully save the steel giant a ton of money, including having its Canadian subsidiary file for bankruptcy. Then on Wednesday morning, Nucor said that it would earn far more during the third quarter than analysts had been predicting. And last night, Steel Dynamics also forecast earnings that were well above the Street consensus.

Hot Forestry Companies To Buy For 2015: NRG Energy Inc.(NRG)

NRG Energy, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a wholesale power generation company. The company engages in the ownership, development, construction, and operation of power generation facilities. It also involves in the transacting in and trading of fuel and transportation services; the trading of energy, capacity, and related products in the United States and internationally; and the supply of electricity, energy services, and cleaner energy and carbon offset products to retail electricity customers in deregulated markets. The company operates natural gas- fired, coal- fired, oil-fired, nuclear, solar, and wind power plants. As of December 31, 2010, it had power generation portfolio of 193 operating fossil fuel and nuclear generation units with an aggregate generation capacity of approximately 24,570 megawatt (MW), as well as ownership interests in renewable facilities with an aggregate generation capacity of 470 MW. The company portfolio also includes appr oximately 24,035 MW generation capacity in the United States, and 1,005 MW generation capacity in Australia and Germany. In addition, it has a district energy business with steam and chilled water capacity of approximately 1,140 megawatts thermal equivalent. NRG Energy, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sara Murphy]

  David Crane, CEO of NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG  ) , is the rare brand of leader who can do just that. At the recent Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) Summit, he laid out his vision for his company and the future of the energy sector.

Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Bank Of Montreal (BMO)

Bank of Montreal, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of retail banking, wealth management, and investment banking products and solutions in North America and internationally. It offers personal banking products and services to consumers and small businesses, including deposit and investment services, mortgages, consumer credit, small business lending, and other banking services; and commercial banking products and services to small business, medium-sized enterprise, and mid-market banking clients comprising lending, deposits, treasury management, and risk management services. The company also offers cards and payments services; investment and wealth advisory services; self-directed investing services; private banking services to high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients; investment fund solutions across a range of channels; pension plans; investment management services; and creditor insurance, and life insurance and annuity products and services. In add ition, it provides capital markets products and services, including equity and debt underwriting, corporate lending and project financing, mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and recapitalizations, balance sheet management, liquidity management, merchant banking, securitization, foreign exchange, derivatives, debt and equity research, and institutional sales and trading to corporate, institutional, and government clients. As of October 31, 2010, Bank of Montreal operated and maintained approximately 1,230 bank branches in Canada and the United States. The company was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ian Wyatt]

  Established in 1817, Bank of Montreal (BMO) was Canada's first bank. Nearly two centuries later, the bank is not only still standing��t's thriving.

• [By Alyssa Oursler]

  Head north of the border and you’ll come across Bank of Montreal (BMO), our final safe income pick. If you were impressed by Chevron’s century of dividend payments, consider this: BMO has been rewarding loyal shareholders since 1829. For perspective, remember that the U.S. was just over 50 years old at that time.

Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Enerplus Corporation (ERF)

Enerplus Corporation, together with subsidiaries, engages in the exploration and development of crude oil and natural gas in United States and Canada. As of December 31, 2011, it had 322 MMBOE of proved plus probable reserves. The company also held a portfolio of approximately 380,000 net acres of land comprised of 75,000 net acres at Fort Berthold targeting the Bakken and Three Forks; 65,000 net acres in the Duvernay; 33,000 net acres in the Montney; 67,000 net acres in the Stacked Mannville; 30,000 net acres in the Cardium and other emerging oil plays in Canada; and 110,000 net acres in the Marcellus. In addition, it had 120 gross producing wells. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By RichardCox]

  The first to look at is the Enerplus Resources Fund (ERF), which places most of its focus on Western Canadian properties in the mature development stage and is the largest oil and natural gas income fund in North America. For the second quarter, the company's annual production levels rose by 10%, and its diversified portfolio of high-quality growth resources puts Enerplus in a strong position to benefit from demographic trends and rising oil prices. Year-to-date, ERF has seen rallies of nearly 30% but the latest pullback in market valuations offers a new opportunity for investors to get long and gain exposure to energy markets without the added risks of companies that could be vulnerable to trade route disruptions in the Middle East (for example, in the all-important Suez Canal). With its $3.4 billion market cap and 6.4% dividend yield, Enerplus offers a stable alternative for playing energy markets and recent weakness in both commodities and the stock price itself should be viewed as a buying opportunity.

• [By GURUFOCUS]

  Canadian Trusts- Baytex Energy Trust (BTE) | Yield: 6.1%
  - Enerplus Resources Fund (ERF) | Yield: 5.6%
  - Pengrowth Energy Trust (PGH) | Yield: 7.1%

Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc.(POT)

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. produces and sells fertilizers and related industrial and feed products primarily in the United States and Canada. The company mines and produces potash, which is used as fertilizer. It also offers solid and liquid phosphate fertilizers; animal feed supplements; and industrial acids that are used in food products and industrial processes. In addition, the company produces nitrogen fertilizers, as well as nitrogen feed and industrial products, including ammonia, urea, nitrogen solutions, ammonium nitrate, and nitric acid. Further, it holds the right to mine 785,759 acres of land in Saskatchewan; and 58,263 acres of land in New Brunswick in Canada. The company sells its fertilizers primarily to retailers, dealers, co-operatives, distributors, and other fertilizer producers; industrial products primarily to chemical product manufacturers; and purified phosphoric acid directly to consumers of the product. Potash Corporation was founded i n 1953 and is based in Saskatoon, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chad Fraser]

  The agriculture ETF is heavily weighted toward the U.S., with 45.8% of its assets there, but it is geographically diverse, with exposure to countries such as Canada (9.9%), Switzerland (8.5%), Japan (6.7%) and Singapore (5.1%).
  
  Potash Cartel Breakup Has Weighed on This Agriculture ETF
  
  The ETF’s unit price declined in the first half of 2013, partly because of the breakup of the Belarusian Potash Company (BPC), through which Russia’s Uralkali, the world’s No. 1 potash producer, and Belaruskali of Belarus distribute their potash. The market is dominated by BPC and Canpotex, owned by Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT), Mosaic and Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU).
  
  Together, the two cartels control 70% of global potash exports, so the breakup of BPC will result in a more fractured market, which seems likely to push potash prices lower. Shares of major potash producers fell sharply on the news, as did Market Vectors Agribusiness ETF due to its potash stock holdings, which include Agrium, Potash Corp. and Mosaic.

Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund(CFP)

Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund is a closed-ended equity fund of fund launched and managed by Cornerstone Advisors, Inc. The fund invests funds investing in the public equity markets of the United States. It invests in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund was formed on April 26, 2007 and is domiciled in the United States.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  But you can see in several places the consequences of the stampede toward high yield. Here are just a few:

  Closed-end funds Cornerstone Progressive (NYSEMKT: CFP  ) and Pimco High Income (NYSE: PHK  ) both make fixed payments back to fund shareholders on a monthly basis, and their distribution yields are truly extraordinary, at about 17% and 12%, respectively. Those dividends have enticed shareholders to pay $1.30 to $1.40 or more for each $1 of assets in the funds. Yet during most months, a substantial portion of those distribution payments has simply been a return of investor capital rather than true income from the funds' investments. A recent study discussed in The Wall Street Journal found that returns on a portfolio with a combined value and dividend-income strategy outperformed a strategy focused more exclusively on maximizing dividends by an average of 1.7 percentage points per year, a huge edge in long-run returns. In the dividend ETF arena, most funds tend to focus on maximizing yield. Although the popular Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (NYSEMKT: VIG  ) ETF bucks the trend by screening first for consistent dividend growth and only then looking at yield as a factor, many rival ETFs start with high-yielding stocks as their baseline and only then consider other desirable traits. Others focus solely on high-dividend niches of the market, such as iShares FTSE NAREIT Mortgage-Plus (NYSEMKT: REM  ) and its concentration on high-yield mortgage REITs.

  When dividend stocks get too popular, their prices get out of line with both their dividend income and the fundamentals of the businesses that underlie those stocks. In simpler terms, when dividend stocks become bad values, it's time to consider looking elsewhere for a margin of safety.

Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Ventas Inc. (VTR)

Ventas, Inc. is a publicly owned real estate investment trust. The firm engages in investment, management, financing, and leasing of properties in the healthcare industry. It invests in the real estate markets of the United States and Canada. The firm primarily invests in healthcare-related facilities including hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, senior housing facilities, medical office buildings, and other healthcare related facilities. Ventas, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is based in Chicago, Illinois with additional offices in Louisville, Kentucky and Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Justin Loiseau]

  Health or wealth -- why not both?
  Cliffs Natural Resources and Caterpillar shares could continue their adjustments today, but investors will also need to keep an eye on Ventas' (NYSE: VTR  ) 10 a.m. EDT earnings report. The health care REIT's shares have moved from 5% gains to a 12% drop over the last three months, and year-to-date gains clock in at 6.8% so far.

• [By Brad Thomas]

  For current investors, I still think the recent 10% price reduction still represents a premium valuation - of mispriced risk - and I would consider a rotation into a more risk-aligned healthcare REIT like Healthcare Trust of America (HTA) yielding 4.82% or Ventas, Inc. (VTR) yielding 3.47%. (See my HTA article here and my VTR article here).

Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Stage Stores Inc.(SSI)

Stage Stores, Inc. operates as a specialty department store retailer that offers branded and private label apparel, accessories, cosmetics, and footwear for women, men, and children in the United States. The company also offers sportswear, dresses, intimates, home and gift products, outerwear, swimwear, and other products. It primarily focuses on consumers in small and mid-sized markets. The company operates stores under the names of Bealls, Goody?s, Palais Royal, Peebles, and Stage. Stage Stores, Inc. also sells its products through its Web site. As of March 06, 2012, it operated 819 stores in 40 states. Stage Stores, Inc. is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  On Friday, Stage Stores (NYSE: SSI  ) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise. That way, you'll be less likely to make an uninformed knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Another earnings short-squeeze prospect is specialty department store retailer Stage Stores (SSI), which is set to release numbers on Thursday before the market open. Wall Street analysts, on average, expect Stage Stores to report revenue of $397.57 million on earnings of 53 cents per share.

  Read More: Triple Your Gains With These 5 Cash-Rich Companies

  The current short interest as a percentage of the float for Stage Stores is pretty high at 11.6%. That means that out of the 30 million shares in the tradable float, 3.58 million shares are sold short by the bears. The bears have also been increasing their bets from the last reporting period by 4.2%, or by about 145,000 shares. If the bears get caught pressing their bets into a bullish quarter, then shares of SSI could easily surge sharply higher post-earnings as the shorts jump to cover some of their positions.

  From a technical perspective, SSI is currently trending above its 50-day moving average and just below its 200-day moving average, which is neutral trendwise. This stock has been trending sideways and consolidating for the last three months and change, with shares moving between $17.51 on the downside and $20.32 on the upside. Any high-volume move above the upper-end of its recent range post-earnings could trigger a big breakout trade for shares of SSI.

  If you're bullish on SSI, then I would wait until after its report and look for long-biased trades if this stock manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $19.91 to $20.32 a share with high volume. Look for volume on that move that registers near or above its three-month average action of 233,200 shares. If that breakout begins post-earnings, then SSI will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $23 to $25 a share.

  I would simply avoid SSI or look for short-biased trades if after earnings it fails to trigger that breakout and then takes out some key