If you’re a U.S. citizen and you’ve been wanting to get into the Canadian markets but things were too expensive a year ago, or maybe you just don’t know enough about what’s available, I’ve got good news for you!  This is a list of five income trusts that trade on the NYSE and which are currently paying high double-digit yields!!

Add to yields of 20% or more your 25% stronger dollar and you’ve got a return of almost 45%!

This is an opportunity you don’t want to miss, especially since experts agree the greenback will fall again when all the chips are in and the markets improve.  So here’s the list.  I’ve owned all of these at one time or another.  Four oil and gas trusts, and one waste-management trust (a pretty good defensive play, since we always need waste management).

Arc Energy Trust (AET.UN) - currently paying about 15.60%!
Freehold Royalty Trust (FRU.UN) - currently paying about 19.5%!
Harvest Energy Trust (HTE.UN) - currently paying about 30.6%!! (Yes, a thirty percent yield!)
New Alta Income Fund (NAL.UN) - currently paying about 22.2%!
Pengrowth Energy (PGF.UN) - currently paying about 19.6%!

Not only are some of these names at a serious discount right now, but some, like Arc Energy, are extremely well-managed companies.  Pengrowth was the first oil trust in Canada.  These aren’t fly-by-nights.  Do check them out more on your own.  But these are my recommendations.  Harvest Energy, for example, just announced they’re going to buy back some shares, so you’ll want to time your purchase accordingly.

The Philippines, which is officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is located in Southeast Asia. It comprises 3 big islands, namely: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Because of its geographic location, a variety of crops can be produced. The main exports of the Philippines come from the agriculture sector. Certain products like palay, corn, vegetables, and fruits are the main commodities exported worldwide. Well, that was what the Philippines used to be.

With the change of time, agriculture is no longer the main export sector of the country. With a growing population estimated at 90.5 million by the latest survey, scarcity of food has become a big problem.

The country used to be one of the major suppliers of rice in the world; now the Philippine government needs to import this product because it is a staple food for Filipinos and there is an inadequate supply of it.

Although rice has been a major problem of almost all the countries in the world – in addition to the increasing prices of oil – still the government is able to meet the demands of most of the people (though the cost of it is still too high for a poor family that earns $7.00 per day.)

Today, remittances from overseas Filipino contract workers are one of the major contributors to the Phillipine economy. Economists say that these remittances help a lot in boosting the value of the Philippine peso versus US Dollar. But due to the never-ending increase of the price of oil in the world market, the peso is getting weaker again. But one thing that is remarkable is the fact that Philippine peso exchange rate versus the US Dollar used to be PHP 54 - US$ 1.00 during 2003 and up to 2007, but now it has grown in value to PHP 44.3 - US$1.00.

Other nationalities visualize and perceive the Philippines as just a big field full of crops. A country that is unindustrialized and its people are illiterate. But as a citizen of the Philippines, I myself have seen such fields only during school trips. Usually these fields can be seen in the rural areas and even nowadays the rural areas are no longer full of fields. The Philippines – especially the urban areas – has a lot of skyscrapers, though not as many as those in other countries. A lot of planting fields are being transformed into commercial centers, high-rise condominiums and similar constructions. And not all Filipinos are illiterate; there are a lot of teachers who truly devote their time to teaching and we can speak and write the English language pretty well.

Another perception about the Philippines is that it is a poor nation, but if this were true how come even the beggars have electric guitars to beg for money? (I’m being satirical.) How come one can see several people lining up in a fast food chain? Even a cigarette vendor wears nice shirt. Nevertheless it is really true that there is still a big discrepancy between the poor and the rich. These differences can be compared to an inverted triangle – ▼ – where the top comprises the poor sector and the lower pointed part represents the rich. As you can see, the poor comprises the larger sector of the population. But, from my point of view, the Philippines economy – even if we’re considered as a Third World country – is stable.

Also, we are considered the happiest people in the world. Maybe the reason is the fact that we don’t deal too much on the financial aspects of life. We are always content with whatever we have.

The government is doing their best to help the poor sector by giving subsidies for rice, electricity and other things, especially now, during the hard times which not only the Philippines are experiencing, but the whole world as well. I believe that all good things are possible to happen as long as everyone will do his/her own share for the good of all. And lastly, fight and stop corruption. A good country is good if it is governed well and its constituent is the top priority before itself. For example, the Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, promised to make the Philippines a developed country by the year 2020. We, as one nation, are hoping for the best for our nation.≡

This post was written by Angelo at A Million By 20. Angelo is a fifteen year-old student who lives, works and blogs in the Phillipines. Among many other things, he plans to become a doctor. He can also write music. You can also find him on StumbleUpon as kengelo (a friend of MoneyEnergy, who is listed as “fluomundi”).

For more information on foreign stocks and economies, a great resource is Top Foreign Stocks.

In a previous post, I discussed the benefit of investing in stocks directly using dividend reinvestment plans (also known as direct purchase plans, direct reinvestment plans, or direct stock purchase plans - there are some slight pragmatic differences here, but nothing that should prevent you from getting started and enrolling). In this post I would like to go into more detail on a specific method of direct investing. This involves buying stocks directly using MoneyPaper.

MoneyPaper is the name of an online and print magazine that publishes directories of direct investment plans listed on American stock exchanges. It also includes Canadian and other foreign stocks (eg., Toyota, Nestle, BP) in their ADR (American Depository Receipt) form on the NYSE and NASDAQ. Online, MoneyPaper is located at http://www.directinvesting.com.

The MoneyPaper guide is more than just a directory. It also discusses the larger picture of “how to build wealth DRIP by DRIP” by investing without a broker. It explains what DRIPs are, how to create a diversified DRIP portfolio, and how to enrol in DRIPs using the Temper Enrolment Service.

Temper of the Times Investor Services is a broker that specializes in doing DRIP enrolments and is affiliated with MoneyPaper for helping MoneyPaper subscribers get started with their first dividend reinvestment program. It’s only $50 (a one-time charge) for enrolling in a plan through MoneyPaper, and you get half-off ($25) if you’re already a MoneyPaper subscriber. For this reason it’s probably the easiest way to get started investing in securities.

Stocks You Can Buy Commission-Free (No Broker)

The guide lists almost 1,000 different companies and the types of direct stock purchase and reinvestment plans they offer. Some of the more well-known US companies that offer DRIPs include Costco (COST: NSDQ), Domino’s Pizza (DPZ: NYSE), Equifax (EFX: NYSE), Fannie Mae (FNM: NYSE), Home Depot (HD: NYSE), JP Morgan Chase (JPM: NYSE), Mattel (MAT: NYSE), Proctor & Gamble (PG: NYSE) and Texas Instruments (TXN: NYSE). There is quite a selection. With this amount of companies that you can buy directly into, who needs to invest with a broker?

What’s even more amazing, from my own perspective, is that you can even DRIP quite a few foreign companies listed in New York under their ADRs. This is probably the best way to invest foreign, as well. You don’t have to worry about trying to figure out how to buy Chinese companies on the Shanghai or Hong Kong exchanges. Here’s a list of some that already allow DRIPs:

China Eastern Airlines Corp. (CEA: NYSE) -
China Mobile (CHL: NYSE) -
China Southern Airlines (ZNH: NYSE) -
China Telecom Corp. (CHA: NYSE) -
China Unicom (CHU: NYSE) -
Guangshen Railway Co. Ltd. (GSH: NYSE) -

Not all of these companies are 100% fee-free. China Eastern Airlines’ plan, for example, charges $5 (+10 cents/share) for each optional cash purchase. Home Depot’s plan charges 5% on reinvestments of the amount of dividends reinvested (but only up to a maximum of $2.50). Even still, these fees are cheaper than many brokers. And as I explained in my last post, many plans have absolutely no fees at all. These are the ones you want to look out for first. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEH: NYSE), for example, pays all fees for reinvestment, certificates and optional cash purchases (although there is a $10 fee to sell if you ever decide to withdraw from the DRIP). These figures are all based on the 18th edition of MoneyPaper’s Guide (pictured above). You should always check the websites of the companies in question (as well as their Transfer Agents) for the most up-to-date figures and information. Some of them do change.