Buying Canadian Stocks Still a Foreign Experience for U.S. Investors

VANCOUVER -- For many Americans, investing in Canadian equities is a little like traveling north of the 49th parallel: It's the subtle changes, not the glaring differences, that make us homesick. Tim Hortons versus Dunkin' Donuts; the loonie versus the greenback; kilometers versus miles; and Lynyrd Skynyrd versus Leonard Cohen.

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A Guide on Finding Information About Canadian Investing

In addition, U.S. investors have had to contend with an ever-fluctuating (though currently favorable) exchange rate, brokers who may be reluctant to place Canadian trades and ongoing concerns about credibility. This is especially so for companies listed on the high-flying Canadian Venture Exchange.

Those concerns, however, are more than compensated for by recent gains north of the border. The CDNX Composite, the benchmark for the Canadian Venture Exchange, is up an impressive 62% since Jan. 1, while the Nasdaq Composite is off 7.4% during the same period. The TSE 300, the benchmark index for the Toronto Stock Exchange, is up more than 30% from a year ago, versus a 7% gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the comparable period. ...