The Globe and Mail's Smart Money section is dedicated to giving you what you need to manage your personal finances successfully. Smart Money appears every Saturday in The Globe and Mail and on globeinvestor.com.

Watch your weighting: Leave room for American pie

High-flying U.S. tech, health care and consumer products sectors offer a counterweight to the commodity-heavy TSX

By ROB CARRICK

rcarrick@globeandmail.comHere's an answer for your struggling Canadian stocks and equity funds: Buy American.We have a monster weighting in commodities, the U.S. market does not. Our tech, health care and consumer products sectors are stunted, while the U.S. market is well-stocked. A quick summary of stock market action this year: Commodities down; health care, tech and consumer products up.

Getting a handle on what comes first

Rhonda and Reg must juggle saving for their kids' education, paying off two mortgages and building their retirement nest egg

By DIANNE MALEY

Since they came to Canada a decade or so ago, Reg and Rhonda have done well for themselves. They have three children, ages 10, 8 and 7, a new home that they are moving into this month and an existing house that they plan to put up for rent.

A 'perfect storm' looms over the world's credit markets

By DAVID PARKINSON

dparkinson@globeandmail.comIf you enjoyed the thrills, spills and chills of the last credit crisis, I have great news. The makings of the next one are looming - large - right in front of us.

Beware the double-edged dividend yield

By JODY WHITE

jwhite@globeandmail.comWhat we're looking forDividend stocks, the juicier the better.With Europe in a deep funk and the United States wrestling with a stubbornly anemic economy, many investors have embraced dividend stocks as a reliable source of income.

Thanks for the ride, CP, but it may be time to disembark

For shareholders, it's been a wonderful journey. But further gains are far from certain

By DAVID BERMAN

dberman@globeandmail.comRead David Berman's Market Blog at tgam.ca/marketblog Now that activist investor Bill Ackman is getting his way with Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd., the hard work begins: transforming the perennial underperforming railway into a model of efficiency and profitability.

How to be a better, happier investor? Ignore your portfolio

By NORMAN ROTHERY

Norman Rothery, PhD, CFA is founder of StingyInvestor.comRecording artist Daniel Powter was having a bad day - for much of the summer of 2006. At least that's what his popular song told the world.

STARS AND DOGS

By JOHN HEINZL

DOGAvon ProductsNot since Tammy Faye Bakker has the world witnessed so much running mascara. Shareholders of Avon burst into tears after perfume purveyor Coty Inc. dropped its $10.7-billion takeover offer for the door-to-door cosmetics seller, citing Avon's ''continued delay and unwillingness to engage in discussions.'' With Avon's profits down for three consecutive years and the company facing foreign bribery allegations, the makeup could be running for a while.

Is there any way to swap stocks for cash in my RRSP?

By JOHN HEINZL

jheinzl@globeandmail.comTax-filing season just ended, but here at Investor Clinic we take your tax questions (and those on other investing subjects, of course) all year round.We're masochists that way.

SPENDING AND SAVING

MORTGAGESMORTGAGE RATE: FLOATING: 3.1%5 YEAR FIXED: 4.3%Based on aNatlNatlMthlyTotal interest$100,000 mortgageAv. rateBest ratepaymentCosts (lifetime) Variable, closed3.0692.750$476.79$43,038.40 1 year, open6.2374.000$653.96$96,189.03 1 year, closed3.1432.390$480.61$44,184.50 3 years, closed3.6122.940$505.20$51,560.00 5 years, closed4.2723.140$540.86$62,262.67 7 years, closed5.3483.890$601.57$80,472.76

Forget Apple's threat: Samsung is the real deal

By Wayne Arnold

Samsung investors are worrying too much about Apple. The company's shares have slid on concern the iPhone's maker might be buying Japanese memory chips to cut its dependence for parts on its South Korean rival. But Apple's diversification only reflects how smartphone demand is outpacing parts supply. Apple still needs Samsung and Samsung's valuation has fallen too far.