West vs. East: A Tale of Two Canadas

To the Editor:
There are two versions of Canada—east and west (“Canada’s Battle With Trump Could Boost Its Stocks. Where to Invest Now,” Cover Story, Sept. 5). If I had to make a general, broad-based call of where the winners are in the dust-up with the U.S., I’d point to Alberta—rich with natural resources—as home to most of the winners.

Things out east in Ontario and Quebec seem far more challenging.

Canada’s pipeline, energy, and mining companies seem like better choices than its banks and manufacturing businesses.

Stephen Jewell
On Barrons.com

Legislate It

To the Editor:
Certainty on tariffs requires congressional legislation (“Employers Need Certainty Around Tariffs, Not Lower Rates,” The Economy, Sept. 5). No business is going to make a long-term, multibillion-dollar investment based on a certain tariff level (say, 15% or 25%), when the next president (or, in this case, the current president) can unilaterally reverse the tariffs back to zero. This probably would turn what was anticipated to be a highly profitable investment into a money loser.

Richard Weinroth
On Barrons.com

Natural-Gas Pipelines

To the Editor:
To Jack Hough’s dividend smorgasbord, I would like to add the natural-gas pipeline group—specifically, Enterprise Product Partners, Enbridge, and MPLX (“The Market Is Pricey. Dividends Can Provide a Cushion in a Pullback,” Streetwise, Sept. 5). All have positive outlooks due to growing energy demand for natural gas both domestically and abroad. Price return is positive year to date, and they have regularly growing cash yields of 5% or higher.

Mike Meehan
Bradenton, Fla.

Stumbling Into Traps

To the Editor:
John Toomey argues that because his parents retired securely on union pensions, today’s investors should be granted access to private markets in their retirement accounts (“The Right Way to Tap Private Investments for Retirement Plans,” Other Voices, Sept. 5).

However, his parents’ unions had professional investment managers making disciplined, long-term decisions on their behalf. The average retirement saver does not.

Left on their own, most investors will stumble into the traps that define private markets: sky-high fees, illiquidity, and underperformance from poor investment selection.

The real beneficiaries of this push won’t be retirees but instead the private-market gatekeepers that will collect billions in fees while ordinary Americans take the risk.

Karl Kaufman
Boca Raton, Fla.

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