4 trillion as of October 2017. With over 2,000 companies listed on the exchange, there is no shortage of options to choose from, but not all of them are good options. Usually, it’s best to invest in the stock market for the long-term. This has been Warren Buffet’s strategy and it has obviously worked out well for him.

Nevertheless, you can still use a short-term strategy and make a good profit. The key is to find those stocks that have either been going down and are poised for a turnaround, or to find those that are undervalued and rise the wave upwards. In 2018, these might be the best LSE stocks to buy quickly before the year rolls on. The ITV network is the largest commercial TV network in the UK. Yet, for most of 2017, the share price of the company had been dropping that it became one of the worst performing LSE stocks in the year.

2.6 last year in November. Others including Citigroup, many prominent investors and analysts have already bought the stock - all showing that ITV is bound to make a comeback this year. 2017 was great for Lloyds Banking Group as its share price rose by over 10% from about GBX62 to over GBX68.

So far this year, there has already been a significant rise to GBX70 and a peak above GBX 72.5 last week. Obviously, the company has an upward momentum, which is why analysts are expecting dividend yields to rise this year. In the 2015 and 2016 financial years, dividend payout was 2.25p and 2.55p respectively. Now, with the rise of the company’s share price, the dividend yield is expected to rise to 4.1p, which is more than many other among the best LSE stocks are offering. If you have no problem investing in sin-stock, then take a gander at Imperial Brands this year among the best LSE stocks.

Energy distribution is big business, and big business brings in big earnings. Those earnings are passed onto shareholders. They’ve paid a quarterly dividend for 64 years to its shareholders. Sabeel: Enbridge is the midstream giant and is now one of the largest energy companies in N.America after the purchase of Spectra Energy.

Brian: : As the largest energy infrastructure company on the continent, Enbridge boasts an impressive network of assets used to collect, transport, process, and store oil and gas. Enbridge enjoys long-term contracts that provide solid cash flow visibility and help shield it from volatile energy prices. In fact, the company believes more than 95% of its revenue is insulated from volume and price risk. Despite its high yield and fast distribution growth, income investors should be aware that Enbridge is structured as a conglomerate, composed of numerous subsidiary master limited partnerships (MLPs).

MLPs contain a number of unique risks that investors should learn more about here. At number 12 on our list of the best performing Canadian stocks is the Bank of Nova Scotia, or Scotiabank for short. BNS also sports an attractive 3.93% dividend yield, the second highest among Canada’s “big 5” banks. BNS has successfully differentiated themselves from their peers through an intense focus on digital banking.

The company is motivated by a positive client experience and a mobile first design. Along with their peers, the company is well positioned to take advantage of rising interest rates which will help the spread on net interest income (NII) margins. Return on Equity and 5-10% earnings per share growth.

With a high starting yield and growing earnings, dividend investors will continue to be well rewarded with their investments in BNS. Mark: I like owning BNS for the dividends and built-in international diversification. Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) has a global presence. They own branches and have tens of millions of assets in Latin America, across Europe, and throughout Asia.

It doesn’t hurt they’ve paid dividends since 1832, and you can almost count on a dividend increase from them every single year. Dropping one spot from 10 to 11 on our Canadian dividend stocks list is Emera. The company invests in electricity generation, transmission and distribution, gas transmission and distribution, and utility energy services with a strategic focus on the transformation from high carbon to low carbon energy sources.