The Radio Girl

H1N1 at the Walk-In Clinic

Edited and reposted:  For some strange reason this particular post that I wrote two days ago completely disappeared from my blog!  My Fella thinks the H1N1 flu shot is a government conspiracy and claims this mysterious disappearance of my post is proof.  A little political tampering.  But I'm pretty sure I accidentally deleted it while traveling on my current Tylenol 3 induced carpet ride  :) 

CAUTION:  Whiney post ahead.

 
I shot out of bed at 5 this morning with a blinding jolt of pain behind my eyebrows. 

For the past few days I've been chewing over-the-counter meds like Halloween candy, hoping to clear up my sinus congestion.  It's not working.  And my voice is so hoarse from coughing that I sounded like a dude yesterday on the radio.  A couple listeners phoned to ask where I was.  They didn't realize they were talking to me. 

So it was finally time for a visit to the place I dread even more than the dentist: the Walk In Clinic. 

My head pain was so brutal this morning that it actually hurt to comb my hair so I threw down the brush, hopped in the car and drove straight to the clinic. 

Hoping to be first one in line, I was there before the doors opened.  Apparently 13 other people had the same idea cause that's how many folks were waiting outside the building.  By the time the doors opened there were 15 more patients in line behind me.

Still not sure what was worse:  waiting in a noisy clinic for ninety nine minutes before I could see the Doc-on-call, or being surrounded by a bunch of coughing-hacking-sneezing folks in a small enclosed space.   

There were several big signs lining the clinic walls that read: 

IF YOU SUSPECT YOU HAVE THE H1N1 VIRUS, ALERT RECEPTION AND GET A MASK   

And the folks with H1N1 were able to bud in to see the Doc before everyone else.  Since it is a potentially deadly virus I can certainly understand why.  But I'm not gonna lie, it was still kind of frustrating since the wait was already so long.  

As I slowly inched my way to the front of the pack I started feeling bad for the gals at reception.  The phone was ringing non-stop with panicky patients and it was clear that all the questions were about H1N1. 

It hadn't occured to me until this morning how heavily this is impacting the medical industry - clinics, hospitals, emergency rooms, etc.  The H1N1 virus is making people frantic.  There have been 15 deaths in BC so far, but I think the worst is yet to come.

One hundred twenty-two minutes later I finally got in to see the Doc.  He was outfitted in a little green face mask that he wouldn't remove until he confirmed that I had sinusitis, not H1N1. 

The Docs' muffled questions and my congested head made communication difficult, but the second I was diagnosed, he whipped out his pen and scratched out two illegible prescriptions for painkillers and antibiotics.

Then he pushed his little green mask back in place and dashed out of the room to face the next unknown patient.  And possible case of H1N1.

Remind me never* to be a doctor.

*I'm glad we have honourable souls filling that need in society, but I'd be a terrible  doctor.  My practice would be completely dysfunctional:  yelling at people for not eating vegetables.  Or lingering at my office computer trading stocks when I'm supposed to be removing a tonsil or replacing a hip.  You get the picture.

For Sale

Our cupboards are bare.

Actually, so is most of our condo.

 
First, the cupboards. 

I've had sinusitis since last week and My Fella was sick the week before that - he still has a bit of a cough.  So no big grocery purchases lately except for several boxes of chicken noodle soup, throat lozenges and fruit.  Hence the bare cupboards.

And the condo is bare because of my recent Craigslist addiction.  In the past three weeks I've sold:

• two bookcases
• a wine cooler
• our kitchen table
• a leopard bench
• my table lamp
• an IKEA chair
• the sofa bed
• four wooden chairs
• three big mirrors
• two leather stools
• and "a partridge in a peeeear treeeeee..."

Not much left to sell. 

My Fella has started moving some of our things to his parents house.  He says it's to get an early start on moving, but I think he's scared I'm gonna start selling the good stuff  :)

Speaking of the good stuff.  We did sell one really good thing. 

OUR CONDO.  Actually I signed the papers 10 days ago, but we had to wait until today for all of the conditions to be removed by the buyer.  And our realtor just called to confirm the deal is done.  We sold for less than our original list price but still made a 22.4% profit in 3 years, excluding fees. 

After the Olympic Games end in February I think BC real estate will experience another drop, so I'm happy to pull that money out now and invest it elsewhere. 

And now we're free to move forward on Project Gypsy.

(Hope I feel better soon cause I plan to make our final few weeks here complete HELL for our neighbours.  Here's the part where I wish I had eight noisy, rambunctious, screaming kids.  Who all play the drums   :)

Best Canadian Trusts

 
Rob Carrick wrote a great article in the Globe and Mail over the weekend.

I have a slab of income trusts in my non-reg account and most investors know that the trust structure in Canada is disappearing as of 2011, when all trusts convert to a corporation. 

In Carrick's article, veteran independent analyst, Harry Levant of IncomeTrustResearch.com (who has analyzed close to 200 trusts) offers a list of the 'best of the bunch'.  The list is based on being 'strong, steady businesses that generate lots of cash'.

I am happy to say that of the 32 trusts listed, all 8 in my non-reg portfolio are considered 'best of the bunch':

• Armtec
• Altagas
• Inter Pipeline
• Pembina Pipeline
• Bonavista Energy
• Davis + Henderson
• Morneau Sobeco
• FutureMed

I'm confident in my ability to evaluate good companies/investments, but it's reassuring to get the green light from an expert like Levant.

Here's the complete Globe and Mail article including the entire list of 'best of the bunch' trusts.

Prime Lending Rate Remains Unchanged

 
If you have a personal line of credit or variable rate mortgage, you should be celebrating.

This morning the Bank of Canada announced they were leaving the prime lending rate unchanged at 0.25%. 

The B of C also implied once again that the overnight rate would remain the same until the second quarter of next year.  Great news for homeowners :)

Here's the full story from the Financial Post.

September Stocks

Quick wrap of my accounts for September '09.

 
Non-reg account was up 1.6% on the month, 7.8% for the third quarter.  If I can average only a 5% gain per quarter that's 20% annually. 

TFSA was up 8% for September, but July was negative and August was flat so the account was flat on the quarter. 

My registered accounts (RRSP and LIRA) were both up 3% to 4% this month and double that for the quarter. 

So my new account goals are:

• Double the value of my LIRA within four years (this is my 'play' money for small cap oil/gas/mining stocks, it's already up 29% since inception in March '08)
• Earn 5% per quarter in my non-reg account, for a total of 20% annually
• Earn at least 16% a year in my RRSP, this allows me to de-register a fixed amount of cash every year
• No real earnings goal for my TFSA, BUT it is a fabulous thing for Canadian residents and I'm making full use of it

And my non-reg accounts are fully invested for the second month in a row. 

Holdings in order of weighting: 

Student Transportation, Crescent Point Energy, Armtec Infrastructure, Altagas, Inter Pipeline, First Capital Realty, Pembina Pipelines, Bonavista Energy, Killam Properties, Morneau Sobeco, Sunlife preferreds, National Bank preferreds, Alaris Royalty Corp, Power Financial preferreds, Westcoast Energy preferreds, Keyera Facilities, another National Bank preferred, Superior Plus, Futuremed Healthcare, CML Healthcare, Public Storage, Cash.

Canadian Taxes

 
At the start of every calendar year I crunch the numbers (employment, business, dividend and interest income) to guestimate my taxes* for the year.  By planning ahead I usually pay minimal tax.

Since my part-time radio gig has mysteriously morphed into full-time, my 2009 employment income is going to be higher than I initially thought.  Almost triple actually.

While I'm thankful for the gig it's really messed up my taxes. 

Normally I get money back, but if my new calculations are accurate I'll be owing about $3700 for taxes in 2009.  Some of that will be offset by deductions through my Voice Biz but I need to brainstorm more ideas to reduce that number. 

Maybe more contributions to this years fave charity, the local SPCA.

Look at that face :)

*Canada has one of the highest tax rates in the world. 

You name it, we're taxed on it:  income, property, gasoline, alcohol, junk food, cell phone and internet service, clothing, footwear, vehicles, RVs, furniture, appliances, electronics, sports equipment, new homes, basically all consumer goods and services.  And the new HST (harmonized sales tax) will be introduced next summer.

First Full Day of Fall

Not looking forward to winter, but I love how fresh everything smells in the fall.  

I wish this picture was scratch-and-sniff so you could smell it too  :)

Mid-Month Stocks and Other Stuff

House Sale

The couple who came to check out our condo for a potential private sale never got back to us.  We may still hear from them, but we don't wanna hound them.  Every Monday I put a new ad up on Craigslist and our place is also listed with a realtor.  It'll sell soon - I can feel it.

Stock Talk

My new fave market phrase:  "Investors losing their shorts".  This just means retail or individual investors who remove any short positions they have on stocks, but it still makes me laugh.  "Investors losing their shorts... hahahahahaha".  

I am a geek.  And speaking of my complete financial geekosity...

Mid-Month Holdings, by Weighting

Student Transportation, Crescent Point Energy, Armtec Infrastructure, Altagas, Inter Pipeline, First Capital Realty, Bonavista Energy, Killam Properties, Sun Life preferreds, Morneau Sobeco, Pembina Pipelines, National Bank preferreds, Alaris Royalty Corp, Power Financial preferreds, West Coast Energy preferreds, Keyera Facilities, BCE, another National Bank preferred, Colabor Group, Mosaid Technologies, FutureMed Healthcare, Public Storage, CML Healthcare.

For the first time in forever, I am fully invested.

Prime Rate Remains at .25%

If you have a personal line of credit or variable rate mortgage, you should be celebrating.

This morning the Bank of Canada announced they were leaving the prime lending rate unchanged at 0.25%.  The quarterly monetary policy statement was pretty upbeat, suggesting that Canada's economy was starting a slow uptrend.

The B of C also implied that the overnight rate would remain the same until the second quarter of next year.  Great news for homeowners :)

August Stocks

The big six Canadian banks reported earnings last week.

With the exception of CIBC, the banks all beat analyst estimates.  That means they did a little better than bank "experts" thought they would. 

Trading revenues gave the banks a boost this quarter but they'll probably fall in Q4.   I don't care either way since I sold all my common shares last quarter and took my profits.  The only banks I own now are preferred shares. 

Also trimmed some Russel Metals this month - bought in around $13 and sold half at $16.20 after the ex-div date. 

My two new holdings are:  

• Morneau Sobeco Income Fund, which I bought last week on a stink bid.  Morneau Sobeco is one of the biggest benefits/pension consulting firms in Canada.  Both the company and the monthly distibution keep growing - at todays price it's yielding almost 11%.

• Colabor Group - a food service distributor in Quebec and Ontario that supplies universities, hospitals, restaurants, independent grocery stores, etc.  Colabor just converted to a corporation last week and kept their high yield intact.  At todays price of $10.75, they pay out a 10% yield.  This is a great stock for a taxable account because the dividend now qualifies for the div tax credit.

Here's my non-reg August holdings in order of weighting:  Cash, Manitoba Telecom, Student Transportation, Crescent Point Energy, First Capital Realty, Killam Properties, Sun Life preferreds, Pembina Pipeline, Inter Pipeline, ArmTec Infrastructure, National Bank preferred, Alaris Royalty Corp, Power Financial preferreds, WestCoast Energy preferreds, BCE, another National Bank preferred, Russel Metals, Mosaid Technologies, Colabor Group, Morneau Sobeco Income Fund.

Totally off topic, I want to share a quote I read last week on one of my regular biz forums.

"Don't do a deal like it's the last deal you're ever going to do. You need to leave a little in it for the next guy. Everyone has to make a dollar.  The rationale for this is quite simple; when you want to sell something there has to be reasonable expectation for the person buying from you to make a profit. If there is no such expectation, no one will be willing to buy and the opportunity for profit on your part will be gone. It's a little bit like the musical chairs analogy in that you don't want to be the last participant standing. Hence the need to take profits, or losses for that matter, at reasonable intervals that are predetermined in some mechanical way. Once you realise that for the system to work the next person must have a reasonable expectation for profit too, you won't feel nearly so bad about taking profits even though the investment continues to go up in value. It's all part of playing the game successfully over the long haul."

The moral of the story?  Don't be a Stock Hog :)