The Radio Girl

Mid-November Stock Talk

 
Here's my mid-month non-reg portfolio update, in order of weighting:

• Student Transportation
• Crescent Point Energy
• Armtec Infrastructure
• Altagas
• Bonavista Energy
• Inter Pipeline
• Pembina Pipeline
• First Capital Realty
• Davis + Henderson Income Fund
• Killam Properties
• Superior Plus
• Morneau Sobeco
• Alaris Royalty Corp
• Artis REIT
• West Coast Energy preferreds
• Power Financial preferreds
• FutureMed Healthcare
• Sun Life preferreds
• Colabor

I'm a tad bit ticked off at one of the talking heads on BNN.  Three months ago I stumbled across a strong little Quebec based company, Colabor (GCL.T).  It was just converting from a trust to a corporation, keeping the same high yield upon conversion. 

The first ex-div date as a corporation isn't until the end of '09.  Not wanting to tie up my cash, I decided not to buy in until mid-December.  This stock has been hovering around the $10 mark because it's not covered by many analysts and very few investors have heard about it.

Until yesterday when someone mentioned it favorably on BNN.  The stock shot up to $10.60 within 20 minutes.  Acck.

Damn you, BNN!  Stop talking about Colabor to the masses! 

I'm not ready to buy yet :)

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   :)

Double Your Money

Bad news for US financial stocks.

 
Century old commercial lender, CIT Group, filed for bankruptcy tonight.  This isn't overly surprising but it IS a real kick in the pants to American citizens, since the US Government gave CIT $2.33 billion of TARP money (taxpayer money) in December 2008.  What a joke. 

US financials may be hit hard tomorrow.  Then again maybe not.  Who the heck knows what's driving market sentiment these days.  In the words of very smart money dude, David Rosenberg, "the stock market is divorced from economic reality".

On a totally different topic, I've been trying to remember the basic principles of compound interest, and how long it would take to double your money.  (Yes, this type of thing is fun for me  :)

After a bit of googling, I came up with this chart, which is based on a fixed annual rate of return:

• 5%: 14.4 years
• 6%: 12 years
• 7%: 10.3 years
• 8%: 9 years
• 9%: 8 years
• 10%: 7.2 years
• 11%: 6.5 years
• 12%: 6 years
• 15%: 4.8 years
• 20%: 3.6 years

So if you're earning 5% per year on your investments it will take 14.4 years to double your money, at 6% it would take 12 years, etc. etc.  Just thought you might like to know...

*And I made another $120 sale on Craigslist today.  Our house is emptying out really fast and My Fella has threatened to start duct-taping down everything he wants to keep. 

Silly Fella.  As if duct tape could stop me. 

Another Week That Wuz

Holy Cow!

 
Tomorrow is already Halloween.  And the end of October.  And the end of the first month of the 4th fiscal quarter.  (Yup, gotta sneak in the Geek sometimes :)  

The past week has been busy: 

• Got my annual general physical from Dr. Tanya. That's what I call her since I can't pronounce (never mind spell) her last name. 
• Had a few condo showings.  One looks very promising.
• Got back into the Project Gypsy mindset and found this gorgeous Airstream trailer for sale online.  
• Also found two new slow-cooker chicken recipes.  Gonna try 'em out on My unsuspecting victim Fella next week.
• Put together a few more boxes of stuff to donate to charity:  movies, books, clothes, etc.
• Listed and sold more items on Craigslist for a total of $210.  ("I am NOT addicted to Craigslist!!" the Radio Girl yelled as she furtively glanced around the room, looking for more things to sell...)

And I did some quick bar napkin math to calculate my monthly investment gains for October.

• LIRA +3%
• RRSP +5.3%
• TFSA +7.8%
• non reg +4.7%

Not as good as my mid-month calculations, but well above my 1% per month goal.  Goals, people, it's all about goals.

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.

Another Craigslist Sale

We sold the kitchen table and chairs last night.

 
A young couple with a new baby came to see them yesterday after I got home from my part time radio gig.  They came, they saw, they bought, and we pocketed $525.

Overall it took about 45 minutes to take pics and post (and repost) the ad on Craigslist.  And then roughly three more hours to actually email back and forth with several interested buyers and finally make the sale. 

My Strong and Rugged Fella borrowed a cube van and delivered the set last night.  I say Strong and Rugged because he made the delivery in the pouring rain.  He's such a great guy... I'm pretty lucky.  Swoon.

And I'm learning how effective Craigslist is.  If you describe your stuff honestly and price it well, you'll find a buyer. 

And they all lived happily ever after.  The end.

Until I find something else to sell  :) 

Hmmm... I just remembered my In-laws are leaving the country for five months.  They have lots of nice stuff.  And we have their keys... 

Hittin' the Road

My Fella's parents have had it...

 
...with the weather! 

Even though winter hasn't frozen our little Okanagan beach town yet, the In-Laws are making their escape early.  They've packed up their RV and they're heading out on Monday for the first (of many) annual winter getaways. 

Safe travels you two.  Hopefully we can hook up somewhere along I-5.  We'll bring the slowcooker and the crib board if you supply the cervezas  :)

(Nutty bunch.  Glad I fell into this wacky family  :)

Now onto my other fave things... 

Numbers. 

This sounds super geeky, but I usually monitor my investment account gains (or losses) throughout the month.

At least once a week I grab a pencil, whip out my calculator and get lost in the numbers.  Ever since I saw a video of Dennis Gartman (a well known US investor and author of the Gartman letter) I've been more aware of monthly changes in my accounts.  Gartman doesn't go for the big score.  Instead he tries to make small gains of 1% - 1.5% per month.  If he's successful, his small monthly gains add up to 12% or 18% per year. 

I don't agree with all his investment theories, but this strategy is very sound.  Especially when it works  :)

• LIRA +5%
• RRSP +10%
• TFSA +11.8%
• non-reg +7.6%

Of course, there's still the final week in October where things could fall apart.  Gotta stop counting my chickens, yada, yada, yada. 

(Can't seem to find any chicken pics so Mother Goose and the babies will have to do) 

Here are my current non-reg holdings in order of weighting:  Student Transportation, Crescent Point Energy, Armtec, Altagas, Inter Pipeline, Pembina Pipeline, First Capital Realty, Bonavista Energy, Davis + Henderson Income Fund, Killam Properies, Superior Plus, Morneau Sobeco, Alaris Royalty Corp, Artis REIT, Power Financial preferreds, Westcoast Energy preferreds, FutureMed, Sun Life preferreds, cash.

And the best news of all, my PIG (Passive Income Goal) is up to $26,047 a year, which is like earning $33,000/year in BC, before taxes.  

 

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.

Mid-Month Stock Stuff

My blog focus has really been on stocks lately.

 
Investing is my passion. 

There's not much else that could get me out of bed every weekday morning at 5:30 ... except for maybe free beer.  And real Italian pizza straight from the pizza oven.

Or a pack of hungry velociraptors running around loose in the house, like that scene in Jurassic Park.  Let's face it - velociraptors are creepy.

When My Fella and I pack up for Mexico in December I'll have a lot more posts featuring travel and road trips, but for now it's all about stocks.  And money.

My non-reg account (the important one that's funding super-early retirement) is humming along nicely.  The top ten gainers have shot up a minimum of 10%, and I've started selling off some preferreds to lock in the profits.

Top Ten Gainers as of today: 

• Westcoast Energy preferreds +36.37%
• National Bank preferreds +28.20%
• Armtec Infrastructure +25.93%
• Power Financial preferreds +23.39%
• Sun Life Financial preferreds +23.38%
• First Capital Realty +23.29%
• Inter Pipeline +20.99%
• Bonavista Energy +14.59%
• Crescent Point Energy +12.97%
• Student Tranportation +10.70%

The TSX is still on an upswing and that's starting to get a bit spooky.  We really need a decent market correction.  Or maybe I'm just being greedy since after the condo sells, I'll have another chunk of cash to invest  :)

Greed aside, here are my non-reg holdings at mid-month:  Crescent Point Energy, Student Transportation, Armtec Infrastructure, Altagas, Inter Pipeline, Bonavista Energy, First Capital Realty, Pembina Pipeline, Killam Properties, Morneau Sobeco, Sun Life preferreds, Alaris Royalty Corp, Superior Plus, Westcoast Energy preferreds, Power Financial preferreds, National Bank preferreds, Keyera Facilities, Futuremed Healthcare, Artis REIT, CML Healthcare.

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.