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 :)

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.

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.  

 

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.

Do You Have a PIG?

Busy week around here.

The Annual General Meeting for our strata corporation was a complete waste of time.  After knocking on doors and burning up my weekday cell phone minutes tracking down lazy condo owners, only eight people showed up at the meeting. That includes three members of the condo board. 

Eight people out of forty.

Thank goodness I kept hounding our Sheeple owners to sign their forms or we wouldn't have had enough bodies/proxy forms at the meeting to have a majority vote.  Without a majority there's no use having a meeting - we would have had to reschedule.  Another waste of time. 

The only satisfying moment of this years AGM was when I resigned from the board.

It's also been a busy stock month.  I've sold a couple positions in September including Colabor (a Quebec based distribution/supply company) which I will buy again before December.  Colabor (GCL-T) has already converted to a corporation.  The company is strong and the quarterly dividend is very attractive.

The other financial highlight this month... my PIG is right on track. 

PIG = Passive Income Goal.  Not a true technical term :)   

Government agencies define Passive Income as "money you earn from trade or business activities in which you do not materially participate".  Examples of Passive Income include:  government or company pension, rental properties, book or song royalties, website ad income, or dividend/interest income from owning securities.

The more passive income you earn, the quicker you can quit working.  Early Retirement here you come!

Pension is not an option but I've tried all the others:  

• I owned a rental property in the past but wasn't crazy about being a landlord

• I wrote a book but the money went to charity so no royalties for me

• At one time I considered selling ads on this site but there probably wouldn't be much interest.  And I find website ads annoying so why would I do that to you?  Yes, all three of you that read this blog regularly  :)

Via process of elimination I've realized the easiest way to reach my PIG is dividend and interest income.  Although there is a lot of research required to pick good companies and buy at the right time. I guess 'easy' is relative, isn't it?  If you don't enjoy research/reading/business lingo, this option won't be easy.

My PIG for January 2010 is $30,000/year or $2500/month, tax free.  That is the equivalent of earning $38,000 a year in British Columbia before taxes.

I'm at $23,150 right now but if our condo sells in the next few months, we'll hit the PIG for January.    And we'll surpass it if I can sell the condo privately through Craigslist. 

Fingers crossed.

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.

August Gains

Just a quick post before work.

This morning I crunched the numbers on August returns for the non-reg account.  My scribbles indicate a small gain of 1.9%.  Not that great but I think I've been spoiled by those double digit monthly returns during the bounce back.

The really good news is the huge jump in passive annual income from dividends.  Not sure if I've mentioned this before but my passive income comes from solid dividend paying stocks bought at low prices. 

Passive income for August is up to $21,160 per year.  That equals $1763/month or $58 per day.  And the best part?  It's tax free.  It's like earning $25,500 (before taxes) at a regular job.

Long live dividend income :)

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 :)

Top 100 on Gainers on the TSX

Here's an interesting list.

It's the 100 biggest gainers on the TSX year-to-date, excluding preferred shares.  The top 20 are all resource/mining stocks.   

I've highlighted positions I've owned in the past in lime green and current holdings in blue.

Ranking  |   Company (Ticker)  |  Year-to-Date Performance

1 Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. (TSE:PRE) 492.2%
2 Teck Resources Limited (TSE:TCK.B) 371.6%
3 Quadra Mining Ltd. (TSE:QUA) 316.5%
4 First Quantum Minerals Limited (TSE:FM) 313.2%
5 Aura Minerals Inc. (TSE:ORA) 290.0%

6 Thompson Creek Metals Company, Inc. (TSE:TCM) 222.5%
7 Lundin Mining Corporation (TSE:LUN) 220.2%
8 FNX Mining Company Inc. (TSE:FNX) 220.1%
9 Ivanhoe Mines, Ltd. (TSE:IVN) 189.9%
10 HudBay Minerals Inc. (TSE:HBM) 184.0%

11 Inmet Mining Corporation (TSE:IMN) 141.1%
12 Sherritt International Corporation (TSE:S) 113.6%
13 New Gold Inc. (TSE:NGD) 110.7%
14 SXC Health Solutions, Corp. (TSE:SXC) 107.1%
15 The Forzani Group Ltd. (TSE:FGL) 104.2%
16 Equinox Minerals Limited (TSE:EQN) 100.7%
17 Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. (TSE:PBG) 96.6%
18 Home Capital Group Inc. (TSE:HCG) 93.7%
19 Osisko Mining Corp. (TSE:OSK) 93.7%
20 UTS Energy Corporation (TSE:UTS) 91.3%

21 Transforce Inc. (TSE:TFI) 91.1%
22 Major Drilling Group Int'l Inc. (TSE:MDI) 85.1%
23 National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) 81.7%  (I own the preferreds)
24 H&R Real Estate Investment Trust (TSE:HR.UN) 81.2%
25 Absolute Software (TSE:ABT) 74.6%
26 Canadian Hydro Developers, Inc. (TSE:KHD) 73.8%
27 Niko Resources Ltd. (TSE:NKO) 73.2%
28 Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Income Fund (TSE:LIF.UN) 70.6%
29 Baytex Energy Trust (TSE:BTE.UN) 69.1%

30 IAMGOLD Corporation (TSE:IMG) 66.2%

 

31 Dundee Corp. (TSE:DC.A) 66.1%
32 Research In Motion Limited (TSE:RIM) 66.0%
33 Gildan Activewear Inc. (TSE:GIL) 63.7%
34 Celestica Inc. (TSE:CLS) 63.0%
35 Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) 56.8%
36 Freehold Royalty Trust (TSE:FRU.UN) 53.1%
37 Minefinders Corp. Ltd. (TSE:MFL) 53.0%
38 Sino-Forest Corporation (TSE:TRE) 52.0%
39 AGF Management Limited (TSE:AGF.B) 51.8%
40 Crescent Point Energy Trust (TSE:CPG) 49.4% (has since converted)

 

41 Suncor Energy Inc. (TSE:SU) 48.7%
42 Cameco Corporation (TSE:CCO) 48.4%
43 Calloway Real Estate Investment Trust (TSE:CWT.UN) 48.3%
44 Talisman Energy Inc. (TSE:TLM) 47.8%
45 Canadian Western Bank (TSE:CWB) 46.9%
46 Uranium One, Inc. (TSE:UUU) 46.9%
47 Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD) 46.4%
48 Macdonald Dettwiler & Associates Ltd (TSE:MDA) 45.4%
49 Just Energy Income Fund (TSE:JE.UN) 45.3%
50 Silvercorp Metals Inc. (TSE:SVM) 43.7%

 

51 ShawCor Ltd. (TSE:SCL.A) 41.7%
52 Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) 40.4%
53 Boardwalk REIT (TSE:BEI.UN) 38.9%
54 Canadian Oil Sands Trust (TSE:COS.UN) 37.4%
55 IESI-BFC Ltd. (TSE:BIN) 37.1%
56 Silver Wheaton Corp. (TSE:SLW) 35.4%
57 Canadian Natural Resources Limited (TSE:CNQ) 35.1%
58 Westshore Terminals Income Fund (TSE:WTE.UN) 35.1%
59 Trican Well Service Ltd. (TSE:TCW) 34.7%
60 Inter Pipeline Fund (TSE:IPL.UN) 34.6%

 

61 The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) 34.3%
62 Methanex Corporation (TSE:MX) 34.3%
63 CI Financial Corp. (TSE:CIX) 33.7%
64 TMX Group, Inc. (TSE:X) 33.7%
65 NAL Oil & Gas Trust (TSE:NAE.UN) 33.4%
66 Canadian Tire Corporation Limited (TSE:CTC.A) 33.2%
67 Magna International Inc. (TSE:MG.A) 33.2%
68 Tristar Oil & Gas Limited (TSE:TOG) 32.3%
69 Brookfield Properties Corporation (TSE:BPO) 31.1%
70 Extendicare Real Estate Investment Trust (TSE:EXE.UN) 29.9%

 

71 Primaris Retail REIT (TSE:PMZ.UN) 29.9%
72 Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSE:CM) 28.7%
73 Birchcliff Energy Ltd. (TSE:BIR) 28.5%
74 Biovail Corporation (TSE:BVF) 28.3%
75 Franco-Nevada Corporation (TSE:FNV) 27.2%
76 Agrium Inc. (TSE:AGU) 27.1%
77 Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (TSE:CP) 26.9%
78 Transat A.T. Inc. (TSE:TRZ.B) 25.9%
79 ONEX Corporation (TSE:OCX) 25.9%
80 RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (TSE:REI.UN) 25.8%

 

81 Red Back Mining Inc. (TSE:RBI) 25.5%
82 Trinidad Drilling Ltd. (TSE:TDG) 25.3%
83 Reitmans (Canada) Limited (TSE:RET.A) 23.6%
84 Quebecor, Inc. (TSE:QBR.B) 23.2%
85 Power Corporation of Canada (TSE:POW) 23.1%
86 The Jean Coutu Group (PJC) Inc. (TSE:PJC.A) 22.5%
87 Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP) 22.5%
88 Ensign Energy Services Inc. (TSE:ESI) 22.2%
89 Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) 22.1%
90 SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (TSE:SNC) 22.1%

 

91 Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (TSE:ATD.B) 21.8%
92 Aurizon Mines Ltd. (TSE:ARZ) 21.6%
93 Power Financial Corporation (TSE:PWF) 21.3%  (I own the preferreds)
94 Astral Media, Inc. (TSE:ACM.A) 21.3%
95 Industrial Alliance Insur. & Fin. Ser. (TSE:IAG) 21.0%
96 Vermilion Energy Trust (TSE:VET.UN) 20.9%
97 Eldorado Gold Corporation (TSE:ELD) 20.7%
98 Connacher Oil and Gas Limited (TSE:CLL) 20.3%
99 Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (TSE:BAM.A) 19.9%
100 Fort Chicago Energy Partners L.P. (TSE:FCE.UN) 19.8%

 

Too bad we can't just buy equities based on past performance - we'd all be gazillionaires :)