the Youngest Snowbird:

Starstruck

My Fella and I are dropping JohnnyDisco off at the Tiffin Motorhome mothership in Red Bay this weekend... 

... but I have to share a little story with you first. And maybe you can decide if I'm a sucker or not  :)  

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that I quit my full-time radio job at age 37 and have been living off stock dividends/interest since then. Investing started out as a hobby, but soon became our main source of income. And while this blog revolves around our RV travels, occasionally I toss out some stock talk or give updates on the portfolio.

One of our largest holdings is a company called Student Transportation - trading on the TSX and recently, the NASDAQ. It's a bus company, transporting kids to school in both Canada and the USA. I opened a large position in STB during the TSX sell-off in 2008, and have bought more since then on price dips.

STB is one of our largest stock holdings for several reasons:

• kids will always need a safe way to get to school
• STB management is good with guidance and transparency
• the monthly dividend has been consistent since the company IPO in 2004

This is not a recommendation to buy shares of Student Transportation. I am neither your financial advisor nor your mother; do your own due diligence and consult a fee-only advisor you trust ... and blah, blah, blah... 

That out of the way, Student Transportation is a solid company and a great moneymaker for us. Which is probably why I gush about it so much.

Needless to say, I was completely stunned to see a blog comment this morning from Denis Gallagher, the BIG CHEESE of Student Transportation. On MY blog.

"Thank you for investing in our company for the past years. In your travels i'm sure you've experienced bumps along the road, weather, higher fuel costs etc. Well so have we and you know what, kids are still going to school. We have a great company that gives back to our shareholders. please visit our web site at www.ridesta.com and view some of our videos. I'm so glad I stumbled onto your blog. Its cool reading and a neat adventure. Continued good success on the road to excellence." 

Denis Gallagher, Founder, CEO Student Transportation, Inc

The comment was made on this blog post written almost a month ago. I'm totally blown away that the very accomplished founder/CEO of one of my best investments left a comment on my silly little blog.

Or was it really him?

Not being completely naive, it has occurred to me that one of my devious pals (looking straight at you here, Laurie) might have left the comment to get me riled up.  If that's the case, it worked.  I'm starstruck.  And gushing.

On the other hand, if it really was you Mr G, thank you for the comment.  And for doing such a bang-up job and getting kids to school safely.  And for making us so much money $$$ over the years. Continued success right backatcha and everyone at Student Transportation.

And please keep doing smart things with your company, so I can keep gushing.

*edited to add:  sorry if you were misled by the title of this post and thought I may have met Oprah or George Clooney or someone... but getting a blog comment from the Big Cheese of one of my fave companies is better than Oprah - trust me  :) 

New Year, New Investment Goals

Actually the goals are the same, just bigger.

But it won't be hard to improve on my 2011 portfolio performance, which was very average. 

Our annual dividend income stayed around the $51,000 mark (tax free) which was on target. My non-registered cap gains were on track to hit $61,000 but this one was a huge fail. Mid-year I took a $32,000 loss on stupid stupid stupid Yellow Media and BioExx.

Hmm. I take that back.

Yellow Media is not stupid, stupid, stupid. I am stupid, stupid, stupid for being naive and believing the constant Yellow management assurances that the company and the dividend were 'just fine'. Clearly I need to read Investing for Dummies. Also Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire for Dummies.

Our total cap gains for the year ended up at $28,560. Some investors try to minimize capital gains but we always shoot for the stars. They are a big deal in our portfolio since we earn very little employment income and hang out in a really low tax bracket.

Hoping to find some bargains in the new year I wanted some cash available, so...  I dumped Chorus Aviation for a small loss, sold Canexus for a small gain and sold our entire position of Just Energy for a really good cap gain, plus several months of dividends. I'll buy back into Just Energy in early 2012, when the price is right.

Yesterday was the final day of TSX trading for settlement in 2011 and here's where our non-registered account sits:

• biggest position is CASH, followed by
• Student Transportation
• Data Group Income Fund
• Alaris Royalty Corp.
• Inter Pipeline
• Avenex
• Pembina Pipeline
• BTB Reit

Back down to only 7 companies in the portfolio, with lots of cash on hand. I have no idea what will happen in the new year, but we've got a mitt full of loonies ready to go.

Goals for 2012:

• $55,000 dividend income
• $65,000 cap gains from non registered account

And world peace.

Or maybe we'll just adopt another rescue pup.

Feliz Navidad. And to all, a good night.

Quick Peek at November Stock Stuff

Current holdings as of November 2/2011:

• Alaris Royalty Corp
• Student Transportation
• Data Group Income Fund
• Just Energy
• Inter Pipeline 
• AvenEx
• Chorus Aviation
• Pembina Pipeline
• BTB REIT
• Cash

On October 28th, I sold out of Superior Plus (2700 shares for $7.30) with a gut feeling that there was a yield cut coming. And after market close tonight, SPB announced a 50% cut in the dividend effective immediately.  Glad I got out early - there could be a rush to sell in the morning.

With the proceeds we bought more Just Energy, who should be announcing their November dividend payment tomorrow. They usually send out the release on the third of every month, and recent guidance indicates they are keeping the payout the same into the new year.

Alaris Royalty reported today and the numbers look good.  I started buying this one in 2009 around $6 and it has been one of our most consistent performers, along with Student Transportation. 

Our dividend income has finally hit $51,000 per year, tax free. We were actually on track to hit that figure back in May but then I messed things up by getting greedy with Yellow Media. That was a hard, expensive lesson that I won't be forgetting soon.

Anyway $30,000 of that $51,000 covers our annual living expenses and the rest is added to my cap gains (from trading) and reinvested back into the portfolio.

Stock investing isn't for everyone, but if you have the time and patience to read/research individual company info, it can pay off. And it's a great forced savings plan since you have to get the start up cash from somewhere. Better than spending it all the mall.

Usual disclaimer stuff:  I'm not your mother or your investment advisor.  Don't buy into any company I talk about on this very non-professional blog unless you've done your own dd and see value in the purchase, and blah, blah blah...  

We Lost $30,660 This Morning

Sort of.

Last Friday morning I sold out our entire position in Daylight Energy.

I had been trading in and out of that company for several months and though we made a few small gains here and there, it really wasn't going anywhere. And there are some stocks I just don't like holding going into a long weekend. Daylight was one them.

Yesterday China Petrochemical (Sinopec) announced they were buying Daylight Energy for $2.2 billion (CAD). Shares of the stock doubled this morning, hitting a high of $9.72.

Daylight is currently trading at $9.66 and my average price per share was $4.55. Had I held on 'til this morning, my gain would have been $5.11 per share x 6000 shares = $30,660.  

That's probably not the worst trade I've ever made but I can't lie - it still makes me a bit nauseous thinking about it.  Thirty thousand bucks would cover our living expenses for a year. And it would've bought a lot of Tillamook cheese.

On the bright side, Alaris Royalty Corp (our largest holding) announced a 12% dividend increase this morning.  Which is kinda like getting a pay raise for doing absolutely nothing. This company has been an excellent investment, with three div hikes over the past 18 months, in a crappy economy.

Still...that $30 grand profit from Daylight would have been nice ...  :( 

Totally off topic - only 8 more sleeps til we head south for the winter.

The Markets Have Been Humbling

Haven't blogged much about investing lately 'cause at the moment, the markets are kicking my butt.  And who wants to admit that? 

Our portfolio hit an all time high back in April, but six months later it's down 23%. 

Our dividend income has hung in there (roughly $50,000/year tax free) but we lost a fair bit of capital.  Hard pill to swallow since I'm a very bad loser. Not in a John McEnroe throw your tennis racket and whine like a five year old kinda way ...but I do really beat myself up over mistakes. Like most INTJ personality types I am by far my own worst critic.  

We'll probably regain that capital by years end, but let's face it - losing sucks.

Our current holdings still include names I first bought back in the 2008 sell-off:

• Alaris Royalty
• Student Transportation
• Pembina Pipeline
• Inter Pipeline
• Avenex Energy (formerly Avenir Income Fund)

And some higher yielding names I regularly trade:

• Just Energy
• Data Group Income Fund
• Chorus Aviation
• BTB Reit
• Superior Plus

Just Energy sent out a press release last week, reassuring investors that the monthly dividend is safe. I really like this management team and will be adding to our holdings as we get more cash.

Data Group has stated that while they are converting to a corporation before years end, they've already cut their distribution to a payout ratio they're comfy with and have no intention of further cuts.  During the Q2 conference call, CEO Michael Suksi said:

"...regarding our unitholder distribution policy going forward. Obviously investors want to understand our intention and our ability to sustain our distribution... During our annual general meeting last May our unitholders voted to approve our plan to convert the Fund to a corporation at the end of 2011. And this upcoming conversion may be creating some confusion regarding how it will impact our distributions. So I want to clarify this point.

We already reduced our distributions in January of 2011, and that was as a result of our becoming taxable at the beginning of 2011. Also it was a result of our anticipated financial performance and our intent to invest in our strategic plan. Therefore since we have already done that in January of 2011, we do not expect the conversion to a corporation at the end of 2011 to have any further impact on our distribution policy. Our intention is to maintain our annual distributions at the current level of .65 per unit as long as our financial performance continues to justify it as it has in the first half of 2011."

Data Group is a printing company with steady clients (banks, fed government, etc.) and they're expanding into digital services as well. Guess we'll find out more when third quarter earnings are released November 15th. 

Chorus Aviation - man, I just don't know about this one.  I've never liked the air industry, but this company has more positives than negatives. Scotia Capital recently upgraded the stock to an outperform with a target price of $5.50. They called it 'the best risk-return on their list'.  And TD and RBC both have a 12 month target price of $6.  Course the analysts could be way off base, as they were with YLO, BXI, ARF, etc. etc.

BTB Reit is a teeny weeny real estate investment trust and we only hold a teeny weeny position.  I'd be surprised if they cut the distribution, but if they did we wouldn't even notice it in our passive income. I like this name more everyday and will probably buy more on dips.

Superior Plus is our riskiest holding. The share price has dropped so much that the yield is stupidly high. I took a small loss on this one a couple months ago and recently bought in again at $7. The company is heading into its busy season, but if our economy stays sour and revenue drops, I'm sure they'll reduce the dividend.  If they cut by a third it would be $0.80/share; still a huge 11% yield at current prices. Guess we'll find out more when third quarter earnings come out November 2. 

We're fully invested but with the overall market drop last quarter, some of the stocks we own are paying out ridiculously high yields.  I call them Fairy Tale yields.

Hope they have a happy ending.

Then again, as economist David Rosenberg (from Gluskin Sheff) says "hope is not an investment strategy".   :) 

Just Energy Reassures Investors

Stock investors are riding a crazy rollercoaster at the moment.  

And days like today certainly test our risk tolerance.

But one of my picks, Just Energy (JE.to) impressed the heck out of me this afternoon, after voluntarily sending out a press release to reassure retail investors about its monthly dividend - which is currently yielding over 12% after a recent drop in share price:

"Given that the Company believes it will meet or exceed all its financial growth targets for the year and the closing expected today of the recently announced immediately accretive Fulcrum acquisition, Just Energy sees no reason why it would consider reducing its dividend which is covered by current cashflows. The Just Energy Board has not considered a reduction in the dividend and no discussion of any future reduction is planned.

Management is not aware of anything affecting its business that would justify Just Energy's recent price decline. The Company had strong operating results during the 2008-2009 recession and benefits from difficult labour markets when identifying and training new independent sales contractors. While sustained low gas and electricity prices make new sales and renewals more difficult than at times of commodity price volatility, these conditions have been in place for more than three years and Just Energy has had record new customer additions over this period."

To the execs at Just Energy, specifically Rebecca MacDonald:  THANK YOU for giving a hoot about the little guys - and gals. I realize things could change in a heartbeat if our economy gets whacked again, but I appreciate the thought that went into this. There are numerous companies on the TSX that could learn a thing or two from you folks.

Okay, rant over.

Random Stock Stuff

When markets took yet another swan dive yesterday, I was fine.  

It's days like today that are tough.  If we had more cash, I would've topped up all our current positions yesterday and bought into three new companies I've been watching.  And of course today they all popped, with a couple of the names up more than 20%.  One of those companies is Data Group Income Fund, who released second quarter earnings this morning.

The numbers were pretty good and the conference call starts in 3 minutes.  I've been waiting for this one all quarter so I'm pumped.  Why yes, I am a geek.

Disclosure:  This post should not be interpreted as investment advice as I am NOT a registered investment advisor or financial planner.  Get off yer butt and do your own research and due diligence before making any investment decision  :)

And anyway, do you really want investment advice from someone who looks like this before her morning coffee?

Update at 8:30am pst:  Just got off the Data Group conference call.  Very impressed.  Second quarter numbers are solid and guidance was excellent re: upcoming conversion and stability of the distribution.  

After my recent fiascos with Yellow Media and Bio-Exx, I have grown very skeptical of the crap that many CEO's/CFO's spew to their retail investors.  That being said, both officers of Data Group (Michael Suksi and Paul O'Shea) were very forthcoming - I got the info necessary to be confident about holding this name in our portfolio. Again, do your own dd.

Summer is Finally Here

Apparently August is the new July when it comes to BC weather.

The past week we've seen sunny 30C days and warm summer nights out here in the BC wilderness. Top priority for me has been finishing several small landscaping projects on our RV site.  We actually may be switching RV lots in the next couple weeks, but more details to come on that.

The summer stock markets have been extremely volatile; popping and dropping with every debt crisis update and jobs report.  Our stock portfolio has lost 20% since the highs of March:

• 10% was a result of the overall drop in the market
• the other 10% loss was my fault for putting too much cash in two spec stocks (Yellow Media, Bio-Exx) - I've made a good whack of cash trading both those names in the past and I definitely got too cocky and ignored my #1 investing rule:  Diversification is the key to protecting capital.

That being said, it's times like this I wish we had more moolah to invest 'cause there are definitely some bargains out there.  We're fully invested right now with no intention of selling anything, although I think the markets will continue to drop next week.

Our portfolio in order of weighting:

• Alaris Royalty Corp
• Student Transportation
• Pembina Pipeline
• Data Group Income fund
• Superior Plus
• Inter Pipeline
• Canfor Pulp Income
• Chorus Aviation 
• BTB Reit
• Just Energy

Alaris (AD.to) and Student Transportation (STB.to) are 40% of the portfolio, only because they've both moved up so much since I bought them in 2008.  I've slowly been selling them down, but they'll probably stay at this weighting until fall-ish.  The rest of our names are evenly weighted, and if I had more cash I'd be adding to all of them at these levels.

Bored with stock stuff?  Okay, moving on...

The mutts are getting regular walks and playtime down at the local playground/dog park.  Shelbert needs a haircut at the moment and refused to sit still for a photo, but Norman is a ham and loves the camera.  

He also loves the BC wilderness and all the cool things to chase:  squirrels, garden snakes, chipmunks, butterflies, tall grass - it's heaven for pups.  Especially rescue pups from Arizona.

My Fella is in his own personal heaven because we're in the midst of salmon fishing season and he's had quite a few bites so far.

mosquito bites, that is ... (the fish always win, honeybunny) 

And this has nothing to do with anything, but instead of eating fruit for breakfast I've started eating vegetables (raw cauliflower, carrots, celery, etc.)  The truth is, I'd rather drink my fruit than eat it and it's hard to justify slurping wine for breakfast... even though it is technically fruit   :)