Recent Buy

     On July 27, China's Shanghai Composite index shed 8.5% overnight. This market pessimism followed over into the North American markets. Lots of stocks fell in value including the some popular stocks in Canada.
      I decided to take action although I didn't have access to a lot of capital. I also wanted to purchase a dividend growth stock that had a good yield.  I had to use margin to help with this transaction.

What Did I Purchase?

     On July 27, I purchased 35 shares of Bank Of Montreal, ticker symbol BMO, on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Total Cost  with commissions = $2532.07
Cash available = $991.83
Margin Used = $1540.24

Money borrowed = 1540.24/2532.07
                             =  60.83%

 The Canadian banks have been known to be some of the best banks in the world. Why would someone want to own shares in a Canadian bank? The reason is the amount of profit the banks make each quarter and for dividends. BMO has been paying a dividend non stop since 1829, which is 186 years.  This company has been paying dividends longer than any other Canadian company.

    Currently the annual dividend is $3.28per share. I purchased 35 shares on July 27 , representing a 4.53% yield,  which adds $114.80 to my annual dividend income. I now own 4 of the Canadian banks in my portfolio.  I own shares in Royal Bank (RY), TD Bank (TD) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS).

  Some Second Quarter Highlights

• Net income of  $1 billion, down 7% from same quarter of 2014
• EPS of $1.49 per share, down from 7% from the same quarter of 2014
• ROE of 11.4%, compared to 14.3% from same quarter of 2014

    The stock  on the Toronto Stock Exchange is down 12.01% year to date. My purchase of the shares has come near the lowest price the stock has been trading in 2015.

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The stock trades ex-dividend on July 29 so I qualify for next dividend payment which will be paid August 26. 

Disclosure: Long BMO, RY, TD, BNS

DISCLAIMER:
I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.

Recent Trade - Update

    I recently wrote about a trade involving call options in TD, which you can read about here. Well the following day,  the Bank of Canada decided they had to take action as it was a scheduled day for the announcement on what it will decide to do with the overnight interest rate.  The rate can be lowered, stay the same or be increased.  The Bank of Canada cut the overnight rate by 0.25% on July 15, which means the current rate is 0.50%.  This is the second time in 2015, that the Bank of Canada has cut the interest rate.

    I purchased the 3 call options in TD on July 14. As a result of the rate cut, TD bank reduced its rate by 0.10%.  This help to lift the stock price higher, as the reduction in the rate means its cheaper to borrow money which means more people or businesses will likely borrow more money and therefore the banks make more money. On July 16, the upward movement in the stock price meant the price of the option went up. My limit order was filled on July 16 at $1.70 per contract.

Summary:

Initial cost:  $1.20*3contracts*100shares/contract + $12.95
                   = $372.95

Proceeds of Sale: $1.70*3contracts*100shares/contract - $12.95
                            = $497.05

Profit = $497.05-$372.95
           = $124.10

Total Return = $124.10/$372.95*100%
                      = 33.28%

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So I made a 33.28% return in less than 48 hours.

Disclosure: own 100 shares of TD
 
DISCLAIMER:
I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.

Recent Trade

The markets have lost some momentum as the issue with Greece is upon us. We saw a decline in the WTI oil prices over the past while by around $8.00 a barrel.  There is mention of areas of Canada to be in a recession or close to being in a recession. The prices of stocks have fallen over the last month.

   In my two brokerage accounts, I didn't have enough money to warrant buying a long term position. Once money is in my TFSA is is not advantageous to take it out. This is because any individual cannot put that money he or she takes out until the following year.

I decided do buy call options.

On July 14, I purchased 3 call options of TD with Aug 21, 2015 expiration with a $52.00 strike price. The premium paid was $1.20 per contract excluding commissions.

Total Cost with commissions =  3*100*1.20+$12.95
                                               = $372.95

This trade is on the Canadian exchanges.

Disclosure: own 100 shares of TD
 
DISCLAIMER:
I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.

Dividend Update June 2015

      The month of June is another month of dividend income landing in my accounts. This money is used to help pay my expenses if it is needed. If the money is not needed, it is ALL used to purchase new investments to further increase my cash flow.

       The price of a barrel of crude oil is still a major focus of the markets and the economy. There is a more pressing issue in the markets which is the situation in Greece. The markets dropped a lot the day Greece banks shut down was announced.  There was triple digit decline on the TSX in Canada.

 Non-registered Account

• Enbridge (ENB)  - $3.30
• Enerplus (ERF)  -$ 26.35
• Just Energy (JE) - $92.00
• Killam Properties (KMP)  - $5.75
• Shaw Communications (SJR.B)    - $19.75

TFSA

• Boston Pizza  Royalties Fund (BPF.UN)   - $25.34
• Canadian National Railway (CNR) - $7.81
• Claymore 1-5 yr Laddered Corporate Bond (ETF) - $0.91
• Cominar REIT (CUF.UN ) - $5.39 
• Dream Office REIT   (D.UN)  - $ 16.61
• Enbridge (ENB) - $15.35
• Killam Properties (KMP) - $  14.65 

Total = $233.21

     This total represents a 3.763% decrease from 3 months ago and 4.410% increase  year over year.  For the 3 month decrease, Enerplus cut their dividend starting at the April payment by 0.04 per share a month. My dividend in Canadian National Railway (CNR) was on 25 shares only. When I averaged down to purchase 13 more shares, it was after the dividend record date. 

    On June 1, I sold a put option in Roger's Communications Class B stock for a premium of $16.05 after commissions.  This option was assigned on June 19 as the price of RCI.B was below the strike price at expiration.

    I also received another distribution payment of $56.00 for my swing trade in Dream Office REIT in my non-registered account. This is not listed above since it is a trade, so I keep the money in the account and do not pay myself first with this payment. I have received $1323.47 in distributions so far on this trade.

     I will update my dividend income tab with the new amount. It is great to see money from passive income sources deposited into my brokerage account every single month.

How was your dividend income for June?

Disclosure : Long all securities above.

Photo Credit: www.mipaq,co.za

DISCLAIMER
I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.

Portfolio Update - June 2015

    The month of June is now behind us. The major issue of the month came near the end of June.  The issue with Greece near defaulting on its debt caused the markets to fall dramatically towards the end of the month. The day Greece shut down its banks caused all the stocks on the Dow Jones Industrial Average to finish in negative territory. Greece is to hold a referendum on the issue of its debt in the coming days.
   
    On June 1, I sold a put option in Roger's Communications Class B stock (RCI.B) with a $42.00 strike price. I currently own 100 shares of RCI.B at a higher price.  The expiry date on this option is June 19, 2015.    

   I decided to make a long term investment inside my Tax Free Savings account.  I averaged down by purchasing more shares of Canadian National Railway, which you can read about here.  Canadian National Railway is often said to be the best run railroad in North America and the company also serve 3 coasts. These coasts are east and west coasts of Canada and the Gulf of Mexico.
 
    I had two options expiring on June 19. These were put options that were sold in Telus Corp ($40.00 strike price) and RCI.B ($42.00 price).  The put option in Telus Corp expired worthless, but I get to keep the premium regardless if the option is assigned or not.  The put option in RCI.B got assigned as the stock traded below the strike price at expiration. I would of like to have gotten more premium on RCI.B as the option assignment lead to the ACB being slightly over $42.00. I still averaged down on my position in Rogers Communications Class B shares, so it is all good. Currently RCI.B is priced above my ACB for the 200 shares I now own.

   My final transaction of the month was initiating a trade in Sherritt International Corporation. I have traded Sherritt International Corporation (Ticker Symbol : S) in the past a few times.  My entry point of $2.12 is the lowest I ever purchased shares in the stock.
 
    I did acquire more shares through DRIPs.

Shares added due to drip

2 shares of ERF @ $11.60 for a total of $23.20
1 share of KMP @ $10.09 for a total of  $10.09
14 shares of JE @ $6.52 for a total of $91.28
0.056 shares of ENB @ $58.93 for a total of $3.30

As of  July 1, 2015, the value of my portfolio stands at $78949.62. This is an decrease of 1.510 % over last month. I will update my investing account tab above.

Disclosure: Long KMP, ERF,CNR, RCI.B, ENB, JE

DISCLAIMER

I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should be NOT taken as investment or business advice.

Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk