Portfolio Update - September 2018

The month of September is now behind us. The United States and Canada have still not ratified a new NAFTA , or North American Free Trade Agreement. One of the hot button issues for the United States is the 300% tariffs that Canada has on its imported dairy products. 300% is not a typo. This number is often quoted by the United States President , Donald Trump. President Trump has said something like "They say it 272%, but it is more like 300% !!".

In Canada, a new political party was formed at the federal level called The People's Party and the founder is former Conservative Maxime Bernier. One of Maxime Bernier's reason getting into politics is the issue of supply management. With Canada having tariffs on their dairy, it causes Canadian consumers to pay more for milk, poultry and eggs. The federal government and the other political parties believe supply management helps protects farmers and the control of safety for the industry. Maxime Bernier wants to abolish supply management and let the free market decide.

Personally, I will be surprised if the United States and Canada will come to a new NAFTA agreement without the issue of Canada's dairy tariffs being addressed.

An industry that has been showing some positive momentum is the oil and gas industry. At the time of this writing, the price of West Texas Intermediate barrel of crude oil is $73.25 US. With Canada being a high cost producer of oil and gas, a price over $70 per barrel will definitely help the industry and its corresponding stocks that are involved with the oil and gas industry.


Portfolio Activity

On September 10, I sold a put option contract in Restaurant Brands International (QSR .TO) with October 19 2018 expiration date. The strike price is $72.00. I collected premium of $64.05 after commissions. This trade was in margin account. For disclosure, I am long QSR.TO inside my margin account.

On September 11, I decided to add to my position in Cominar REIT (CUF.UN.TO) inside my TFSA that was trading at a 52 week low. Cominar REIT has reduced their distribution a few times over the last couple of years. When they reduced their distribution the last time, my monthly distribution was not enough to acquire a whole share for the DRIP. I purchased 30 units of CUF.UN.TO at $11.89 for a total cost of $361.76 including commissions. This new purchase adds $21.60 to my annual dividend / distribution income. Since I bought after the ex-dividend date, my DRIP will re-start for the September distribution that is paid near October 15th.

On September 19th, my short put options in West Jet Airlines (WJA.TO) expired as the price of WJA.TO stayed about the strike price of $17 dollars. For disclosure, I am long 200 shares of WJA.TO inside my margin account.

Shares Purchased Via DRIP

0.392 shares of ENB.TO @ $44.32  for a total cost of $17.37  (transfer agent)

5 shares of HLF.TO @ $8.04 for a total cost of $40.20 (margin account)

Enbridge (ENB.TO) currently pays an annual dividend of $2.684 per share.  This DRIP purchase adds $1.05 to my annual dividend income.

High Liner Foods (HLF.TO) currently pays an annual dividend of $0.58 per share.  This DRIP purchase adds $2.90 to my annual dividend income.

Dividend Increases

There was no dividend increases during September.

Summary:

As of September 30 2018, the value of the portfolio is $114936.47. This is a 1.157% decrease over last month's total. The spreadsheet investment tab above has been updated.

Disclosure: Long all mentioned stocks

Please Note: All stocks are from the Toronto Stock Exchange except TTR which trades on the        Venture Exchange.

Please Note:  Positions in Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO) and Brookfield Renewables Partners (BEP.UN) pay dividends and distributions in US dollars, respectively.  My investment tab spreadsheet displays the Canadian dollar equivalent within 15 to 20 minutes of real time.

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 Purchase - Start Dripping Again

  

 During the last couple of years, Cominar REIT has decreased their distribution a few times.  When the distribution is cut, the unit price of the REIT drops dramatically.  With the distribution being reduced, the monthly distribution was not large enough to DRIP one unit of Cominar REIT.

 I notice the REIT price has been dropping and approaching a 52 week low.  The distribution is currently $0.72 per unit per year.  I owned 180 units of Cominar REIT, which  means I collected $10.80 per unit per month in distribution.

On September 11, I purchased 30 units of Cominar REIT ( CUF.UN.TO) at $11.89 for a total cost of $361.76 including commissions. The purchase price represents a 5.97% yield.

This purchase adds  $21.60 to my annual dividend ( or distribution) income.

So, I currently own 210 units of CUF.UN.TO inside my TFSA.  This means my monthly distribution will be $12.60 starting with the September distribution that pays middle of October..  I did not want to go crazy with the purchase as I just wanted a little more distribution that would allow me to DRIP.

I will update my investing tab spreadsheet in early October with this purchase.

Disclosure: long CUF.UN.TO

Photo Credit:  Market-Schools.org

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.

Turning Off The Taps A Bit

Over the past couple of years I have had DRIPs turned on for a few positions. I haved DRIPped shares and units of Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund (BPF.UN), Cominar REIT (CUF.UN), Dream Office REIT (D.UN), Killam Properties REIT (KMP.UN), Enbridge (ENB.TO) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO). Some of these positions are through the brokerage while others are directly with the transfer agent. The latter is the basically the "old" way of buying stocks where you get actual stock certificate. The downside of the "old" way of purchase stocks is that you do not have control over the purchase price or sell price as you just send in a check and the shares or units are purchased on a certain date. Also the purchase prices could be averages of the last few days or some other criteria that would be often spelled out in the documentation.

Recently, I have had DRIPs turned on the Enerplus Corporation (ERF.TO), D.UN, CUF.UN, BNS.TO, and ENB.TO. The DRIPs for BNS.TO and ENB.TO are directly with the transfer agent and these positions are in the investment tab spreadsheet and have partial shares. Some brokerages off partial shares, but they are few and far between.

I have turned off my DRIPs for D.UN, CUF.UN, and ERF.TO. The dividend payout for ERF.TO is no where close to being able to purchase 1 whole. D.UN was dripped in both my TFSA and margin accounts. I have turned off the DRIPs due to my current financial situation. I would prefer to keep the DRIPs on for both D.UN and CUF.UN as these positions are trading above my average cost basis per share.

I am keeping the DRIPs on for ENB and BNS with the transfer agents. For disclosure, I also have positions in ENB in my TFSA and BNS in my margin account.

The benefits of DRIPs, is that it is a way to acquire more assets for doing basically nothing. Also, a lot of DRIPs have discounts on the shares purchased with re-invested dividends. Does this apply to DRIPs by brokerages? Some brokerages pass the discounts along while others do not. My brokerage, Questrade, does not pass the discount along.

There is also some posts on DRIPs in my DRIP tab above.

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 - April 2017

       The month of April is now behind us. The price per barrel of crude oil is currently trading below $50.  The oil patch in Western Canada has picked up some, but no where close to it was prior to September 2014.  In Sept 2014, the price of oil was around $95 per barrel for a barrel of WTI Crude Oil.  With the price hovering around $50.00 per barrel, the energy stocks are are trading low and some are struggling to be profitable.

        Last month, I wrote about selling puts in Home Capital Group (HCG.TO) at a strike price of $25.00. I bought to close the 2 put option contracts to reduce my losses. It ended up with a loss of around $355 dollars.

       Was this my last stake in Home Capital Group? I am afraid not.  I got my tax refund back and put the refund in my TFSA.  So with approximately $1200 in my TFSA, I bought 65 shares of HCG.TO at $18.00.  The stock rose a bit and I tried to sell, but the stop limit order was triggered but the stock did not rise up to the limit price I wanted to sell.  The day ended and I still owned my shares.  Prior to the open of the markets the next day,  HCG.TO announced an intent to have a $2 billion line of credit with an interest of approximately 15%.  See, HCG.TO is in the mortgage business.  So people deposit money in saving accounts and interest is paid to these savers.  HCG.TO then lends this money out by writing mortgages at a higher interest rate. Savers have been pulling there money out at record levels in the past month. This company is being investigated by the Ontario Securties commission, fired there new CEO,  and had directors resign.  The stock closed Wednesday at $5.99 per share.

        Back to my postion at $18.00 per share.  When I woke up the next day the stock was trading at $8.00 per share. I set a limit order at $7.00 to sell.  I changed my order to a market order when it was trading at $7.30 per share. As we all know market orders get filled right away.  This did not happen. So I cancelled the market order and made a new one. Still nothing happened.  Then went to Yahoo Finance and typed in the ticker symbol, which said the trading of the stock was halted.

     When the trading resumed of HCG.TO, the sell order was filled at $7.28 but then apparently a buy for 65 shares was executed.  I then placed an order to buy 25 more shares of Dream REIT in my TFSA.  After this order for $D.UN.TO  was filled, I noticed my cash balance in my TFSA was negative by approximately $500.00.  This fiasco of HCG.TO did not show up in my trading confirmations or account summary.  My brokerage Questrade said it seems that order for HCG.TO went through when it was not suppose to go through.  As of April 30, they never got back to me yet.  

      The 25 new shares of D.UN.TO was filled at $19.45 for a total of $491.29 including commissions. D.UN.TO currently pays an annual distribution of $1.50 per unit. This purchase adds
$37.50 to my annual dividend income.

     I wrote previously about wring 2 cover call contracts on Rogers Communications Class B shares (RCB.B.TO)  with a strike price of  $60.00 per share.  I thought my position was safe as RCI.B never traded above $60.  Then earnings was announced on April 18. They stock has risen in value, and I did not want the covered calls to get assigned. I bought to close my covered calls for a loss. 

     On a positive note, my short put in TD.TO expired worthless.  The strike price of this put was $64.00.  I am own 100 shares of TD.TO.


Shares Acquired Through DRIP


3 Unit of D.UN.TO @ $20.0035 for a total cost of $60.01 (Margin Account)

1 units  of CUF.UN @ $14.6435 for a total cost of $14.64 (TFSA)

Please note, that the DRIPs inside my margin account and TFSA are synthetic drips which indicate the distribution or dividend must be enough to purchase whole shares. 

I received the dividend payment of my shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) with the transfer agent on April 26. It takes a few businesses to show the price of the shares and the amount of new shares.  As of the time of this writing, I do not know the price of reinvestment and the amount of new shares.

As of April 30, the value of the portfolio is $104236.43 . This is a 1.186%  increase over last month's total.  The spreadsheet in the investment tab above has been updated.

 Disclosure:   Long RCI.B, TD.TO, BNS.TO, D.UN.TO

Please Note:  All stocks are from the Toronto Stock Exchange.

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.

Turning The Tap Open

   With the uncertainty in the whether interest rates will rise or stay the same as affected the values of REITs.  In Canada, the REITs also have to deal with the effects of low oil prices.  This is caused the price of REITs to fall and remain low over the past several months.  

   So I decided to TURN drip on for Dream Office (Ticker Symbol D.UN.TO) in both the margin account and TFSA.  I also decided to turn the DRIP on the Cominar REIT (Ticker Symbol CUF.UN.TO) inside the TFSA.  As there was issue with getting a confirmation from my brokerage, these DRIPs might not happen until November 15, 2016  payment.  These DRIPs will allow for the purchase of whole shares only.

Disclosure: Long D.UN.TO and CUF.UN.TO

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.