A good way to start a new year is by doing an in deep cleaning of your stuff. I had many many papers of all sort, old magazines, etc. so I cleaned and once I was done I had like 5 garbage bags full to the top. I had some old stuff in my fridge freezer too, so I clean it up. I am now pretty much all done with cleaning and I will be good for a little while.
I went for grocery shopping earlier this afternoon. The weather is cold in Montreal, but its a good cold weather and it began to snow and it was a pretty snow. All the side of my apartment that is facing the street is quite cold. I am adding a bit of heat but otherwise, its not too bad.
Other than cleaning shit, I had been updating my portfolio and my debt. For my debt, I am looking forward to pay off that 6k I own on a 0% credit card balance transfer by March. Most horrible part is that its only in 3 months from now!
Back in 2013, my non-registered was at $133 789.88, and I closed this year at $138 078.72. Overall, I closed the year at $196 680.76. I hold $73 874.31 in debt. I am closing 2014 with a net worth of $122 806.45. Not too bad, but I found tat 2014 was a rocky year with a lot of ups and downs, extremely hard to follow and to understand. But now that gold, silver and oil are all the way down, I mean, 2015 can only go smoother... at least I hope. According to my blog, back on January 1th 2014, I had a net worth of $101 172.99. If I calculate correctly, that's a growth of close to 18%, excluding my dividend income. 2014 had been a very good year overall, but in term of investment only, I didn't enjoy the year 2014. Its been too much of misery for me watching the stock market going upside down. Its been crazy. The most devastating event of all is certainly the fall in the oil price. I still don't understand why it happen. And it seem to be there to remain.
I never been a fan of oil investment, but like any investors, I am unfortunately expose to the oil sector, more or less directly, but it had an effect on my portfolio. Earlier in 2014, my non-registered portfolio hit on somewhere in the $145 000... At $138k, I am close to the old value but still. The volatility of the stock market is very shocking. It take a good stomach to be on the stock market. Its not easy to be an investor these days, I can tell you that.
What I like about stock investment is that it expose me to all sort of industries, all sort of activities. I recently read an interesting article in the Globe and Mail. Forget about investing in RY, I found a way better, sexier stock. The name of my new marvelous? Whistler Blackcomb Holdings Inc. (WB). WB dividend yield is close to the 5% - that's very good because I NEED MONEY BABY. The stock is about a sky resort in Whistler. You got to check on Whistler - its paradise out there, in winter like in the summer. Very gorgeous landscape, AMAZING PLACE. Its the biggest sky resort in North America and it had won a price recently, number 1 sky resort for 2014.
I quickly came to this conclusion: resort in a beautiful place in summer AND winter = a pretty safe bet for my money. And its much more exciting than holding a boring bank stock! And it have a better yield too! I had update my projective dividend income for 2015. Excluding my RRSP, I will be earning $5 917.88 in dividend for the year 2015. Its still a good amount of money, enough to pay off a few trips, depending of where I want to go.
For 2015, I won't be making any resolution, but I won't like something easier as year. PLEASE.
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10 comments:
Whistler Blackcomb Holdings Inc
Wow! looks like you've found a good stock with an excellent moat, (they are on a moutain!) and the ROE is surely interesting.
But aren't you afraid of the global warming, they could be losing money in a few years?
There are possible 3 reasons why oil went down.
(1) the Saudi's, which are part of OPEC, didn't cut production we the world is has a surplus surprise of oil. Saudi's can get oil out of the ground easier than say Canada so they are not losing money. The price went down more than it should because of fear.
(2) Something to do with Russia. I don't know the whole story. But with the Saudis not cutting production at the OPEC meeting, the lower oil prices are going to hurt Russia's economy as a large portion of the money comes from oil.
(3) the Saudis say they shouldn't have to have oil prices just to help other nations when they do not needed. Therefore I think other countries like Canada need to be more inovative on new technologies to get the oil out of the ground more cheaply.
Dear Sunny,
Wishing you a New Year that
brings good health,luck and prosperity!
Maureen
If you invest in quality companies, you don't have to worry about markets being down as you can buy shares of good companies cheaper. On the other side, you need to get rid of stocks that add little to no value to your portfolio.
You say oil is down and can't get lower; just look at natural gas, silver, gold which have been down and going lower year after year. I would use the opportunity to add a good oil company like Suncor which should do well longer term.
Now when you say you have a growth of 18%, first of all it includes your dividend income that was used to pay down debt, buy other stock or you spent. Secondly the 18% is misleading as the growth in your portfolio came mostly from new investments (your money) and lower debt (which proves that paying off debt is an easier way to increase your net worth).
RC
YOur portfolio seems to be all over the place, silver, gold, banks, retail, etc. It seems you have invested in companies that have little to no value or sectors that are a lost cause. I would like to see more of a focus on good well-run companies.
The 'in depth' analysis of WB says it all. "Pretty resort" with a 5% dividend yield. Basically a dart throwing yield chaser.
Again, I would like to echo the previous comments. Your portfolio is filled with many no-name stocks that are extremely high risk and add little value. In many cases, it appears you are only chasing yield which is dangerous. Whistler Blackcomb Holdings? Are you freaking kidding me? Another great pick there, *cough* /sarcasm
You need to focus on true blue-chip, well managed and stable companies that has a good history of dividends.
Also, is there a specific reason as to why you do not invest in US or international stocks? Many of these stocks have outperformed their Canadian peers, so you are missing out on significant capital gains growth. Diversification is key. Your portfolio value hasn't gone up at all, it appears that you are lagging the market by a large margin actually. Considering the last few years have been one of the greatest bull markets in history, you should be disappointed in yourself.
It may sound like I am just beating you down, but as far as I am concerned, your financial management skills are solely lacking and you clearly invest only on emotion. I find your blog quite amusing, not to be taken seriously. Anyone who actually takes your advice seriously needs to get their head checked. Just saying the truth.
You suck at investing, period.
Thank you for your encouraging words ashole
Well There is a reference one might be tempted to use ...which is called "The Dividend Aristocrats" which is published every year, for Canada as well as for the USA.
Helps to reduce the number of choices to those companies who have shown themselves capable of maintaining a healthy dividend for a good number of years.
The guy above was pretty harsh but his point stands.
You really don't need risky no-name stocks in your portfolio. Just choose a couple of established well known blue chip stocks from across several sectors and keep investing in them regularly.
It keeps your portfolio from getting bloated and is a lot simpler to manage. And is also far less risky.
It's difficult to watch you picking stocks based on hunches when you yourself say you have no idea how the market works.
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