I got an email from TD Waterhouse today

Better be careful on what you say about TD Waterhouse on the WWW because those guys are EVERYWHERE, reading ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING, including this blog! I am just joking of course, but I did received an email from TD Waterhouse today. They send me an email regarding the complaints I post on my blog, for the margin episode. They also answered my questions regarding the President's Account of TD Waterhouse. And no, I do not qualify at this time for a President's Account at TD Waterhouse. I am just missing a bit less than 300 000$ for a President's Account at TD Waterhouse. Interesting isn't?

Today before going to work, I took a quick look at my broker account and my non-registered portfolio value was at more than 75 800$! I was like whattttttt??? If it could just to straight up to 76 000$ without any new investment, I would be more than happy.

Remember when I said that I was charging 29$ in commission fee from TD Waterhouse following the arrival of my margin account? Well, its seem like that problem is now fix. I called TD Waterhouse - again - yesterday, and now everything is back to normal. I am back to the 9.99$ in commission fee. Wicked. I would like to place another trade before the end of 2010... Like right now, it's really the count down. As you can imagine, I am very tempt to use some of my margin money available to trade even more. I have more than 38 000$ available right now to do whatever I want. A getaway to Cuba whatever else lol. I already use 2 000$ of the margin money available to invest in 200 units of Horizons Gold Yield Fund (HGY.UN). Investing using margin money is very appealing. But in case of a bad luck, or a sudden stock crash, I could be in trouble. In those difficult days, everything can happen. So margin yes, but carefully. I had in mind those buy-and-sell investment ideas on the back of my head. Like you know, purchase a good quality stock and sell it when a 200$ profit is made. When calling so many times TD Waterhouse about my questions on margin, I had been giving the example of TD stocks. So I had that idea to purchase 200 stocks of TD and sell them as soon as a 200$ profit would be made. Risky? Dangerous? Partly yes. But not that dangerous when the trade involve quality stocks. Anyhow, having that 38 000$ available for investment purposes is certainly giving me plenty of new ideas on how I am going to make money in the future. It's not something I plan to do, it's just an idea.

I received today some fresh new cash from my online earnings! I had received 155$. Nothing much, but earnings a couple of pennies on a hubby is great. So far so good, no other HubPages of mine got unpublished... Writing can be so difficult sometimes, especially when English is not your first language. I had many ideas for HubPages, so I should be hitting the 100 articles on HubPages by the end of 2010!

Debt situation: How I plan to save 184.11$ in annual interest money

I am not going to be debt free anytime soon. But I can certainly make things happen to save an extra 167.65$ in interest money! I won't close the door to a 167.65$ saving, even if it's only 167.65$. But saving more than 150$ in interest money is interesting enough - and that's the exact reason for this post - because saving money is interesting right?

Remember my debt situation? 47 221.68 in debt and 2 497.30$ in annual interest money paid on the 47 221.68$ debt? Not that I am looking forward anytime soon to decrease that 47 221.68$ debt of mine, but I am certainly willing to see the amount of the interest money decrease, even just a bit.

How do I plan to proceed? By using up all up 30% of the margin money that I have available at TD Waterhouse.

I currently used 2 000$ of my margin money to participate in the initial public offering of Horizons Gold Yield Fund (HGY.UN). I also use 4 985.74$ to pay off my 8.75% TD Canada Trust line of credit. And now, I am going to use 6096.10$ of the 30% left available to pay on my 10 000$ line of credit at 7.27%!

Here's how my debt situation will look after:

Line of credit: 9 498.17$ at a low interest rate of 4.75% (RRSP credit line rates) = 451.16$ in annual interest

Line of credit: 4 900$ at a low interest rate of 4% (credit line rates) = 196$ in annual interest
7 946.31$ on a TD Canada Trust credit card at a low interest rate of 4.9% ending in April 2011 (result of a credit card balance transfer)
= 389.37$ in annual interest
Student loan: 7 891.46$ a low interest rate loan at 5.50% (student loan rate) = 436.87$ in annual interest
Line of credit: 3 903.90$ at 7.27% (credit line rates) = 283.81$ in annual interest
13 081.84$ at a low interest rates of 4.25% (margin money coming from TD Water house): = 555.98$ in annual interest

TOTAL: 47 221.68$
TOTAL in annual interest: 2 313.19$

Before, the annual interest rate was of 2 497.30$. At 2 313.19$, this allow me to save 184.11$. Little savings are better than no savings at all. Don't you think so?

Margin made complicated at TD Waterhouse

Just before getting started on my debt situation, I would like to say that I am now very close to the 200$ in online earnings. But just now when I start making good money, my 2 latest HubPages got refused. they are both now unpublished as I got to review them. Its quite dramatic because both of them were absolutely perfect, all back of the best keywords Google AdSense program of all time! It's not a funny situation at all, but I find it hilarious because both of those 2 HubPages had been boring to write so I guess it reflect in the overall product, and in result I got ban... I had been working hard on HubPages lately because I want to reach the 100 HubPages before the end of 2010... I had been working and working, but maybe i had been trying to hard. And to tell the true, all of that writing had exhausted me! Just very much funny situation I have to say. I just hope I will be able to reach my 100 HubPages by the end of 2010! I just have a couple of days left and I have to write 24 HubPages articles... But I like the challenge.

Enbridge Income Fund (ENF.UN) dividend are in!

Yes! I call TD Waterhouse again tonight because I had notice I had received something in the cash account... I was told I had received 37.57$ from Enbridge Income Fund (ENF.UN). I just take note of the amount but this amount of 37.57$ is very strange because I usually received around 30$ every month from Enbridge Income Fund (ENF.UN). Anyhow, this situation will be fix, I won't have to call TD Waterhouse and ask them what I had received as dividend very soon. In the next distribution period, everything should be back in order. Which should be for the next month or 2.

I place a test trade to see how it will appear next time I will actually be trading... nothing very strange appears lol... just the cash amount (which is a debit because I start using the margin money) and the amount left on the margin account. But the commission fee that appear was 29$, an not 9.99$. So now I am confuse again. See I am suppose to have the commission fee at 9.99$ per trade because I have more than 50 000$ in my broker account (I actually now have close to 100 000$ alone there right now, before margin of course...). Now, I am wondering if the 29$ commission fee came out because I did the test when the market was closed or if it's going to be my commission fee from now on. Hello complications!

This is just to give you a quick overview of what I am going through since I add margin to my broker account. I am now more miserable than ever before, but I can now borrow money from TD Waterhouse at the cool interest rate of not 4.52% like I was previously wrote, but 4.25%! That's the rate that is advertise on the TD Waterhouse Web site. But I taught I saw 4.52% somewhere before and its the rate I once was giving by a TD Waterhouse representative... 4.25% is better than 4.50% or 4.52% for sure... so I am willing to take the 4.25%... lol... But hey, that's not all.

With a President's Account at TD Waterhouse, the margin is at 3.75% with only $25,000 - $99,999 in investment. I am very curious about the President's Account of TD Waterhouse. I forget to ask what it take to get a President's Account. Just very curious because if we are talking about an investment value of $25, 000 and $99 999 than, the minimum needed appear to be low. Anyhow, the President's Account of TD Waterhouse is something really mysterious and I cannot find anything online regarding the President's Account.

President's Account at TD Waterhouse or not, a 4.25% in interest money is quite good. Remember that I use to pay 8.75% in interest on a 5 000$ line of credit at TD Canada Trust... Now that line of credit had been paid off using my 4.25% margin money.

I also ask the rep of TD Waterhouse about the interest. When the interest are being add to the margin? That's important stuff to know for me because I want to pay off the interest money every month. holding a margin on a broker account is not like a line of credit: you won't received a monthly statement or anything like that requesting a minimum payment. with margin: its a good or no good situation. In my case, I prefer to keep it simple and not use more than 30% of the margin money available. It's impossible for me to follow the market second after second during daytime. Most of the time while working, I will take a quick look at the market a couple of times during the day, but I cannot closely monitor the stock market. Meaning that during daytime, in case of a sudden crash, I won't probably know anything about it. At least not immediately.

When it come to the interest own on my margin, I already deposit a 149.50$ in my margin account (my Quebec provincial tax cheque). This way, I am good for a couple of months. Instead of doing things simply, TD Waterhouse had decided to go complicated when it come to margin interest money. I ask the rep the following question; when does the interest money is getting deposit in the account? And I got the following answer: on the first Friday following the 16th of each month. WOW! That's so complicated as answer. Messy... But wait, that's not all! If the 16th arrived on a Thursday or Friday, the interest money will be deposit on the following Friday... Oh lala TD Waterhouse I love u! Just to keep it simple between you and me, we'll say that the interest money will arrive sometime during the month, certainly after the 16th of each month... LOL...

TD Waterhouse + margin = awful things. I wasn't explain anything when I open the margin account at the TD Waterhouse location at the Eaton Centre. But I wasn't expecting much more better coming from Quebeckers.

I am now at 122 468.76$

2010 had been an AWESOME YEAR. I won't post my year in review for now, but just to add quickly that my investment goals had been reached. The major one was to reach 100 000$ in assets before the end of 2010 and I did. In result, I accumulate debt, but I consider those debts as being healthy because those debts are being hold for investment purposes. It's not money that been throw away on a Louis Vuitton purse.

On date of December 18, I hold 122 468.76$ in assets and 47 221.68$ in debt, for a net value of 75 247.08$. Not too bad! Currently, I have use my margin money at 4.52% to pay off a 5 000$ credit line at 8.75%. I also use 2 000$ on my margin money to invest in Horizons Gold Yield Fund (HGY.UN). To evaluate the situation better, let's review my dividend income. Here's an update of my dividend earnings:

Non registered Investments:
Stocks and Units investment portfolio
Sprott Inc. (SII): 57.20$
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS): 209.72$
Methanex Corporation (MX): 63.86$
Fortis (FTS): 120.91$
Pembina Pipeline Corporation (PPL): 669.24$
Just Energy Income Fund (JE.UN): 952.32$
Yellow Media Inc. (YLO): 376$
Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund
(BA.UN): 381.90$ (I am counting the dividend for 1.90$ per unit).
Pengrowth Energy Trust (PGF.UN): 178.08$
Enbridge Income Fund (ENF.UN): 366.85$
Corby Distilleries Limited (CDL.A): 112.56$
Davis + Henderson Income Fund (DHF.UN): 241.20$
(I am counting the dividend for 1.20$ per unit)
Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (PBH):
240.72$
EnCana Corporation (ECA): 160.80$
iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index (XRE): 43.74$
Horizons Gold Yield Fund (HGY.UN): 130$

TOTAL: 4 305.10$

Tax-free savings account (TFSA):
The Consumers’ Waterheater Income Fund
(CWI.UN): 274.30$

TOTAL: 274.30$

RSP investment portfolio:
EnCana Corporation (ECA): 80$
Emera Incorporated (EMA): 238.96$

TOTAL: 318.96$

OVERALL TOTAL: 4 898.36$

Good, but this calculation do not include the special dividend that usually pay Just Energy Income Fund (JE.UN) on an annual basis (yeah yeah, on top of the regular dividend!). The special dividend of Just Energy Income Fund (JE.UN) is usually of 20 cents per unit. I am adding a 153.60$ to this current 4 898.36$ because I had been paid a special dividend of Just Energy Income Fund for 2 years in a row now. That's the usual stuff now, special dividend from Just Energy.

Sprott Inc. (SII) also pay a special dividend, but the amount is not steady. But let's remember that Sprott Inc. is still a young stock (of 2008).

OVERALL OF THE OVERALL dividend earning: 5 051.96$

Ok, so here we are:

122 468.76$ in assets (WOW!);
5 051.96$ in yearly dividend payments (yeah!);
47 221.68$ in debt (!!!);
2 516.16$ on annual interest for the debt (outchh).

I have way too much debt, but adding those debts were the only I had to reach the 100 000$ I wanted so much! I currently hold more than 100k. Should I sell the 22 468.76$ left to pay off debt? Well, my answer is NO. I won't use the extra 22 468.76$ that I have in assets to pay my debt because I am not very interesting at paying debt at this time. It's a risk, but it's a risk I am willing to take. But the risk is calculated.

The amount of dividend I earn on an annual basis can pay in 2 times my annual interest paid on my debt. so this is all pretty manageable. But I should not go deeper into debt even for investment purposes because passing the 47k in debt could be passively dangerous.

Also, another reason why I don't want to pay off debt is that I want to reach 150 000$ in assets for 2011. Possible or not? We'll see, so stay tune ok? STAY TUNE :0) Because the best (or the worst?) is to come.

The benefits of adding iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index Fund (XRE) to your portfolio

Our very last investment was little (less than 800$), but its a 4 stars Morningstar Canada investment: iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index Fund (XRE). I currently own 54 units of iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index Fund (XRE).

With a net asset value of more than 1 billion of dollars (that's right, 1 billion!), the iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index Fund (XRE) offer a great exposure to the Canadian real estate investment trust, commonly known as REITs. The iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index Fund (XRE) offer exposure to the financial sector (99.95%), a sector that is still strong in Canada despite the worldwide recession. Personally, my overall portfolio didn't have a high exposure to the financial sector. As financial stocks, I hold Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), Davis + Henderson Income Fund (DHF.UN) and Sprott Inc. (SII). Before iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index Fund (XRE), I wasn't involve in the real estate sector - but now I am!

If just like me, you worry about diversification (like enough is never enough right) and you want to make sure to invest in a financial product that is already ultra-diversify by itself? Well, the iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index Fund (XRE) may be a good option for you!

When investing in the iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index Fund (XRE), you directly investing in major players of the Canadian real estate sectors:

RioCan REIT (REI.UN): 24.68%
H&R REIT (HR.UN): 12.64%
Canadian REIT (REF.UN): 9.37%
Calloway REIT (CWT.DB.B): 8.31%
Boardwalk REIT (BEI.UN): 7.13%
Primaris Retail REIT (PMZ.UN): 5.95%
Dundee REIT (D.UN): 5.66%
Canadian Apartment Properties REIT ("CAPREIT") (CAR.UN): 5.40%
Cominar REIT (CUF.UN): 5.05%
Chartwell Seniors Housing REIT (CSH.UN): 4.70%

Sound interesting? Well, the iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index Fund (XRE) trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Looking for an investment for your 2010 RSP? Good news: the iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index Fund (XRE) can be hold inside a RSP register account.

In reason of its high exposure Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), I probably won't increase the number of units that I hold in the iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index Fund (XRE). REITs are new for you to? According to Investopedia, REIT is "A security that sells like a stock on the major exchanges and invests in real estate directly, either through properties or mortgages". Companies such as RioCan REIT (REI.UN) and H&R REIT (HR.UN) are involve in the real estate through different activities. And because of their direct participation in the real estate sector, the REITs, receive a special tax considerations.

iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index Fund (XRE) can be a good investment to hold in a non-registered account. The iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT pays a monthly dividend known as a monthly cash distribution. As example, for the month of November 2010, the monthly cash distribution for the iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index Fund (XRE) was of 0.06175$ per unit.

It won't represent that much of a dividend for us - only 3.3345$ per month - but still that more than enough to purchase a medium coffee at Second Cup. Merry Christmas!

My stock investment portfolio on date of December 18, 2010

Savings:
1 327.75$

Non registered Investments:
Stocks and Units investment portfolio
Sprott Inc. (SII): 3 874$
Timminco (TIM): 68$
Blue Note Mining (BNT): 52$
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS): 6 056.20$
Hanwei Energy Services (HE): 117$
Methanex Corporation (MX): 3 139.44$
Fortis (FTS): 3 648.70$
Pembina Pipeline Corporation (PPL):
9 330.75$
Just Energy Income Fund (JE.UN): 11 397.12$
Yellow Media Inc. (YLO): 2 961$
Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund
(BA.UN): 5 276.25$
Pengrowth Energy Trust (PGF.UN): 2 728.44$
Enbridge Income Fund (ENF.UN): 5 423$
Corby Distilleries Limited (CDL.A): 3 316.50$
Davis + Henderson Income Fund (DHF.UN):
4 044.12$
Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (PBH):
2 860.08$
EnCana Corporation (ECA): 5 706.39$
Sprott Physical Silver Trust UTS (PHS.U): 2 590$
iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index (XRE): 713.88$
Horizons Gold Yield Fund (HGY.UN): 2 000$
Cash: 97.72$

TOTAL: 75 400.59$

Tax-free savings account (TFSA):
RBC O’Shaughnessy Canadian Equity Fund:
2 935.95$
The Consumers’ Waterheater Income Fund
(CWI.UN): 2 823.18$
Dumont Nickel Inc. (DNI): 316.25$
Cash: 3.27$

TOTAL: 6 078.65$

RSP investment portfolio:
Sprott Canadian Equity Fund: 7 443.34$
Claymore Gold Bullion ETF (CGL): 4 187.82$
EnCana Corporation (ECA): 2 839$
Emera Incorporated (EMA): 6 466.34$
Cash: 66.99$

CIBC Dividend Growth Fund: 544.76$
CIBC Emerging Markets Index Fund: 420.84$
CIBC Monthly Income Fund: 1 033.89$

Energy and Base Metals Term Savings (Indexed term savings):
503.46$
Natural Resources Term Savings (Indexed term savings):
502.06$

GIC National Bank: 1 147.42$
GIC Plus: 500$

TD Canadian Bond: 115.25$
TD Monthly Income: 107.99$
TD Emerging Markets: 90.28$
TD Energy: 94.13$
TD Precious Metals: 146.76$
TD Latin American Growth: 104.30$
TD Entertainment and Communications: 122.58$
TD Dividend Growth: 204.80$
TD U.S. Mid-Cap Growth: 116.62$

Maritime Life International Equity Fund
(Templeton): 652.99$
Manulife Simplicity Growth Portfolio: 916.73$
Maritime Life CI Harbour Seg Fund: 1 079.34$
Maritime Life Fidelity True North Seg Fund:
1 041.04$
Maritime Life Trimark Europlus Seg Fund: 644.05$

Great-West – various: 1 751.69$

RBC Canadian Dividend Fund: 540.44$
RBC U.S. Mid-Cap Equity Fund C$: 2 019.26$
RBC Global Resources Fund: 1 171.86$
RBC O’Shaughnessy International Equity Fund: 656.56$
RBC O’Shaughnessy All-Canadian Equity
Fund: 1 207.56$

GIC Canadian Market: 1 000$

TOTAL: 39 440.15$

Social Capital at Desjardins Membership share
for 3 accounts: 40$

Savings + Stocks, units, mutual funds + Tax-
free Savings account + RRSP + Online Income
(181.62$):

122 468.76$

My debt situation on date of December 18, 2010

Line of credit: 9 498.17$ at a low interest rate of 4.75% (RRSP credit line rates) = 451.16$ in annual interest
Line of credit: 4 900$ at a low interest rate of 4% (credit line rates) = 196$ in annual interest
7 946.31$ on a TD Canada Trust credit card at a low interest rate of 4.9% ending in April 2011 (result of a credit card balance transfer)
= 389.37$ in annual interest
Line of credit: 4 911$ at 8.75% (credit line) = 429.71$ in annual interest PAID OFF
Student loan: 7 891.46$ a low interest rate loan at 5.50% (student loan rate) = 436.87$ in annual interest
Line of credit: 10 000$ at 7.27% (credit line rates) = 727$ in annual interest
6 985.74$ at a low interest rates of 4.52% (margin money coming from TD Water house): = 315.76$ in annual interest

TOTAL: 47 221.68$
TOTAL in annual interest: 2 516.16$
[In date of December 18, 2010]

Public offering of Horizons Gold Yield Fund (HGY.UN): I am in!

I didn't hear about it for about 2 days, but today was the day, I had been able to invest in 200 units of Horizons Gold and I just cannot wait to actually have them in my investment portfolio. I am not working this weekend, so I will be able to publish an update of my online stock trading accounts.

This is my second day under margin. I am getting use to it pretty quickly. It's just that the whole thing had bring a lot of changes in my online stock trading accounts. I gave a quick call to TD Waterhouse investor services just to find if everything was in order, and it was. Margin can appears as being complicated at first, but it's truly not.

Buying stocks on margin? I won't recommend to massively use margin accounts money to invest. In my case, only 2 000$ had been borrowed from my margin to invest. Just to keep my peace of mind, I don't plan to use 30% of the margin money available. So all this combine together, not use more than 30%, use margin to mostly pay existing debt is for me playing on the safe side. Also, I almost only hold line of credit loans (but none of them is actually a refinance home equity line of credit. Since I am not a home owner, I won't qualify to get a low interest home equity loan). This mean that I hold renewable credit. In case of need, I can reapply the money back to the margin accounts.

So thanks to the Dividend Lover (he's the debt busters who provide me the idea of using margin money to pay off some debt at a higher interest rate), my 5 000$ line of credit at 8.75% is paid off. At 8.75%, I wasn't holding one of the best line of credit rates there is out there. I currently has used 7 000$ of my margin money available.

I am now a debt busters: my 5 000$ line of credit at 8.75% with TD Canada Trust is now paid off!

The weekend is almost there and I cannot wait! It's going to be my first weekend off since quite some time and I am quite happy about it. Even if this is going to cut on the cash available for investing.

Remember that I am having problem to transfer money from my online broker day trading account of my TD Waterhouse online section to my line of credit? Well, that's because my non-registered Canadian cash broker account is technically dead, but I continue to receive dividend payment in it. This could last a little while, but I wasn't provided an exact delay. It's just annoying since during that delay, I have no clue of who's paying me those dividend because I can no longer access my cash account... I have no choose other than to call TD Waterhouse investor services to find out. Also, I cannot proceed myself to any transfers from my cash discount broker account to line of credit account or what so ever else other account. Nothing can be transfer from my cash account anymore.

Basically, this mean that my online commodity broker Canadian cash account no longer exist. From now on, if I want to trade commodities online using cash coming from my very own pockets, I have to deposit the money in what is now my margin account. Example: let's say I have 2 000$ from my personal cash that I want to use to invest in my non-registered account, I will have to deposit the 2 000$ in my margin account. My 2 000$ in personal cash will be add to the 43 653.66$ that I currently hold in my margin account, to make a total of 45 653.66$. After what, I can trade using 2 000$ from the margin account. Technically, there's no more Canadian cash account, just a margin one, but I can still purchase stocks using my own money through TD Waterhouse securities.

I had that 8$ and something cents in the Canadian cash account that I was desperately looking to get transferred into my line of credit, the one at 8.75% in interest rate. The TD Waterhouse rep proceed to the money transfer since it's now impossible for me to proceed myself. After what, I also ask her to take the margin money to pay off completely that same line of credit. This mean that my 5 000$ line of credit at 8.75% is now completely paid off. But now that I am looking into my broker account, under cash, I have minus (-) and the amount that I requested to be transfer on my line of credit.... Nice, but the minus is under cash and not the margin...

This is confusing to start with because I am not use to margin and the information appear all in a different way that what its use to be. And now, I am wondering if the transferred had been done properly or not... lol... I am pretty sure yes, but still, that minus under cash is intriguing.

The interest rate on the margin account is currently of 4.52%. This is very good compare to the 8.75% of my 5 000$ line of credit. I am very happy to now have that line of credit completely paid off - and it will remain paid off. Borrowing cash on my margin was for me one of the best creditsolutions that I could choose.

In case of a deadly situation on the stock market (stock market loosing a lot of points on the same day), the money need to be available and need to be ready to get transferred back on the margin in case of need. But can such situation could happen? Well, it happen in 2008, and it could happen again. Also using only 30% of the money available of the margin account like I was suggested to do by a TD Waterhouse rep is a very good advise that will help me to minimize the risk I take by borrowing money online on my margin account. I will definitively be sticking to the 30% rule. Because TD Waterhouse can sell the assets even without giving first a margin call. REMEMBER: TD WATERHOUSE HAS NOW THE AUTHORITY ON MY STOCK DISCOUNT BROKER ACCOUNT. (lol...) But seriously talking, that's what you need to know about margin and that's exactly the reason why you need to be careful when buying stocks on margin.

The use of 5 000$ on my margin do not requested a minimum payment every month, but I will be paying the equivalent of the interest amount on a monthly basis. In my personal financial situation, margin is a great tool to use to pay off debt hold on line of credit at a higher interest rate (8.75% in this case). Margin is a great tool, but it will require me to monitor my account on a daily basis and preferably - many times during the day (if not just the Canadian stock markets). But since I plan to use only 30% of the margin money available, I play safe and hopefully, it will be just fine. I am understanding a bit better now and know a bit more of where I am going with all this. Margin is not difficult, but as delicate as an English rose.

Some technical problems with my new TD Waterhouse stock margin account

So far, no news for my public offering in Horizons Gold Yield Fund (HGY.UN). I call TD Waterhouse today as I had been promised a call back today but never got a call... It's always like that with TD Waterhouse, they always promised to call you on this or this and never return the call. If it wouldn't be for the super smooth-strong teddy bear voices of some of their male brokers, it would had been a long time ago that I would had left the Canadian online broker TD Waterhouse... lol... But hey, nothing to worry about. I won't leave TD Waterhouse anytime soon for many reasons. One of the reasons being that at 9.99$, TD Waterhouse trade commission is one of the lowest - this commodity trading broker offer one of the cheapest online trading. Overall, as a commodity trading broker, TD Waterhouse had been very good to me. I have all the credit products I needed and requested with TD financial. I basically never been refused anything. I am not looking to get the moon, just a few things of my own.

As with this public offering for Horizons Gold Yield Fund (HGY.UN), the units trade at 10$ each, minimum investment needed being of 1 000$, commission free! That's right, there will be no I want to invest 2 000$ using the margin of my online stock trading account. I should know for sure by tomorrow if I can move on with my direct public offering proposition or not. Ok, it could sound silly, but it's not. Why? Well, because of the minimum required of 1 000$. At 1 000$ any investor living next door can participate in the public offering of Horizons Gold Yield Fund (HGY.UN). And really, those TD Waterhouse brokers need to work so I am giving them some work to do. No work, no job right? I am the one giving TD Waterhouse discount commodity brokers business.

And talking business, the business is going well. My online earnings continue to go up. We are not talking about hundreds of dollars per day here, just a few bucks, but that's enough for now. I am still without any metro pass. I am a New Brunswick girl, use to cold weather... I am doing ok without my metro pass for now. I am just very happy to be able to keep that 70$ (price for a metro pass) in my pockets. also, Idecide not to purchase a new pair of winter boots to save more. I am still working on my HubPages. I have many articles subjects on the way. Finding time to write is not that hard, but what is hard is to write. Does that sound strange just like for all of the rest? Anyhow, I am just loooking forward to save more money and stop purchasing sushi and other foodssss. During the last couple of months, I didn't pay to much attention to my budget but now that I have that stock margin account, I want to save more because I want to pack my non registered portfolio of more units and stocks.

As for the online investing business, the overall of what I hold at the commodity trading broker TD Waterhouse is now at 97 462.04$. I am now very close to the 100 000$ in my broker account and having all that money at TD Waterhouse just show you have much I feel secure at TD. But no matter how much I like TD, seem that lately, I am experiencing some technical problems, following the apparition of my stock margin account in my non-registered Canadian account.

The problems started when I first received my latest Just Energy Income Fund (JE.UN) dividend. I had received the dividend in my cash account, which was not related to by now stock margin account. The dividend (7$) left over and the 5 units earn of the DRIP where lying in there all alone, in the cash account. So I call TD Waterhouse, and they proceed with the transfer from cash to the stock margin account, so the 5 new Just Energy Income Fund (JE.UN) units can join the rest of the units... I was able to get this done over the phone. One problem that occur also was that I was able to see, in my overall view, that I had received 80$ in my cash account, but when I click on the link, I wasn't able to access the account...

On date on today again, I have a 8$ in cash (in the cash account) that I want to transfer over my credit line, but I cannot proceed with the transfer. I had been trying in 2 different occasions now and its just not working. Also, remember that I plan to pay my 5 000$ TD Canada Trust credit line at 8.75% using my stock margin account? I was about to proceed with the transfer from my stock margin account to my TD credit line. But while selecting my stock margin account, I saw the amount of my investment (73 000$ and a bit more) instead of the amount available on the stock margin account (something around 40 000$). At the end of what, confuse, I did not proceed with the transfer. So I guess I will have to call TD Waterhouse again tomorrow see what's going on and ask them to proceed to the transfer for me.

Holding a stock margin account is even more dangerous that what I first taught!!!

Following the application of my stock margin account, TD Waterhouse send me a charming little kit containing all the information related to margin. I read all the information related to my newest stock margin account of course and well, find it discouraging to even use my stock margin account. Why?

Well, it seem like TD Waterhouse had the right to sell any of my investments without giving me a "margin call", without any notifications. Depending of the stock market conditions, TD Waterhouse reserved the right to sell investment in case of a drastic loss of assets value.

Previously before, I was told by a TD Waterhouse broker that there was a 3 days delay to put the account back in standard and that there was going to have a call before anything being done. But it appears that none of this is true! When it come to investment, I am not even sure if anyone of TD Waterhouse know what they are talking about. Really to that point. And yes, sometimes, I hate TD Waterhouse. I really do. I am frustrated.

Can you explain to me how am I suppose to use margin than? That's exactly here that come the 30% rule I guess, coming from another TD Waterhouse rep I spoke to. This mean that to play safe and not be stock on a non-authorized assets sell, better not to use more than 30% of the money available in a stock margin account. 30% or even less. It's all experimentation at this point but I won't use more than 30% of my margin money and also, I plan just to do a one time investment deal using my margin money (the 2 000$ in Horizons Gold Yield Fund (HGY.UN)) and pay off my 5 000$ credit line at 8.75% and I think that after that, it will be all. I won't use more of my margin money because I am now a... margin chicken (and not margin sexy, not anymore). Not all all. Margin is not sexy at all.

Despite the margin suffering, I had receive a surprise: Quebec province send me a 149.50$ cheque! That's nice, especially before Christmas. With the money left on my line of credit (160$), it make a nice little extra. I just received my paycheck, and even after paying my laptop, I have an extra 623$ available: for a Louis Vuitton monogram wallet (lol) or... a new investment. I am thinking about my next investment, but no specific idea yet. I could simply keep the money in my banking account for once. And it could be what will happen because I won't be working at my weekend job until middle or end of January so in the meantime, having a couple of extra hundreds of dollars available just in case of need won't hurt. But to say the true, I would like to invest again in silver through the Sprott Physical Silver Trust (PHS.U). One thing I don't like about the Sprott Physical Silver Trust (PHS.U) is that no matter how good the investment is, it won't bring any dividend in. I have to say, I am very tempt to invest again before the end of 2010, no matter how little the dividend.