The effect of the Japan tsunami on my investment portfolio

Devastation continues in Japan and my prayers go to the victims. The TSX got through a very hard time today, especially this morning. Despite all, I took the decision to move forward with my investment project. I even inject 5 000$ that was available on my line of credit over my margin, in order to avoid any sell stocks coming from TD Waterhouse.

Here's the thing: I use margin in my broker account. If my portfolio looses too much value, my margin could turn into the negative. Following what, TD Waterhouse could sell some of my most valuable assets without any warning. But even there, it was my choice to use margin and no matter how bad is the situation at this time, I do not regret my choice. I think my portfolio will go through the Japan tsunami and its consequences without too much trouble, but I could be wrong. And that’s why I had transferred a 5 000$ cash in my broker account today.

Just a couple of minutes ago, Stephen Harper announced that Japan nuclear crisis poses no radiation risks for Canadians. No risk for Canadians, but there could be a risk for the economy worldwide and I guess no one can really tell what’s going to happen next. How the Canadian stock market will react to Japan radiation? We had an example of the reaction just today: an awful and legitimate reaction. But still, I believe it’s not time to sell, it’s time to invest wisely. Good portfolio will be able to make it, and other not. I had gone through the 2008 stock market without any trouble because of 2010 awesome result. What I learn was essential: It takes bad years to have good ones. The years will pass, no years will be like 2008 and no years will be like 2011. But what matter is the long term. As long there’s human life there’s hope for a better financial future. And at this time, that’s really what I am hoping for. For life to continue, and the market to be good for me in the years to come. That’s part of the reason why I decide to trade today. Because my life goes on.

I am just hoping that things will get stabilize quickly in Japan, not much for the market, but for the human lives involve in the tragedy. How much money you can make from the stock market does not matter when human kinds suffer.

And the only reason behind is that my investment project is for the long run. I like to invest, I had been doing so since 2005 and I started investing in stocks back in 2008. Six years of investment had changed my life for the best. I couldn’t imagine myself selling all out or going a few months without investing. I would be bored.

Today had been a great day for my dividend income. Here’s what I received today in dividend:

Corby Distilleries Limited (CDL.A): 28.28$
Data Group Income Fund (DGI.UN): 32.52$
Pembina Pipeline Corporation (PPL): 56.55$
New Flyer Industries Inc. (NFI.UN): 19.49$

Total: 136.84$

That’s more in what I earn in a day of work for sure at this time. With what I currently earn in dividend so far and what I will probably earn in dividend for the next couple of months, well, I am now at the equivalent of 600$ in dividend income per month. That’s good, but I would like to double the amount by investing more of my own cash in the following months/years.

Now that the stock market is close, I transferred 5 000$ from my margin to my credit line. Will I have to pay interest on the 5 000$ transfer that I did today? I don’t know, but that would be a good question to ask TD and I think I am going to call them right now...

Tomorrow, I will transfer 5 000$ from the credit line to my margin and I guess I will be doing this scheme every working day for the next couple of weeks. Why? Well, it’s to avoid any critical situation. My stocks are my most precious possession. I won’t allow anyone to sell them. 5 000$ is not that much, but it’s all that I have available as fund to save me from an eventual disaster. That’s the price that needs to be paid while investing on margin.

Transfer money on your margin broker account....

It could be a good idea. TD Waterhouse can sell if the balance left in the margin reach the negative (because of stock loosing value...). I had 5 000$ I just transfer on my margin to keep it safe. My portfolio value (non registered Canadian one) is at 101k... I hope I will be ok.


Beautiful sunny day in Montreal - far from being close to devastation of Japan. I cannot realize whats going on right  now. Can only pray.

100 David + Henderson (DH) at 20.98$

I may qualify for the special dividend at closing date of March 18. DH price had remain quite stable despite the TSX loosing more than 300+ points just this morning. That was the reason behind my choice. TD stock could also make a great pick. But as for myself, I am done for now. Peace.

380 stocks of WEQ.UN

Sad day for Japanese people today... Prayers for the victims.

The TSX is loosing points, but its a natural consequence of what's going on.

I know its awful to say, but there might be some good opportunities right now. Take a look at TD, PHS.U etc... As for myself, I purchase 380 units of WEQ.UN at 5.40$. But you can have it at cheaper if you plan to stay in front of your laptop all day today...

Despite I am trading today, I feel sad for the Japanese. I am just trying to help myself by adding something new to my portfolio.

TD Canada Trust is doing it again: credit card balance special interest rate with TD Visa

TD was the first Canadian bank to increase its dividend in 2011. I wrote in numerous times my experiences with TD Canada Trust banking services (most of them being very very good) and not to name them again, TD Waterhouse. And now, guess what, well, TD Canada Trust is helping me again! This morning, I wrote about my debt problem. I said I wanted to pay off a credit line at 10 000$ that I currently hold at a bit more than 7%. That one is not being hold at TD.

Anyhow, I wrote previously I wanted to pay off 2 000$ on it and so on. But the real reason why I was thinking about paying debt is that I currently hold a close 8k credit card balance at TD that is currently at a special interest rate at less than 5%, which is very good for a credit card. That special interest rate is about to expired this upcoming month of April. Which mean that sometime in April 2011, the regular rate of 19% will apply on that 8k debt... So in preparation of that, I taught about placing some money on my 10k credit line and later on transfer the money on my credit card...

But guess what, thanks to TD Canada Trust, I will be able to get an extension of my special interest rate. This means that I can continue to do whatever I want with my money. I won’t have to deal with a 19% interest rate and, best of all, if I want, I can keep that 2 000$ that I was talking about previously this morning for investment purposes if I really want to... I had been a long time customer of TD Canada Trust as well as other banks. And I can confirm, you simply cannot get a renewable of a credit card balance transfer special interest rate like that ANYWHERE ELSE, no matter how good is your credit score.

Just recently, the only thing that was able to do BMO Mastercard for me is to add an extra 1 000$ to my credit card, no credit check needed. And so what? What do you want me to do with an extra 1 000$ at 19%? BMO Bank of Montreal is such a pain. It’s just reflecting the lack of judgement of their management team.

But with TD Canada Trust, everything is different! I get what I want ALL THE TIME with TD! And with TD EVERYTHING MAKE SENSE. And it’s not like I have a mortgage with TD Canada Trust. I am not that valuable either way for TD in the sense that I don’t hold not even close to 200k in investment with them. See what I mean? So can you answer me why TD Canada Trust is giving me everything I want, and that being all the time? It’s because TD is a bank who care. In 2011, they had been the first Canadian bank to increase their dividend. TD Canada Trust is the only bank being open as early as 8 am in the morning. Many of TD branches are open on Saturday and, well, just like this wouldn’t be enough, many of TD branches are now open on Sunday. And on top of that, TD Waterhouse rep surf the Web looking for customers who had lived a bad customer experience with them and, instead of ignoring them like love to do BMO Investorline, well, you know what, TD Waterhouse has some rep who will initiate a contact no matter how little you are (that happen to me!!!). As a customer, can I really ask for more? I don’t think so.

And now, best of all, I can keep that 2 000$ of mine right inside my pockets and help boost my dividend income and asset value with whatever I want to invest in... (which I didn’t decide yet what to do exactly at this time because of the excitement but I will let you know for sure!!!).

That’s the power of TD Canada Trust as a bank: making things possible for the middle class people with big dreams.

Time has come to pay off some debt?

Today, something strange happen and it makes me realize something. Well, it wasn’t exactly strange, but anyway, I use to purchase one or 2 lotteries ticket every week and a couple of scratch and win tickets if you see what I am talking about, but not that much. I just like to play lottery, but I do not over-play. I didn’t win the jackpot yet lol... but I win a free Lotto Max ticket. Yeah! But as for my scratch and win tickets, I didn’t win anything. And there I was, thinking oh, I didn’t win... And there, I taught about the 2 000$ I had deposit this last Friday in my broker account.

Yeah, 2 000$! Don’t ask me how I make it possible to save such money, but the 2 000$ was really from my checking account (and now there’s less than 100$ left!) and since my rent and other was paid for this month and that I am going to earn a paycheque from my weekend job this week and the week after another one from my daytime job well, I taught, let’s go for it, let’s go purchase 100 units of REIT INDEXPLUS Income Fund!

But after scratching my tickets and after I didn’t win, I taught about this newest investment I wanted to made and I taught: am I pushing my luck too far? I had in mind the comments of the Dividend Lover about my debt situation, that after a certain point, it didn’t worth it to go too deep into debt for investment because it’s just not good exceeding a point etc. etc. etc... And at this point, I am close to 70k in debt... But... I really like my portfolio at this all. For 2011, including the dividend received so far, its 6 778.83$ in dividend income, not to include the RRSP dividend ones... Including the RRSP dividend, its reached 7 112.59$. Currently, the value of my portfolio is down of maybe 4k, but it’s in result of the fluctuation of the market. So why should I pay debt instead of investing?

I have real problem to focus on paying debt but yesterday, something happen that make me realize that this might be a good time. So Monday, I will take a 2 000$ + an extra 1 000$ from my margin and deposit that money on my 10 000$ credit line.

After reaching and even the exceeding the 151k in assets, I was happy because I could see I was finally going somewhere. My net worth after debt was of 82k, I was earning great dividend, etc. This is all fantastic but I reach the point where I need to pay off some debt, even just a couple thousand dollars.

Which mean I won’t invest new money in my portfolio over the next months, but I will continue to look into new opportunities. I am still looking forward to make some money out of HZU and, why not, maybe even X, among other. And well, among the way, I could changed my mind and take on some money to invest if SP Brunner is coming on with something as great as K-Bro Linen Inc. (KBL).

This seems a bit unreal at this time still. Paying debt... I would really like to get into the REIT INDEXPLUS Income Fund for 100 units. It would had bring in 78$ extra in dividend. I don’t think I am really pushing my luck too far anyway.

And stay tune, because as requested, I will be posting the gain and new investments made in 2010 soon!

Initial public offering of Middlefield Group new REIT INDEXPLUS Income Fund

Despite the TSX small plunge that still persist today, my non registered portfolio is at more than 104k. I am confident I will be able to make a good return out of the HZU. In my previous post about Horizons BetaPro COMEX Silver Bull Plus ETF (HZU), a reader comment to be careful with Horizons BetaPro COMEX Silver Bull Plus ETF (HZU), that the lowest value had reached 8$ in the past 52 weeks. HZU value is now at more than 32$ per unit. While taking a quick look at the performance of HZU, any small investors could think that the 8$ per unit value is a sign of volatility of the title. But it’s truly not the case.

In the past 52 weeks, HZU constantly gains value, just like my favorite Sprott Physical Silver Trust (PHS.U). Which mean here that we are not talking here about a title that goes up-and-down without any reason. What we are seeing here is a fantastic case of steady grows. These days had been great for silver investment. Remember, I had been actively following the PHS.U since November 2010. That doesn’t make a silver specialist BUT, I can attest of what I had been able to achieve with my PHS.U. If it wouldn’t be for the extra-value of the Canadian dollars at this time, I would have been able to continue my success story with PHS.U. I am currently trying to achieve with HZU what I had been able to achieve with PHS.U. Meaning a lot of cash... And I have a feeling it’s going to work out! 

I got through something very interesting today: the initial public offering REIT INDEXPLUS Income Fund. I am going to explain why I will be investing in 100 units of REIT INDEXPLUS Income Fund.

These days, it’s seemed like Rob Carrick is going gaga for my iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index (XRE)! I am saying “my”, because I had been holding iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index (XRE) for a little while now. According to Carrick, it’s better to hold XRE inside an RRSP or TFSA account because the dividend earns through XRE are a mix of a bit everything involve in real estate. In other words, XRE is not very tax efficient. In my case, I decided to hold iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index (XRE) outside a registered account to add something new to my margin. It wasn’t a bad decision to make if you want my point of view, because I didn’t have any interest in REIT before. XRE add a great diversification to my portfolio. I enjoy the monthly dividend.

Ok, but what iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index (XRE) have to do with REIT INDEXPLUS Income Fund? Well, it’s all a matter of experience. And in this case, my personal experience with REIT. Despite international conflicts going on, the economy is doing better; many jobs had been created in the US. The fact that new jobs had been created in the US is one of the most positive and strong argument about the economy. And with Barack Obama, nothing can go wrong. That being said, the economy is getting stronger. On the long run, real estate is a good investment. I am not a house or condo owner, but I am a REIT units holder!

I had a very good experience with XRE. So far, I made a profit of a bit more than 100$ with my investment in iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index (XRE), not to include the dividend earn. Not much, but the title is stable. And this is exactly what I am looking for when I invest: stability and dividend income. And I am getting both of best worlds with XRE.

Now, imagine an investment product that can possibly beat the TSX Capped REIT Index and promised a 6.5% dividend yield (XRE provided a 5.178% dividend yield). Wouldn’t that be great? Well, that’s exactly what REIT INDEXPLUS Income Fund is all about. 

For the initial public offering, REIT INDEXPLUS Income Fund units are only at 12$. The minimum investment required is of 1 200$ (minimum 100 units) only (and no commission fee!). Sound to me like a great investment and worth a try. I would to get a 100 units for my portfolio. REIT INDEXPLUS Income Fund is being offered by Middlefield Group, an Alberta based asset management company.

Getting ready for my 2010 tax declaration

I now have all the papers needed to do my 2010 tax declaration. I had worked quite a lot in 2010. Before deduction, I earn 49 398.99$ in work income + 4 112.42$ in dividend earning + 100$ or so in capital gains + around 300$ or so in online money. I didn’t trade that much in 2010. I mostly buy and hold. Overall, that makes more than 50k in income. Could seem great, but that 50k in salary include I don’t know how many hours working at 3 different jobs... Anyhow, if I calculate after all deductions, it makes something like 43 838.03$. This includes the 30% taxable dividend income.

For 2010, I made a RRSP contribution of 7 048$. 43 838.03$ - 7 048$ = 36 789.41$. My taxable income is of 36 789.41$. I use MorningStar Marginal Tax Calculator to see if I already pay enough in taxes. According to the Marginal Tax Calculator, I have 3 308$ in Federal tax and 4 206$ in Quebec provincial tax, for a total of 7 513$.

I know it’s not like this I should calculate it, but: 49 398.99$ - 43 838.03$ = 5 560.96$ (suppose this is the amount I pay in taxes for 2010...)

7 513$ - 5 560.96$ = 1 952.04$

Does it mean I will have to pay 1 952.04$ in taxes?

I don’t think so. It will be less than 1 952.04$, but I may have a little extra to pay in taxes. For 2010, I had gain about the same salary and had made a 10 000$ RRSP contribution. At that time, I had paid something around 500$ extra in taxes.

10 000$ = 500$
7 000$ = ?

7 000$ x 500$ / 10 000$ = 350$ + 500$ = 850$

850$ makes a bit more sense but even here, I know my way of calculating it is far of being accurate... Anyhow, I need to have at least a 1 000$ ready in safe in case I need to pay extra in taxes...

This calculation do not include my tax credit for around 4 months of public transportation (from January to March or April 2009 – after what, I gave up on metro pass and only use my 2 feet to go everywhere...), my student loan, tax credit for dividend and other tax credit for investment loan. I am not exactly sure of what is eligible regarding all of the money I borrowed for investment. But once I find out, it will make a great post idea.

In other words: more money, more problems.

Recent trading and other events

Today was my first day back at work after spending 2 weeks away, partly in New Brunswick and another part in Montreal. It actually feels like I had been gone away for a month! I had slept a lot. I think I was emotionally and physically burn out at a point and I wasn’t even aware.

And it seemed like my colleagues love my new hair. It doesn’t take much for a little improvement, a little bit of makeup, coloration, a hair cut... But as for myself, while dealing with work, my investment and so on, well, I can easily neglect myself. There are many things in life I really don’t care about and my appearance well, is unfortunately one of those things lol... I personally prefer to focus on what really matter. But fact is, just a bit of makeup make on me all of the difference in the world.

I am back to work and it’s not as bad as I expected it to be. But I now have a lot to take care of. I really hope to be able to relocate in New Brunswick. When I was home in New Brunswick, I notice the time speed was lower, there was no stress, and everything was more relaxed. Of course, it’s because I was at home but still, I could feel a difference. I wasn’t in Montreal anymore and my soul was able to feel it. Fact is, I don’t belong to Montreal.

Lately, I try very hard to make money out of the stock market and just the fact of trying that much completely exhausted me. But did the effort worth it? Let’s see a few of our most recent trades:

Investment made: 470 stocks of Sprott Physical Silver (PHS.U) at 14.88$
Investment cost: 6 993.60$ + 9.99$ in commission fee = 7 003.59$
Sell at 15.67$, but cost of currency was of 4.15%.
Profit made after sell commission fee: +46.09$

Investment made: 100 stocks of K-Bro Linen Inc. (KBL) at 20.25$
Investment cost: 2 025$ + 9.99$ in commission fee = 2 034.99$
Current investment value: 2 069$
Profit made after sell commission fee: +34.01$
(I still hold KBL)

Investment made: 200 stocks of Westshore Terminals Invest Corp (WTE.UN) at 23.11$
Investment cost: 4 622$ + 9.99$ in commission fee = 4 631.99$
Current investment value: 4 804$
Profit made after sell commission fee: +162.02$
(I still hold WTE.UN)

Investment made: 200 stocks of Superior Plus Corp. (SPB) at 11.98$
Investment cost: 2 396$ + 9.99$ in commission fee = 2 405.99$
I had sold the 200 stocks at 11.31$: 2 262$
Profit made after sell commission fee: -153.98$
(I no longer hold SPB)


Investment made: 600 stocks of Data Group Income Fund (DGI.UN) at 6.66$
Investment cost: 3 996$ + 9.99$ in commission fee = 4 005.99$
Current investment value: 3 846$
Profit made after sell commission fee: -169.98$
(I still hold DGI.UN)

Investment made: 25 stocks of TD at 79.04$
Investment cost: 1 976$ + 9.99$ in commission fee = 1 985.99$
Current investment value: 2 072$
Profit made after sell commission fee: +76.02$
(I still hold TD)

Investment made: 100 stocks of Canfor Pulp Products Inc. (CFX) at 14.70$
Investment cost: 1 470$ + 9.99$ in commission fee = 1 479.99$
Current investment value: 1 684$
Profit made after sell commission fee: +194.02$
(I still hold CFX)

Investment made: 100 stocks of TMX Group Inc. (X) at 41.97$
Investment cost: 4 197$ + 9.99$ in commission fee = 4 206.99$
Current investment value: 3 977$
Profit made after sell commission fee: - 239.98$
(I still hold X)

OVERALL: +101.22$

Conclusion: yes, the effort worth it. I mess up with PHS.U and SPB, but the overall portfolio gain exceeds the lost. I was hoping for better results coming out of the TMX Group, but I guess I got excited too soon regarding the merger project with London. Anyhow, X should go up again, eventually.

But continuing this way could be dangerous because I am currently trading using margin money. The stock market is not the safest place to be, especially now. It could crash again, because of many factors currently playing at this time. In order words: better play safe.

Once I sell my units of HZU, the money will go and remain on the margin account.

Welcome Horizons BetaPro COMEX Silver Bull Plus ETF, 150 units of HZU in my portfolio

Ok, so here I am: I just buy 150 units of Horizons BetaPro COMEX Silver Bull Plus ETF (HZU) at 33.20$. I place a sell order at 34.70$... Will I be able to finally make a little profit out of the silver with HZU? That's what we are going to find out! It's going to be easier with this one. PHS.U was too much difficult with his American currency affair.

Going back to work after a 2 crazy weeks of so call "vacation" lol... but it was nice.

Remember and focus: we are going to make a 150$ cash out of the silver - I hope for this week.