Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) boost up its dividend distribution. LET'S GO! :-)

I was going to start this post with an "I hope you enjoyed the long weekend", but I know it's been a very rough one for too many Canadians. Some still don't have electricity yet. For the past few days, even in New Brunswick, the weather had been quite hot, so warm that I needed to buy some summer clothes as my summer wardrobe is all in Montreal... We heard some strong thunder in the sky during the weekend, and we got heavy rain, but nothing devastating. Where I am located in New Brunswick, we are in a valley, which seems to protect us from any bad weather. We are surrounded by mountains, as you can see from those pictures. You simply cannot have a more beautiful backward than this.

We have also some beautiful flowers coming out all over the place:

Today, the fabulous Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) announced an increase in its dividend distribution. Luckily, this brings my annual dividend income to exactly $11,228.86. When it comes to my non-registered ad TFSA, my dividend income is now equivalent to over $780, which is quite good. I had a small amount available in my TFSA, so I decided to invest in the Canadian Imperial Bank Of Commerce (CM). Bank of Montreal (BMO) also came with its Q2 result, but they were barely met. I own many of the big bank stocks - BNS, CM, RY, TD. Bank of Montreal (BMO) is not from my investment portfolio, and there are some good reasons behind that. One of those reasons is quite simple: I only want to hold on to the best Canadian banks in my portfolio and Bank of Montreal (BMO) is simply not up to my standards. I never found Bank of Montreal (BMO) to be an interesting and appealing stock.

The TSX closed today's session at 20,383.75 points. My non-registered portfolio closed today session at $146,584.68, my US portfolio at $4,829.32, my RRSP stocks-only portfolio at $65,254.34 and my TFSA portfolio at $122,153.64.  

I am leaving really soon for Montreal and I am somewhat excited. 

In the meantime, I have quite some stuff to do as I am cleaning up my papers and everything. I already went through many papers and old floppy disk stuff, which really helped to clean up some drawers. Back in the days (I am talking of more than 20 years ago), the only way to save files from a computer was by using floppy disks - and maybe also by burning a disk. The only way to have a backup for files was to copy them again on another floppy disk... I was the queen of backup disks because I had so many of them... Those floppy disks took some serious space, were heavy (when you had many of them), and were so not convenient! But now, I am proud to say that I have put all of those floppy content on my laptop, I also put a copy on two external hard drives, and one day, I will go through all those files' content... One day. For now, that floppy cleaning process had been done, and it was quite liberating. I still have a lot to do in my papers, unfortunately, but I did quite a lot.

Actually, I am looking forward to reducing the things that I don't need and reducing my mass of papers. I am slowly getting there.

My net worth is now at $340,156.47

I decided to update my investment portfolio. I usually publish an update strictly and only when it plays in my favor. I knew I was no longer on top of my game, that I was no longer sitting on a $361,442.42 net worth like I was back on April 20 of this year - which is exactly one month on the date of today - but I was just too curious to see where my numbers were at. My overall investment portfolio closed today session at $385,843.39. My margin debt is at $45,686.92. So my net worth for this Friday session is at not so bad $340,156.47, which is a capital loss of -$21,285.95 compared to April 20. Sincerely, I taught I was going to be more in the red than that. 

In my opinion, a $340,156.47 net worth is not too bad.

My investment portfolio on date of May 20, 2022

Cold cash: $8,833.48

Stocks and Units investment portfolio $CAN 

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)

Methanex Corporation (MX)

Fortis Inc. (FTS)

Pembina Pipeline Corporation (PPL)

iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index (XRE)

New Flyer Industries Inc. (NFI)

TMX Group Inc. (X)

K-Bro Linen Inc. (KBL)

TransCanada Corp (TRP)

Canadian National Railway Co (CNR)

Enbridge Inc. (ENB)

Emera Inc. (EMA)

Loblaw Companies (L)

Savaria Corporation (SIS)

WSP Global Inc. (WSP)

George Weston Limited (WN)

Power Corporation of Canada Subordinate Voting Shares (POW)

Intertape Polymer Group Inc. (ITP)

Power Corporation of Canada Subordinate Voting Shares (POW)

BCE Inc. (BCE)

Canadian Imperial Bank Of Commerce (CM)

TOTAL: $145,552.93

Stocks and Units investment portfolio $US:

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B)

General Mills Inc. (GIS)

Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth Index Fund (VONG)

Pfizer Inc. (PFE) 

TOTAL: $4,718.70 US: $5,874.31 CAN

 

Tax-free savings account (TFSA):

Dumont Nickel Inc. (DNI)

CT Real Estate Investment Trust (CRT.UN)

Canadian National Railway Co (CNR)

Exchange Income Corporation (EIF)

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (BIP.UN)

Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners L.P. (BEP.UN)

Andrew Peller Limited (ADW.A)

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD)

Boyd Group Services Inc. (BYD)

Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAR.UN)

Data Communications Mgmt (DCM)

LifeWorks Inc. (LWRK)

Royal Bank of Canada (RY)

Park Lawn Corporation (PLC)

Toromont Industries Ltd (TIH)

BCE Inc. (BCE)

Boralex Inc. Class A Shares (BLX)

Savaria Corporation (SIS)

Northland Power Inc. (NPI)

Calian Group Ltd. (CGY)

Canadian Utilities Limited (CU)

WSP Global Inc. (WSP)

Granite Real Estate Investment Trust (GRT.UN)

Cargojet Inc. (CJT)

Nutrien Ltd. (NTR)

TFI International Inc. (TFII)

Canadian Imperial Bank Of Commerce (CM)

SIR Royalty Income Fund (SRV.UN)

ATCO Ltd. (ACO.Y)

Aecon Group Inc. (ARE)

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. Class A Limited Voting Shares (BAM.A)

Metro Inc. (MRU)

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (ATD.A)

Fortis Inc. (FTS)

CGI Inc. (GIB.A)

TMX Group Limited (X)

Brookfield Infrastructure Corporation Class A Exchangeable Subordinate Voting Shares (BIPC)

Brookfield Renewable Corporation Class A Exchangeable Subordinate Voting Shares (BEPC)

Suncor Energy Inc. (SU)

Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI.B)

Telus Corp (T)

JFT Strategies Fund Class A Units (JFS.UN)

Bitcoin Fund The Class A units (QBTC)

Purpose Bitcoin ETF CAD ETF non-currency hedged units (BTCC.B)

3iQ CoinShares Ether ETF (ETHQ)

Tilray Inc (TLRY)

North West Company Inc. (The) (NWC)

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)

National Bank of Canada (NA)

Stelco Holdings Inc. (STLC)

Hammond Manufacturing Company Limited Class A Subordinate Voting Shares (HMM.A)

Saputo Inc. (SAP)

Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corporation (LIF)

Intertape Polymer Group Inc. (ITP)

Parex Resources Inc. (PXT)

Wescan Energy Corp. (WCE)

TOTAL: $122,305.59

RSP investment portfolio: 

Emera Incorporated (EMA)

Ovintiv Inc. (OVV)

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD)

Telus Corp (T)

Royal Bank of Canada (RY)

Savaria Corporation (SIS)

Thomson Reuters Corporation (TRI)

Park Lawn Corporation (PLC)

Richards Packaging Income Fund (RPI.UN)

Toromont Industries Ltd (TIH)

CAE Inc. (CAE)

CGI Group Inc. Class A Subordinate Voting Shares (GIB.A)

Boralex Inc. Class A Shares (BLX)

Quebecor Inc. (QBR.B)

Logistec Corporation Class B Subordinate Voting Shares (LGT.B)

Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (BEP.UN)

Leon's Furniture Limited (LNF)

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)

Brookfield Renewable Corporation Class A Exchangeable Subordinate Voting Shares (BEPC)

Cascades Inc. (CAS)

JFT Strategies Fund Class A Units (JFS.UN)

AirBoss of America Corp. (BOS)

Suncor Energy Inc. (SU)

Pender Growth Fund Inc. (PTF)

Rogers Communications Inc. Class B Non-voting Shares (RCI.B)

ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. (ATA)

Algoma Central Corporation (ALC)

Finning International Inc. (FTT)

Guardian Capital Group Limited (GCG)

Information Services Corporation Class A Limited Voting Shares (ISV)

Interfor Corporation (IFP)

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (MFI)

National Bank of Canada (NA)

Nutrien Ltd. (NTR)

Open Text Corporation (OTEX)

Taiga Building Products Ltd. (TBL)

Vitreous Glass Inc. (VCI)

Power Corporation of Canada Subordinate Voting Shares (POW)

North West Company Inc. (The) (NWC)

Whitecap Resources Inc. (WCP)

Parex Resources Inc. (PXT)

North West Company Inc. (The) (NWC)

Total: $65,033.45 

CIBC Dividend Growth Fund + CIBC Emerging Markets Index Fund + CIBC Monthly Income Fund: $3,361.23

Others: $1,159.90

NBI Income Fund: $1,229.37

Manulife Fidelity NorthStar GIF CAP

Manulife Simplicity Growth Portfolio 

Maritime Life CI Harbour Seg Fund

Maritime Life Fidelity True North Seg Fund

Manulife GIF MLIA B World Invest

Total: $7,856.98

Other various: $24,510.61

TOTAL: $103,151.54

Social Capital at Desjardins Membership share: $35

Online money: $90.54

Savings + Stocks, units, mutual funds + Tax-free Savings account + RRSP:

$385,843.39

On the date May 20, 2022

My debt situation on date of May 20, 2022

Margin account debt: $45,686.92 @ 4%

Annual interest: $1,827.47

On the date May 20, 2022

**For a complete update regarding my debt, click on the label "Debt situation" located in the right column of this blog.

Adding a few shares of CM, NWC and T to my portfolios

Today wasn't s bad as I expected it to be. My stock portfolios closed the day with a gain of +0,09%... But that's ok. I prefer tiny little gains to big massive losses, that's for sure. My non-registered portfolio closed today session at $145,599.12, my US portfolio at $4,689.61, my RRPS stock-only portfolio at $64,548.84, and my TFSA portfolio at $122,412.74. It was about time, but the federal government finally managed to do its job properly, wear its pants, and banned Huawei from getting any close to our 5G infrastructure. Other than my investment portfolio gaining +0.09%, that was the other major news of the day. I think that businesses and individuals already have enough spammers and cyberattacks to deal with, no need to add China intruders to our infrastructure. After what they did to the two Micheal, we owe that to them. As a democratic country, we should do better.

Today, I was able to make a few small investments. I bought some Canadian Imperial Bank Of Commerce (CM) shares for my non-registered portfolio, North West Company Inc. (The) (NWC) shares for my RRSP portfolio, and Telus Corp (T) shares for my TFSA portfolio. Those were only tiny small investments.

Unfortunately, I cannot invest more at this time, unless I withdraw some money out of my savings, which I won't do at this time. I am going to spend the whole month of June in Montreal, so I plan my budget accordingly. Unfortunately, I have to pay my rental insurance for the whole year in June, which comes to an amount of $330, and I also have an appointment with the dentist in June. My insurance at work cover it partly, but not all, so I budget $500 for it, but I think it will come at around $250 or something like it. With those two expenses, it's already close to $600 that is already gone. In total for the month of June, I had planned a $2,612.36 spending budget for that month, which include $100 for coffees, and $300 for activities, among others. I may actually spend a bit more than that. My two highest spending months will be the months of June and July so be ready.

:-)

I do not qualified for National Bank Direct Brokerage's Fully-Paid Securities Lending Program

Yesterday, my stock portfolios registered some nice gains. My non-registered portfolio closed yesterday session at $146,706.65, my US portfolio at $4,993.99, my RRSP portfolio - stocks only - at $64,962.85, and my TFSA portfolio at $124,323.39. Unfortunately, today, it was a whole different story. Luckily, the TSX is still in the 20,000 points, at least for now... My non-registered portfolio closed today session at $145,528.24, my US portfolio at $4,755.62, my RRSP portfolio - stocks only - at $64,224.70, and my TFSA portfolio at $121,973.04.

Yesterday morning, I place a quick call to National Bank Direct Brokerage to find out if my non-registered portfolio qualified for their Fully-Paid Securities Lending Program. Unfortunately, because of my margin debt, I do not qualify for their securities lending program, which was strange for me because while listening to their little YouTube video, I was really under the impression that my non-registered portfolio did actually qualify for the Fully-Paid Securities Lending Program, even if I had a margin debt, but it seems it's not the case. Anyway, I will check that again a bit later. Regulations change from time to time, maybe I will be qualified one day, who knows. 

Currently, my margin debt is of $45,342.32. On the date of yesterday, my "buying power" left on my margin is at a good $51,582.62. Eventually, I could sell some investments that I hold in my TFSA portfolio to pay off my margin debt, but it's not something I will do anytime soon, especially now that stocks are trading so low. Another possible option was to transfer some of my non-registered stocks over to another separate non-registered account with National Bank Direct Brokerage, but that would have cut off the value of my margin, and it is simply not a good option for me at this time.

This morning at BNN's The Open, viewer learns that inflation was near a 30-year high... This came with no surprise and is not good news. It seems like ranking interest rates hasn't been done aggressively enough by the Bank of Canada to beat inflation. It's interesting that the US is having the exact same problem as us right now, and other countries in the world as well. For the UK, it's been announced that the inflation was at a 40-year high...

Personally, I really feel the effect of inflation, and it's no fun. The gas prices are super high here in New Brunswick. In a place like New Brunswick, you cannot really save on gas, unless you don't do anywhere and limit your traveling to the strict minimum. It's hard to do because you really need to have a car around here. My mom was at the grocery store the other day and she saw a roast at $30... Generally speaking, I find that the price for grocery items is generally higher than what I pay in Montreal, but these days, it's higher than I have ever seen before and it's a bit scary.  

I am getting paid this Friday, and I was thinking about investing in some Canadian Imperial Bank Of Commerce (CM) stocks. Even high-quality bank stocks, like CM, BNS, RY, and TD - basically all of them react quite badly when the TSX is being turned upside down like it is now. Chances are that Canadian Imperial Bank Of Commerce (CM) will trade again lower tomorrow, I am actually pretty sure of that. I may invest in a bit of CM stocks tomorrow, will see.

It's hard to see my net worth value going down and all that, but there are some good opportunities right now on the TSX. No need to invest in extravagant stocks, the simple the better. Since the market is so volatile, no need to rush, you can invest little by little - but only when the stocks you have an eye on are trading down. Currently, my dividend income made in my non-registered and TFSA combined make a bit over of an equivalent of $777 per month. Trust me when I say I will buy all the dividend stocks I possibly can to increase my dividend income. BCE is still super appealing to me.

Historic day for investors: Canadian Imperial Bank Of Commerce (CM) undergoes a 2 for 1 stock split

I had a super nice weekend. I went to the beach this Saturday, and on Sunday, I went picking up fiddleheads (or ferns if you prefer, you'll see a pic of what I mean below) super early in the morning and I spent the whole afternoon sleeping, all burnout that I was because I didn't have my beauty sleep... The outdoors are changing quickly in New Brunswick. It's a lot greener now. The scenery is looking nice.

And the fiddleheads:

This past Friday, the TSX had regain some valuable points. Today again, the TSX surprised me, gaining a bit more than 100 points. We are still far away from the old 21,000+ points value, but if we have to remain in the 20,000 points for the present time, I will be able to deal with this without any problems. My non-registered portfolio closed today's session at $145,003.55, my US portfolio at $4,967.05, my RRSP portfolio at $64,117.53, and my TFSA portfolio at $120,285.39. My stock portfolios gain over $3,000. It had been a nice day.

Despite the market super volatility, some stocks of mine are doing well and many of them had announced great news lately, including some dividend increases. K-Bro Linen Inc. (KBL) is another of those stocks that only had good news for its investors.

Today was a historic day for Canadian Imperial Bank Of Commerce (CM) investors. CM finally undergoes a 2 for 1 stock split. Personally, I adore stock splits. They're just an easy way to see your investment soaring in value with ease. Today, Canadian Imperial Bank Of Commerce (CM) stock gain a good 1.042%, and that's only the beginning. I am waiting for my paycheck this Friday and I am thinking about investing in some CM stocks, inside my non-registered portfolio, to help my margin breath.

The problem I have with my margin is that I always worry about it. And I cannot maximize my TFSA because I worry that my margin account might be in help of a bit of money to survive and I am not totally wrong with that. I don't mind.

A few days ago, I wrote about National Bank Direct Brokerage which now is offering a lending program. I haven't been able to find much information online, but I had find this YouTube video:

I don't understand what it is, but I see it as a way to earn an extra income, at no risk other than the one known as being a regular investor who holds some stocks that are trading over the TSX... so why now? I have to take care of this tomorrow. We'll see if I qualify for National Bank Direct Brokerage's Fully-Paid Securities Lending Program. 

Those are my last couple of days in New Brunswick before I leave for Montreal.

The real fun now begin for investors

I finally got the chance to buy a few pieces of summer clothes because I didn't have any with me, as most of my stuff is in Montreal. I am glad I did because it was still beautiful and hot weather today and it's going to remain so for the next couple of days, with a bit of rain for the days to come. I didn't spend too much and nothing fancy. I actually bought some clothes at Walmart and Rossy and some summer hats. Sincerely, it's the first time in a very long time that I bought any clothes at all at Walmart and Rossy, but I am glad I did because I was able to buy a few pieces and I only spent a bit over $100. 

I try to remain good with my expenses because I will be leaving in a couple of weeks for Montreal, and I plan to come back to New Brunswick this summer for a few weeks, and I plan to go back to Montreal after that, and later on, I will go back to New Brunswick for the hunting season... It may sound like a lot of traveling but that's basically how I had been living for the past 10 years. In 2021, what was different was that I stayed in New Brunswick from September or October (I just don't really remember lol) 2021... until now... That is just making it way too long for me to be in one single place. I am not used to it. Sincerely, I begin to miss Montreal. The summer is super fun in Montreal.

There is still no bus transportation available to cover the section Rivière-du-Loup to my X hometown in New Brunswick and that is super annoying. This kind of limits my traveling possibilities and basically, that's why I have no other choice than to spend the whole winter in New Brunswick. I am mentally not ready yet to spend another hard winter in New Brunswick, but maybe that will come later on. I just cannot see myselk asking my old folks to come and pick me up all the way to Rivière-du-Loup in the cold winter... No no no. My only option to travel during winter, is to take the plane from Montreal to Frederiction, and from Fredericton, take the bus to go home. Its doable, but it feel quite stupid having to take the plane only to go to New Brunswick, its not my vibe. And its probably a lot more expensive too. I don't live super close to Fredericton, so imagine that I am being stuck there because of a snowtorm or something...

These days, it seems like each day for the TSX is a bad one... Yesterday, my stock portfolios lost a bit over $2,000 today. Under the circumstances, my portfolio is doing relatively ok. My non-registered portfolio closed today at $141,633.64, my US portfolio at $4,915.52, my RRSP portfolio - stocks only - at $62,806.32, and my TFSA portfolio at $119,544.58. On the date of yesterday, my "buying power" - or what I like to name as being the amount of money left available on my margin - was $47,743.28. I should had now soon a buying power of soemthing around $49,243.28, since I proceed recently with a cash transfer of $1,500.

I think I will be fine, but I prefer to monitor the situation closely. I am now starting to feel better about the current state of the stock market. I decided to view this as an investment opportunity. Those are hard time, but this is how I had built my portfolio, during correction following the 2008 stock crash. Its when stocks trade cheap that you need to buy them. Even small investments can make a big difference on the long run. That's how I had reached my highest net worth ever back on  April of this year, with a net worth of $361,442.42. Its important that retail investors take full advantage of this stock market correction.

Welcoming some new BCE stocks inside my non-registered portfolio

We had another nice day today in New Brunswick. I had the visit of a little black cat.

It's been another day in the 19,000 points for the TSX. Many great dividend payer stocks are at a bargain price right now. Some other stocks are having big problems big time to deal with this stock market volatility. Among others, we find Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (PBH). I think PBH can even go lower than its current $95. At $95, PBH is for me still expensive. These days, BCE Inc. (BCE) appears to be quite appealing. I made another investment in BCE Inc. (BCE) today.

For now, I am fully loaded with BCE stocks, I don't expect to invest more in BCE at this time. Bank stocks are looking appealing to me. It's been said that it is expected that Canadian banks will increase their dividend distributions. Personally, I recently invested in some more BNS, so I wouldn't like to invest in some more BNS stocks, but I was thinking maybe of TD, but I would like the price to drop a little. I already own some CM stocks in my TFSA and I wouldn't like to invest in some more CM stocks. TD seems to be a nice pick.