Recovery from Bears

I decided to take another look at how fast I recovered from the last bear markets in regards to the TSX. This time I have excluded my US Trading Account. I get my portfolio values from Quicken but Quicken does not handle different currencies well and the US Trading Account is less than 1% of my holding.

Looking at TSX charts, it seems that August 2000 was the top and September 2002 was the bottom. I am taking them to the nearest month end as I only have my portfolio data for month ends. The time column gives time since the last entry and the Y to Beg is time from the beginning that is August 2000.

From the chart it looks like the bear market lasted around 5.33 years, but my portfolio recovered slightly earlier at 5 years. I was looking for the first month end when my portfolio was higher than at the beginning and the TSX was higher than at the beginning.

So it looks like my portfolio only went down 30 % while the TSX went down 45%. By the end of August 2005 my portfolio was up by 2% while the TSX was still down by 5%. My recovery from the bottom was only 46% compared to the TSX which was up from the bottom by 73%. By the end of 2005 the TSX was up another 6% and was around the same value as it was in August 2000. My portfolio was up another 3% and was up from the high of August 2000 by almost 5%.

Date	Time	Y to Beg	TSX	YoY	Y to Beg.	YoY	Y to Beg.
31-Aug-00			11,248
30-Sep-02	2.08	2.08	6,180	-45.06%	-45.06%	-30.14%	-30.14%
30-Aug-05	2.92	5.00	10,669	72.64%	-5.15%	46.11%	2.08%
31-Dec-05	0.34	5.33	11,272	5.65%	0.21%	2.75%	4.89%

I seemed to have done even better with the 2008 bear market. At the bottom in February 2009, the TSX was down around 40% and I was down around 28%. My portfolio had recovered by August 2010 staging a 40% recovery whereas the TSX was only up by 35%. There was a top in the TSX in February 2011, and the TSX came within 4% of the top. By that time my portfolio was up some 16% above the top of 2008. The TSX finally recovered by May 2014 around the TSX top of 2008, but my portfolio was up some 54% above the top of 2008.

Date	Time	Y to Beg	TSX	YoY	Y to Beg.	YoY	Y to Beg.
30-May-08			14,715
27-Feb-09	0.75	0.75	8,845	-39.89%	-39.89%	-27.63%	-27.63%
31-Aug-10	1.51	2.25	11,914	34.70%	-19.03%	40.28%	1.52%
28-Feb-11	0.50	2.75	14,137	18.66%	-3.93%	13.96%	15.69%
31-May-12	1.25	4.00	11,513	-18.56%	-21.76%	-0.91%	14.64%
30-May-14	2.00	6.00	14,604	26.85%	-0.75%	34.48%	54.17%

I want to take another look at my portfolio and compare it to the iShares S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats Index (TSX-CDZ) which is probably the ETF most comparable to my Canadian Trading Account.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Veresen Inc. (TSX-VSN, OTC-FCGYF)... learn more. Tomorrow, I will write about SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (TSX-SNC, OTC-SNCAF)... learn more on Friday, April 29, 2016 around 5 pm.

Also, on my book blog I have put a review of the book Eat Well Age Better by Mason and Stoffman learn more...

This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. I do research for my own edification and I am willing to share. I write what I think and I may or may not be correct.

See my site for an index to these blog entries and for stocks followed. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.

Buy High, Sell Low

I think one of the main reasons that actively managed mutual funds (or any mutual fund for that matter) underperform is because fund managers are forced to buy high and sell low. People buy mutual funds because they feel that they do not understand investing well enough to do it on their own. However, they then proceed to second guess the fund manager.

They pile in money when the stock market is going up and they pile out of the fund when the stock market is going down. How dumb is this. The other equally dumb thing they do if they have not sold their mutual fund when the market is going down, they sell when the market has recovered to the point they entered the fund. That is if they put in $2,000 in a mutual fund they wait until their mutual fund value is back to $2,000 to sell.

This is one reason I do not like mutual funds. Good mutual funds for high value clients often insist that their clients do not behave this way.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Canadian Natural Resources (TSX-CNQ, NYSE-CNQ)... learn more. Tomorrow, I will write about Veresen Inc. (TSX-VSN, OTC-FCGYF)... learn more on April 27, 2016 date around 5 pm.

Also, on my book blog I have put a review of the book The Rise and Fall of American Growth by Robert J. Gordon learn more...

This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. I do research for my own edification and I am willing to share. I write what I think and I may or may not be correct.

See my site for an index to these blog entries and for stocks followed. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.

Sell Sell Sell

I know that many people believe that a bear market is coming because we are overdue for one. That much is true. However, the advice to sell off your stock is absolute nonsense. No one knows when the next bear market will come. It may happen tomorrow, but it may not happen for a few more years.

Do you really want an investment portfolio that does not make money for years? If you sell, you will also have to pay taxes. And, even worse are the people who sell at the bottom of the bear market. They will destroy most of their savings to no avail.

I buy and hold. I only sell at the bottom of a bear market to buy something else. The transaction cost is less when to sell and buy at bear market bottoms. Of course, you do not know when the bottom actually occurs, but if the stocks I want to sell and buy go down a lot, I go for it.

I have a portfolio full of good dividend paying stocks. I lost portfolio value in each of the last two bear markets, but I recovered from them and my dividends went up during these bear markets. I will try to put together some figures in a future post.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Barclays PLC ADR (LSE-BARC, NYSE:-BCS)... learn more. Tomorrow, I will write about Pembina Pipelines Corp. (TSX-PPL, NYSE-PBA)... learn more on Friday. April 22, 2016 date around 5 pm.

This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. I do research for my own edification and I am willing to share. I write what I think and I may or may not be correct.

See my site for an index to these blog entries and for stocks followed. Follow me on Twitter.

Investment Reporter Cheap

I have always liked the philosophy behind the Investment Reporter newsletter. They provide a list of solid stocks to invest in the long term and also say when it is an appropriate time to buy these stocks. They write about sample investment portfolios. If you are a novice investor this would be a good investment newsletter for you. If you want to know some companies in Canada and US that you can buy and hold this is the newsletter to read.

The best thing is that it is now on sale.

The last stock I wrote about was about was Leon's Furniture Ltd. (TSX-LNF, OTC-LEFUF)... learn more . The next stock I will write about will be Barclays PLC ADR (LSE-BARC, NYSE:-BCS)... learn more on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 around 5 pm.

Also, on my book blog I have put a review of the book A History of Iran by Michael Axworthy. learn more...

This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. I do research for my own edification and I am willing to share. I write what I think and I may or may not be correct.

See my site for an index to these blog entries and for stocks followed. Follow me on Twitter.

Something to Buy April 2016

There is always something to buy in the stock market. On Tuesday, I put out a list of the stocks that I covered and showed what stock might be a good deal based on dividend yield. Now I am trying to categorize what sorts of stocks may be a good deal based on dividend yield.

The advantages to using dividend yield to judge how cheap or expensive a stock is, is that you are not using estimates or old data (like last reported quarter's data). You are using today's stock price and today's dividend yield.

For other testing, like using P/E Ratios and Price/Graham Price Ratios, you use EPS estimates or from the last reported financial quarter. When using P/S Ratios, P/CF Ratios or P/BV Ratios you are using data from the last reported financial quarter.

However, no system is perfect. But if you are interested in buy a stock a list of stocks cheap or reasonable using dividend yield data might be a good place to start.

Categorizing stocks is not as simple as it might seem. Every site you go to has categorized stocks a bit differently. I try to keep this as simple as possible. See my spreadsheet here to see what stocks are showing whether a stock is relatively cheap based on historical high dividend yields (P/Hi), historical average dividend yields (P/Ave), historical median dividend yields (P/Med) or on 5 year median dividend yields (P/5Yr). As in other spreadsheets, you can highlight a line or a number of lines for better viewing.

In the following notes I am only going to list stocks showing as cheap using the historical high dividend yields (P/Hi) and historical median dividend yields (P/Med).

I follow 18 stocks in the Consumer Discretionary category. Of these stocks, only Dorel Industries (TSX-DII.B) is showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. Eight (or 44%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are Canadian Tire Corporation (TSX-CTC.A); Dorel Industries (TSX-DII.B), High Liner Foods (TSX-HLF); Leon's Furniture (TSX-LNF); Magna International Inc. (TSX-MG), Newfoundland Capital Corp (TSX-NCC.A), Reitmans (Canada) Ltd. (TSX-RET.A) and Thomson Reuters Corp (TSX-TRI).

I follow 10 Consumer Staples stocks. Of these stocks, only Empire Company Ltd. (TSX-EMP.A, OTC-EMLAF) is showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. This is a new addition to the stocks I cover. Three stocks (or 30%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. These are Empire Company Ltd. (TSX-EMP.A, OTC-EMLAF), Jean Coutu Group Inc. (TSX-PJC.A) and Loblaw Companies (TSX-L). Jean Coutu and Loblaws are the same as last month and Empire is a new addition to the stocks I cover.

I only follow two Health Care stocks and both are US stocks. They are both cheap by the historical median dividend yield. The stocks are Johnson and Johnson (NYSE-JNJ) and Medtronic Inc. (NYSE-MDT). This is the same as for last month.

I follow 12 Real Estate stocks. No stock is showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. Four stocks (or 33%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are Artis REIT (TSX-AX.UN); FirstService Corp (TSX-FSV), Granite Real Estate (TSX-GRT.UN) and Melcor Developments Inc. (TSX-MRD). Melcor Developments Inc. (TSX-MRD) was showing as cheap by historically high dividend yield last month, but they have cut their dividend. H & R Real Estate Inv. Trust (TSX-HR.UN) is not longer cheap by historical median dividend yield.

I follow 7 Bank stocks. None are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. Six stocks (or 86%) are showing cheap by the historical median dividend yield. These stocks are Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX-BNS); Barclays PLC (NYSE-BCS), Home Capital Group (TSX-HCG, OTC-HMCBF), National Bank of Canada (TSX-NA); Royal Bank (TSX-RY) and Toronto Dominion Bank (TSX-TD).

I follow 12 Financial Service stocks. None are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. Eight (or 67%) stocks are showing cheap by the historical median dividend yield. These stocks are AGF Management Ltd (TSX-AGF.B); CI Financial (TSX-CIX); DirectCash Payments Inc. (TSX-DCI); Equitable Group Inc. (TSX-EQB), Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc. (TSX-GS); IGM Financial (TSX-IGM); Power Corp (TSX-POW) and TMX Group Ltd. (TSX-X). This is the same as for last month.

I follow 5 Insurance stocks. None are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. Four stocks (or 80%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. These stocks are Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSX-GWO); Manulife Financial Corp (TSX-MFC); Power Financial Corp (TSX-PWF) and Sun Life Financial (TSX-SLF). There is no change from last month.

I follow 34 Industrial stocks. Because I have so many and Industrial is not very descriptive, I have divided my Industrial stocks into 4 separate categories under Industrial. They are Construction, Industrial, Manufacturing and (Business) Services.

I have 6 Construction stocks. None are cheap by the historically high dividend yield. Four stocks or 67% are showing as cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are Bird Construction Inc. (TSX-BTD), SNC-Lavalin (TSX-SNC), Stantec Inc. (TSX-STN, NYSE-STN) and Toromont Industries Ltd. (TSX-TIH). Last month Stantec Inc. was also showing as cheap by historically high dividend yield.

I have 6 stocks I have left with the sub-index of Industrial. None are cheap by the historically high dividend yield. Three stocks or 50% are showing as cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are Finning International Inc. (TSX-FTT), Methanex Corp. (TSX-MX), and Russel Metals (TSX-RUS). Last month Finning International Inc. was also showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield.

I have 9 Manufacturing stocks. One is cheap by the historically high dividend yield. That stock is Hammond Power Solutions Inc. (TSX-HPS.A). One stock or 11% are showing as cheap by historical median dividend yield. It is Hammond Power Solutions Inc. (TSX-HPS.A). Ag Growth International (TSX-AFN) was showing as cheap by historical median dividend yield last month.

I have 15 Services stocks. One is showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. That stock is Pason Systems Inc. (TSX-PSI). Four stocks or 27% are showing as cheap by historical median dividend yield. These stocks are Canadian National Railway (TSX-CNR); Mullen Group (TSX-MTL); Pason Systems Inc. (TSX-PSI, OTC-PSYTF) and Transcontinental Inc. (TSX-TCL.A). HNZ Group Inc. (TSX-HNZ.A) is no longer showing as cheap by historical median dividend yield, but Pason Systems Inc. (TSX-PSI, OTC-PSYTF) is.

I follow 10 Energy stocks. Three Stocks or (33%) are showing as cheap by the historical high dividend yield. They are Canadian Natural Resources (TSX-CNQ); Ensign Energy Services (TSX-ESI); and Suncor Energy (TSX-SU). There are three stocks (or 33%) showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are the three above. Husky Energy (TSX-HSE) is no longer cheap as it cut its dividends. In the future I will only be covering 9 energy stocks as Canadian Oil Sands Ltd (TSX-COS, OTC-COSWF) has been bought by Suncor.

I follow 3 Material stocks. None are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. None are cheap by historical median dividend yield. This has not changed from last month.

I follow 8 Tech stocks. None are showing as cheap by historical median dividend yield. Four stocks (or 50%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are Absolute Software Corporation (TSX-ABT); Calian Technologies Ltd (TSX-CTY), Computer Modelling Group Ltd. (TSX-CMG) and Evertz Technologies (TSX-ET). There is no change from last month.

I follow 8 of the Infrastructure type utility companies. None are showing as cheap by historical high dividend yield. Four stocks (or 50%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are AltaGas Ltd (TSX-ALA, OTC-ATGFF); Enbridge Inc. (TSX-ENB, NYSE-ENB), TransCanada Corp (TSX-TRP, NYSE-TRP) and Veresen Inc. (TSX-VSN, OTC-FCGYF). There is no change from last month.

I follow 12 of the Power type utility companies. None are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. Two stocks (or 17%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are ATCO Ltd (TSX-ACO.X, OTC-ACLLF), and Fortis Inc. (TSX-FTS, OTC-FRTSF). Canadian Utilities Ltd (TSX-CU, OTC-CDUAF) has been deleted from this list.

I follow 5 of the Telecom Service type utility companies. No stock is showing cheap by the historical high dividend yield. Last month Shaw Communications Inc. (TSX-SJR.B, NYSE-SJR) was showing as cheap by the historical high dividend yield. Three stocks (or 60%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. These stocks are Shaw Communications Inc. (TSX-SJR.B, NYSE-SJR); Telus Corp. (TSX-T, NYSE-TU) and WiLan Inc. (TSX-WIN, NASDAQ-WILN). BCE (TSX-BCE) was showing as cheap historical median dividend yield last month.

The last stock I wrote about was Russel Metals Inc. (TSX-RUS, OTC-RUSMF)... learn more . The next stock I will write about will be Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX-ABX, NYSE-ABX)... learn more on Friday, April 15, 2016 around 5 pm.

This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. I do research for my own edification and I am willing to share. I write what I think and I may or may not be correct.

See my site for an index to these blog entries and for stocks followed. Follow me on Twitter.

Dividend Stocks April 2016

First I want to point out that not all of the stocks I follow are great investments. I follow a diverse selection of stocks. There are some that I would never invest in personally. I follow a number of resource stocks even though I personally have little invested in this area. I follow what I find interesting and with resource stocks, I think it is important for Canadians to know what is happening in the resource area. On the other hand I do follow of good number of great dividend growth stocks.

The theory is that you should use the dividend yield to see if a dividend stock is selling at a stock price that is relatively cheap. A stock price is considered cheap if it is selling at a dividend yield higher than the historical high yield or higher than the historical average yield or historical median yield. See my spreadsheet at dividend growth stocks that I just updated for April 2016.

On this list,

• I have 8 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical high dividend yield,
• I have 41 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical average dividend yield
• I have 65 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical median dividend yield and
• 63 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the 5 year average dividend yield.

When I did my list last month,

• I have 9 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical high dividend yield,
• I have 45 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical average dividend yield
• I have 68 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical median dividend yield and
• 65 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the 5 year average dividend yield.

When I did my list in January 2014,

• I had 9 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical high dividend yield,
• I had 45 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical average dividend yield and
• 39 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the 5 year average dividend yield.

If you had one share of each stock, total dividends last month would be $146.33. This month dividends would be $143.36. Of the stock that I follow 8 stocks has raised their dividends since last month. Dividends raises are denoted in green. Those stocks are shown below.

Enghouse Systems Limited (TSX-ESL, OTC-EGHSF)
Granite REIT (TSX-GRT.UN, NYSE-GRP.U)
Parkland Fuel Corp. (TSX-PKI, OTC-PKIUF)
Pembina Pipelines Corp. (TSX-PPL, NYSE-PBA)
Power Financial Corp. (TSX-PWF, OTC-POFNF)

SNC-Lavalin (TSX-SNC, OTC-SNCAF)
Stella-Jones (TSX-SJ, OTC-STLJF)
Transcontinental Inc. (TSX-TCL.A, OTC-TCLAF)

Of the stocks that I follow 2 companies have decreased their dividends. I have denoted these dividends in red. The stocks are shown below.

Crescent Point Energy Corp. (TSX-CPG, NYSE-CPG)
Melcor Developments Inc. (TSX-MRD, OTC-MODVF)

Of the stocks that I follow 2 companies have suspended their dividends. I have denoted these dividends in red. The stocks are shown below.

HNZ Group Inc. (TSX-HNZ.A, OTC-CDHPF)
Husky Energy (TSX-HSE, OTC-HUSKF)

There was a name change. Calian Technologies Ltd. (TSX-CTY OTC-CLNFF) is now (TSX-CGY, OTC-CLNFF). Canadian Oil Sands (TSX-COS, OTC-COSWF) was bought out by Suncor Energy (TSX-SU, NYSE-SU). I have just added Empire Company Ltd. (TSX-EMP.A, OTC-EMLAF) to the list of stocks I follow and I will do a report on it when the April 2016 annual report is published.

Most of my stocks started out as Dividend Payers. Currently 12 stocks are not paying any dividends and this would be some 8.1% of the stocks that I follow. Three of these stocks never had dividends, so 6% of the stocks I follow have suspended their dividends. The three stocks that never paid dividends are Ballard Power Systems Inc. (TSX-BLD, NASDAQ-BLDP0, Blackberry Ltd. (TSX-BB, NASDAQ-BBRY) and Kombat Copper Inc. (TSX-KBT, OTC-PNTZF)

I am showing whether a stock is relatively cheap based on historical high dividend yields (P/Hi), historical average dividend yields (P/Ave), historical median dividend yields (P/Med) or on 5 year median dividend yields (P/5Yr). See these fields on the right side of the file. You can highlight a particular stock using your cursor to highlight the appropriate line.

There are always some stocks to buy because they are priced reasonably. There are always stocks to currently avoid because they are overpriced. Looking at dividend growth stocks that are selling at stock prices that give them a dividend yield above the historical median dividend yield are probably the best bet.

The stocks that are selling at prices that give them a dividend yield above the historical high yield could be good stocks to buy. However, these stocks may be selling so cheap because of current troubles, especially financial troubles and should be treated with caution. Do not forget that I have all the stocks I follow on this spreadsheet and some are much better investments than others.

You should always investigate a stock before you buy. Sometimes different stocks in certain sectors are just out of favour or the stock market is just in one of its declines. However, a stock may be relatively cheap because it has problems. That is why you should always investigate a stock before buying.

Looking at stock this way is equivalent to a stock filter. A main problem I know of is for the old income trusts. These companies have generally lowered their dividend yields forever and they will probably never get back to the old dividend yield highs they made as an income trust company. For these stocks, you might be better comparing the current dividend yield to the 5 year median dividend yield.

Also, on some stocks I have a lot more information years in my spreadsheets than for other stocks. So, finding a stock on the list as "cheap" is only the first step in finding a stock to buy. This is the same with any other sort of stock filters that you can use.

The last thing to remember is that I have entering figures into a spreadsheet. I could put them in incorrectly, I can transpose figures and I can misread figures. This is another great reason why you should check a stock out before investing. As this is just a filter, it works better on some stocks than on others.

See my entry on my methodology in establishing the historical dividend yield highs and lows for the stocks that I cover. I have an entry on my introduction to Dividend Growth. You might want to look at my original entry on Dividend Growth Stocks. I have also written about why I like Dividend Growth companies.

I recently wrote about Russel Metals Inc. (TSX-RUS, OTC-RUSMF)... learn more. The next stock I will write about will be DH Corp (TSX-DH, OTC-DHIFF)... learn more on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 around 5 pm.

Also, on my book blog I have put a review of the book In Ishmael's House by Martin Gilbert learn more...

This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. I do research for my own edification and I am willing to share. I write what I think and I may or may not be correct.

See my site for an index to these blog entries and for stocks followed. Follow me on Twitter.

Women Directors

Of the 149 companies I cover, the median number of Women Directors per company is 2 and the median percentage of Women Directors to all Directors is 18%. I think it is important to look at both figures as there can be a huge variance in how many directors companies have. Of these companies 38 companies or 26% of the companies have only 1 women director. Of these companies 25 companies or 17% have no women directors.

How the different sectors line up is shown in the table below. And the loser is Tech with 63% of the companies having no Women Directors. The winners are Financial and Utilities. The median percentage of Women Directors on their boards is 28% and 25%. All Utilities have at least 1 Women Director. For Financials the only one with no Women Directors is DirectCash Payments Inc. (TSX-DCI, OTC-DCTFF).

This table shows the median number of Women Directors with the median percentage of Women Directors by sector. The next two columns show how many companies have only 1 Women Director and then the percentage of companies that have only one Women Director. The last two columns show how many companies have no Women Directors and the percentage of companies that have no Women Directors by sector.

Sector	WD #	WD %	1 WD #	1 WD %	0 WD #	0 WD %
Consumer	2	17%	7	23%	8	26%
Real Estate	1	13%	4	33%	5	42%
Financial	3	28%	3	13%	1	4%
Industrial	2	18%	13	36%	5	14%
Resources	2	13%	5	38%	1	8%
Tech	0	0%	1	13%	5	63%
Utilities	2	25%	5	20%	0	0%

See my spreadsheet on here.

The last stock I wrote about was Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX-SLF, NYSE-SLF)... learn more. The next stock I will write about Toromont Industries Ltd. (TSX-TIH, OTC-TMTNF)... learn more on Friday, April 8, 2016 around 5 pm.

Also, on my book blog I have put a review of the book The Ottoman Centuries by Lord Kinross learn more...

This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. I do research for my own edification and I am willing to share. I write what I think and I may or may not be correct.

See my site for an index to these blog entries and for stocks followed. Follow me on Twitter.

REITs

I follow 11 REITs and Real Estate companies as listed below. I just finished reviewing 5 of these REITs which are listed at the top with links to the reviews and spreadsheets. The others I reviewed last year and links to the reviews and spreadsheets are shown beside these other companies.

Allied Properties (TSX-AP.UN) Review and Spreadsheet.
Canadian Real Estate (TSX-REF.UN) Review and Spreadsheet.
H & R Real Estate Inv. Trust (TSX-HR.UN) Review and Spreadsheet.
Melcor Developments Inc. (TSX-MRD) Review and Spreadsheet.
RIOCAN REIT (TSX-REI.UN) Review and Spreadsheet.

Artis REIT (TSX-AX.UN) Review 1; Review 2and Spreadsheet.
Brookfield Asset Mgt. (TSX-BAM.A) Review 1; Review 2 and Spreadsheet.
Colliers International Group Inc. (TSX-CIG) Review and Spreadsheet. (Spun off from FirstService Corp.)
First Capital Realty (TSX-FCR) Review 1; Review 2 and Spreadsheet.
FirstService Corp (TSX-FSV) Review and Spreadsheet.

Granite Real Estate (TSX-GRT.UN) Review and Spreadsheet.
Smart REIT (TSX-SRU.UN) Review 1; Review 2 and Spreadsheet. (Used to be Calloway Real Estate Inv. Trust (TSX-CWT.UN)

I think that all REITs have a place in Canadian Portfolios. There is a site called REIT Report that list all Canadian REITs and their profile. The Profile basically says what the REIT invests in. On the Real Property Association of Canada you can find a definition of a REIT.

Paul Brent writes in the Globe and Mail last October about how REITs are underpriced according to Rob Sutherland, a Toronto-based analyst who covers the real estate industry. A more recent article in the Globe and Mail talks about a recent REIT report from Dundee Capital. They think that the valuation levels on REITs make them attractive at this time. I tend to agree.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX-SLF, NYSE-SLF)... learn more. Tomorrow, I will write about Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX-MFC, NYSE-MFC)... learn more on Wednesday, April 6, 2016 around 5 pm.

Also, on my book blog I have put a review of the book Mindware by Richard E. Nisbett learn more...

This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. I do research for my own edification and I am willing to share. I write what I think and I may or may not be correct.

See my site for an index to these blog entries and for stocks followed. Follow me on Twitter.