Increase in Dividends

My dividend income has by the end of April 2018 increased by 8.83% compared to last year of 5.45% and 2016 of 5.08%. My total income has increased by 7.19% compared to 2017 of 4.90% and 2016 of 4.57%. Not my entire portfolio is in stocks but most of it is.

I invest mostly but no exclusively in dividend growth stocks. I use my TFSA as fooling around money and I am trying out small caps. In my RIF and LIF I have higher yield stocks than in my trading accounting. A list of what I own is below.

Name	TSX	Symbol	Other	Symbol
Ag Growth International	TSX	AFN	OTC	AGGZF
Alaris Royalty Corp	TSX	AD	OTC	ALARF
AltaGas Ltd	TSX	ALA	OTC	ATGFF
Atrium Mortgage Inv. Corp	TSX	AI	OTC	AMIVF
Bank of Montreal	TSX	BMO	NYSE	BMO
Barrick Gold Corp.	TSX	ABX	NYSE	ABX
BCE	TSX	BCE	NYSE	BCE
Calian Group Ltd.	TSX	CGY	OTC	CLNFF
Canadian National Railway	TSX	CNR	NYSE	CNI
Canadian Natural Resources	TSX	CNQ	NYSE	CNQ
Canadian Real Estate	TSX	REF.UN	OTC	CRXIF
Canadian Tire Corp	TSX	CTC.A	OTC	CDNAF
Canadian Utilities Ltd	TSX	CU	OTC	CDUAF
Computer Modelling Group	TSX	CMG	OTC	CMDXF
Emera Inc.	TSX	EMA	OTC	EMRAF
Enbridge Inc.	TSX	ENB	NYSE	ENB
Evertz Technologies	TSX	ET	OTC	EVTZF
Fortis Inc.	TSX	FTS	OTC	FRTSF
Gluskin Sheff + Associates	TSX	GS	OTC	GLUSF
Goodfellow Inc.	TSX	GDL	OTC	GFELF
Hammond Power Solutions	TSX	HPS.A	OTC	HMDPF
HLS Therapeutics Inc	TSX	HLS
Home Capital Group	TSX	HCG	OTC	HMCBF
Leon's Furniture	TSX	LNF	OTC	LEFUF
Manulife Financial Corp	TSX	MFC	NYSE	MFC
McCoy Global Inc.	TSX	MCB	OTC	MCCRF
Melcor Developments Inc.	TSX	MRD	OTC	MODVF
Metro Inc.	TSX	MRU	OTC	MTRAF
Mullen Group	TSX	MTL	OTC	MLLGF
Pembina Pipelines Corp	TSX	PPL	NYSE	PBA
Power Financial Corp	TSX	PWF	OTC	POFNF
Reitmans (Canada) Ltd.	TSX	RET.A	OTC	RTMAF
Richelieu Hardware Ltd.	TSX	RCH	OTC	RHUHF
RIOCAN REIT	TSX	REI.UN	OTC	RIOCF
Royal Bank	TSX	RY	NYSE	RY
Russel Metals	TSX	RUS	OTC	RUSMF
Saputo Inc.	TSX	SAP	OTC	SAPIF
SNC-Lavalin	TSX	SNC	OTC	SNCAF
Sun Life Financial	TSX	SLF	NYSE	SLF
TECSYS Inc.	TSX	TCS	OTC	TCYSF
TFI International	TSX	TFII	OTC	TFIFF
Thomson Reuters Corp	TSX	TRI	NYSE	TRI
Toromont Industries Ltd	TSX	TIH	OTC	TMTNF
Toronto Dominion Bank	TSX	TD	NYSE	TD
TransAlta Corp	TSX	TA	NYSE	TAC
TransCanada Corp	TSX	TRP	NYSE	TRP
Transcontinental Inc.	TSX	TCL.A	OTC	TCLAF
Trigon Metals Inc.	TSX	TM	OTC	PNTZF
WSP Global Inc.	TSX	WSP	OTC	WSPOF

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Maxar Technologies Ltd (TSX-MAXR, NYSE-MAXR)... learn more. Next, I will write about Husky Energy Inc. (TSX-HSE, OTC-HUSKF)... learn more on Friday, June 1, 2018 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. 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. I am on Instagram. Or you can just Google #walktoronto spbrunner8166 to see my pictures.

Ontario Elections 2

Because I am unsure of who to vote for, I decided to see who was running in my riding of University-Rosedale. This is a new riding created in 2012.

Gilliam Smith is the Conservative candidate for my rider. On her site there was a video by Gillian Smith that I found quite good and helpful in understanding this candidate. I think that the video was effective. You get insight into this candidate and why I should vote for her. One thing I did like was that she supports investment in Toronto Transit. However, voting for her is voting for Doug Ford.

I looked at Doug MacLeod’s website. He has an agenda that is fine. However, what I was looking for was a reason why I should vote for him as an independent. Being an independent to me means that he would have little say in the policies of any party. But, he is an alternative to the other candidates and a way to not vote for Doug Ford or Kathleen Wynne.

Jo-Ann Davis is the liberal candidate for my riding. Her sites points to an education debate she had with the NDP candidate. She blames Harris for the problems with the educational system in Ontario. For her to still blame Harris for problems after the Liberals have been in power since 2003 seems silly to me. I was not impressed.

Jessica Bell is the NDP candidate for my riding. Her site says little about her and there is no video. She basically points to the NDP platform of Andrea Horwath. I did not gain any insight into her at all.

Given the other candidates running of Andrea Horwath and Doug Ford, Kathleen Wynne no longer looks that bad as Premier of Ontario. Andrea Horwath is going to run up debt and lots of it. Upping tax on the rich generally does not lead to the collection of more tax money. I have no idea what Doug Ford will do. I would have voted for Christine Elliot.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Ensign Energy Services (TSX-ESI, OTC-ESVIF)... learn more. Next, I will write about Maxar Technologies Ltd (TSX-MAXR, NYSE-MAXR)... learn more on Wednesday, May 30, 2018 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. 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. I am on Instagram. Or you can just Google #walktoronto spbrunner8166 to see my pictures.

Defined Contribution Pensions 2

Since I had recommended DC Pensions, I thought I would also share this article with you. The article is by Randy Bauslaugh a partner at McCarthy Tétrault law firm. There is also an interview with him by Sheryl Smolkin.

I would always suggest that if you have a choice of funds to invest in go with a plain vanilla fund with a name such as Canadian Dividend Fund or just Dividend Investment fund. Do not do anything fancy. I would stay away from any foreign investments unless they are for the US.

I also think that balanced funds or any funds with bonds are a bad idea. The times have changed. We have come from a 30 year bull market in bonds to a bear market. In a bond bull market interest rates decline and conversely bond values go up. In a bond bear market interest rates go up and bond values go down. The value of a bond and interest rates always go in the opposite direction.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Industrial Alliance Ins. & Fin. Srv. Inc. (TSX-IAG, OTC-IDLLF)... learn more. Next, I will write about Hardwoods Distribution Inc. (TSX-HDI, OTC-HDIUF)... learn more on Friday, May 25, 2018 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. 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. I am on Instagram. Or you can just Google #walktoronto spbrunner8166 to see my pictures.

Ontario Election

I still have not decided on whom to vote for. If Christine Elliot had won for the Conservative Party, I would have voted for her. I will not be voting NDP.

The left has learned nothing. Socialism just takes longer than communism to bankrupt a country. Andrea Horwath says that Hydro should be a public company, but being a public company is what got it into the mess it is in now. Going back to a public company is not going to fix our electrical bill.

Look at what happen in Venezuela. Hugo Chávez just gave money to the poor. This only helps in the very short term. What he should have done is provided education and infrastructure. Governments need to help people get jobs so that they can look after themselves and build an economy. Look at what happened to their oil company. The government ran it into the ground. Governments should be in the business of regulation. They should never be in charge of running a company.

Welfare does not work. Welfare is a trap. No one has left poverty because of welfare. Welfare takes money from productive people who are then less productive and gives to people who will never be productive. How you get people off poverty is education. In Ontario we still have poor schools in poor area. Schools in poor areas need more money than other schools. They also need to pay teachers in these schools more in order to get better qualified teachers.

I do not want to vote for Liberals and Kathleen Wynne as it is the Liberal party that got us into the electrical cost mess and has loaded Ontario down with an incredible amount of debt. We have stranded debt because stupid nuclear policies. Ontario is still encouraging people to put in solar panels even though we produce too much power during the day and must pay people to take our excess.

I am really worried about debt. Ontario is heavily loaded with debt. So are a lot of Canadian provinces and all sorts of countries. Our last recession was bad because it was caused by a financial crisis. No one is dealing with excess debt. Whether or not the Conservatives will deal with it is known. Wynne certainly does not seem to care about it. The next recession could be worse because of debt.

To me Doug Ford seems like a populist. I am not sure that I would feel comfortable voting for him. However, you have to be careful about political ads. They are often very misleading.

One thing I do care about is rent control. The liberals say that Doug Ford wants to do away with rent control. On the Conservative Party site, he says he will not take rent control away from anyone. See what he says here.

Yes, I think that landlords should be able to make enough in rent to cover their costs and rent should go up based on cost not on an inflation rate which may have nothing in common with their costs. Yes, I think that landlords should be above to get rid of undesirable tenant, especially ones that do damage and do not pay the rent. Landlords are not charitable organizations.

On the other hand rental units are where people live. People who rent do need some protection. Rental places must meet government regulations on the conditions of the rental buildings. Landlords should not be able to increase rents unreasonable. The last changes to the Landlord and Tenant Act came about because some unscrupulous landlords raised rents 50% to 100%.

A government cannot just cancel rent control. We have enough people already living on the streets. We do not need to have a bigger population living on the street. This is what will happen if people living under rent control have their rents pushed up to what is being charged to new tenants. Also cancelling rent control would produce a wind-fall profit for rental property owners. The value of any rental property is directly related to rents the property produces.

The only way I see to get out of rent control is to gradually bring rent control units up to market value over a number of years. However, I do not think we will get more rental units by ditching rent control. Developers make a lot more money and money quicker by building condos. This is not going to change. Also I should disclose that I am renting an apartment and my apartment is under rent control.

I am ambivalent about abortion. Women generally do not need to get pregnant if they do not want to. I must admit I got pregnant on an IUD. Birth Control is not 100%. However, most women that get pregnant accidentally do not need to. By now I had hoped abortion would go away because of birth control. The only thing I can find on Doug Ford is about abortion is that he thinks 16 year olds should get their parent’s permission. See a Star article here.

Abortion is traumatic. I know some women who have had them. A woman needs lots of support and good advice before taking such action. However, it seems from anything I have seen you can get advice from pro- or anti-abortionist only. This needs to change.

On my other blog I wrote today about Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc. (TSX-RBA, NYSE-RBA)... learn more. Next, I will write about Industrial Alliance Ins. & Fin. Srv. Inc. (TSX-IAG, OTC-IDLLF)... learn more on Wednesday, May 23, 2018 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. 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. I am on Instagram. Or you can just Google #walktoronto spbrunner8166 to see my pictures.

The Rich and Investing

I must admit I agree with Martin Armstrong here. I do not have money because I worked; I have money because I invested some of what I earned in companies. This is why I am able to live off my income (which is mostly all dividends).

I started off my buying Canadian Savings Bonds on a monthly basis and when I cashed my bonds in in November, I had enough money to buy some stock. These bonds were cashable in November each year. I was lucky because November turned out to be a very good month to buy stocks.

Earlier this week, I wrote about starting out with Mutual Funds .

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Mullen Group Ltd (TSX-MTL, OTC-MLLGF)... learn more. Next, I will write about Pizza Pizza Royalty Corp (TSX-PZA, OTC-PZRIF)... learn more on Friday, May 18, 2018 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. 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. I am on Instagram. Or you can just Google #walktoronto spbrunner8166 to see my pictures.

Mutual Funds

Mutual Funds have their place in investment plans. This would be for people just starting out investing or for people with no interest in this subject. For someone starting out you can buy a low cost bank mutual fund and start a savings plan. Often banks let you put in money automatically from your chequing account.

I am with the TD Bank. With them you can open a Mutual Fund Trading Account. Get a low fee Mutual Fund that has a title like Canadian Dividend. When I was starting out I got a number of Mutual Funds. Most of these Mutual Funds were touted as the latest, newest and best ever. I made no money on them. The only Mutual Fund I did make money on was a RBC Canadian Dividend fund.

The beauty of these bank mutual funds is that you can ignore them for years and they will do nothing much. Yes they will go down in a bear market, but they will also recover. As an investor you should just ignore the market gyrations. They do not count in the long run.

If you feel you must diversity, buy a US dividend fund. I would stay away from foreign funds as they are much more volatile and you can lose money on them over the long term. If you have no interest in learning about investing you need not go any further.

The thing with buying low cost mutual funds rather than ETFs is that it can be a lot cheaper. Most banks let you invest say $100 a month. ETFs are sold as stocks so you must have a trading account and have a few thousand to invest. If you use Robo Advisers you could pay a lot in fees with small amounts to invest.

Possible TD Funds are TD Dividend Growth – D (TDB3088) with MER of 1.19% or TD Canadian Blue Chip Dividend D (TDB3105) with a MER of 1.18% or TD Canadian Index – e (TDB900) with a MER of just 0.33%. You do not want a balanced fund or any other fund that contains bonds. Bonds a very easy to invest in on your own and it is safer and better way that bonds in an index fund or Mutual Fund.

If you want to learn and do more in investing, once you have built up some money in the Mutual Fund you can withdraw money and buy stocks. A good place to start is the top 10 stocks of your mutual fund. Learn about some of these stocks and if you think one is suitable for you, buy it.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Hammond Power Solutions Inc. (TSX-HPS, OTC-HMDPF)... learn more. Next, I will write about Mullen Group Ltd (TSX-MTL, OTC-MLLGF)... learn more on Wednesday, May 16, 2018 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. 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. I am on Instagram. Or you can just Google #walktoronto spbrunner8166 to see my pictures.

Defined Contribution Pensions

If I was starting out working I would definitely go for a Defined Contribution Pension at work. Under these plans everyone get the same amount of money. If you are in a Defined Benefit Pension, there is a very low amount your employer puts in when you are young. If you move on a new job, there is very money from the pension plan for you. At least that is what happened to me.

I had Defined Benefit Pensions in the first job I worked at and got very little from it because I moved jobs when I was young. When you leave they discount the money owed you from the retirement age. The discount rate that was used was relatively high for the time.

I worked for Confed when it went bankrupt. Because it was 1994 then pension plan had a surplus. Most pension plans at that time did, unlike today. Some of us compared the amount we got from the pension plan. I was older and did not do badly. Others who had worked there for 20 years as I had, but were younger got very little.

If you have a government job for life with a Defined Benefit Pension you can do very well for yourself. This would be like the Ontario Teacher’s pension plan. However, even in government, not everyone stays for life. You do not know what the future holds so go for the Defined Contribution Pension.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Reitmans (Canada) Ltd. (TSX-RET.A, OTC-RTMAF)... learn more. Next, I will write about Canadian Utilities Ltd (TSX-CU, OTC-CDUAF)... learn more on Friday, May 11, 2018 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. 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. I am on Instagram. Or you can just Google #walktoronto spbrunner8166 to see my pictures.

Rogers and Best Buy

I got my computer back from the computer shop, but it had a new hard drive because my old one was damaged. I am just catching up now having spent the day loading my software into my computer. The shop I use is 3P Computer on the Danforth.

I have a Rogers pay as you go phone. It has worked well considering I only pay $10 a month for it. I tend not to use a phone much but when I had a cottage I was worried about the last leg of the journey which was on Highway 41 which had very little traffic. Someone told me about pay as you go phones and I got Rogers as it was the only one covering my cottage area. It was a good experience getting it through a company called Telephone Booth in the Eaton’s Center.

However, my phone was really dated and I could hardly hear anyone who called. I decided to upgrade to a smart or at least semi-smart phone. Rogers on the phone said to go to a Rogers Store and they would sell me a phone and give me a sim card and set everything up with Rogers. I went to the store on Yonge and was told I needed to go to Best Buy.

At Best Buy, I was told that they could only sell me a phone and the only one I could get was a Samsung Galaxy J1. They said that I had to go to a Rogers store to get a sim card put into my phone. At Best Buy I have never met a clerk before who was so disinterested in his job. I have met rude clerks, but he was not rude just totally disinterested.

A totally disinterested clerk is very stupid at Best Buy. I may not be a phone person, but I am a computer person. I pay a lot when I buy a new computer with lots of software. I would think twice about going back to Best Buy for anything.

I went to a Rogers store in the Eaton’s center and the clerk told me that she could only give me a sim card. I would have to contact Rogers at 1 866 764 3771. I would have to put the sim card in myself and power up the battery. I phoned the number and all it could do was to put money on my card or hang up. She also pointed to the code on the sim card I was to use to get my phone working with my wireless phone number. Apparently the number she pointed out was the wrong one to use.

So my experience in Rogers stores is a bust also. They were basically useless. I finally had to get help from my son to get the sim card into the phone. It may seem more obvious to people who had done this before, but it was anything but obvious to me.

I went on Rogers site to see if there was another number to call. I came across a Live Chat thingy for wireless technical support. I have had good results before with Rogers Live Chats so I decided to use it. On Live Chat there was a very nice lady from Moncton who answered my questions and got my new phone working with the new sim card. So that worked out fine.

It would be helpful if Rogers had gotten their stories straight. My personal belief is that if you want to sell a product you make it easy for people. Instead I really got the run around with Rogers telling to go to a Rogers store and the Rogers store telling me that Best Buy can sell me a phone and set it up for me. Then Best Buy telling me I could only buy a phone and I need to go to a Rogers store for the sim card and the Rogers store telling me I had to put in my own sim card and phone a number that seemed to be wrong. This is not an experience I would want to repeat anytime soon.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Power Financial Corp. (TSX-PWF, OTC-POFNF)... learn more. Next, I will write about Reitmans (Canada) Ltd. (TSX-RET.A, OTC-RTMAF)... learn more on Wednesday, May 9, 2018 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. 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. I am on Instagram. Or you can just Google #walktoronto spbrunner8166 to see my pictures.

Something to Buy May 2018

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.

This system does not work well for old Income Trust companies. These companies had quite high Dividend Yields which will probably never be seen again. So I started a column called VT (for Valid Test) and this applies to checking stock price using dividend yield. If not a valid test I use N to show this. For these stocks, you might be better comparing the current dividend yield to the 5 year median dividend yield.

However, no system is perfect. But if you are interested in buying 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 Something to Buy May 2018 Spreadsheet 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 21 stocks in the Consumer Discretionary category. Automodular Corp (TSX-AM.H, OTC- AMZKF) and been replaced by HLS Therapeutics Inc. (TSXV-HLS). Three of these stocks (14%) are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield and they are DHX Media Ltd. (TSX-DHX.A, OTC-DHXMF), High Liner Foods (TSX-HLF, OTC-HLNFF) and Newfoundland Capital Corp (TSX-NCC.A). There is no change from last month.

Seven (or 33%) of Consumer Discretionary are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are Canadian Tire Corp (TSX-CTC.A, OTC-CDNAF), DHX Media Ltd. (TSX-DHX.A, OTC-DHXMF), Goeasy Ltd. (TSX-GSY, OTC-EHMEF), High Liner Foods (TSX-HLF, OTC-HLNFF), Leon's Furniture (TSX-LNF); Newfoundland Capital Corp (TSX-NCC.A) and Reitmans (Canada) Ltd. (TSX-RET.A, OTC-RTMAF).

I follow 12 Consumer Staples stocks. No companies are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. Six stocks (or 50%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. These are AGT Food and Ingredients Inc. (TSX-AGT, OTC-AGXXF), Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSX-ATD.B, OTC-ANCUF), Empire Company Ltd (TSX-EMP.A, OTC-EMLAF), Jean Coutu Group Inc. (TSX-PJC.A, OTC-JCOUF), Loblaw Companies (TSX-L, OTC-LBLCF) and Metro Inc. (TSX-MRU, OTC-MTRAF). There is no change from last month.

I only follow three Health Care stocks as HLS Therapeutics Inc. (TSXV-HLS) has been added in this category. None of these stocks are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. Two or 67% are cheap by the historical median dividend yield. The stocks are Johnson and Johnson (NYSE-JNJ) and Medtronic Inc. (NYSE-MDT).

I follow 10 Real Estate stocks. None of these stocks are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. Five stocks (or 50%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are Artis REIT (TSX-AX.UN, OTC- ARESF); Granite Real Estate (TSX-GRT.UN, NYSE-GRP.U), H & R REIT (TSX-HR.UN, OTC-HRUFF), Melcor Developments Inc. (TSX-MRD, OTC-MODVF) and SmartCentres REIT (TSX-SRU.UN, OTC-CWYUF). There is no change from last month.

I follow 8 Bank stocks. None are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. Three stock (or 50%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX-BNS, NYSE-BNS), CIBC (TSX-CM, NYSE-CM) and Toronto Dominion Bank (TSX-TD, NYSE-TD). National Bank of Canada (TSX-NA, OTC-NTIOF) has been deleted from this list.

I follow 14 Financial Service stocks. None are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. Eight (or 57%) stocks are showing cheap by the historical median dividend yield. These stocks are Accord Financial Corp (TSX-ACD, OTC-ACCFF), AGF Management Ltd (TSX-AGF.B, OTC-AGFMF), Alaris Royalty Corp (TSX-AD, OTC-ALARF), CI Financial (TSX-CIX, OTC-CIFAF), Equitable Group Inc. (TSX-EQB, OTC-EQGPF), Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc. (TSX-GS, OTC-GLUSF), IGM Financial (TSX-IGM, OTC-IGIFF) and Power Corp (TSX-POW, OTC-PWCDF). Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp (TSX-AI, OTC-AMIVF) has been deleted from this list.

I follow 6 Insurance stocks. None are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. Five stocks (or 83%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. These stocks are Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSX-GWO, OTC-GWLIF), Industrial Alliance Ins. and Fin. (TSX-IAG, OTC-IDLLF), Intact Financial Corp. (TSX-IFC, OTC-IFCZF), Manulife Financial Corp (TSX-MFC, NYSE-MFC) and Power Financial Corp (TSX-PWF, OTC-POFNF). There is no change from last month.

I follow 32 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. Two stocks or 33% are showing as cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are SNC-Lavalin (TSX-SNC, OTC-SNCAF) and Stantec Inc. (TSX-STN, NYSE-STN). There is no change from last month.

I have 3 stocks I have left with the sub-index of Industrial. None are cheap by the historically high dividend yield. Two stocks or 67% are showing as cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are Finning International Inc. (TSX-FTT, OTC-FINGF), and Russel Metals (TSX-RUS, OTC-RUSMF). There is no change from last month.

I have 7 Manufacturing stocks. None are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. Three stocks or 43% are showing as cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are Exco Technologies Ltd. (TSX-XTC, OTC-EXCOF), Hammond Power Solutions Inc. (TSX-HPS.A, OTC-HMDPF) and PFB Corp (TSX-PFB, OTC-PFBOF). There is no change from last month.

I follow 16 Services stocks. None are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. Four stocks or 25% are showing as cheap by historical median dividend yield. These stocks are Canadian National Railway (TSX-CNR, NYSE-CNI), Pason Systems Inc. (TSX-PSI, OTC-PSYTF), Transcontinental Inc. (TSX-TCL.A, OTC-TCLAF) and Wajax Corp (TSX-WJX, OTC-WJXFF). Wajax Corp (TSX-WJX, OTC-WJXFF) has been added to this list.

I follow 8 Material stocks. None are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. No stocks are showing as cheap by historical median dividend yield. This is the same as last month.

I follow 10 Energy stocks. Two stocks or 20% are showing as cheap by the historical high dividend yield. They are Mullen Group (TSX-MTL, OTC-MLLGF) and Ensign Energy Services (TSX-ESI, OTC-ESVIF). There is no change from last month.

There are five stocks (or 50%) showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are Canadian Natural Resources (TSX-CNQ, NYSE-CNQ), Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX-CVE, NYSE-CVE), Ensign Energy Services (TSX-ESI, OTC-ESVIF); Mullen Group (TSX-MTL, OTC-MLLGF) and Suncor Energy (TSX-SU, NYSE-SU). This last list has not changed from last month.

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

I follow 7 of the Infrastructure type utility companies. None are showing as cheap by historical high dividend yield. Four stocks (or 57%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are AltaGas Ltd (TSX-ALA, OTC-ATGFF), Enbridge Inc. (TSX-ENB, NYSE-ENB), Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc. (TSX-ENF, OTC-EBGUF) and TransCanada Corp (TSX-TRP, NYSE-TRP). This has not changed from last month.

I follow 12 of the Power type utility companies. Only ATCO Ltd (TSX-ACO.X, OTC-ACLLF) is showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. This has not changed from last month.

Five stock (or 42%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. Those stocks are ATCO Ltd (TSX-ACO.X, OTC-ACLLF), Canadian Utilities Ltd (TSX-CU, OTC-CDUAF) and Emera Inc. (TSX-EMA, OTC-EMRAF), Fortis Inc. (TSX-FTS, OTC-FRTSF) and Just Energy Group Inc. (TSX-JE, NYSE-JE). There is no change from last month.

I follow 4 of the Telecom Service type utility companies. No stocks are showing as cheap by historically high dividend yield. Three stocks (or 75%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. These stocks are BCE (TSX-BCE, NYSE-BCE), Shaw Communications Inc. (TSX-SJR.B, NYSE-SJR) and Telus Corp (TSX-T, NYSE-TU). There is no change on this last list from last month.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about McCoy Global Inc. (TSX-MCB, OTC-MCCRF)... learn more. Next, I will write about TFI International (TSX -TFII, OTC-TFIFF)... learn more on Friday, May 4, 2018 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. 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. I am on Instagram. Or you can just Google #walktoronto spbrunner8166 to see my pictures.

Dividend Stocks May 2018

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 May 2018. On this list,

• I have 6 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical high dividend yield,
• I have 40 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
• 69 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the 5 year average dividend yield.

When I did my list last list in April 2018,

• I have 6 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical high dividend yield,
• I have 43 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical average dividend yield
• I have 69 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical median dividend yield and
• 73 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 $163.68. This month dividends would be $167.96. Of the stock that I follow 3 stocks has raised their dividends since last month.

Badger Daylighting Ltd (TSX-BAD, OTC-BADFF)
EnerCare Inc. (TSX-ECI, OTC-CSUWF)
Johnson and Johnson (NYSE-JNJ)

Automodular Corp (TSX-AM.H, OTC-AMZKF) made a plan of arrangement with HLS Therapeutics Inc. (TSXV-HLS). Automodular Shareholders will receive for each outstanding share .165834 HLS common shares (rounded to whole shares) and one HLS Preferred Share. HLS Shareholders will receive one new HLS Share for each old HLS share. I am only holding on to this stock to see what the final results will be.

Also, of the stocks that I follow, 0 stocks decreased or suspended their dividends.

Most of my stocks started out as Dividend Payers. Currently 14 stocks are not paying any dividends and this would be some 9.03% of the stocks that I follow. Four of these stocks never had dividends, so 7.74% 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 Trigon Metals Inc. (TSX-TM, 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. I also started a column called VT (for Valid Test) and this applies to checking stock price using dividend yield. If not a valid test I use N to show this.

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.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Ag Growth International (TSX-AFN, OTC- AGGZF)... learn more. Next, I will write about McCoy Global Inc. (TSX-MCB, OTC-MCCRF)... learn more on Wednesday, May 2, 2018 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 website for stocks followed and investment notes. 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 or StockTwits. I am on Instagram with #walktoronto.