The Big Banks and Oil in March, 2026

 

It's been anything but calm in the market and political scene since 2026 rolled in. 

The latest major news is the Supreme Court ruled the bulk of President Trump's tariff hikes are illegal so he has downshifted so far while repayment of those tariffs into the billions is next in the courts with companies lining up to be repaid.

The current US and Israel conflict with Iran is driving up oil prices and once again, US moves are making me pay more with higher gas prices today. Hopefully for the short term depending how long that war will last with several Middle East countries engaged as well.

On the flip side, Canada's oil related companies will see more revenue for now. I own a few of those stocks such as Suncor, SU and TC Energy, TRP.

Currently, I'm looking to add to Keyera Corp, KEY-TO, one of that largest midstream oil and gas companies in Canada and ships to the US. With an ex-dividend date of March 16th, 2026 and a current yield of 4.11%, the Distributable Cash flow is around 60% which is what I like to see. 

All the Big Banks of Canada had good earnings reports recently. I like to focus on a laggard bank with these reports which has room for price growth but didn't happen this time around. All the big banks increased their dividends except Bank of Nova Scotia, BNS so far this year.

There are many bank related ETFs out there, ranging from capital gains focused with low yields to high and very high yield. A buyers choice depending on how much risk one wants to take on. 

One of these I hold for the income is ZWB, BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks with monthly distributions and a growth spurt of 33% within the last year. Top holding is ZEB, which gained about 50% this past year, assisted in that gain. 

New with BMO, is a lineup of 16 ETFs; Targeted distribution range cash flow units with monthly distributions. An example is ZWB I mentioned above but with a ticker of ZWB.T (T for target cashflow units). Interesting and I'll be researching those. Being new, there are no distribution amounts updated or performance on the BMO site. I'll wait for BMO to update on distributions.

Sagicor Financial Company, SFC-TO, I mentioned in a previous post has an ex-dividend date of March 27th. SFC will be a new addition to the portfolio which pays it's dividend in USD with a current yield of 4%. Sagicor has been in the investing news of late and hopefully a profitable pick to hold for the long term.

Mid month, I'll be looking at Capital Power, CPX-TO along with South Bow Corporation, SOBO-TO, which has been moving up in price recently. South Bow being the pipeline related spin-off from TC Energy and now in talks with the US to further expand it's pipeline network into the western States. 

With the stocks, I like to read up on the monthly stock carry-overs and additional picks by Bank investing pros like Mr. Mokhtari, CIBC's chief marketing technician and compare with other sources to see the latest news on the stocks in my portfolio and others that are interesting enough to add to my watchlist.  The above is not investing advise, just my personal opinions and goals.

Mid February 2026 and Dividend Increases

 

In between watching Men's hockey at the Olympics, several of my stocks reported earnings for the 4th quarter and 2025 wrap up plus plans for 2026 and beyond for the week starting February 9th, 2026.

Investors are geared toward wanting to see better numbers than the last quarter or previous year but depending on the sector there are issues like commodity prices, political interference and consumer sentiment among many that factor in the reports.

For example the Tech sector is seeing a lot of selling and investors moving cash for mainly a different reason than usual. Billions being spent on AI while the rewards remain questionable. The huge power consumption should be a worry for the areas where data centres are being built with possible power bills increasing for folks depending on the resources nearby.

The next possible trend for the Tech sector is the building of robots enhanced with AI. A never ending mission to put more people out of work in my mind.

Enbridge and Fortis I own both gained "year to date" after good reports and plans for the future while the TSX went through a roller coaster last week. Short term price fluctuations but gratifying while I collect the dividends from these companies.

"Canada’s two largest insurers beat analysts’ profit expectations for the last quarter of 2025 as the industry continues to show broad resilience to U.S trade wars and market volatility."

In the financial/Insurance sector, Manulife, MFC.TO, announced an increase of 10% for the next dividend payout with an ex-dividend date of February 25th. 

Sun Life also reported 4th quarter results and beat expectations. SLF.TO moved up in price recently after fluctuating between $80 to $85 CAD.

Great-West Life, GWO.TO, Canada's 3rd largest insurer increased the dividend by 9.8% and beat expectations in the company's 4th quarter report. GWO has an ex-dividend date of March 3rd, 2026.

Like most Canadian index funds/ETFs, my portfolio has a heavier weight towards financials, followed by pipelines, utilities and energy related stocks. ETFs I select diversify into other sectors such as railroads, industrial and recently miners due to the recent surge in gold and silver prices. RCDC for example, RBC Canadian Dividend Covered Call ETF with an average return of 12.6% since inception. 

March will be interesting, researching additional financial insurance companies, pipelines and commodity related. TC Energy, TRP.TO with a 3.34% dividend increase and Keyera, KEY.TO among others come to mind. As always, this post is based on my personal investing goals and opinions. Stocks and ETFs mentioned shouldn't be considered as investment advice. 

Reading several articles, the search is on for the undervalued stocks that have potential for gains and in my case ... dividend increases for the years to come. The majority of my holdings are reaching highs so I'm on the same page. That also gets into taking on more risk searching for the unknown potential although the data and write ups look good.

Meanwhile I look at the Graham Number for the stocks I hold and the PE Ratio in the range of 15 to 20 when further buying. Investors have many other indicators available when doing research and picks.

In the immortal words of Spock ...  live long and prosper.