September revived it's reputation as being a historically rough month for the Markets and the start of October is not much better but over the long term just a blip on the charts covering a few years.
Down markets and losses tend to keep some investors awake at night like this cover of the October issue of Canadian Money Saver.
On the flip side I like to wait and watch for any lower prices on the stocks I have plans to further buy or buy the dip.
With the ETFs I got hooked on "DIV" ETFs holding XDIV ... iShares Canadian Core MSCI Canadian Quality Dividend Index gaining 24% year to date along with a 3.17% yield. A combined total return of 27%. The top ten holdings are mainly in the financial and energy sectors.
Keeping management fees low at 11% is a plus I look at when researching ETFs.
Recently I was reading an article about BMO ETF's and stopped at ZDIV which interested me and also with a low 10% management fee. BMO MSCI Canada IMI High Dividend Yield Index ETF launched in February of 2026 with quality dividend paying stocks in the top ten holdings and a different weighting than XDIV. A slightly higher yield at 3.60% with ZDIV.
Can ZDIV, the cheaper ETF to buy at this time, perform or outperform XDIV with a 53% gain for 2 years and higher over 5 years at 90+%? I'll find it an interesting comparison with hopefully a growing total return going forward.
With the current high yield ETFs making waves with yields upwards of 10% or more which have features like bi-monthly payments, etc. ETFs with decent gains along with a yield is an alternative compared to the popular VDY and XEI keeping management fees reasonably low.
Looking down through the top ten holdings in those ETF's, buying the stocks for a portfolio makes for a good starting point or foundation.
On the topic of waves ... I tend to look a week ahead and browse through upcoming ex-dividend dates. For the 15th of October I seen ALC.TSX listed. Algoma Central Corporation which I hold. Is that an error where November 17th is the next ex-dividend date for ALC?
Going to their site and reading the latest news. October 8th, management announced a special dividend of $1 with an ex-dividend date of October 15th and increasing it's current regular dividend by 10 cents for November 17th.
I'm a conservative investor and while digesting this news which is abnormal for this Canadian Great Lakes Shipping company with a long history, it's stock jumped $5. After reading management's decision and conviction I decided to buy more shares knowing the price will probably drop some after the special dividend is paid out.
Overall, I'm pleased with the 100%% total return gain since buying back in 2023 and 2024 before buying more shares last week.
Just an example of surprise updates from companies that appear unexpected on the market horizon such as Emera, EMA merging with Canadian Utilities, CU in 2027. ATCO owns CU so they will apparently be spun off as an industrial company when finalised. There will be more news on that move to come I'm sure. I own EMA with an ex-dividend date nearing month's end.
Stocks and ETFs I mentioned in the article are my personal picks and not investment advise while I measure the risk and potential reward in investing.
It's already the last quarter of 2026 and companies I own have begin updating dates and times for their quarterly results to come and I'm looking forward to some positive forward guidance.
