Buy Backs and Energy Boom in September of 2026

 

It was a good week for Canada as Prime Minster Carney presented investment opportunities to international and national investors bringing in near $500 billion with a target of 1 trillion. The big banks of Canada have announced millions in funding as well as our own CPP investment board. 

In Atlantic Canada, defence and infrastructure projects where billions are earmarked with a recent article highlighting an estimated workforce of nearly two thirds more would be needed than the current workforce. With the housing shortage that will be a challenge to attract people as rent and housing prices continue to increase since the Covid years at a pace with major cities like Toronto.

Oil and shipping continues to be the talk where there is no end in sight for the Iran conflict with Saudi Arabia getting more involved as their oil supply routes get disrupted temporarily.

With oil prices over and under $100 a barrel these days, Western Canada oil and gas companies are enjoying extra profits for now. Using Suncor stock as a measure, SU was just just shy of a $100 CAD a few days ago.

Buy backs can be a bonus for investors where companies buy back and cancel their stock with a goal to increase the price of the stock pleasing investors and if paying dividends, reduce their distributable cash payment percentage for the company among other factors or use those funds for capital expansion/upgrades.

In a recent update, Gibson Energy, GEI.TSX intends to buy back and cancel 5% of their shares amounting to over 7.25 million shares over a 12 month period. That "could" be a positive move for current holders as mentioned above so I decided to buy more GEI along with the current yield being attractive.  

The Globe and Mail publishes articles on company stats and buybacks with a recent article from Norman Rothery.

Buybacks, or share repurchases, offer companies an alternate way to return money to shareholders other than paying dividends. Companies that buy their own shares (or pay dividends) are usually profitable and, hopefully, have an excess of cash to deploy, which can make them good investments.

Personally, I find the Energy sector most interesting of all the sectors where I keep up on news and updates of what's going on with the companies I hold. 

Energy investment boom

BMO analyst Ben Pham outlined the potential winners from an expected boom in domestic oil and gas investment,

“We believe the development of large scale oil pipeline projects in Western Canada is shaping up as a major investment opportunity for Canadian energy infrastructure companies. Rising oil production, favourable macro and political backdrop, higher commodity prices and tight pipe capacity are the key drivers. Fortunately, there are 2.5M bbl/d of proposals in various stages of development just in the nick of time, though it is unlikely that all will be built and/or built on time. Companies that are participating directly include SOBO (’market perform’), PPL (Mkt), and ENB (’outperform’) with proposed oil infrastructure projects. We also flag ALA (OP), KEY (OP) and PPL (Mkt) for follow-on NGLs/ condensate/exports requirements, GEI (Mkt) for oil storage, ACO.X (OP)/CU (Mkt) for regulated ‘wires’ and CPX/TA (both OP) for power generation”

I don't own ALA, CU or TA at this time but Canadian Utilities, CU.TSX stock has awakened from a slumber since February of 2025 gaining 44% and it's perked my interest after holding it in the past and sold. CU is a Dividend Aristocrat with over 50 years of dividend growth. Noting that the yearly dividend increases has slowed to 1% from an average of 10% after 2018. One of the reasons I sold but with the capital gain added in, makes CU more interesting.

South Bow Corporation, SOBO.TSX is on my list to further buy before the ex-dividend date of September 29th and Capital Power, CPX.TSX. 

The inception date for RCDC, RBC Canadian Dividend Covered Call ETF was January 2023 and I began buying the ETF at that time to boost monthly distribution from companies I own individually along with railroads such as CP in the current top 10 holdings.

The ETF has 79.37 million in assets so far. Total return is around 24.5% for the past year. 

The US banking giant JP Morgan is expanding in Canada and I've been buying their Canadian version of JEPQ with NASDAQ holdings and an attractive but fluctuating yield. They recently added a CAD hedged version of JEPQ to their ETF lineup, JPQH with monthly distributions being paid usually on the 8th day of a month.

September has been historically a flat month for stocks returns with sector exceptions depending on what's going on with the economy and politically these days. For example the surge of interest in gold miners this year.

I've read and agree, it's probably a good time to keep some cash in reserve for buying at lower stock prices however I don't wait around to time the markets. Rarely works with all the moving parts such as inflation, oil prices and supply, political agendas, tariffs, etc.

For October, I see banks and related ETFs on my ex-dividend calendar. Banks are more expensive in 2026 reporting earnings investors like to see as price to earnings levels are higher than normal. There are dozens of ETF options out there and growing to receive monthly payments with banks in the holdings.

  

Staying on Course in September 2026

I read Morningstar's monthly newsletters on stocks and ETFs that outperform in a given month and look over monthly stock lists with adds and deletes from top investor professionals in the banks, etc. where I'm looking for total return, not just dividends.

It's easy to get swayed to change course and buy the top performers but after a 30% gain for example, how much more upside is there and will I be buying at overvalued prices. Most likely where investors want to see increasingly better quarterly or yearly reports going forward. Something like the top tech chip companies in the US which are in the news daily and that tech bubble talk. 

Reminds me of the book I read by Morgan Housel, The Psychology of Money.

I generally prefer low volatility and have the energy sector on my mind for September. Pipelines, oil and natural gas along with storage. 

Canadian Natural Resources, CNQ.TSX starts off my September dividend calendar being one of Canada's largest energy producers with a Market Cap of 144 billion, a dividend payout ratio of around 60% and a current yield of 3.50%,with YTD gains of 50%. being a Dividend Achiever with 24 years, Sept 11th is the ex-dividend date.

Suited for long term investors and focused on quality dividend paying Canadian stocks, I check regularly for the latest posts from Tom Connolly's DividendGrowth.ca for subscribers. 

This month, a spreadsheet for 23 popular stocks highlights dividend growth and price for the last 10 years, 2016 to 2026. I save and print these for reference. CNQ is at the top of the list with a price of $14 in 2016 and Sept's 2026 price of $68. Current price of $69.78. Dividend growth with a multiple of 19.7 averaged out at 9.60%.

One of those stocks I believe to be a core sector holding in a diversified portfolio. 

I hold most of these stocks in this sector spread from Dale in a recent Cut The Crap Investing article:

I should of bought CNR when the price was down earlier in the fall of 2025 at around $128 and has rallied since March of this year but I currently don't own a railroad, only in an ETF where the yield is low but there is yield growth potential I'll decide on.

Mid Month, being the 15th of September, I plan to further buy Pembina Pipeline, PPL.TSX before the ex-date. With the pipelines, I hold Enbridge, Pembina Pipeline, South Bow and Keyera with a network of pipelines. Usually 4 to 5 stocks for a sector like the Big Banks of Canada.

Mainly on the storage of natural gas, Rockpoint Gas Storage I bought back in June of this year with a current yield of 5% which is attractive and the minimum yield some dividend investors seek. However I'm being patient as the stock price has headed south recently although the recent quarterly report is decent. The company started paying dividends in USD in December of 2025. 

RGSI.TSX operating for 38 years, is also heavy into California, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta and with pipeline projects in the works to pump natural gas to California ports, etc., storage will be needed. 

In the last half of September with Halloween and Christmas decorations already out in the shops, I'll be eyeing more pipeline and power stocks plus the ETFs I continue to buy on a monthly basis.

Infrastructure, Brookfield and Bank Earnings

 

On the 31st of August, Brookfield Infra Partners LP Units is the day for the quarterly ex-dividend with a current yield of 4.72%. Looking at BIP.UN on the growth aspect, the stock price has moved up by about 29% .

Along with the popular Brookfield Renewable LP Units, BEP.UN, dividends are paid in USD while targeting 5 to 9% dividend growth with a distribution payout of around 70% via FFO or Funds from Operations,  

Overseeing operations is Brookfield Corporation, BN which conducts business around the world and frequently comes up in the news with acquisitions, bidding on companies or in on major contracts. Lots of moving parts and as an example, BIP,UN is merging with Brookfield Infrastructure Corporation, BIPC in the fourth quarter of this year to become Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Inc.,  BIP. 

I'll have to wait and see how this "Simplification" move affects the stock price and future dividends to shareholders.

Canada's Federal Government plans to spend billions on infrastructure on it's northern borders and elsewhere which I'm sure top companies with the resources to do the jobs will be involved. Canada's ATCO, ATCO-X , which I hold is already doing work up north with expansion and roads.

I look at these companies in comparison to Fortis, FTS.TSX which is in a league of it's own with over 50 years of dividend growth and continues to use capital to expand and improve it's service plus infrastructure while rewarding it's shareholders.  

Canada's big banks start reporting 3rd quarter earnings starting on the 25th of August with BNS, and BMO kicking off bank earnings week. The banks have had quite the run so far this year. Royal Bank, RY.TSX recently announced they are getting heavier into Europe investments increasing staff and office space. 

While the S&P 500 in the US has dominate sectors in IT (Mag7 and more), Communication and Financials ... Financials rule in Canada's TSX followed by energy and materials with the majority of my portfolio having holdings in these sectors. 

I mentioned in a previous article I trimmed Suncor, SU.TSX, which I planned to buy more of at a lower price but Middle East tensions have flared up again with the US and Iran locking horns drawing in other countries with cargo ships are being hit so the price of oil is staying higher at this time keeping SU at about $94 a share currently with September 4th being the day to have buy confirmations in to get paid the additional dividend.

Never a dull moment with interesting topics to follow in the world of stocks.

August 20th: Great timing to go with this post I thought. Dan from Stocktrades posted an informative video about Brookfield and it's subsidiaries with merging news in the 4th quarter of this year as I mentioned. Loaded with info I didn't know and interesting about Brookfield Asset Management, BAM. Great for reference when looking over the Brookfield stocks.

I Ranked Every Brookfield Stock

 

Staying Insured Mid August, 2026

 

Heading into mid-August, my focus switches to the top insurance companies in Canada.

With Manulife Financial I'm going against the grain with the preferred investing method of weighting a stock to about 5% in a portfolio. In the financial sector of my portfolio I'm at 20% for MFC and the company had a decent 2nd quarter report with a dividend increase of 10% back in February of 2026.

Dan over on Stocktrades has interesting videos on his ranking of Canadian companies and bank sectors I'm more invested in than others. I viewed his ranking of Pipeline companies and agree with his top pick I own.

His recent video ranks Canadian Insurance companies.  Of those companies reviewed, I own Great-West Life, Sun Life and Manulife Financial with an ex-dividend date of August 21st.

Looking at price growth over the last year, MFC with 49%, GWO with 73% and SLF with 47%. I'm pleased with the performance for those growth stocks along with the dividends they pay out to share holders for total return. The current bull run contributes I figure and I don't expect the same results when and if a major correction happens within the next year or not but it's always wise to prepare for the worst. They are my long term holdings regardless.

I've been following the BTSX strategy or Beat the TSX for years and it rejigged my investing style years back when I first read about it. Cut The Crap Investing with Dale posted, The 2026 Beat the TSX portfolio has the energy to outpace the TSX Composite.

BCE and T, I both sold last year when their debts were out of whack with expectations of dividends cuts to happen, which they did. Both Telcos are working to balance their books but for now, I'll watch their quarterly earnings progress if any.

The remaining 8 stocks are doing the lifting as mentioned in Dale's article. CNQ, ENB, PPL, CNQ, TRP, BNS, EMA, and CTC-A. These days I'm watching their valuations looking at analyst predictions and the Graham Numbers plus the P/E numbers I like to see under 20, preferably 15 but these stocks are attractive to many an investor for growth and dividends. Predictions I take with a grain of salt which can change frequently.

There are many choices above and as always, this post is just my personal opinion and long term goals, not investment advice.

Brookfield Corporation can be a complicated company looking at it's many arms and what they manage. I'll be looking over two of these before their 31st ex-dividend dates and I have mentioned these in previous articles geared toward dividends paid in USD.

September will be one of my busiest months looking over the stocks from energy, pipelines and power providers I have an interest in.

Reviewing 2nd Quarterly Reports in 2026

 

Tech, politics, policy and wars are the headliners continuing in 2026 however there is no change in my strategy for the long run with monthly buying but I'm more selective where the portfolio is generally overvalued with high P/E levels, Graham Numbers. 

Quality, growth and sustainable dividend paying companies are on my mind.

That brings about more warnings about a possible correction coming along with August and September being a historically slower gait with the bull run.   

Starting this week, many of my stocks are reporting 2nd Quarter results. All decent so far with Enbridge, ENB.TO and Fortis, FTS.TO reporting results today. Both on track and growing their businesses as usual.

With the Iran and US war escalated again, I've been watching the price of oil move with it. I also watched the price of Suncor, SU.TO stock increase with the oil price so I decided to do a rare trim where the price of SU is over $90 currently. The plan is to buy it back (less profit) when there is some kind of resolution to that war which will more than likely drop the price of oil until the next event and SU stock in turn, being an original and major player in the Alberta tar sands.

In the insurance sector or Lifeco's, I'll be looking to add to Manulife Financial, MFC.TO before the 20th of August ex-dividend date. With a 10% dividend increase back in February of 2026, the current inflation and interest rate drama seems to favour the top Canadian insurance companies.

A recent Morningstar article details what interests investors in Canadian ETFs as funding nears 1 trillion and what type of ETFs the bulk of inflows is going into with equity focused getting the lion share, being my main interest.

                                        TMX Money with ETF reports 

I prefer to own individual stocks with no management fees like ETFs but many on the market now are enticing with the holdings and yield along with total return. A basket of interesting stocks along with a monthly distribution is luring for those wanting an increasing income over time or a one-time bulk funding and repurchase with a percentage of the distributions paid or all for a term.

   

  

Power and Pipes for Mid July, 2026

 

The hot muggy afternoons are here in mid July on the Atlantic Coast with ACs running adding to my power bill but one needs comfort.

On the subject of Power ... Emera, EMA.TO has an ex-dividend date of July 31st with an expected Board announcement of a dividend increase for October. Increases have been around the 1% range since they announced their current lower dividend growth policy with more emphasis on earnings per share. 

In Canada, power and energy headlines have been focused in Alberta for this month, mainly for future builds. Stocks I own, Capital Power, CPX.TO and Pembina Pipeline, PPL.TO have come up several times in the news articles. 

Meta (thinking Facebook) is building a 13 billion dollar data centre in Alberta and Canadian provinces are looking for data centre builders arranging their power and cooling sources in advance. Pembina Pipeline and Stanley Morgan are building a power plant adjacent to Meta's planned build site. Capital Power is also involved in supplying power from their grid in 2028 with a long term contract.

Pembina Pipeline is involved with a 10% stake in an Alberta/Federal Government plan to run a pipeline from Alberta to the BC using a southern route with a future option to buy more of a percentage of that project.

Interesting is Enbridge being a popular stock among individual investors and a huge pipeline owner, recently added that Canada needs to concentrate more on additional oil production to meet future export demand. I'll be focusing on ENB.TO and Fortis, FTS.TO in August.

Personally, I like to see companies I have stock in mentioned in the future energy and economic plans announced by PM Carney and the Federal Government. Pembina Pipeline have a smart management in building up the company to this point. Hopefully, they won't take on too much debt, in turn rethinking their dividend policy but I have faith.

Overall, the stock market is in a Bull run with Canada outperforming the US for now, raising concerns about an eventual dip which will hopefully be short term again but many watch the moves of President Trump, buying the lower price dips with his political and policy moves while looking for gains. That will no doubt continue while he is in power. Just my opinions with this post as always, not investment advise.

Meanwhile, I'm sizing up my bank related ETFs while they are also getting more expensive although I'm not complaining about the gains with ZWB.TO and RCDC.TO, having additional dividend paying companies in the holdings. I've held and further bought RCDC since it launched, mentioned several times in my blog.

On this date, the US and Iran are back into conflict seeking another resolution while the US is looking to control shipping traffic and tolls in the Strait of Hormuz. Many predicted the thinly threaded ceasefire and peace talks wouldn't hold. The price of oil has come up in turn with countries looking to restock their oil reserves which brings Canada's energy resources back into focus.

Quality Dividend Index in June, 2026

 

The off and on opening of the Strait of Hormuz with the current, hopefully resolved Iran-US conflict shows that oil still rules in the world although the electric/battery powered sector continues to slowly grow ... more in some counties than others.

Meanwhile that sparked a want for alternate routes for oil and natural gas from producers and customers around the world to avoid similar future strait blockages trapping shipping and that favours the producers in Canada. Although the price of oil has come down for now, inflation has gone up due to higher transportation costs for goods, passed on to the consumer. That always gets me muttering with political agendas where it hits me in the wallet more in groceries and gas as if they weren't high enough already. Along with that ugly word ... tarrifs.

I read over the "Before the Bell" market news with quick snapshots of what's going on currently although I'm a long term investor. Tech stocks are volatile at times but they rule the S&P 500 for now and that usually turns into collateral damage for other markets at times like the TSX 

When some of my stocks go down due to short term moves, I look at it as a further buying opportunity. Today's headlines ...

Equities     Global markets fell as expectations for imminent interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve and debt-backed corporate spending on AI weighed on investor sentiment.     Wall Street futures were in the red after the Nasdaq closed sharply lower yesterday, dragged down by declines in the Megacap technology stocks including SpaceX and Alphabet.     TSX futures followed sentiment lower.

“These are far from dull markets,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group in Melbourne. “The former generals of the market appear to have lost momentum, and investors are rotating into other areas of the market that are more defensive, less AI-focused and offer more predictable cash flows.”

With "defensive" I'm thinking utilities like Capital Power, CPX.TO. with an ex-dividend date of June 30th, 2026. CPX has been increasing their dividends by about 6% before it's ex-dividend dates in November looking at past years but no guarantee that will occur again this year. Besides data centre builds, the Feds are also talking about nuclear power plants so companies like Capital Power could benefit but that's the government plans for the future. 

CPX has increased in price by about 28% year-to-date and over-valued looking at the Graham Number but I figure investors are factoring in current and future power grid expansions to meet demand.

With pipelines and energy producers, I have South Bow, SOBO.TO and Gibson Energy, GEI.TO on my radar for the last days of June being the 30th and 29th with ex-dividend dates, respectively.  

South Bow is mulling over running a new pipeline into the US given permits for the Keystone project which was halted before when it was part of TC Energy, TRP.TO. losing a substantial investment cost at that time. Now SOBO wants additional assurances from the US before deciding to go ahead sometime in 2027. You burned me once, not twice sort of thing with a wise management.

That gives me confidence they are not rushing into projects although they are green lighted.

Gibson Energy, GEI.TO I've had on my Watchlist for a long time with an attractive yield but with a lengthy research of the company, it has a long history and it's a multi asset business with refinery, railroad, terminals and storage of oil an natural gas along with by products. 

GEI's distributal cashflow currently is running around 90%, where ideal is around 50 to 70% but with expansion and growth comes more debt at times until more revenue kicks in to bring the DCF down.  It's got me interested so I'll probably get involved with a buy.

Earlier this year I was looking for an equity focused growth ETF with decent monthly distribution. I decided on Blackrock's iShares Core MSCI Quality Dividend Index ETF with a Year-to-Date gain of 21%. Impressive after I bought in April. 

I own all the stocks in the current top ten list individually except QSR, Restaurant Brands. Meanwhile XDIV provides additional monthly distributions.

Gordon Pape wrote an article on the Globe and Mail recenty recommending XDIV as a buy on his site.

More information below on XDIV after reading a Morningstar article today among 7 ETFs they ranked by performance.

iShares Core MSCI Canadian Quality Dividend Index ETF

• Morningstar Medalist Rating
  : Gold
• Morningstar Rating
  : ★★★★★

This C$5.5 billion fund has climbed 42.53% over the past 12 months, outperforming the average fund in its category, which rose 29.40%. The BlackRock fund, launched in June 2017, has climbed 26.01% over the past three years and 18.59% over the past five.

Reading about investors and ETFs, it's a personal choice of home country, international, sector based along with income related distributions or growth and adding to that ETF market these days are single stock specific ETFs with enhanced income strategies. Overall, there's a variety of ETFs out there and more being launched while others which are not performing as expected are merged or dropped by providers.

In my portfolio, the end of June into July is mainly Canadian Banks ex-dividend month and I'll be looking at adding to those ETFs which hold the big banks and more. The bank sector is strong and like in a continuous growth bull cycle for now while the stocks are getting expensive although there are partial share options out there now.

  

   

Pipelines and Energy in Focus for June, 2026

 

It's been a comfortable spring with some cool and rain days. With wild fires always a threat this time of year, more rain days are a good thing. 

The recent Big Bank earning reports were no surprise and upbeat. Notable to me was the Bank of Nova Scotia, BNS.TO buying into banks and investment firms in the US. Scotiabank gained over 52% in the last year and increased their dividend by 4% with the next ex-dividend date occurring on July 7th, 2026.

Unusual and unexpected (in a good way) is the higher increase in price of a covered-call Canadian Bank ETF I hold. BMO's ZWB has a current increase of 15% over the last 6 months, 41% in the last year. The distribution cash increased as well but that could change where covered-call ETFs tend to roll with Market ups and downs.

In focus for June is pipelines and energy related with my portfolio highlighted more these days as Canada is looked at as a trustworthy source of oil and natural gas with the Iran/US conflict continuing and the daily news about an on and then off possible resolution.

 A natural gas storage company I've been watching released it's 1st quarter report for 2026 with a majority stake holder being Brookfield and it's trillion dollars worth of assets. The gas goes through high and low demands during a year and during less demand, additional storage of the gas is needed.

Rockpoint Gas Storage, RGSI.TO is based in Alberta but also has storage facilities south of the border with California being the state highlighted. Expansion of  Warwick Gas and Battery Storage projects are ongoing. With investors, Rockwell is buying back stock and has a target of a 3 to 5% dividend increase going forward while increasing it's current dividend by 5% with an ex-dividend date of June 15th, 2026.

Personally, I believe it's an interesting company and provides a needed service for the natural gas producers which use it's storage facilitates. I'll see where it takes me with regards to earnings and income.

With the Globe and Mail, I read the monthly updates and insights from CIBC's Sid Mokhtari, Chief Marketing Technician who has a record of beating the TSX index. No doubt highly paid for his position and results so I take notice.

For June, utilities are more in focus but the pipeline and energy producer, Keyera, KEY.TO is a carryover over from May where he adjusts his portfolio by using his specific metrics.

KEY has been in the headlines making more acquisitions and a recent agreement with CNR to build a railway hub for more accessible transporting of their resources. Where I hold the stock, I'll grow my position there.

I rarely sell a stock unless the comparable price performance in that sector or general market is not performing as expected over time and/or the current dividend payout is in question.

In the second half of June, I'll be looking at more energy and pipeline stocks such as South Bow Corp., SOBO.TO and Gibson Energy, GEI.TO, perhaps a new addition to the portfolio. Capital Power, CPX.TO based in Alberta, is also on my radar in the last of week of June with my ex-dividend calendar.

I got interested in the Morningstar Canada Indexes and the stocks I hold are ranked within as a guide and reference. A great resource to look over for ideas as mentioned below. The higher the Star rating... the more undervalued a stock is within their ranking system with Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, BIPC ranked with 5 stars in their Top Performing Canada Dividend Stocks list for May and a June stock pick by Sid Mokhtari mentioned above but with the ticker BIP.UN  

The Best Dividend Stock Leaders: More Ideas to Consider

Investors who would like to find more top-performing or cheap dividend stocks can do the following:

• Use our Morningstar Stock Screener tool to find the best dividend stocks according to your specific criteria. You can search for stocks based on their dividend yields, valuation measures like price/earnings ratios, and more.
• Review the full list of dividend stocks included in the Morningstar Canada Dividend Yield Focus Index. Those dividend stocks with Morningstar Ratings of 4 or 5 stars are undervalued, according to our metrics.
• When it comes to buying stocks, it’s more than just dividends. Read here how valuations and competitive advantages—known as economic moats—matter when it comes to a stock’s potential for outperformance.
• Read Morningstar’s Guide to Stock Investing to learn how our approach to investing can inform your stock-picking process.

  

The 2026 BTSX and Banking in May

 

I recently seen a post about how the BTSX Portfolio is performing so far in 2026 and it is beating the TSX index thanks to the energy stocks. I get some of my best portfolio ideas and stock/ETF picks from Blogs, newsletters and various sources. 

The latest BTSX news is from Cut the Crap Investing in a post entitled, The 2026 Beat the TSX Portolfio has the Energy to outpace the TSX Composite where Dale highlights the 2026 10 stock portfolio and follows up with additional stocks and ETF's, the majority of which I own.

Years back I had a loose plan for long term investing until I came across an article in Canadian Money Saver Magazine about the BTSX strategy and that eventually made for a more concrete foundation for my portfolio as I got more interested in the concept.

I eventually tweaked it and called it the Modified BTSX where I looked into each of the 10 stocks in the list and didn't buy all 10 where a company wasn't to my liking and I didn't sell all the stocks at the end of each year as per the plan. I looked further down the list of top 20 dividend paying stocks in the TSX 60 to add substitutes.

That original list keeps expanding and I'm pleased with the total return results. 

The BTSX held a few banks in past years but they have certainly climbed in price these days and valuations are high causing yields to come down with only the Bank of Nova Scotia or Scotiabank, BNS.TO making the 2026 list while owners of that stock are being rewarded with gains and dividends.

In the last week of May, the Big Banks of Canada are reporting earnings and as always, I'll be interested in seeing the numbers and overviews.

Looking at ETFs, RCDC.TO holds 5 of the banks and other top corporations in Canada. I'm getting overweight compared to the other ETFs I hold but with a current yield around the 7% range, it's providing the preferred monthly distributions for income. That's not investment advice. Just my opinion on one of the many bank related ETFs on the market.

Some of the more popular ETFs out there hold one or more of the Big Banks for a reason such as VDY and XEI. Stability, growth and dividends with increases.

XIU, the iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF, with a low Management Expence of 0.18% also holds the top 5 banks in Canada in it's top 10 and gained about 7.5% while the BTSX is around 14.5% year to date where energy related stocks are surging over the ongoing US/Iran conflict.

In June, several of my high flying energy and pipeline stocks are on my ex-dividend calendar such as Canadian Natural Resources, CNQ.TO, Pembina Pipeline, PPL.TO and Keyera, KEY.TO in the first half of the month.

1st Quarter 2026 Earning Reports in May

 

Quarterly earning reports for the first three months in 2026 are coming out for my stocks in May and after reading the condensed news releases crunching the numbers, I have a look down through the financials on the company sites. 

However, it's just one quarterly report with what's going on in the economy or politically motivated in a given year that either weighs on a company in the short or long term or boosts it's earnings and outlook. 

I tend to focus on the money available to support dividends while some companies have different methods of supporting it such as Distributable Cash Flow, Funds From Operations, etc.

A good example is the Canadian Natural Resources, CNQ.TO first quarter report with some highlights about dividends. Here is the BOE Report link, https://boereport.com/2026/05/07/canadian-natural-resources-limited-announces-2026-first-quarter-results/

FIRST QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

• Generated net earnings of approximately $1.3 billion and adjusted net earnings from operations of $2.4 billion.
• Generated adjusted funds flow of approximately $4.4 billion.
• Direct returns to shareholders totaled approximately $1.5 billion, comprised of $1.2 billion in dividends and $0.3 billion in share repurchases.
  • Year to date, up to and including May 6, 2026, the Company has returned a total of approximately $3.2 billion directly to shareholders through $2.5 billion in dividends and $0.7 billion in share repurchases.
  • 26 consecutive years of dividend growth with a CAGR of 20% over that time.
    • Subsequent to quarter end, declared a quarterly cash dividend on its common shares of $0.625 per common share.
  • Subsequent to quarter end, share repurchases were significant at approximately $309 million in April 2026.

The majority of the individual stocks I own are large cap in the top twenty ranked by yield in the TSX index.

With the Iran-US war still looking for a workable peace plan as of today, it's no surprise that my energy stocks are making more money with the price of oil remaining about $100 a barrel while the middle east supply is choked off for now. Back in February 2026, the price of oil was around $67 a barrel.

Meanwhile, the Markets are pushing up the price of stocks in that sector such as Suncor Energy.

Suncor, SU.TO reported a 50% increase in earnings from the 4th quarter of 2025 with 2.1 billion and boosted exports to countries looking for more oil to keep their economies moving along. Interesting and good timing is their Montreal refinery is producing jet fuel not knowing initially the high demand because of that war and began exporting more of the jet fuel and diesel as well.

Until the Iran conflict ends, getting back to normal oil and other commodity related shipping will take awhile to get back to expected time frames for delivery, I expect my stocks will stay elevated in price and may come down later. I was thinking of trimming and using the funds for other stock sectors with potential and dividend growth but then I'd be missing out on compounding dividend increases.

Reading up on preferred shares, I seen a rare Globe and Mail article about that very subject and got me interested where investors seek yields of 5% and higher on preferred shares starting at a standard price of $25 each. Catering more to income seekers than growth stocks.

Companies redeem these preferred shares from time to time for $25 with some investors looking to buy a preferred at lower than $25 to potentially make money on the company redemption plus earning the dividends while they watch and wait. The majority reset every 5 years with the yield and what's happening with central bank interest rates.

Unfortunately, there is not a lot of news or data on preferred shares compared to common stock but the opportunity is there to buy company preferred stock rather than paying more for common stock much higher than the Graham Number or Fair Value price range from analysts.

I experimented and looked at Brookfield Corporation Class A, BN.TO with a low yield of 0.61% currently but with a market cap of 30 billion. I'm an income seeker so I bought the series 32 preference shares, BN.PF.A with a yield of 6.47%. With a 52 week low of $23.45 and a high of $26.37, the current price is $26.06.

That may have me hooked into looking into more preferred shares with the companies I own which are more expensive from when I bought in the past but a good scenario to have with the total return. There are ETFs with preferred share holdings keeping in mind they are interest rate sensitive but pay distributions monthly such as BMO's ZPR, BMO Laddered Preferred Share Index. 

Under the Brookfield umbrella of companies, I do own units in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP, BIP.UN which pays their dividend in USD with a current 5% yield. BIP.UN has an ex-dividend date of May 29th.

In the second half of May I have ex-dividend dates on the calendar for financial insurance companies such as Sun Life Financial, SLF.TO, Manulife Financial, MFC.TO and others in that sector with a starting position in Sagicor Financial, SFC.TO I plan to add to which raised it's dividend by 11.11% in March of 2026.

 

Banking and What's in Your ETF? April, 2026

 

It's good to see the temperatures climbing above freezing some days here on the east coast of Canada as we get more into spring weather. I'll enjoy it before the summer heat and humidity kicks in with more AC use.

Several of my stocks are reporting earnings next week for the 1st quarter of 2026 and the bulk of them in early to mid May. I look forward to the hopefully continued decent numbers and of interest is the forward guidance with the companies.

I look for and hold companies and banks with yields of 6% and down. Many of the yields are lower these days with the dividend paying stock portfolio because of new highs in prices. It will take time and patience for dividend increases to catch up to these new highs but in the meantime I like seeing the increased total return despite what's going with the wars, tariffs and inflation inching up these days.

Where I'm a monthly buyer, April is one of the slower months of the year for the individual stocks I hold being mainly the Big Banks so I look at boosting bank holding ETFs to increase the monthly distributions such as BMO's ZWB.TO and Royal Bank's RCDC.TO with a mix of popular investor stocks/sectors in it's top ten holdings I've been buying since it's inception.

Higher distribution ETFs for income are coming on the scene with 10% yields and higher focusing on individual holdings or a combination of these. Beware of the increased risk involved while some have been steady performers for the past few years.

Meanwhile, with an ex-dividend date falling on the 1st of May, I'll be looking to add to my Emera Inc. holding, EMA.TO. Emera has been hovering around it's fair value according to various analyst ratings.

For a utility, it's stock has a near 19% increase looking at the 1 year chart. EMA cut back it's dividend increases to 1% until further notice in 2024 with a guidance of 6 to 8% capital gains so I hung in there and so far, so good. I normally sell when I see dividend changes going backwards but if there is a trade off like in Emera, I'll continue holding and adding.

I'll be looking at the dividend calendar in early May with my holdings; Enbridge, ENB.TO and Fortis, FTS.TO approaching ex-dividend dates. Enbridge with recent pipeline expansion approvals in the US.

                                                      

                                               An additional issue for Canadian Money Saver

                                                                   for April, 2026

I'll add to this post when I see the news release from BMO about their new Target Cash Flow Units ETF distributions for April 2026, payable in May that have me interested but I need more comparison from the March to April numbers. They are usually released on or before the 23rd of the month.

Using ZWB.TO as an example, the ETF had a cash distribution rate of 0.12 per unit for March 30th, payable monthly with a pay date of April 2nd.

ZWB.T.TO, with the T for Target paying monthly had a cash distribution rate of 0.488 per unit. The target distribution annualized rate is 13%, while ZWB is a current 5.22% annualized rate with a YTD price increase of 9.24%. Not too shabby for a covered call bank ETF.

April 23, 2026:

BMO announces cash distributions for Certain BMO ETFs and ETF series of BMO Mutual Funds for April 2026

With the April BMO ETF update, the ex-dividend date is April 29th for a May 4th payment and the distributions I mentioned above for the ZWB and ZWB.T tickers are the same as the previous month. 

Doing the math, the T for Target ETFs have a higher distribution rate paying monthly to date ranging from $46 to $50 each than buying ZWB of the same dollar amounts. It's wise to keep a watch on the ETF unit prices when distributions are paid to avoid a loss where they can be traded during market hours.

With ETFs, I want to see ample trading and market volume along with increasing assets over time, especially when newly launched while stocks and ETFs I write about are my personal choices and not meant as investing advise.  

 

Headwinds and Sectors in April, 2026.

 

Spring is here but the temps are up and down with flurries to rain so far but I won't complain because the humidity and higher temperatures living by the Atlantic Ocean will be here soon enough so I'll enjoy it while I can where I'm comfortable at about 20 C and below.

A retail or individual investor they call me and the growing number of people into do-it-yourself investing are making the Big Banks shift their focus slowly to offering no commission trades and other perks with the growing popularity of sites like Wealthsimple and Questrade. 

I'm old school so I still keep the bulk of my portfolio in the bank like TD Bank. Recently TD enhanced their TD Easy Trade app to 100 free trades, up from 50 last year and a list of 100 commission free ETFs. I started trading on Easy Trade as soon as the app was launched. For ETFs not in their commission free list, I go to Wealthsimple to buy and sell.

My portfolio is diversified with stocks in sectors such as the banks, pipelines, energy, insurers and others. It's riding out the choppy waters despite the headwinds brought on by the Iran war, which the US and Israel initiated causing oil and gas/diesel prices to spike for now. 

While many panic sell, even gold for cash which is different from the norm, I watched my energy stocks like Suncor, SU.TO and TC Energy TRP.TO go to new highs while paying dividends.

                                            

                                                             Courtesy of Yahoo Finance

I tune into Mike, The Dividend Guy's 10 minute broadcast called the Moose on the Loose about different stocks and expanding on questions from his readers. Lots of good investing ideas with stats and what he prefers or not, leaving it up to the listener to digest and think about.

Recently on March 30th, it was about SOBO, South Bow, the spin off from TC Energy where SOBO has the pipelines and TC Energy, more into Natural Gas these days.

I gained shares of SOBO with that split and added shares, liking the potential and dividends paid in USD, converting to CAD on my end. It takes big bucks to maintain and extend pipelines. Meanwhile, the money "flows" into SOBO from the tolls/fees companies pay to use the pipelines to transport their oil. South Bow has been in the news recently about expanding their pipeline in the US and meetings with the US Feds and States involved

SOBO has gained over 25% share price in the last 3 months.

I found Mike's opinion on SOBO interesting in the link below

About South Bow (SOBO), March 30, 2026

Currently I'm watching and interested in BMO's "T for Target" ETFs

BMO released the distributions and the Target yield for 15 of their new funds.

For example, ZWB is a covered call ETF holding the top banks in Canada plus ZEB with a current yield of 5.42% and I have ZWB in my ETF portfolio. 

ZWB.T (Target and new ETF) has a current Target yield of 13% and has paid out it's first distribution but I'll wait for BMO's April news release, usually around the 20th for ZWB.T's distribution payment in early May to compare the ETF price from it's starting price. It's wise to read over all the information BMO has available on these Target ETFs.

It's certainly a new twist on an original ETF like ZWB launched on January 28th, 2011 so I'll be watching ZWB.T's charts with regards to price swings and if it will be an addition or not. I like to see the monthly payments coming in but don't want to see an ETF price go lower over time ultimately bringing on a loss when it comes to total gain.

More on that in April along with how the stock sectors are performing while US policy on the Iran war and trade deals with Canada keeps everybody speculating with the constant changes from day to day.

Happy Easter, today being the 4th of April, 2026

The Oil and War in March, 2026

 

The end of February saw the start of a laddered decline in the TSX Composite Index, which continued on Friday, March 20th, the first day of spring but the Markets weren't feeling any "spring back" that day.

I've been through a few major market crashes so I don't sell and wait it out. Rebounds come in time. Quicker these past years, thinking about Covid in February of 2020 and the market recovery later in that year. 

President Trump's wide sweeping Tariff hit on countries in April of 2025, which caused Markets to go off a cliff but not for long. This year, those Tariffs were deemed illegal by the supreme court so he's trying another tactic these days. 

Meanwhile, in mid March, I'm watching the Iran conflict that was supposed to come to a quick end but continues to flare up these days jolting the markets at times. Always a powder keg starting something in the Middle East with collateral damage. At this time, Iran has no intention of discussing a cease fire. 

No surprise oil is in the middle of all that and climbing upwards of a $100 a barrel and higher. Gas, jet fuel and diesel with higher prices for now. Groceries will cost more to ship. Talks of inflation will rise once again. 

The Central Banks of North America are weighing all that and decided to keep interest rates as they are in Canada and the US ... for now.

I believe in diversifying across a few sectors which helps in riding out these Market storms.

Being in Canada, the energy stocks are edging up while wanting even more pipelines and expansions to move more oil and natural gas to export. The oil barons get frustrated with red tape wait times and Federal/Provincial Government regulations about climate, the environment and carbon tax thresholds.

The pipeline and utility stocks make for decent gains and dividends for total return over time. With the utilities, Capital Power, CPX-TO in my portfolio is off it's YTD high so I plan more buying with a current 4.30% yield and an ex-dividend date of March 31, 2026.

September is when CPX tends to increase it's dividends. Being an estimate, it could be in the range of a 6% increase but all depends on their upcoming earning results.

There's a lot going on behind the scenes with that power company and CPX plans to bring more juice online for a data centre build in Alberta with the provincial government being pro Data Centres these days.

                                                      Capital Power, CPX, Year to Date Chart

                                  

I was delaying writing this post, while waiting for the 4th quarter and 2025 results from Power Corporation, POW-TO, which also has an ex-dividend date on the last day of March. POW increased it's dividend by 9%.

Interesting is GBL highlighted in their organisation chart along with Great-West Life, GWL-TO and others. 

I got curious and GBL, with headquarters in Brussels, Belgium has offices throughout Europe and London, GBL is a publicly traded company trading in Euros and pays a quarterly dividend, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert.

"with seventy years of stock exchange listing, a net asset value of €14 billion and a market capitalization of €10 billion at the end of December 2025."

GBL is a leading investor in Europe, focused on long-term value creation and relying on a stable and supportive family shareholder base.

Know what your investing in is a common investing quote. I try my best in this information overload investing world and weed out what's important to me.

On the energy front, I hold both TRP.TO and SOBO-TO and both are looking to expand their infrastructures with an ex-dividend date of March 31st, 2026.

Those are several stocks that are popular among investors which I personally hold and a reminder that these picks of mine are not investment advise, keeping risk tolerance in mind.

Hopefully, the Iran conflict will calm down and see a withdraw from the US and Israel plus other Middle East countries such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar being on the defensive from Iran's missile and drone attacks on their oil plants, shipping and storage. Until the next flare up.

In April, the Big Banks of Canada come to mind while down in price since the TSX fell this month while related ETFs are in focus on my end.

 

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.