Big Banks in December, 2025

 

The first week in December brings the much anticipated big bank earnings on my end with the Bank of Nova Scotia/Scotiabank reporting first, being the 2nd of December as I write this. 

With an impressive gain of 31% in the last 6 months, BNS.TO posted a good quarterly report and beat estimates earning $1.93 per share today after making some changes for the better.

Scotiabank is the first major bank to release earnings for the three months ended Oct. 31. Royal Bank of Canada RY-T and National Bank of Canada NA-T will report results on Wednesday. Toronto-Dominion Bank TD-T, Bank of Montreal BMO-T, and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce CM-T will wrap up earnings week on Thursday.

The first site I normally go to when I want to see how a stock or ETF is performing and what the dividend growth (if any) is currently at, is the updated version of Dividend History which is a free, no subscription required dividend information tool I use with it's newly added price and dividend charts I find informative.

Dividend History provides me with a quick overview before moving on to do further research to check up on or add a stock to the portfolio. Ex-dividend and Payment dates are displayed for handy viewing.

TD Bank, TD.TO is the next bank to report on the 4th of December which I'm interested in after Scotiabank. TD has been levelling off over the last month at around $117 CAD after the bank gained over 50% for the year to date. Both banks have ex-dividend dates in January, 2026. 

Financials including insurance companies are core holdings in the portfolio such as Manulife and Great-West Life with plans to add more.

With their yearly dividend increase and a yield just shy of 5%, I'll be looking to add to Canadian Natural Resources, CNQ.TO before the 12th of December with some key points:

• Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ) has a strong track record of increasing dividends for 25 consecutive years, currently offering a yield of 4.99%.
• The company's diversified portfolio in oil and natural gas, along with majority ownership of its assets, enhances its operational flexibility and capital allocation.
• CNQ's robust balance sheet allows for strategic acquisitions, exemplified by the US$6.5 billion purchase of Chevron's Canadian assets, which can drive revenue growth.

The second half of December will be busy with Christmas approaching and 5 stocks on my radar with 4 in the portfolio. Energy, pipeline, conglomerate and power sectors with month ending ex-dividend dates plus a new addition from my watch list, Rogers Sugar, RSI. I consume the sugar daily along with my Tim Horton's coffee addiction. Sugar is certainly tough to cut back on at times. They say one should understand the fundamentals of a company and what it provides before buying and I've been doing that first hand and on their company site.

Where I'm invested with 3 different brokers, I've tried a few different share and dividend tracker sites and compared plans plus what's available as a free member. I like free but that usually comes with limited features

I settled on Snowball Analytics with reasonable subscription costs and more cool features than I was expecting after looking over their site for awhile. A visual snapshot as I added my holdings and transactions. Just my opinion and experience being satisfied with Snowball.

 

Staying in the Market, Mid November 2025

 

Living in Canada, we share out border with the USA, the largest economy in the world so when there is some upheaval in their market place, the selling spills over into our stock market as collateral damage which is currently happening and the growing doubt in some investors minds about the billions of dollars being pumped into the AI craze with more talks of it being a bubble. Just one of a few issues that collided to bring down the markets for mid month November.

I keep up on the news coming up from the south but in my long term horizon, staying in the market is my goal with what I call, quality stocks for compounding returns into the future

It's different from the Dotcom bubble crash back in 2000, where the top tech companies today are already swimming in cash and it's about going with companies investors feel will benefit the most now and in the future with all the high valuations bringing on more risk.

I don't own these companies individually referred to as the MAG 7 but hold them in a NASDAQ based ETF for the monthly distributions, JEPQ.TO. I'll let the managers do the shuffling of companies based on weighting in their top ten.

With the financial/insurance sector in Canada, Manulife Financial had a record high 3rd quarter with more focus on India. MFC.TO has a rounded off 9% gain for the YTD and an ex-dividend date of November 26th. 

Always welcome is the increase in dividends from Sun Life Financial after SLF.TO posted their 3rd quarter reports, a boost of 4.55% with the same ex-dividend date as MFC.TO.

Most of my stock holdings do business in the US such as banks, pipelines, energy and insurance for example. When they convert from USD to the lower CAD these days ... the additional currency exchange looks good on their books.

I plan to add 2 stocks to my portfolio keeping in mind the additions could dilute performance. Brookfield Energy Renewable Partners, BEP.UN.TO with a current 5% yield and dividends are in USD with a November 28th ex-dividend date.

ATCO will be an addition in early December. ACO-X.TO is the parent company of Canadian Utilities CU.TO.  ATCO is an energy and infrastructure company doing business globally such as ATCO Australia. The stock has a gain of 16% over the last year.

Both companies I mentioned in my previous two articles are good additions for the Energy sector of the portfolio.

Upcoming in December, I'll be interested in and anticipating the Canadian big bank earnings reports. Normally with the Big 5 banks, there's usually a bank that's under performing compared to the rest which I focus on for additional buying but still bringing in billions in revenue.

For example, Bank of Nova Scotia with a welcome boost of 22.63% YTD after coming off a low in April of 63.50 to the current $94.66, perhaps looking to break that $100 plateau, depending on another favourable quarterly report. 

I'll see what that all looks like in December, 2025 while there's many a bank related ETF which holds all the banks plus National Bank, NA.TO in equal weighted holdings or what managers work out in top to bottom weighted holdings plus covered call ETFs which usually produce more in distributions but less in performance returns compared to a non covered call ETF.

 

November 2025 Budget and Earning Reports

 

The first week of November is becoming a busy one. The first Canada Federal Budget will be on November 4th under Prime Minister Carney and it will probably be interesting, expecting backlash from the opposition party. 

Meanwhile, several of my stocks will be presenting their 3rd Quarter earnings results this week and more notable for my November monthly buy schedule are Fortis, FTS.TO and Enbridge, ENB.TO in the first half of the month. I'm expecting decent "Beat" results and I'll be looking over the reports plus the future plans for the companies.

Next to Banks and Pipelines, power and energy producers or utilities Are high on my invested and interest list. On the Watchlist, I've had Brookfield Renewable parked there for awhile and keeping track of it with news and stats. The company provides sources of power not only in North America but internationally. 

With recent news, it's time to move it from the Watchlist to the Portfolio with an invest. Westinghouse Electric Co. in the US has the task of building 8 nuclear reactors with 80 billion earmarked for the contract and Brookfield Renewable Partners LP, BEP.UN.TO has a current 11% ownership in Westinghouse according to information from a Globe and Mail article.

My interest is in the dividend and remaining sustainable with continued growth. The current yield for BEP.UN.TO is 4.9% and the dividend is paid in USD. The CAD continues to lose some ground against the USD so the conversion during payout could be more at that time. 

The ex-dividend date is on the 29th of November. I also own Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP Units, BEP.UN. TO, which is working with some of the Tech giants on contracts for AI data centre builds.

It's good timing on the subject of Brookfield that Mike sent me a recent, The Dividend Guy newsletter with an informative and easy to understand video explaining the Brookfield empire. There are lots of investing information and ideas on his site worth checking out. Everything you Need to Know about Brookfield

Mid month, I'll be thinking about the Insurance/Financial sector in my Portfolio such as Manulife Financial, MFC.TO, Sun Life Financial, SLF.TO and Great-West Life, GWO.TO. As well as, other stocks and ETFs I fund regular.

Concluding for today, a reminder the investing topics in my Blog are for information purposes only and personal picks of mine that provide growth and income via dividends. Due diligence should be used if investing in any of the stocks I write about and consider the risk factor involved.

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November 04, 2025 Update

Fortis 3rd Quarter Report 2025 

Fortis, FTS.TO increased it's dividend by 4.01% with a 4 to 6% yearly growth increase target to 2030.

The company reported a $409 million dollar profit with revenue of 2.94 billion for the quarter.

Earnings per Share on an adjusted basis: 0.87 per share.

Low Volatility Utility Stocks for October, 2025

 

There was a lot of off and on panic selling in the Markets since the 10th of October over more US tariff threats and last week with a couple regional banks eating bad loans causing a short term panic that a US regional bank may go under which hasn't happened so far. A couple US banks went off the rails last year which surprised investors and not a good situation all around. That flowed over into the Canadian Market for a short term dip. 

I read about these events and think more about buying low with my stocks and those on my Watch list. Not about selling. Apparently, that's what many a retail investor is doing as well. Trying to judge the bottom of slumps in the Market. Becoming more educated and using the well known Warren Buffet strategy but timing the market is not a good idea although one can get lucky.

With Halloween this month, there's more investor fear where many a news article is about the US Market being overvalued and something has to give. Perhaps in a couple years is the consensus but scary corrections can happen at any time.

Just my opinion here where I'm a DIY investor and pick/hold dividend paying stocks for the long term ... Utility stocks could be a good buffer when things go sour in the Markets, either for the short or for the long term. 

However, I think the sector is getting additional hype over construction of AI data centres and their need for a steady source of high power usage and water for cooling. Green sources like solar panels and wind farms will come into play as well but natural gas, oil and even coal fired power turbines are more reliable, as well as nuclear power.

Emera, EMA.TO, is on my schedule to buy before the 31st of this month. It's a utility based in Nova Scotia and the company has no current plans to power data centres. Emera has operations in the US as well, mainly in Florida.

Going by the Graham Number I follow to judge if a company is under or overvalued, EMA.TO has a current Graham Number of around $45 CAD and with a current price of $69 which makes the stock overvalued. 

The company did raise it's dividend by 1% with a current yield of 4.26%. Emera has put more focus on their forward guidance of keeping the stock's EPS in the range of 5 to 7% per year until 2027 with more details to come on the November 7th; 3rd quarter earnings call, including information about their operations over the next 3 years.

Emera is an example of investing decisions to make where it's an overvalued marketplace and probably will continue into 2026, bar any short term dips/corrections caused by politics, tariffs, AI bubble and the list goes on that could cause a drop in portfolio values.

Looking at the November 7th ex-dividend date, Atco Ltd/Canada, ACO-X.TO ... is a stock I've been watching. Undervalued at this time and it's listed on Norman Rothery's Stable Dividend Portfolio/Low volatility in today's Globe and Mail article. 

Atco Ltd is more than a utility and provides services internationally. More about ACO-X in early November.

1 Year chart with EMA.TO in grey with a 30% gain. ACO-X.TO in red with a 10.26% gain. In green and orange are low volatility ETFs, ZLB.TO (20%) and TCLV.TO (16.49%). I own TCLV.TO.

Meanwhile, RCDC.TO is on my list this week to further buy and I have mentioned the ETF in past articles. I bought when it launched in January, 2023 with a decent performance of 12.2% since inception. The top ten holdings are popular dividend paying stocks.

Have a Happy Halloween.

Model Portfolios and ETFs for October, 2025

 

It's fall and nice to see the scenery with the leaves changing colors. The NHL hockey season starts this week. High expectations for Canadian teams to gain more points and get into the Stanley Cup finals. It's a long season and like the stock market, it reminds me of the old saying, "you can't score unless you shoot".

I look forward to looking over updates on model portfolios that are similar to mine. In the Globe and Mail, Gordon Pape headlines with Driven by Falling Rates, my High Yield Portfolio continues to soar, averaging 10% gain annually. Mr. Pape updates quarterly on the holdings, progress and sells if any with none reported for September.

With monthly updates, also on the Globe and Mail, John Heinzl's Model Dividend Growth Portfolio as of September 30th, 2025 followed by an additional article recently on the 4th of October, Eight Years on my Dividend Portfolio keeps Churning out Cash. Mr Heinzl owns the majority of the holdings personally.

It's easy to dissect the winners and laggers from these portfolios but over the years circumstances and interest rates change. For example, Enbridge, ENB.TO which has surprisingly surged 60% since it's lows a few years back with an attractive yield. I've held Enbridge for years. 

The stocks I have in common are many such as all the top 5 Canadian banks individually and in ETFs, energy/power, pipelines, insurance sector and companies like the Power Corporation of Canada, POW-T which has an umbrella like portfolio with companies like Great-West Life, GWO.TO,

Common with the two portfolios are companies like Enbridge, Pembina Pipeline, Capital Power and CIBC bank I own while others I looked at are not of interest to me but are to others. 

John Heinzl mentioned in his October 4th article that he sees an ETF such as Blackrock's XDIV as being good alternative instead of holding and keeping track of the individual stocks.  

I had to check it out. iShares Core MSCI Canadian Quality Dividend index ETF has a low management expense ratio of 0.11%. That's a plus with the top ten holdings I own individually being: TD Bank, Royal Bank, Suncor Energy, Manulife Financial, Sunlife Financial, Fortis, Pembina Pipeline, Power Corporation of Canada, Tourmaline Corp and Emera.  

Except for Suncor Energy, SU.TO and Tourmaline Oil Corp, TOU.TO, the other stocks mentioned above are mixed into the two model portfolios I mentioned.

I prefer pipelines rather than companies dealing with the ups and downs of commodity prices like oil and natural gas. 

Tourmaline is the only company at this time I'm watching more closely where natural gas is a popular subject these days but with current lower prices depending on the country and region. They have a new contract to supply Europe with natural gas while shipping to the BC natural gas ports which loads tankers bound for Asia. I'm sure management is experienced in adjusting to the ups and downs of the commodity. 

 

With XDIV, I'm also looking for growth as a bonus. With a near 19% gain for the year, and around 22% with distributions, XDIV is looking good and about matches my performance for the year.  The monthly distributions align with it's current 4% yield.

A decent ETF to hold that adjusts holdings to maintain performance.

On my list to further buy in October before the ex-dividend date of October 10th, 2025 is TD.TO which has certainly surged in stock price with a "year to date" gain of 48%.

What I'm debating is ... will some investors sell all or partially for the gains or does TD have more room to run with the new CEO saying he has investors in mind with share buybacks coming and boosting earnings per share higher in 2026. 

An individual investor's decision trying to keep human emotional thinking checked and try to get direction from the data available and current news. Not always easy. 

With the current bull run, some stocks are getting overvalued. Eventually, as history shows there will be another market correction where buying at lower prices comes to mind.

My alternative bank buy will be adding to ZWB, BMO Covered Call Banks ETF with a 16% gain year to date, monthly distributions and a generous 6% yield with net assets of 3.5 billion.

In the 2nd half of October, I'll be looking at Emera, EMA.TO which recently announced a dividend increase and ETFs I have an interest in with October being one of the slower months this year for quarterly dividend declarations with my stocks while November will ramp up again with several stocks on my additional buy list while looking over my growing Watchlist holdings to perhaps add to the portfolio.

Mega Projects for September, 2025

 

The first mega projects across Canada have been fast tracked by Prime Minister, Mark Carney for eventually exporting more natural resources to Asia and Europe and lesson the dependence on the United States although oil flows south to the US to near capacity in pipelines where the President wants more oil pumped and less "green" type energy sources like offshore wind projects.

What comes to my mind is pondering about the companies which will benefit from Canada's push for future development and there have been articles published about that recently. 

In a recent Globe and Mail post, energy and power/utility companies came up with names like Trans Canada or TC Energy, TRP.TO which is on my list to further buy before the ex-dividend date of the 29th of September. ATCO, which is diversified into power and natural gas. ACO-X.TO.

Of the four companies highlighted, Emera, EMA.TO and Hydro One, H.TO powering Ontario are also expected to benefit. First on the agenda with getting finances and interest rates ironed out, Nova Scotia has plans to build offshore Wind Farms that could help power the Atlantic Provinces and beyond where Hydro One comes into it, building transmission lines. However, that massive project is still in it's infancy and details need to be worked out to make it less expensive for all, targeting the 2030 decade.

                           Canada’s first four offshore wind energy areas (Province of Nova Scotia)

Currently, I own TRP and EMA for the long term. I'm going to add Canadian Natural Resources to that Globe and Mail list. CNQ.TO has assets in Canada and internationally. The 92 billion dollar energy company has a current yield of 5.44% and a dividend payout ratio of 60% with an ex-dividend date falling on the 19 of September, 2025. 

I find all this energy and power build up interesting, although these projects will take years to develop. What additional companies will come into the mix that payout decent dividends? Time will tell. The Feds also want a pipeline from Alberta, through Northern BC to feed shipping ports that have been built with expansions in the works. No company has an interest in building that pipeline so far.

Popular stocks that come up a lot that I have earmarked for buying before months end for September are Capital Power Corporation, CPX.TO and Power Corporation of Canada, POW.TO.

It's wise to check Graham numbers and many a stock are overvalued currently, with some reaching yearly highs. Hold or further buy I think about but I forge ahead with the over-valued stocks I own on a dollar-cost-averaging approach. There will always be fluctuations, highs and lows in future years while I accumulate more shares for the dividends, which tends to further drive the stock price up on average across the portfolio, especially with companies and banks increasing their dividends yearly. 

Looking ahead to October, it's one of those slower months of the year for my portfolio so I'll be buying additional ETFs to boost the income. Meanwhile, I'm thinking Bank of Nova Scotia, BNS, which had an improved recent quarterly report and TD Bank, TD.TO in the early days of October.

An Update for the BTSX in September 2025

 

It's September 2025 and it's shaping up to be a busy month keeping track of ex-dividend dates for the stocks I hold. 

It's also a relief for me getting away from the dry and humid August this year causing a lot of fires and upsetting people's lives that have had to and continue to be, temporarily relocated where fires will burn probably through September in many areas across Canada.

I subscribed to Financial Independence Hub where there are some interesting articles from various authors that come into my inbox daily. 

A recent article is from Frugal Trader which got my attention where I have a similar interest but I haven't seen the Dogs of the TSX Dividend Stock Picks ... related to the Beat the TSX portfolio before. 

Frugal Trader has a popular blog and is on my Fav Blogs List in the right sidebar called Million Dollar Journey  I went to his article on his blog dated August 15, 2025. A recommended read if your into individual stock holdings for the long term where ETFs are more highlighted these days.

For the Dogs of the TSX or BTSX portfolio, here are the 10 holdings for 2025 by highest yield in the TSX at the time of the selection, I own 9 out of the 10 stocks where I sold BCE before the dividend cut and have T.TO, Telus on a possible sell for now where the yield is high at a current yield of 7.36% although Telus gained 17%, year to date.

With an average yield of 6.5%

1. Enbridge (ENB)
2. BCE (BCE)
3. TC Energy Corp (TRP)
4. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ)
5. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)
6. Telus (T)
7. Pembina Pipeline (PPL)
8. Emera (EMA)
9. TD Bank (TD)
10. Power Corp (POW)

From that list T.TO has an ex-dividend date of September 10th but I'm holding for now and may sell the stock mid month. I'm unsure at this time where expansion into Quebec and East may be coming causing complaints from the Telecos in the related provinces but will bring on more customers/subscribers.

This week with an ex-dividend date of September 4th, I'll add to Suncor Energy, SU.TO among the top Big Oil companies in Canada working the tar/oil sands of Alberta with a yield of 4%. 

The Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) used in the Suncor fleet is exactly what you’d imagine — a technology that allows driverless trucks to transport mining materials around a site using GPS, wireless/LTE communication and perceptive technologies. But these aren’t your average self-driving vehicles. The ultra-class haul trucks, which weigh about two-and-a-half times the weight of a typical single-storey house, are some of the largest self-driving vehicles in the world and operate around the clock.

Pembina Pipelines, PPL.TO and Canadian Natural Resources, CNQ.TO are on my list to further buy before September 15th.

With the US focusing more on oil than alternative/renewable energy sources and Asia also into Natural Gas, that agenda should be more profitable for the energy companies I own. Time will tell.

In the second half of September; Power Corp, TC Energy Corp, SOBO (South Bow Corporation), Capital Power and CIBC bank come to mind for further buying and looking at the Graham Numbers for valuation. 

The Big 5 Banks in Canada came across with great quarterly reports and that will be more in focus for me in October for further pre ex-dividend date buying. Meanwhile the bank numbers are boosting ETFs like ZEB, BMO Equal Weight Banks Index ETF. I concentrate more on the covered call version, ZWB of which ZEB is a top holding.

Holding individual stocks, I look for yearly dividend increases and capital gains as TSX index reaches new highs so far in 2025. Buying on commission free sites like Wealthsimple and TD Easy Trade, there are no MER fees like the majority of ETFs out there although competition is bringing those management fees down some. Keeping fees to zero or a minimum means more money in the portfolio going forward.

Mid August 2025 and the Financial Insurance Sector

 

It's another quarter in a year when the bulk of my Lifeco holdings have ex-dividend dates and I don't dwell about further buying, just how much. Unlike the Telecom sector where the Canadian Feds recently ruffled the feathers of some big name companies like Bell, allowing Telus to expand into Ontario and Quebec and fretting about forced capital spending while debt runs higher with more selling of assets. Kind of like dragging a ball and chain slowing progress while dealing with regulations and government overisght.

Meanwhile, onwards with my trio of Lifeco stocks.

With good numbers posted in the 2nd quarter results for Manulife Financial, I'll be further buying MFC.TO today with a 1 year share price increase of 20%. The dividend yield is a current 4.19%, 

It's a good opportunity to buy the dip with Sun Life Financial, SLF.TO with an ex-dividend date of August 27, 2025. Sun Life continues to expand in Asia and therefore boosting it's business. The only downer in the 2nd quarter report was in their US dental arm. Less Medicaid approvals for dental work is the underlying issue which has been in the news about the changing US medical approval policy down south. A period of adjustment for the people needing that vital health coverage in the US.

I look at Sun Life as another foundation stock in my portfolio like Forts. I expect it to regain the approximate $5+ CAD per share it recently lost due to the short term investor sentiment over the recent quarterly report.

Last but not least is Great-West Lifeco, majority owned by Power Corporation, POW.TO, reported record base earnings for the 2nd quarter. With a current 4.49% yield, I won't hesitate in buying more shares in this company with an ex-dividend date of August 29th.

A quote by the late Charlie Munger I seen come up in many an article I agree with. "The big money is not in the buying and selling, but in the waiting." 

Case in point, Globe and Mail's John Heinzl and his model portfolio, made up of stocks he owns personally except the iShares ETF XIU. The Yield Hog Dividend Growth Portfolio with an initial invest of 100 grand in 2017 has doubled the portfolio's income and continues to grow. Recent additional purchases from cash are two stocks I own, TD.TO and MFC.TO plus Restaurant Brands International (think Tim Hortons and Burger King among others) QSR.TO which I don't own but looking it over although yield is lower than I normally get into.

Thanks to a 6-per-cent dividend hike from Capital Power Corp. (CPX) on July 30, the portfolio’s annual income has now officially doubled since inception.

When I launched the portfolio with $100,000 of virtual money on Oct. 1, 2017, it was throwing off $4,094 of income annually based on dividend rates at the time. Owing to scores of dividend increases and regular re-investments of cash over the years, it’s now generating $8,199 of income – an increase of 100 per cent.

Early in September, when I'm looking forward to the hopefully cooling temps and less humidity living here near the Atlantic Ocean, Suncor, SU.TO comes to mind and big oil in Canada. 

In the telecom sector I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I won't be buying more shares in Telus, T.TO. in September. Selling cell towers, laying off people, looking for partners for funding future infrastructure projects is a sign they are over the top in debt although the CEO says they have a plan to make it manageable. I'll be watching and when I get into too much pondering about a stock ... I debate about selling it but hold off for now.

It's wise not to set and forget a portfolio plan but watch for issues/red flags. Better to sell and shuffle the funds into another prospect or current holding when the same stock keeps popping up as worrisome. The plan needs some tweaking from time to time.

 

Quarterly Reports in August, 2025

 

In Canada, the Liberals and Big Oil are planning ahead to ship more oil and natural gas to Asia and projects have been submitted to the Feds about connecting Western Canada pipelines to the East Coast to supply Europe. 

The pipeline ends in Quebec City and a connection to a New Brunswick existing natural gas pipeline would be a start but there's lots of red tape and environmental hurdles to overcome. 

Meanwhile and as the 2nd quarterly reports come in for my stocks, Enbridge, ENB.TO had a good report and mentions it's pipelines are shipping to capacity with contracts waiting from other companies. An excellent position to be in from my point of view with the oversupply.

ENB.TO is near it's previous 52 week high and has an ex-dividend date of August 15th with a current 5.92% yield. One of the more popular dividend paying companies by yield rank in the TSX 60.

Adding to Enbridge, I'll be buying more Fortis, FTS.TO, which also had a decent 2nd quarter report as expected, being spread across North America and beyond. The utility has a dividend yield of 3.63% currently with an ex-dividend date being August 19th, 2025. One of my original foundation stocks although trading close to 52 week highs as a cautionary note where it could pull back in price.

Browsing through the numbers in quarterly reports, I'm interested in forward guidance for the rest of 2025 and beyond, if it's provided. Fortis is in a good position to profit from data center power generation and is looking at the natural gas export sector in British Colombia. Billions on hand to further build their business. Then there's the power rate increases passed on to customers, depending on approval by regulation authorities. More money in their coffers after expenses with approved rate hikes.

The first LNG gas carrier, GasLog Glasgow departed the LNG terminal at Kitimat, Canada, on June 30, officially marking Canada’s entry into the export market. The LNG Canada project had been gearing up in recent weeks and began the first loading over the weekend, which opens a critical market for Asia to obtain LNG from Canada

I pick up the Canadian MoneySaver magazine when I browse through the local bookstores.

Inside the cover is the latest updates on their Canadian MneySaver Model ETF Portfolio. On that same page is the handy Dividend and Company News about dividend increases and the rare but unwanted dividend cuts such as the recent BCE.TO for example.

The model etf portfolio has 14 ETFs with many I see come up in articles and blogs. Combined the portfolio has a 149.95% increase since October, 2013 with a variety of index, tech, bond and covered call ETFs. 

Among those, I own ZWU, BMO Covered Call Utilities which holds Enbridge and Fortis in it's current top 5 holdings among US and Canadian stocks such as Verizon, VZ, I have been watching as an individual stock to buy. ZWU has a current 7.50% yield and adds monthly distributions to my portfolio. An alternative to buying the stocks with many at their yearly highs with buy low in mind when possible.

In the 2nd half of August, I'll be looking at Manulife Financial, MFC.TO and Great-West Lifeco, GWO.TO with a 1 year gain of 26% among other stocks and ETFs of interest.

 

All Time Highs in July 2025

 

Since April of this year, 2025 and looking at the my stock charts, many have had a steady climb in price and the TSX has reached all time highs. 

A common stock market quote: Last years highs are this years lows. Lows being a starting point for the year to hopefully track higher with stocks and indexes. The odd correction comes into it although with a shorter recovery time frame these past years, I find it a good time to buy at lower prices before they start moving up in price again after a correction.

July is a fairly quiet month for my Quarterly paying dividend stocks which are picked out of the top thirty by dividend yield in the TSX 60. Those stocks that have a dividend yield of 3% and up. The rankings change as stock price and dividend yield change opposite to each other. I want to see dividend growth as well every year. 

Both top 5 Canadian banks, Bank of Montreal, BMO.TO and Royal Bank of Canada, RY.TO have ex-dividend dates in the next couple of weeks. RY.TO is on the 24th of July with a 4.05% increase added in and BMO.TO is on July 30th with a 2.52% increase factored in. This is the 2nd increase for both of these banks in 2025.

Expensive stocks but the popular partial share buying makes it affordable to accumulate over time. I'll buy additional ZWB.TO as well to boost income on a monthly basis with that bank ETF.

Another ETF that holds those 2 banks in it's top 10 holdings is RCDC, the RBC Canadian Dividend Covered Call ETF I've mentioned in past posts and recently increased it's distribution with a yield of 6.81%.

With covered call ETFs, you risk additional growth compared to an ETF like XEI, iShares S&P/TSX High Dividend Composite Index with a Total Return of 21.59% for 1 year (Total Return includes the monthly distributions) compared to RCDC with a 1 year total return of 18.1% but not too shabby. Your also getting more Return of Capital with RCDC which limits price growth some.

I don't dwell on those stats much as long as the ETFs are performing as I expected and provide monthly income.

I look forward to August when I'll be looking over some of my top yielding stocks with further buying such as the pipeline, Enbridge, ENB.TO.

There are multiple ways to build a portfolio and opinions on how to do it are many but I find what I call my Modified Beat The TSX is the plan for me with tweaks and additions along the way. It keeps me interested and invested and always learning while repurchasing with dividends and ETF distributions until either satisfied with the monthly income coming in or just keep accumulating.

To read up more on how the Beat the TSX portfolio has performed over the years, a great post here by Dale on Cut The Crap Investing about Picking Up the Pace in 2025 

As I mentioned, I hold a modified version of the portfolio where I haven't owned AQN and sold BCE before the expected dividend cut. BCE.TO is back on my Watchlist to see if their finances improve going ahead adding subscribers and infrastructure in the US instead of paying down debt which many a BCE investor wanted see happen at the time instead of the US aquisition.

Canada Day, Eh for 2025

 

July is one of those slower months with my quarterly dividend stocks compared to June ... watching ex-dividend dates and potential additions. That's when I tend to look over the ETFs more that interest me for additional monthly income.

TD Bank is the main stock I'll be further buying in the first half of July with an ex-dividend date of July 10th, 2025. I mentioned in a past article that I expected TD to breach the $100 mark per share and it's there currently with a yield of 4.22% where yield goes inverse to stock price. 

The Graham Number a fair value measure I use to think about a stock being over or undervalued and TD.TO is around $97 so there could be a pullback in price where many an investor rely on data and metrics to make decisions. TD could go as high as $110 with market momentum but as always ... it's only predictions and investors should assess the risk involved when buying overvalued stocks.

I'm a long term holder so where the price is peaking with TD, I'll do a "dollar cost averaging" buy. Banks, pipelines/energy and the financial/insurance are the sectors where I have my top holdings. I plan keep accumulating into full retirement for income with my TFSA. Withdrawing cash provides additional room for the following year, tax free.

ZWB, BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks is my go to ETF where the holdings include the big six banks in Canada with some getting expensive to buy as an individual stock. ZWB also puts more weight to it's ZEB holding, BMO Equal Weight Banks Index ETF. 

With a yield of 6.40% currently, ZWB is popular with a market cap of 3.13 billion and pays distributions monthly.

With the US stocks, I added to JP Morgan Canada's JEPI and JEPQ ETFs for July's increased distribution payment where they vary from month to month. 

JP Morgan Canada has been adding to it's ETF list with the latest being JCOR. JPMorgan US Core Active ETF, looking to outperform the S&P 500 with related holdings. There's no information about yield yet where it's new and I have not bought to date. I know that it will pay quarterly distributions.

ETFs that focus mainly on growth usually come with low yields, if any so for income seekers ... that's something to ponder about and I suspect JCOR is in that category.

With 1600 ETFs in Canada and growing, there's lots of picks out there from the ultra high US tech related yields to All In One ETFs and everything in between with their holdings.  

Continuing from my original plan is to build on the stocks for growth and dividends as well as add to some ETFs solely for income and flip most of the distribution into more stocks. 

There's a lot of Blog discussion and on social media about investing for buy low sell high gains compared to dividend investing. Seems to be a great divide with some. I prefer dividend investing and price growth happens with the ups and downs in the Markets with the majority of my stocks. As they say, one can't time the Markets but I try and buy low when the opportunity happens but rarely sell unless I see an issue with a stock

TD I highlighted today had a low of $73.29 and a high of $100.19 for the year so I'm pleased with that, currently at $100.16. I'll take the dividend as well they provide.

In the 2nd half of July, there are more Banks to consider buying or adding to ZWB and/or RCDC along with a utility I own that's getting overweight in my portfolio, Emera: EMA.TO.

Invested Ladies Revisited in June, 2025

 

I wrote an article entitled Invested Ladies back in April, 2022 and I receive monthly newsletters from Our Life Financial in my inbox I mentioned in that post.

I look forward to reading the latest thoughts from an experienced lady in investing and living in Ontario, Canada. Included is a spreadsheet of stocks with the current data such as current price, yield, dividend and Graham Number I find handy when planning my next buy. Her goal is getting up to $50,000 a year in dividends by the end of 2025 and she mentions she's on target.

On Instagram, We Invest Challenge is updated monthly by searching for Our Life Financial with a $100 monthly funding to show how the portfolio can build over time. It's worthwhile to check it out and see in a snapshot how dividend paying stocks have performed over the years. 

Recently I read an inspiration that reminded me that compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world and a powerful force ... from a quote by Albert Einstein. With patience and keeping calm during market downturns, compounding works over time.

An original stock in that We Invest Challenge, added in 2020 is Power Corporation of Canada, POW.TO. In the May 2025 summary and highlighted in June's newsletter, POW.TO has doubled in price so far since originally bought, along with yearly dividend increases.

POW.TO has a current yield of 4.70% with an ex-dividend date of June 30, 2025. There's a recent dividend increase of 8.89% in March of this year and on my calendar to buy more shares.

In a recent post by Cut the Crap Investing, Dale shows POW.TO listed in his wife's portfolio with a 5% weighting in a recent June article about Canadian Stock Portfolios. Great article to compare portfolios and performance. 

South Bow Corporation, SOBO.TO is another stock on my radar before June 30th to further invest in. A pipeline company running down into the US to supply US refineries. South Bow is also a new addition to Our Life Financial's portfolios. 

I don't expect to see any dividend increases with South Bow for awhile where the yield is currently high at 7.50% after a recent spin off from TC Energy, TRP.TO. South Bow started paying dividends after the spin off in January of this year. 

To date, the S&P/TSX Composite Index has been on a steady increase since the lows of April of this year when tariffs made headlines and still do today. To date, the index climb is good news for the stocks I hold within while some sectors perform better than others. 

Looking ahead, there are interesting articles from Morningstar and the Globe and Mail about ETFs that pay decent distributions plus 5 year growth figures in the teens. 

One mention is XDIV, iShares Core MSCI Canadian Quality Div Index ETF with monthly distributions, yield of 4.1% and a 5 year annual return of 17.5% with a low management fee of 0.11. 

A topic certainly worthy of additional posts and compare to owning individual stocks with dividend growth. The hybrid approach used by many investors today with a mix of stocks and ETFs is also a popular theme.

High Yield Performance in June, 2025

 

It's June and in the last week in May, it was about the Big Bank earnings and the expected loan loss provisions set by the bank authority here in Canada. All banks are above the minimum threshold required while some banks added extra billions.

The US initiated trade war with Canada will bring more layoffs with sectors affected along with companies laying off to restructure to boost earnings. Certainly makes it tougher on people where everything has gotten more expensive since Covid. 

Unfortunately, there's no trade deals involving Canada to date. Perhaps even escalating again with a possible 50% on steel and aluminium coming from the US

In their books. loss provisions are recorded as a hit to their earnings but all are in good shape with The Bank of Nova Scotia, BNS.TO being the laggard this time around. With a 6% yield, the bank increased their dividend by 3.8% on a positive note.

TD Bank, TD.TO is the big story rising above their past US debacle while investors like their moves and a new CEO in charge while the stock has risen above $90 CAD making a run for closer to $100 per share possibly this year. 

I'll be adding to both banks in my portfolio. I usually tend to lean more towards the laggard bank after quarterly earnings which is BNS and undervalued by the Graham Number.

Last year, TD was the down trodden bank working through their US issues and paying a huge fine. Its onwards and the bank has moved on from that while making changes internally.

The sector of interest to me after the Banks is energy and pipelines. Pembina Pipeline, PPL.TO with a favourable 1st quarter report for 2025 has an ex-dividend date of June 16th with a current 5.52% yield. More of my energy related stocks will have ex-dividend dates in the second half of June and I'll be looking at them mid month.

An experienced investor, Gordon Pape recently updated his high yield portfolio in the Globe and Mail which continues to gain near 10% on average since he started it in March of 2012 with an initial amount just shy of $25,000 and today worth $83,340 with many of the stocks I own in the 10 stock portfolio, PPL.TO included.

The stock I sold before the recent dividend cut was BCE.TO ... the telecom in his portfolio. It's wise not to copy a portfolio but do your own research and if questions about a stock keep swirling around in my head about performance and management moves with unfavourable news, I sell it and move the funds into another stock I prefer.

It's not only about dividends but share price growth as well where one of my stocks, Sun Life Financial, SLF.TO (also in Mr Pape's portfolio) gained close to $10 since my last buy in February of this year when the US tariff threats ramped up.

I continue to buy JP Morgan Canada's JEPQ (Nasdaq holdings) and JEPI (S&P 500 related holdings) with their fluctuating monthly distributions from these ETFs. They move in price with what's going on in the US as well and investor sentiment, averaging out around $24+ CAD each at this time. 

Mid May 2025 and the Canadian Big Bank Earnings

 

The TSX index is doing surprisingly well while there are no trade talks with the US at this time. Showing consecutive gains since the 6th of May. Cooling trade relations with the US and China is a plus for now.

Meanwhile, I like seeing "Beats Estimates" and "Increases Dividends" in reviews of quarterly reports recently while scanning over numbers and distributable cash flow with more reports to come from the stocks I own.

The Big Banks of Canada start reporting with TD Bank leading off the earnings reports on May 22nd, 2025.

                           

After the spin off from TC Energy, TRP ... South Bow, SOBO recently reported earnings for the 1st quarter in 2025 and where their Keystone pipeline runs through the US, there's the unpredictable Mr. Trump's tariff tantrums that could flare up which is mentioned in it's forward guidance. 

The company had a pipeline break in the US and that has been repaired while the remaining cleanup is nearing an end. Where the pressure in the line determines oil flow, The pipeline pressure has been ordered to be reduced so slower flow while the company completes it's order contracts. 

SOBO has an ex-dividend date in June 2025 on June 30th with payment on July 15th. The 0.50 per share is in USD so I get a bump in the USD to CAD conversion in my account.   

Another company which pays it's dividends in USD is Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P., BIP.UN with an ex-dividend date of May 30, 2025, so I'll gain about 30+% with the USD conversion of the distribution to CAD. BIP.UN has a current yield of 5.25%.

Brookfield Infrastructure is currently buying the US company, Colonial Enterprises for 9 billion, which has the longest established pipeline in the US.

Pipelines and Banks are some of my long term interests here in Canada where there's more interest in shipping natural gas and oil to Asia and Europe than there is to the USA these days. Investor interests vary where many like the Tech sector, specially those companies in the US like Microsoft, Apple and chip makers. 

Banks and mortgage renewals has been on the news lately. For example, those renewing after 5 years. Covid, house prices went ballistic with some bids exceeding the asking sell price and interest rates shot up with the high inflation during the last 5 years. That in turn drove up payments for many not on fixed terms, although interest rates have come down since the highs. Defaults are expected but the Banks have funds set aside for that,

With the insurance sector, Great-West Life, GWO.TO is on my radar to further fund for the 2nd of June ex-dividend date which kicks off a busy month for my stocks in a variety of sectors on my dividend calendar for June

Great-West Life has a yield of 4.75% and a recent dividend increase of 9.91% for 2025.

I look forward to dividend increases and perhaps even The Bank of Nova Scotia, BNS.TO will come across with one this year with no increases since mid 2023. 

  

From Alberta to the White House in May of 2025

 

In Canada, newly elected Prime Minister, Mark Carney wants to make the country into a world powerhouse when it comes to energy and resources. I would certainly like to see that but as always, there's a lot of issues to sort out at home and internationally starting his term.

Alberta is the home to several of the oil, natural gas and pipeline stocks I own. Premier Smith is making noise since the election that she wants demands discussed and agreed upon or hinting at separating from Canada with a referendum and slowly getting people riled up about that. Certainly goes against a united Canada pushing back on the US tariff war however initial talks between Alberta and Carney seem to be off to a decent start.

Then there's meets with President Trump this month over tariffs which PM Carney says will take time, which was the main issue heading into the recent Canada Federal election.

Meanwhile, It's May and I have stocks I want to further buy marked in my ex-dividend calendar. 

No hesitation here in buying more Enbridge, ENB.TO stock with it's current yield of near 6%, with a 3.01% dividend increase which kicked in on March's payout to stock holders.

Enbridge  has a gain of 29.90% over the last year. I'm more into long term results on the stock charts than current.

Fortis, FTS.TO is highlighted in a Globe and Mail subscribed article dated April 24th about Canadian stocks with sustainable dividends that are near record highs. 

FTS scores a 10 along with Metro, MRU.TO and Loblaw, L.TO which are Grocers and Pharmas I don't own at this time.

The scoring agenda is by TSI Network

• one point for five years of continuous dividend payments – two points for more than five;
• two points if it has raised the payment in the past five years;
• one point for management’s commitment to dividends;
• one point for operating in non-cyclical industries;
• one point for limited exposure to foreign currency rates and freedom from political interference;
• two points for a strong balance sheet, including manageable debt and adequate cash
• two points for a long-term record of positive earnings and cash flow sufficient to cover; dividend payments;
• one point for an industry leader

Fortis has an ex-dividend date of May 16th with a yield of 3.67% at this time with a 23% gain over the last year.

On that list AltaGas, ALA.TO scored an 8 and I'm seeing a lot of that company in news articles lately. Also hooking up with Keyera, KEY.TO (pipeline) I own to work together on infrastructure projects.

AltaGas gets 50% of its earnings from it's US business with a 3% yield. I added that stock to my Watchlist and decide on buying in June. The 5% dividend increases the past few years, got me interested as I look into the company further.

Near all time highs? Isn't that the worst time to buy? Where I buy monthly, I use dollar cost averaging so over time the highs and lows of stock buys tend to average out in he short term but ideally an investor wants to see a steady climb in price on the charts over the years.

The only other stock I follow and own is Algoma Central Corporation, ALC.TO that I plan to further buy in the first half of May. Algoma's stock yield is 5.2% with a yearly gain of 5.21% and recently increased their dividend by 5% on January 17th, 2025

Algoma is a 125 year old Great Lakes shipping company with a growing fleet of ships delivering a variety of products from oil, steel, cement and grain to name a few. Salt during seasonal times. International and domestic shipping.

With the US tariffs weighing on the company, the first quarter results were impacted according to their report but the company has been through political and economic issues many a time in the past and hopefully decent trade deals will be ironed out in the future.

Saint John, NB, April 28, 2025 – Irving Oil and Algoma Central Corporation (“Algoma”) (TSX: ALC) welcomed the first of two new product tankers into Saint John Harbour today. The vessels will service Canada’s largest refinery with deliveries to ports in Atlantic Canada and the U.S. East Coast. The vessels represent a total investment of $127 million by Algoma in partnership with Irving Oil.

In the second half of May, the financial/insurance companies I hold and highlighted as popular among investors in recent investor articles, have ex-dividend dates such as Manulife Financial, MFC.TO and Great-West Lifco, GWO.TO. 

On the US side of my portfolio, JP Morgan Canada's JEPI.TO and JEPQ.TO price dipped with their varying monthly distributions from mid to the high 20's to the low 20's with the impact of President Trump's shake, rattle and roll moves while Tech investors confidence went sideways with tariff and related news but regained with Google and Microsoft reporting good numbers recently to start off US tech earnings for this year. Both ETFs gained in turn but I'm sure there's more turbulent times to come in the US.

The Global Trade Shift in Mid April, 2025

 

In May, earnings reports for several of the stocks I own will be available for scrutinising and I'll look for any forward guidance but with the US tariffs and unpredictability, I don't expect much in the way of guidance except for those not directly affected by the tariffs.

Canada's newly elected Prime Minister will be in office in May and see what comes of trade talks with the US. 

With politics weighing more than usual on the North American stock markets, I look at the economy as well and what's happening internationally in relation to us here in Canada.

China, one of the largest oil importers in the world is shifting from the US and buying more oil from Canada. A bright spot in the crazy international tariff war going on. 

I own several oil, natural gas and pipeline related stocks based in western Canada. I'm sure they welcome the increased export to China and other Asian countries as natural gas shipments will ramp up as well with projects like the LNG Canada, Kitimat Natural Gas Facility in BC coming online in mid 2025.

Enbridge, ENB.TO comes to mind with their pipelines and oil/natural gas storage/shipping faculties. Companies like Canadian Natural Resources, CNQ.TO, Suncor, SU.TO and Tourmaline Oil, TOU.TO.

Enbridge and Fortis, FTS.TO are companies I'll be looking at in mid May for further buying. FortisBC and Enbridge have a partnership with Natural Gas storage and shipping in BC. 

I bought into Royal Bank's RCDC, RBC Canadian Dividend Covered Call ETF soon after it launched in January of 2023 and although the MER of 0.71% is high, I hold it for the cash distributions and not for growth although it had a return of 16.9% in 2024 so can't complain. 

This year it dipped with the US tariff barrage on Canada but has come back up to the $20 CAD range with a current yield of 7.39%.

I like the top ten holdings by weight with Royal Bank, TD Bank and Enbridge at the top with a mix of sectors included.

The ex-dividend date for RCDC is April 23rd and I plan on further buying into that ETF. I look at as an affordable option than buying some of the big banks of Canada although I hold them all with the exception of National Bank with plans to buy that stock this year.

Meanwhile the TSX performed better than the US indexes last week with a 5% gain while the long term investors such as myself slosh through the muck the US has stirred up for now with the trade and tariff.

US Tariff Showers in April, 2025

 

The US tariff bomb dropped this week causing fear and panic in the markets as expected. Canada and Mexico are not on the list for additional tariff for now as Canada waits for the 28th of April and the Federal Elections followed by negotiations with the US over trade, defence, etc. Hopefully some satisfactory agreements can be reached during these future talks

No changes on my end with my portfolio as I look for some bargain prices with the current 27 stocks I own and accumulate for the long term harvesting cash dividends.

April is yet again what I call a Bank Month compared to multiple sectors stocks I bought in March. 

For example, I watched TD Bank stock, TD.TO fall back to the low 80's in price on the 3rd of April and bought where the bank has an ex-dividend date of April 10th, 2025 with a 5% yield. Eventually, TD's stock price will rise again after the markets absorb the fallout from the ongoing tariff war or it may fall even further in the short term. There's no timing the markets only a personal liking for buy and sell entry points.

           March 31, 2025                                           TD.TO                                              April 4,2025

Mid month, I'll be looking at the end of April where there are ex-dividend dates for the Bank of Montreal, BMO.TO, which is currently overvalued by the Graham Number and the Royal Bank, RY.TO which is the more favoured bank with the current tariff climate going on. I plan to buy more of the bank ETF; BMO's ZWB as well for the monthly distributions.

I'm overweight on my EMA.TO, Emera Incorporated in my portfolio but will keep buying before the ex-dividend date, the 30th of April. The utility is currently concentrating on capital gains to offset lower dividend hikes for now

Looking back to 2024, the US S&P 500 was and still is, top heavy with Techs and the AI buildup while here in Canada I personally concentrate on financials with banks/insurers, energy/pipelines and utilities as my top holdings paying decent yields with many of these stocks doing business in the US. 

In the later part of 2024, JP Morgan listed their first 2 interesting ETFs for Canadian investors, JEPI.TO and JEPQ.TO with the latter concentrating on Nasdaq and the top tech companies in the US so I got more exposure to the US market that route while collecting the varying monthly distributions.

Meanwhile, it's wait for an eventual end to the tariff war brought on by the US government and stay invested but like any stock or ETF I own ... if it's causing me to rethink it steady with issues like too much debt or poor management causing possible dividend reductions, it's wise to sell it and buy into the many other stock opportunities out there and on my Watch list that I expect to be a worthy pick.

Manulife ETFs in Mid-March 2025 and Politics

 

Politics are taking centre stage with the US continuing a tariff war with several countries in mid March, 2025.

Canada and China plus the EU are countering tariffs imposed by President Trump while Mexico is on the wait list until April. Trade negotiations continue with no positive outcome to date as US stock markets sank into correction territory in the market week ending March 14th but have recovered since then. 

Mr. Market doesn't like uncertainty with tariff threats but they are here and absorbed for now while figures and percentages continue to be jostled around from day to day.

Meanwhile, Power Corporation of Canada, POW will provide it's earnings report on the 20th of March with a current yield of 4.67%. POW.TO owns major shares in companies like Wealthsimple and Great-West Lifeco. 

POW.TO is one of the Globe and Mail's tariff fighting stocks recommend by Gordon Pape. He also likes Pembina Pipelines: PPL.TO and Emera: EMA.TO in a recent article. I own these stocks but as always, do your own homework when making stock picks.

POW's last dividend increase was last March in 2024. I'm interested to see what the 20th earning report reveals about the company's dividend with hopefully another increase for 2025 and the ex-dividend date which will be in the last week of March.

                                

                               

In last weeks sector report for Canada ... several Materials like gold miners and Utility stocks have been staying in the 'green' compared to other sectors from the past week with all the trade and tariff uncertainty. Gold is the talk these days at over 3,000 USD per ounce recently.

Agnico Eagle Mines, AEM.TO is one of those miners, where it's stock increased by 34% year to date. I personally do not own it but plan to soon. Partially, that is as the top holding (for now) by weight in the Manulife Smart Dividend ETF. Launched in 2020, CDIV has earned 12.80 since inception and pays a quarterly distribution with a yield near 4%. with a 4 star Morningstar rating.

TD Bank, TD.TO is 2nd highest in weighting at this time, a stock I do own.

Getting into 'monthly' distributions, the Manulife Smart "Enhanced" Yield Dividend ETF, CYLD is similar to CDIV but has Canadian Treasury Bills as it's top holdings with a higher management fee where there's more active involvement which comes with a note:

Holdings are subject to change. They are not recommendations to buy or sell any security.

Heading down into the US... UYLD.B is the enhanced version of the Manulife Smart U.S. Dividend ETF, UDIV.B (unhedged units) where I may keep that one on my Watchlist for now where the US exchanges Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have headed into correction territory recently, although recovered today. Certainly volatile times but some holdings may not be affected by tariffs individually thinking long term.

One has to look beyond the yield and focus on an ETF's holdings, performance and management fee along with other metrics like covered-calls, etc. High trading volume is a plus where it can show an ETF as being popular with interested investors.

Ex-dividend dates for the big banks of Canada are coming up over the next few weeks and CIBC, CM.TO is scheduled for the 28th of March and I'll be buying more with a 4.75% yield followed by the Bank of Nova Scotia, BNS.TO with a 6.09% yield on the 1st of April.

To add to those dividends, I've been buying ZWB, BMO Covered Calls Canadian Banks ETF with a current yield of 6.70% and pays monthly distributions but by owning the banks individually there's that yearly dividend increase (Except BNS with no increase since July 2023) and no management fees with possible stock price growth depending with what's going on each quarter of a given year. 

The current tariff war, depending how long it drags on for will probably weigh on the big banks of Canada which have and will probably set aside more funds for business and personal loan defaults with companies most affected by possible restructures and/or having to layoff workers, The Federal Government has announced it will assist financially where needed based on approvals for companies applying.

After the pandemic and the high interest rates that followed, I'm confident the Big Banks can deal with what's going on now and issues in the future.

The Modified BTSX Portfolio

 

It's confusing times as President Trump changes his mind every other day about 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Meanwhile, he doesn't like it but Canada added a first phase of 25% tariffs and so far ... has kept them in place since March 4th waiting on Trump's next move. Partial, different rates and reciprocal? All this has the businesses effected on both sides of the border seeing a foggy course ahead until there's some clarity to it all.

I was delaying writing this post expecting the tariff issue to be set for awhile from March 4th but it's ever changing and hopefully not for the 4 years of Trump's term. Then there's the ... I want Canada and Greenland. Oh my.

As expected, the Markets don't like it and have fallen amid a lot of selling. I'm long term so staying the course. Usually during these times, some stocks I hold and those I'm interested in, fall in price so ripe for further buying. The "Buy Low" always on my mind.

In the February 2025 Canadian Money Saver Magazine, there is an update article from Matt Poyner about Beat The TSX, or BTSX strategy. I adopted that strategy shown on his site, DividendStrategy.ca a few years back but in a modified form where I buy monthly and not the top ten in equal amounts and hold for a year. 

It works but doesn't always beat the TSX every year but over the long term with dividends included. it does. For 2024, BTSX gained 16.19% with dividends. Decent in my books while compared with the TSX 60 in the XIU ETF came in at 20.56% with dividends. 

Probably a worthy addition alongside the BTSX portfolio, Blackrock's XIU ... iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF.

As Matt writes, do your own due diligence where I go through the list plus down thru the top twenty dividend paying stocks and beyond on the TSX. I filter out those I'm not interested in. For example, I never owned Algonquin Power, AQN from the start. I sold BCE last year when all the grumbling started with the company and possible dividend cuts coming. Instead, I picked companies further down the list I mention regularly on this Blog.

Moving forward, on the 14th of February, Canadian Natural Resources, CNQ.TO has an ex-dividend date and recently increased their dividend by 4.44% with a current yield of 5.63%.

I'll be buying more shares of South Bow, SOBO.TO in the latter half of this month with an ex-dividend date of March 31st, 2025

There's lots of articles and posts about oil prices swaying more than usual these days with Trump, OPEC possibly increasing production and the US 10% tariff on Canadian oil. That will weigh on Companies in that sector depending what's going on from day to day. South Bow pays their dividend in US dollars so I receive the CAD conversion much like oil companies in Canada which sell their oil in the US and convert some or all to CAD in their accounts.

On "Cut the Crap Investing" with link shown in the right sidebar here, I seen Tourmaline Oil, TOU.TO mentioned a few times and a stock held by Dale Roberts, the author.

In the news recently, I read TOU had a decent quarterly report and cash flow. Their base dividend has been increased by 43% along with a special dividend payment for this quarter. March 14th is the ex-dividend date but to receive the special dividend, shares need to be bought before closing on the 13th of March.

Mid month March is coming up fast and then I'll be looking at the big banks of Canada with the Bank of Nova Scotia, BNS.TO first up on my radar for further buying. 

I'm also looking at two high yield ETFs which surprised me from Manulife, MFC.TO where they are more about moderate to low yield. I'll debate about adding CYLD: Manulife Smart Enhanced Yield ETF and UYLD: Manulife Smart US Enhanced Yield ETF  These ETFs would be more for income and monthly distributions to add cash for buying more core stock holdings.

Interesting weighting with the Holdings starting with Treasury Bills and then lower weighting into some solid companies. More about Manulife's ETFs in my next post.