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.

February 2026 and Two Portfolio Additions

 

Bitter cold temperatures at times and consecutive weekend snow storms ending January have me looking forward to spring. February is usually the worst of the winters in these parts on the Atlantic coastline.

Meanwhile, I'm looking ahead to buying and adding another two stocks to my portfolio in February and looking ahead to March.

Looking at the Graham Numbers for Enbridge, ENB.TO and Fortis, FTS.TO with ex-dividend dates on February 17th, be aware both stocks are overvalued but producing capital gains and dividends. ENB.TO has a 3% increase for it's next dividend payout with a yield over 5% and FTS increased their dividend in November, 2024 by 4% with a yield of 3.5% and a 51 year streak.

I looked over last weeks earning reports for both Brookfield Infrastructure LP, BIP.UN and Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners LP, BEP.UN. Both had good reports with Brookfiled Renewable BEP.UN reporting record revenue. 

Both companies have their tentacles in new contracts, partnerships and buyouts with the more notable in the news wires these days ... the AI build outs, Nuclear Power and have assets internationally.

I currently own BIP.UN and will add BEP.UN before the 27th of February ex-dividend date. BEP.UN increased it's distribution paid in US dollars by 5% with a yield of 5.5%.

Brookfield Infrastructure, BIP.UN increased the distribution by 6% with a yield of 5%.

Brookfield looks complicated and confusing with all it's spin offs but keen managements know how to make money while I currently concentrate on their infrastructure and renewable branches. 

In the second half of February, my Financial Insurance companies have ex-dividend dates and they all performed well in 2025. I'm looking forward to the same in 2026 however no one knows with the Markets, just a lot of predictions by analysts and the growing reliance on AI researching past history. 

In March, I plan to add another Financial Insurance related company called Sagicor Financial Company, SFC.TO being undervalued and looking for gains with the current 3.9% yield, with a 12.5% increase to their dividend. SFC.TO will be research for the second half of March.

There's been a lot of stock market turmoil since the start of the year with daily US political news weighing and other factors. There will probably be another 3 years of this noise and depends who the next President of the US will be. I'm accustomed to the lows and highs that follow by now and continue with my long term investing plan.

The Modified BTSX Strategy for 2026

 

Years ago, I had a mixed bag of low yield ETFs and stocks with low gain potential where my goal was accumulating dividend income, continuing into retirement. 

Doing a Google search for stocks ranking from highest yield down in the TSX, I looked down through 60 of them and wanted to narrow down that list to what companies and banks could produce a decent total gain for the long term with compounding in mind.

Eventually I came across the Beat The TSX strategy that has beaten the TSX index annual return on average over the years. I didn't expect the list of 10 stocks with a different mix every year to beat the TSX yearly return on a given year where the stock market has it's ups and downs which affects some sectors/businesses more than others.

A good summary of the BTSX and updated for 2026 is on a recent Million Dollar Journey post.  

Companies and banks I researched in the list as they changed over the years, expanded to more than 20 stocks in the TSX 60 ranked by dividend yield I currently own. 

In the current list for 2026, I sold both BCE before the dividend cut last year and Telus where they have now stopped their dividend growth plans and perhaps a cut coming but no mention of that to date.

The steady news of over the top expenses and unsustainable dividends with these two Telcos brought on the decision to sell both. BCE looks like it's dividend policy is more in line now going ahead. It may pull off an Algonquin Power, AQN revival.

I never owned Algonquin Power where I thought the initial yield, when I looked it over years back was too high and that was cut. But, AQN has improved and made gains going into this year.

From the 2025 list ... Power Corporation: POW, TD Bank:TD and Emera: EMA performed better than I expected.  Overall, the TSX yearly gain of 29%+ was a surprise for 2025 with the BTSX closing the year with a 28% gain, even with the Telco laggards in that list.

The 2026 BTSX list.

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

I rehashed my portfolio when I initially read about the BTSX strategy and concentrated more on specific sectors like the Big Banks, the pipelines, energy/power, oil/natural gas and financial/insurance companies to build on into the future and pleased with the results as I continue to accumulate with the Plan.

Taking the Pipeline sector for example, I initially bought Enbridge: ENB and then added Pembina Pipeline: PPL when it was a monthly dividend payer and now quarterly while PPL got into the BC coast natural gas plants for exporting. Expansion plans continue there.

Like Hannibal on The A-Team ... I love it when a plan comes together.

Banking On It in January, 2026

 

We are into 2026 already after a couple weeks of prepping for the holidays. The start of another year accumulating dividends from stocks with a yield of 3% and up yearly. 

The average Canadian stock investor made a 20% return less dividends or higher in 2025 by selecting stocks out of the top 20 or more by descending dividend yield ending a great year. Although predictions are everywhere for 2026, no one knows what lies ahead so I just continue with my long term plan holding mainly banks, pipelines, utilities and the financial insurance sector, which has performed better than I expected in 2025.

Looking at the ex-dividend calendar for January, it's once again what I call a Big Bank month in Canada with most of them having declaration dates starting with the Bank of Nova Scotia, TD Bank, the Bank of Montreal and Royal Bank having ex-dividend dates towards the end of January.

With decent quarterly reports ending 2025, the banks are getting expensive and an option is to buy partial shares with brokers like Wealthsimple, Questrade and TD Investing.

Where I own the banks, I look forward to the yearly dividend increases, once again occurring in the last quarter of 2025 except BNS.TO, which may happen this year. But I can't complain where the stock gained 36.50% in the last 6 months, soaring to a current $100 per share. 

Personally, where financials are a foundation for my portfolio, 2026 is the year I'm looking for more income on a monthly basis from the banks and turning more to ETFs which hold banks and those with other sectors mixed in that I'm comfortable with.

ETF providers of which there are many now and have their own versions of bank or financial sector holdings in their ETFs. BMO's ZWB.TO, with ZEB as one of it's top holdings is my choice and recently increased it's distribution by 9%. Being a covered call, it's chart shows a roller coaster over the years but it's been moving up since April of 2025 so like that total return to date.

                                         As of January 4th, 2026: ZEB 2.95% - ZWB 5.38%

Mid month, I'll be thinking about Emera, EMA.TO with an ex-dividend date of January 30th with a current yield of 4.33%. The utility, based in Nova Scotia jumped 26% over the last year but has levelled off some lately and the stock is below it's fair value or undervalued at this time.

Interesting is a mega project highlighted by the Federal Government for a multi billion dollar Nova Scotia and Newfoundland offshore wind farm project which has the potential to help power east coast provinces, Quebec and Maine which is looking for additional power sources.

Emera is involved in the Wind West Initiative in it's preliminary plans and stages. Federal money will be needed to make it more than just discussions and planning so see what unfolds in the future with that project. Cheaper power for users down the road? I doubt it but more "green" supply if it happens. 

The TSX, S&P/TSX composite index gained near 29% for 2025. Totally unexpected from the beginning of 2025 predictions and that's not including dividends. This year, I'd be happy with half ... a 15% gain with another, anything can happen year with US/Canada trade negotiations continuing, what's going on economically and around the world impacting the Markets on a weekly basis.

The Mid December 2025 Shopping List

 

It's a busy time of year, being mid December with many having travel plans to visit family or friends along with last minute shopping ideas. Preparing for Christmas meals while looking for deals as groceries continue to go up, especially meats and poultry. Turkeys are actually the least expensive these days, depending on the store.

An interesting read with Bob's recent article on his Tawcan blog about 5 Canadian stocks he is deciding on buying in early January with his TFSA account.  Of the 5, I own 2 and agree on Canadian Natural Resources, CNQ.TO and Manulife Financial, MFC.TO. Both stocks I own and buy on a regular basis. 

Canadian National Railway, CNR.TO is a stock I expect to gain in the future while currently dealing with Canada/USA trade tariffs but with track in the USA, the company moves a lot of freight, as well as at home.

On my end and with ex-dividend dates at the end of December, TC Energy, TRP.TO and the pipeline South Bow Corp, SOBO.TO are both on my radar. 

Capital Power. CPX.TO is making news recently, adding assets and renovating them in the US and a contract to power a data centre in Canada with details to come out at later date. 

Power Corporation of Canada, POW.TO is also on my further buy list. With POW, I think of Wealthsimple, Great-West Life and IGM Financial being under their wing as a holding company.

The top 6 banks in Canada increased their dividends last month except for the Bank of Nova Scotia, which may come in 2026 but I like the 35% gain since June of this year. BNS.TO has an ex-dividend date of January 6th, 2026 with a current 4.38% yield. 

Interesting and surprising for a covered call ETF I own for the income, ZWB, BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks hit a record high at over $25 a unit currently and increased it's distribution by 10% for the November's payment with a market cap of 3.8 billion. I'm always aware that a market pullback will probably effect ZWB's price more being a covered call than it's bank holdings but as a risk reliever, one can always sell now for the total gain if bought in 2024 for example or early April of this year.

I'm looking forward to 2026 and another interesting year with the stocks along with the ups and downs of the market place.

Have a safe Merry Christmas and wishing good health. 

 

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.