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Nothing’s Really Changed:

Ah, home safe and sound….

It’s always refreshing to take a break and put my mind at ease concerning investments, to focus on family matters and enjoy my surroundings in a part of the world rich with culture, history and Victorian architecture. After having every single one of my four flights delayed during the trip, I’m now happy to be home, unpacked and rested from the slight jetlag.

Some of the highlights from the trip include shopping (so exciting), photographs of some of the most stunning scenery, castles & restored medieval buildings and a sit down for lunch with an old friend in Dublin late one afternoon.

Gaining a European perspective on this trip certainly helped to put my mind in a better place regarding priorities and the current condition of the global & North American markets. I think at times that we each live in a bubble that surrounds our immediate environment and we have difficulty gaining a view outside of that in order to see what else is going on in the world. In the past few months I’ve travelled to opposite sides of the globe and remained committed to maintaining an open mind in my search for new perspectives that I can use in life, nursing and investing.

Some of these include concern over development in China, Oil Sand projects by large Canadian Utilities/O&G companies, a definitive mortgage bubble emerging in the UK compounded by high levels of debt, new/established consumer conscious trends in Europe (barometer I use for future NA consumer trends) and a continued focus on material consumption in many developed or emerging economies.

It’s obviously too early for me to share investing strategies from any of these since I’ve only just put them down onto paper and begun my own research. One of my resolutions for 2008 was to re-focus my RSP (as per my past post) towards US equities due to the appreciation of the CDN$ and weak US equity markets. I’ve been quite active in the past two months since the drop in late January offered substantial value in names I have begun researching earlier last fall. I’ve also made the mental note to spend some time looking at specific international stocks in Europe & Emerging markets to compliment my international exposure in the RSP.

With the announcement of the new TFSA account announced for 2009 I haven’t quite figured out the best use for this shelter, but have been reading comments & opinions from various sources on how best to utilize the account based on my personal needs/situation.

Some initial thoughts:
– Slowly transfer my Value Portfolio into the TFSA account over time to utilize/protect from largely capital gains from this portfolio.
– Continue to hold my DivG Portfolio in a non-registered account since the long-term investing objective of this portfolio is to hold Canadian dividend stocks as a pre-retirement account that utilizes the favourable tax treatment of the dividend tax credit. The concern regarding CG’s here is minimal since very little CG’s will ever be generated from this account (hold forever and don’t intend to sell).
– As my DBP/annual income ratio begins to decrease over the next few years as my income rises and RSP contribution room builds I’ll move my Health Portfolio (largely US equities) into my RSP along with existing FI components & the new RSP Value Portfolio I’ve started in January.

I haven’t had a chance yet to summarize all the limit orders I caught while I was gone for two weeks, but there really was nothing of much interest or excitement as with what I got in August. Most of these LO’s would be considered stink bids by other investors, but all new LO’s accurately reflected my assessment of FMV for the risks I’d assume if I were to buy those stocks today and LO’s for existing positions were simply gravy from a DCA view.

Buy:
MRU.A @ $21.25

Stinks:
BMO @ $42.00
BNS @ $42.00
CM @ $58.00
CP @ $60.00
EMP.A @ $35.00
IGM @ $40.00
GWO @ $28.50
HSE @ $38.00
PCA @ $40.00
RET.A @ $15.00
SJR.B @ $18.00
T @ $40.00
TD @ $62.00
X @ $40.00

* Bold indicates existing positions *
{ 5 comments… add one }
  • MG March 5, 2008, 3:56 pm

    Welcome back to the great Canadian weather!

    I like your stink bid list…

  • Nurse B, 911 March 5, 2008, 11:01 pm

    Yep, if I had to venture a guess I would think that some of those will test those prices in the near term. I just put them out there due to the time zone difference & inability to check the markets while enroute in my travels.

    BMO was my biggest surprise when I returned….well, not a HUGE surprise, but >15% in only a few trading sessions certainly made me re-evaluate where this stock could go. Looking back on my historical data it could do as low as $36 if these problems persist!!!

    Watching anything new?

  • Middle Class Millionaire March 6, 2008, 8:37 am

    hey brad nice list…but since you’ve been gone your list isnt’ as stinky anymore. I’m surprised no stink bid for TOC?

  • Nurse B, 911 March 6, 2008, 10:14 am

    MCM, I know!!!

    I’m now 100% comfortable with my allocation to TOC within that portfolio for the time being. It has a ways to go and I’m likely to add to it again on the way up rather than continue to DCA down – I think I’m done.

    Those stink bids DO look less attractive today when you consider what has happened, but they were also generated back before I left in the event that something like this happened. I’ll likely sit back and watch now for a few weeks to see what happens, but I still have a few sectors to add initial positions so such as Telecom and adding to existing positions based on their recent weakness if prices depress further.

  • MG March 10, 2008, 1:04 pm

    The financials are hard to ignore:

    BNS
    IGM
    BAC
    RY
    SLF
    MFC

    U.S. Stocks that look attractive:
    GE
    ADP

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