[easyazon-image-link asin="0965175081" alt="The Single Best Investment: Creating Wealth with Dividend Growth" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514aHF5BDrL._SL500_.jpg" align="left" width="200" height=303"]This week markets continued their meteoric rise, after a recent slump in May. As I mentioned in my last post, with cash to invest it was getting difficult to find stocks that were attractively priced. In the end I simply decided to top-up current holdings, and keep the cogs in the dividend and bond machine moving. I’m pretty confident with my buys of BNS, RY and topping up on CLF. Coca-Cola (KO) split their shares in a 2:1 for stock split last week, putting a smile on the face of many long-term dividend investors! For new investors it makes KO much more affordable per share as well – though watch for a possible post-split-bounce. Cisco Systems (CSCO) exceeded analysts’ expectations, and the price surged nearly 10% from Thursday lows of $17.35 to close Friday at $19.06 ...

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Happy New Year! What would the beginning of 2011 be without a list of great stocks to invest in? I wanted to find solid blue-chips that had either been trading at their lows, were punished for lower than expected earnings, and were poised for a rally. I also wanted to look at sectors I think will do well in the coming years. Oil, technology, and big consumer food and entertainment companies could be the winners. You will notice I haven’t included any Income Trusts in my list. I certainly think there are some great buys for trusts converting to corporations, however I would prefer to wait and see what happens when many of them start cutting their dividends. Of course the 2011 Stock Picks are only my personal opinions, not a recommendation to buy. Do your own research and only invest in what you understand! Index Funds and Index ETFs Index Investors who simply tracked the TSE did well in 2010. TD’s Canadian Equity Index for example returned 15.9% for the year, whereas some dividend stocks ...

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A Stop Loss was triggered for Pengrowth Energy Trust (PGF.UN-T) @ $12.75 on November 9th, for a net profit of $308.25 . A few more of those trades and I’m getting some good returns, and reduced commissions as well. I really liked Pengrowth since it has great growth potential, and an excellent dividend yield. So I was sad to see it sold, but I stick to my plan. Stop Losses help prevent real losses and maximize profits. I will buy Pengrowth again should the price decline or there is a breakout. From the proceeds of Pengrowth I purchased 50 shares of Rogers Communications (RCI.B) @ $36.25 on November 11th. Rogers declined on October 26th,  from missed earnings reports, and was on my watch-list. So I was pleased to purchase the stock at a discount. My target price on Rogers is $40 to $41 per share, which I expect to achieve by January 2011. My next purchase will be 50 shares of Cisco Systems (CSCO) next week, as long as I am able to purchase under US $20 per share. The massive sell-off ...

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Chart courtesy of the Globe and Mail Cisco Shares (CSCO-Q) plunged on the Nasdaq today, more than 16% in early trading to close at 20.52 US per share.  As seems to be the case with many stocks recently, missed earnings for Cisco below analysts’ expectations caused the massive sell-off this morning.  Cisco’s share decline also rippled throughout the technology and communication sector. In a previous article I wrote about Bad News Investing, and how panic selling can provide a great buy opportunity. I feel Cisco is now a great buy opportunity with a 16% discount (pending a few days to see where the price settles). Not many people understand what Cisco does, which is part of the reason why it may have sold off so quickly.  Basically Cisco produces the hardware such as routers, switches, other networking hardware, and the related software that is part of web hosting and data providers. You don’t really need to understand all those things in depth. The point is when you surf the web, ...

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