The ING Direct Blues

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ING Direct is a great place to invest for GIC’s. There are no 1K or 5K minimums, and the rates are definitely better than the banks – even better than what TD Waterhouse can offer. I’m a firm believer that any investor at my age or older should have GIC’s in their portfolio. And I think ING Direct is the place to invest for that market – no fees, flexibility, and great customer service. ING is also a great place to save for an emergency fund as well. However, when the Bank of Canada raised the key rate this month …

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Encana, A Natural Gas Play

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I was looking a couple of months ago at Superior Plus (SPB.B) because of its high dividend yield of over 11%.  I’m familiar with  the company as they deliver propane to my parent’s home.  But I quickly realized the company had a very high debt load (liabilities to equity of 3.14), and seemed to be diversifying into some obscure areas to expand its business (i.e. drywall).  In addition the dividend is currently very high at 13.5%, as the share price had crashed. To me that signalled a company in trouble, and perhaps even a dividend cut in the near future. …

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Don’t Buy Mutual Funds, Buy the Company!

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In one of his books Derek Foster has a wonderful quote. He says “Don’t buy the bank’s products, buy the banks!” Well the same can be said for Mutual Fund companies as well. The sad fact is that buying a mutual fund is far less profitable, than actually buying the company that provides the fund. I’m excluding Bond and MMKT Funds  in my example. I’m also exluding high-risk  sector funds – a lot of people lose money on those. I’m sure there are other exceptions, but lets look at one of my recently purchased holdings AGF.B ~ AGF Management. Back …

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Dividend Investing (In The Beginning)

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Here I am on the road to securing my future, through the world of Dividend Investing and sharing my journey. I’m already in my 40’s, but the sad truth is I have a larger investment portfolio than a lot of people I know. Best of all I am debt free ! At my age I’m starting late, so I don’t have the advantage of time and decades of compounding. But what I do have is humility, knowledge, and the ability to invest in stocks myself. I have already learned that mutual funds are a waste of time, and Dividend Stocks …

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