Optimism #36
Dear clients and friends,Happy December.
We have much to be grateful for.
Each and every one of you will get a pay raise starting in January 2022.
Banks raised their dividends as follows:
§ BNS has raised their dividend from 90¢ to $1.00 a quarter starting on January 27 2022 up 11.1% (or $3.60 per year per share to $4.00 per year per share.)
§ Royal Bank in 2022 up from $1.08 to $1.20 which is 11% ($4.32 per year per share to $4.80)
§ NA in 2022 up from .71 to .87 which is 23% ($2.84 to $3.48)
§ TD in 2022 up from .79 to .89 which is 13%
§ CIBC in 2022 up from $1.46 to $1.61 which is 10%
§ BMO in 2022 up from $1.06 to $1.33 which is 25%
§ This is just the banks, there are too many to mention.
I just looked in my own account and since November 1st see dividends have arrived from Canadian Tire, Fortis, Enbridge, Canadian Utilities, BMO, Royal Bank, Emera, Power Corp, and TD Bank.
Just reading about Alimentation Couche Tard, a Canadian company which owns 14,200 roadside convenience stores such as Circle K brand (like 7-11). Ten years ago, the dividend was 3 cents a share, today its 33.25 cents a share. More than tenfold. The stock price is up more than 900% as in that period as well.
In today’s Globe and Mail, Brian Belski, BMO’s Chief Economist says “we believe Canadian equities can still approach double-digit growth in 2022. In fact, we forecast that the S&P/TSX will rise 16% (from current levels) and reach 24,000 by 2022 year-end”. Take it with a grain of salt but love the optimism.
Insiders are still buying. I am personally a bit surprised to see so much recent insider buying. This is always a good sign.
Mike Sylvester, President and COO of FinishMaster, a division of Uniselect, bought $444,000 worth of shares.
Co founder and CEO of Payfare, bought 11,000 more shares for $99,000.
And Denis Ricard, President and CEO of Industrial Alliance, a large insurance and investment firm in Quebec, bout $144,000 worth of shares.
Jim Hays invested 1.4 million in shares of the Westam Corp.
And lead trustee Allan Kimberley invested over $157,000 in Minto Apartment REIT shares.
Karen Basian, a Director at Goeasy Ltd, invested $193,000 of shares.
Bill Holland, Chairman of the board, bought 25,000 shaers of CI Financial 737,000.
And finally Luc Bertand, a director, bought 2.6 million dollars worth of TMX group, the company that runs the TSX, the Canadian stock exchange.
I take all of this to mean that people with the inside information remain overly optimistic about the future.
December is typically the best month of the year for stocks. Then the January effect happens, where stock prices rise due to new money flowing into TFSAs and RRSPs.
The next correction will eventually arrive, but I am not concerned.
And how to carve a turkey… I tried it last weekend. Amazing. Trust me.
My mother in law likes me better since she saw me pull this off.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/interactive/2021/how-to-carve-turkey/
Have a wonderful Christmas season.