Dividend stocks portfolio – Recent Changes – April 2020

Intro..

For those of you new to this website, in this post, I discuss the recent changes I made in my dividend portfolios, and sometimes I discuss my portfolio diversification strategies as well.

As many of you know, I sold around 25% of my portfolio in March 2020 to protect my margin loans.

It was a timely but difficult decision I made right after the oil crash on March 9th, 2020.

I don’t directly invest in oil-producing assets because of the high volatilities and uncertainties surround the oil markets, but I have some indirect exposure through the pipeline sectors.

But the crack caused by oil prices brought down all the stocks.

Even though I had credit facilities to cover over 80% of my margin loans, I decided not to use them at the time due to the current medical situations that no one had ever experienced in our lifetime.

I sold around $70 000 worth of stocks to minimize the risks. All the shares were from my favourite defensive holdings, such as utilities, pipelines and communications.

These are the stocks we should have in our portfolio during the uncertainty time.

However, I decided to sell them because they are usually slow movers so that I can get them back at similar or lower prices. Besides, they were holding up some value at the time I sold them.

I purchased most of the stocks a while ago for a much lower price than I sold. Thus, the selling decision is going to trigger a massive capital gain tax for the current year. However, I can reduce the tax burden by contributing money to my RRSP.

I have some time to decide on my RRSP contribution.

A week later, the stocks went further down and recovered partially, but there is still a long way to go back their all-time high.

Almost all the stocks I sold in March have been trading much lower prices than before. TC Energy Inc (TSE: TRP) was an exception until a few days ago. But it is now selling at a lower price.

I started to repurchase them later at much lower prices.

I have been buying them a couple of shares a day here and there whenever they go down.

My financial situation is improved, and we hear some positive news regarding the current issues.

Plus, the world central banks and governments are proactive in protecting economics from complete collapses.

Even though I have financial access to buy all the shares I sold in March, I am not going to buy them all right away.

I will go with slow but steady approaches, as I need to see the precise direction of the current medical issue and the economic impact.

Many medical experts expect the 2nd wave of impact.

Besides, many financial analysts think that Markets may hit bottom once again before it recovers. Some of the site readers are thinking the same. And I have the same feelings as well.

At the same time, many others think that the markets already hit bottom, and the central banks and governments are actively working together to avoid crashes.

Therefore, it is impossible to predict the direction, especially in this current scenario.

Thus, I have been buying stocks at a slower pace and will average down if they fall significantly from the current prices.

My phase 1 approach is to get back the stocks I sold in March. Then, I will keep building my positions and continue my journey.

Here are the changes I made in my dividend portfolios in March 2020:

Disclaimer..

Please note the information posted on this website is the opinion of my own and should not be considered as professional financial advice. I am not a financial professional, and I can buy, sell, or hold any investment at any time.

Any transactions I publish on this website are not recommendations to buy or sell any securities or investments.

Please do your own research or consult with a qualified financial professional before even considering using the information obtained from this website.

The changes made in my Canadian portfolio in April 2020.

• added 50 shares of CU at $34.20 (sold 250 shares of CU at $37.00 in March)
• added 20 shares of BCE at $56.62 (sold 190 shares of BCE at $59.60 in March)
• added 70 shares of T (Telus) at $22.48 (sold 380 shares of T at $23.88 in March)
• added 30 shares of FTS at $52.32 (sold 230 shares of FTS at $55.20 in March)
• added 20 shares of H (Hydro-One) at $24.25 (sold 100 shares of H at $26.62 in March)
• added 20 shares of AQN at $17.50 (sold 340 shares of AQN at $19.90 in March)
• added 50 units of REI.UN at $14.70

The changes made in my U.S dividend portfolio in April 2020.

• added 4 units of DGRO at $31.25
• added 1 units of SDY at $86.68
• added 16 units of ZUD (Canadian hedged) U.S Dividend ETF at $17.86 (averaged pirce)
• added 2 units of VGH (Canadian hedged) U.S Dividend ETF at $33.90

The changes made in my International dividend portfolio in April 2020.

• added 30 units of ZDH (Canadian hedged)at $16.03

Due to recent changes my yearly estimated passive income (EPI) down from $9333 to $9836 in April 2020. My EPI value was $12 493 at the end of February 2020.

I have updated the portfolio pages with these changes.

Commission FREE ETF purchases

Are you wondering how I can execute small orders of ETSs? Thinking about commission fees?

Actually, I use Questrade for all my ETFs purchases. There are no commission fees for ETFs purchases at Questrade. Therefore, we could buy one or any number of ETFs without paying any commission fees.

This is a great way to deploy cash and invest for more cash-flow as soon as they come in.

For those looking to start investing with little money, Questrade is one of the good options to consider because of their commission-free ETF program and minimum requirements to open an account.

If you have a plan to open an account with Questrade, please accept my gift and take advantage of this $50 trade commission rebate.

There is a trading charge of $4.95 when you sell ETFs. All the details are at the time of writing. If you have a plan to open an account at Questrade, please check all the information (including current commission fees) on their website and see if it is suitable online brokerage for your needs.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate link. Therefore, I will earn a commission if you use the links to buy products or services (at no additional cost to you).

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