Halftime 2022

 

We are into the 2nd half of 2022. Are things improving in the stock and crypto markets?

Unfortunately no, as fear continues to grip the Markets on a daily basis as rehashed news about inflation, corrections and interest rates circulate in the news. Predictions are, things will stabilize some by the end of the year but they are just that ... predictions, although I hope so.

Although the electric vehicle thing is getting more popular by the day, oil and natural gas continue to be one of the rulers of the economy. Demand and supply, plus shortages in areas like Europe due to Putin's war on Ukraine. has spiked prices quickly. That will eventually even out but takes time. 

Europe is looking to Canada now and other countries ... we need your natural gas. It is coming up in the news here now about how Canada can send over it's excess natural gas. Pipeline under the Atlantic Ocean or a fleet of supertankers has come up. Both expensive ventures being tossed around.

All that being out of the average citizen's control of course, forced to pay more for the essentials. Meanwhile, I continue to focus on building a dividend stock portfolio and ignore all the fear mongering out there.

BMO, I figure pays out some of the highest cash distributions with their line up of ETF's among the top banks in Canada, depending on sector and categories. 

In that lineup I scroll down to "Specialty Income" and focus on Bank and Utility related like ZWB, ZWU respectively and ZWC : BMO Canadian High Dividend Covered Call ETF with a selection of top companies and banks in it's Holdings.

In the "Canadian Sector", there's also a good selection of 'Equal Weight" ETF's there for folks who don't prefer "Covered Call" ETF's or seeking a mix of BMO management strategies.

I prefer reliable income producing ETF's that pay monthly and are reasonably cheap around the $20 range to buy on a consistent basis. Over time, a growing monthly cash dividend builds up.

In my next post, I'll touch on some popular ETF's with Vanguard and BlackRock Canada. They have some cheap management fees where they seem to be in competition to attract/retain more customers with these monster investment companies.

In the Bitcoin dominated world, it's like waiting for a snowstorm (Crypto Winter?) to pass by while Whale outfits like FTX and Binance help or buyout outfits in financial trouble. Until that clears and the sun shines once again, there won't be a lot of upward movement in coin prices for now.