February Top Picks for 2023

 

The first month of 2023 is almost history already and I haven't updated here much this month due to family matters with two unexpected passing's in December and keeping up with part-time work that gets to more into the full-time hours depending on the work schedule. Anyway, life goes on and I usually think back to the good times in my family's lives. More to come to cherish in the future.

If your a holder or "hodler" of Bitcoin and/or Ether, you've seen a nice jump in price of these coins with another unpredictable "up" cycle. Is it short term or a lengthy Bull cycle? No one knows of course and the jumps in price are totally unexpected with all the bankruptcies and collapses of some big name Exchangers. Investors look to make money so it seems institutional outfits and Whale investors decided it's time for a boost to start the year.

Personally, I enjoy Trading the Crypto pairs like BTC/USD and ETH/USD so resumed that after a hiatus since November/2022 after the prices dropped and too narrow a gap in high and low prices for awhile. Flat and down ...  in other words.

Stocks also began a swing up in 2023 and those investors that bought stocks with depressed prices in 2022 are seeing some decent gains now, depending on sectors. That Warren Buffet thing ... feel greedy when most are in fear and sell.

Taking a Big Bank in Canada ... Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) for example. Buying BNS on December 16, 2022 for $65.06 per share/unit; Price today is $70.97 CAD each. That's over a $5 jump in each share bought plus the cash dividend of $1.03 each share/unit paid out on the 27th of January.

That can put a smile on an investors face but that's current and only realised if sold but I'm into long term and try to buy low when the opportunity rises

The old investor masters like Buffet and Graham and many more have experienced ups and downs many times during their lives so it can be wise to read and listen to what they have to say about the stock markets.

February will be ex-dividend dates for 2 stocks I build on and they are Enbridge (ENB) and Fortis Inc. (FTS) which fall on Valentines Day. ENB is in the BTSX portfolio for 2023 and both companies pay handsome cash dividends. 

MFC, Manulife Financial Corp has a current dividend yield of 5.05% that's also going ex-dividend in the latter part of February.

 All 3 stocks have increased their dividends over the last 10 years but I still consider the risk factor and check up on their financials/news every time I decide to buy more.

I always look forward to the next month to size up stocks and crypto along with the good and bad news which makes them swing in price.

Planning for 2023

 

Onwards into 2023 with the investing plan I follow and some additional picks I see that have an attractive yield or cash distributions that fit into what I'm looking for in a Stock or ETF.

My core is the "beat the TSX" plan and here is a good starting post for this year about the BTSX from Matt of Dividend Strategy ...

Beating the TSX Annual Update 2022/2023

                                                           Courtesy of Dividend Strategy

I don't own AQN, Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp and have no plans to buy where Yield is too high for my liking and there could be a dividend cut ... probably to be announced in an upcoming meeting Algonquin has scheduled for Thursday, the 12th of January.

I own T, Telus in 11 spot and will be adding to that stock.

PPL, Pembina Pipeline Corp is the only stock out of this group that pays a monthly dividend. The rest are Quarterly.

Another version is from Dale from Cut The Crap Investing with his Canadian "Wide Moat" portfolio

Over longer periods you’ll see that BTSX beat the TSX 60 by over 2% annual. And as always, past performance does not guarantee future returns.

For the bulk of my Canadian contingent I hold 7 stocks.

Canadian banking.

Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Scotiabank.

Telco space.

Bell Canada and Telus.

Pipelines.

Canada’s two big pipelines are Enbridge and TC Energy (formerly TransCanada Pipelines).

Some folks like bulk investing at the start of the year but I prefer buying monthly throughout the year. With patience and not getting distracted by chasing the possible quicker money, the cash dividends grow over time as well as stock price growth depending on what's going on from year to year and what sectors invested in.

In the crypto world, BTC and ETH have started climbing some in price for now along with some headliner coins to start the year. There are a number of reasons why and theories but possible factors stand out like the S&P 500 has risen some so far to start the year and ETH, Ether is heading for another event that will unlock ETH worth around 20 billion that has been locked for a long time and some holders are no doubt anxious to see the key turn to free up their coins along with interest from staking.

A similar bullish opportunity could be brewing in Ether as the upcoming Shanghai upgrade scheduled for March 2023 grabs the market spotlight. The upgrade will finally enable withdrawals from Ethereum staking contracts, which are locked presently. The upgrade will significantly reduce the risk of staking ETH.