... when you landed a job with Bell or any other large company, generally it was for life (unless you screwed up real bad).
Today it is all about the next quarterly profit report.
http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=68593311&qm_symbol=BCE
What have you planned for your divs on July 15th Pierre?
July is a busy month for receipt of dividends.
Since Mary and I do not need extra cash flow at this time, we have been reinvesting dividends received in our investment accounts into preferred shares of many Canadian companies in different industries for maximum safety and diversification. We are expecting yields of 6% or so. The July dividends will be invested in purchasing a few hundred preferred shares of either Bombardier or Rona.
Our TFSAs are invested in REITs exclusively and monthly distributions also reinvested in REITs. Yields average slightly more than 7% tax free. Here again we diversify holdings into residential (low risk, lower yield), commercial (retail) and industrial.
As far as Bell Media laying off 120 staffers, I regret the loss of jobs. I do not see any personal benefits from such action. The security of the BCE dividend is not affected by such layoff.
"paltry div 14¢/shr."... "Paltry div of 2.6%."
Valve, you did not read my post correctly.
We are only purchasing preferred shares (NOT common shares); for safety, tax preference and yield
Rona Pref A : http://web.tmxmoney.com/quote.php?qm_exchange=TSXC&qm_page=40806&qm_symbol=RON.PR.A
Yield 6.35%
Bombardier Pref 😧 http://web.tmxmoney.com/quote.php?qm_exchange=TSXC&qm_page=88182&qm_symbol=BBD.PR.D
Yield 6.05%
Both carry "rate reset" protection should interest rates go up in the next few years. In fact most of the preferred shares we own are "rate reset" for added protection. We frankly do not care for capital appreciation and capital gain tax. We prefer a good steady - tax preferred - yield.
"not investment material"
Apples and oranges.
I am not referring to the common "B" shares but the "D" preferred shares. Cumulative dividend (over 6% yield) is safe and protected by rate reset.
Considering the huge amount of money invested by the government of Quebec through its Pension Plan, the risks of liquidation are almost non-existent. That company may not have friends on Bay Street but is well protected by politicians.
"may be at a good time."
That is the general idea = preservation of capital!
"is the beginning of a Liberal government with promises that very seldom come true"
I think that - in all fairness - you could substitute the word "liberal" by "conservative", "NDP", democrat, republican, or anything else and it is more or less universally acceptable.
There are no honest politicians. There are no honest people. Our first and foremost mistake is saying "we want you people to lead us".
The message about preferred shares specifically answered your previous post where you were talking about common shares when my earlier post clearly stated preferred shares for Bombardier and Rona.
Nothing to do with BCE or BA or BMO or CM or NPI or other holdings... where we hold relatively safe common shares.
We use preferred shares in cases where the yield and safety of the preferred shares warrant it, such as Rona and Bombardier where the common shares are too risky, pay very little current yield and seem to offer no dividend growth in the foreseeable future.
We also prefer preferred shares with a rate reset - three to five years in the future - to protect against eventual raising interest rates.
"No guts, no glory"
While we gladly accept higher valuation for shares, it is not an important goal for us. We do not care about glory: all we want is preservation of capital and relatively safe yield. We achieve that through diversification and avoid the risk of concentration. Even the "good" companies see their common stock drop substantially from time to time.
It is great to see BCE going from $41 to $48 in a year; It was not so great a few years ago when they dropped from $38 to $24 in a few days. 4,000 shares losing $14 is a loss of $56,000 in a few days. That is the kind of risk we cannot afford.
"I believe it was at that $24 when I told you to back up the truck,"
Actually, the shares were trading at $37 at the time (April 2009) with a takeover bid at $42 from the teacher's union. You predicted a "sure thing": a $5 gain from the $37 level..
As we all know, the takeover bid did not work out and the shares quickly dropped to $23 or so.
As stated earlier, we generally do not invest for capital appreciation. Our goals are capital preservation and secure yield. We are too old to speculate or gamble on the direction on the stock market.
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