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May
Commentary
(5/5/08)
Review of April 2008 Results &
This Month's Changes
Good
Month
April was a good month for dividend stocks. All but one of our 13
portfolios registered gains, and most were sizable.
Our
Closed-End Fund and Canadian Royalty Trust portfolios, both averaging 8%
returns for the month, did the best. Then came Real Estate Investment
Trusts, Master Limited Partnerships, and Speculators, all up 7%. Our
Insurance and Oil portfolios returned 6%, on average. Utilities gained 5%
and our Large Bank picks returned 4%. Canadian Income (Business) Trusts,
Manufacturing & Services, and Regional Banks all recorded 3% average
gains. Our Business Development Corporation portfolio, down 3% for the
month, was our only loser.
Our
Sample Portfolios all recorded gains for the month.
Seventeen of our stocks and funds upped their dividends in April, and some
substantially. The champion, an Oil pick, announced a 38% hike. Also
notable, one of our Canadian Royalty Trusts set a 33% distribution
increase and another CANROY announced a 20% hike.
What
Happened?
Since many dividend payers rely on borrowing to finance growth, fading
concerns that the entire credit market would implode triggered the rally
in dividend stocks.
What’s Next?
Yes the market has been reasonably strong. Nevertheless, economic
reports are mixed at best. It’s anybody’s guess which way the economy, and
hence the markets, are headed next. Consequently, we continue to advise
caution and only invest funds that you won’t need for at least a year so
that you can ride out unexpected market downturns.
What’s New?
This month, we’re adding two new stocks, one Large Bank, and one
Speculator, and we're selling one Large Bank pick.
We’re
changing our ratings on two Canadian Royalty Trusts to ‘buy’ from ‘do not
add,’ and we’re upgrading two other CANROYs to ‘do not add’ from ‘sell.’
We’re also upgrading five Real Estate Investment Trusts to ‘buy’ from ‘do
not add.’ We’re continuing to advise against adding to positions in all
Regional Banks and to three of our Insurance picks.
We’re
also adding five new stocks to our Sample Portfolios and deleting two
existing picks.
For the details, please go to
our
Premium
Subscriber's
page.
If you're not a subscriber, you
can sign up here.
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