Artis REIT (TSX: ALA, OTC: ATGFF) announced solid third quarter due to its newly acquired Madison Lifestyle portfolio. The C$66 million acquisition also helped improve its total occupancy to 92.9% compared to 92.7% last year.Total revenues increased 6.2% year-over-year to C$148.9 million. The company recorded funds from operations (FFO) of… Read More

The “Trump Bump” also reverberated in the Canadian equity markets, resulting in a 1.7% gain for the Dividend Champions portfolio in November measured in both Canadian and U.S. dollars. So far this year, the Dividend Champions portfolio gained 23% in U.S. dollars.The Canadian market is also up by more than… Read More

We have now had a full round of quarterly results from our Dividend Champions — except for the retailer North West Company, which is expected to report in mid-December.In summary, the Dividend Champions had a good quarter, with all the companies announcing higher or unchanged dividends compared to the same… Read More

Our two long put option trades on CAE Inc. (TSX:CAE, NYSE: CAE) and TSX Group (TSX:X, OTC: TMXXF) initiated in October had the stated purpose of protecting against downside risk for shareholders but eventually expired worthless. Against the put options, holders of the underlying stocks had some capital appreciation which… Read More

Economists may finally get what they asked for, but not the way they expected it. Read More

We have waited for a long time for Dividend Champions holding Manulife Financial (TSX: MFC, NYSE: MFC) to come out of its winter sleep. And it took nothing less than a surprising outcome to a U.S. Presidential election to spur the stock price into action.Over the past month, most insurance… Read More

A third generation of the Desmarais family is preparing to take the helm at one of Canada’s largest family-controlled enterprises, Power Corporation (TSX: POW, OTC: PWCDF).The current Co-CEOs, brothers Andre and Paul, Jr., took charge 20 years ago from their father, Paul Desmarais, who built the empire over the previous… Read More

BCE (TSX: BCE, NYSE: BCE)Dividend Yield: 4.7%    Recent Price: C$58/US$44   Fair Value: C$72/US$54BCE remains one of our best ideas for new money apart from holding the top position in our Dividend Champions portfolio – a position that is well-deserved, given its outstanding history as a profitable operator.BCE holds a dominant… Read More

You will probably recognize the chorus from Bruce Springsteen’s hit song of the 1980s that recounts the glorious times of days gone by: the little league baseball star who could “throw a speedball by you” and the schoolgirl that could “turn all the boys’ heads.” Sadly for… Read More

The avalanche of money that flowed into low-volatility and high-dividend mutual and exchange traded funds over the past few years is rapidly heading for the exits as investors take note of the recent sharp increases in longer-term interest rates.These higher yields are great news for savers, but they… Read More