Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) Dividend Stock Analysis

The Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD) is the second largest of the Canadian banks by market cap and based on assets; and is the sixth largest bank branch network in North America. The Big Five Canadian banks control most of Canada’s financial sector and are counted amongst some of the strongest financial institutions in the world.

Toronto-Dominion Bank has paid dividends since 1857 (that’s over 150 years!!), and while the dividends were frozen during the recent financial crisis, the bank has been aggressively raising dividends since the recovery began. The bank has been the highest dividend grower of all the Canadian banks. The stock price is currently undervalued by most valuation measures.

Read the full dividend stock analysis here.

Alternative Investments – Rooftop Solar System

Alternative investments provide an option for some great returns that are unavailable by investing in the stock & bond markets. Last month, I posted an article on Alternative Investments – Farmland and discussed the possibility of looking at farmland and agriculture as an viable option for investing. In this article, we look at the option of investments in rooftop solar system installation.

One advantage of buying and owning a property, especially a single family house (as we do), is that it gives you the freedom to do whatever you want with the house. This is an advantage we hold over condo owners, as we do not share the building – and as a result look at our roof as a possible investment opportunity. Until the beginning of this summer, we never saw a hydro bill as our rent cheque covered all utilities; but once we bought a house and the bills started rolling in, it got me thinking if solar PV (photovoltaic) system installation is a sound investment opportunity. I have recently covered the topic of how the solar prices have plummeted and are entering mainstream adoption in an article here.

Chatter Around the World – 65

Chatter Around the World is a curated weekly update of articles related to economics, investing, dividends and personal finance. In these weekly updates, I also capture my blog updates and news related to my portfolio holdings.

US Stocks vs Commodities set a 15-yr high last month

New Blog Posts

Let’s dive into the links that caught my attention this week.

Recent Buy – Chevron Corp (CVX)

I added to my position in Chevron Corp (CVX). Being an oil & gas giant and a component of Dow Jones Industrial Average, Chevron is an integral part of the economy. The behemoth has a market cap of $222B and the recent drop in oil prices has made the stock extremely attractively valued.

Corporate Profile (from Yahoo! Finance)

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in petroleum, chemicals, mining, power generation, and energy operations worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment is involved in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas; liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and processing, transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as holds interest in a gas-to-liquids project. The Downstream segment engages in refining crude oil into petroleum products; marketing crude oil and refined products; transporting crude oil and refined products through pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car; and manufacturing and marketing commodity petrochemicals and fuel and lubricant additives, as well as plastics for industrial uses. Chevron Corporation is also involved in coal and molybdenum mining operations; cash management and debt financing activities; insurance operations; real estate activities; and energy services, and alternative fuels and technology businesses. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corporation and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is headquartered in San Ramon, California.

Quarterly Update – Q3 2014

Welcome to my quarterly update for Q3 2014. This is part of a series where I track my progress on a quarterly basis. I present three parts in this series: (i) Investment Update, (ii) Passive Income Update and (iii) Blog Update.

1. Investment Update

I initiated/added to the following positions during Q2 2014.

Agrium Inc (AGU.TO) – *New position*
AT&T Inc (T) – *New position*
Kinder Morgan Inc (KMI)
Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)
The Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) – monthly DRIP
iShares S&P US Dividend Growers ETF (CUD.TO) – monthly contribution
iShares Canadian Financial Monthly Income Fund (FIE.A.TO) – monthly contribution
Scotia Canadian Balanced Fund (mutual fund) – monthly contribution

I closed/partially closed my positions in the following holdings.

CHS Inc (CHSCP)
iShares US Dividend Growers ETF (CUD.TO) – partial close
Scotia Canadian Balanced Fund (mutual fund) – partial close

In addition, I dabbled a wee bit with options over the quarter. In August, I wrote two covered call options

IMG.TO – wrote seven OTM calls and pocketed $49.00 in premium as the options expired worthless.
PJC.A.TO – write one OTM call and later decided to buy it back at a loss as I realized that I had made a mistake. Total loss was -$45.00.

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