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Saturday, May 7, 2011

Hélène Laverdière, Yellow Pages Media Inc. (YLO), and Sprott Silver

This past week had been full of great events! Never of my life would I have think possible for Gilles Duceppe to leave the Bloc Québécois Party but he finally did. And even better, Gilles Duceppe did not get re-elected. That’s partly due because I vote NPD Hélène Laverdière! It was something I was proud of, being able to be represent by a national party instead of a provincial one. The Bloc Québécois is gone, and we may not hear about them too often in the next 4 years or so now. Hélène Laverdière is going to rock the Plateau Mont-Royal! Go girl go! I know, I am still under the election buzz! The day I went to vote, I was so happy, like I knew something was going to happen. And it did! Yeah! Take that Quebeckers oh lol...  I did something great for my country: I kick Gilles Duceppe and the Bloc Québécois out of Ottawa! There you go! There’s a few left, but just a few represent the Bloc Québécois now at Ottawa. I think only 4 remain or something like that.

This had been my first week at my evening shift. That allow me to do bunch of things I wanted to do for very long. I did not write on HubPages like plan, but I did better than that. I spend quality time working on my portfolio. I had all the time of the world to do so. And the results had been quite good.

My trading week in review

Being at home during daytime is making it easier to follow my portfolio. Because of this, I decided it was time to sell my Yellow Pages Media Inc. (YLO). It wasn’t an easy decision to make. I had initially invested in Yellow Pages in 2009, when the company was still an income trust. At the time, I had purchased the units for less than 5$ each. I was getting that gigantic dividend yield of more than 10% with Yellow Pages right from the start. I was in heaven. Following their conversion into a corporation, the stocks had reached at some point, 6$ each. I did not sell at that time because I did not have any intention to sell my Yellow Pages investment. But lately, I saw Yellow Pages loosing in value and I decided to sell. I did not loss the investment I initially invested, but I lost because of the DRIP. Something like 300$. I may have loss in the dividend that got reinvested, but that money wasn’t directly coming from my pocket. Anyhow, it was time for me to sell my Yellow Pages Media Inc. (YLO) investment. I felt some kind of sad because I was holding it for so long and it’s been in my portfolio like forever. But the time had come. I reinvested the money in something that I know is a good company: Exchange Income Corporation (EIF).

I first invested in Exchange Income Corporation (EIF) in February of this year and ever since, I had been enjoying the monthly dividend payment and a great increase in the value of my initial investment. Since February 2011, Exchange Income Corporation (EIF) had increased their dividend and they had exceed the 22$ per stock for a little while now. The company is strong and stable. I had been pleased with my decision to invest a bit more in Exchange Income Corporation (EIF). But selling Yellow Pages haven’t been an easy thing. In my case, I become emotionally attach to the companies I invest in. I read about them every day, I follow them daily on the stock market, etc. But I know when it’s time to make a decision. On the other hands, I support the companies I invest in. So yeah, investment is not always easy.

Another thing that hasn’t been easy to live is to assist to a silver crash when it comes to my Sprott Silver investments. Until lately, Sprott Physical Silver Trust ET (PSLV) and Sprott Physical Silver Trust UTS (PHS.U) were both around 22$ per unit. Sprott Physical Silver Trust ET (PSLV) close the week at 16.05$ and Sprott Physical Silver Trust UTS (PHS.U) at 15.76$. I loss quite money there, but since I am not holding too much in both investment, the money loss is not that huge. And I am confident both investment will reach the 22$ per unit in a close future. The trick with Sprott investment is to stick and HOLD. Why am I saying so? Well, I had experimented Sprott investment volatility more than one time in the past. I will first begin with my experience with Sprott Inc. (SII).

Back in 2008, I was making my first EVER stock investment: 500 stock of Sprott Inc. (SII) at 10$ per minute. That was before the market crash event. FOLLOWING the market crash, my stocks value went extremely low, less than 5$ each in the bad period. But I never doubt about this investment. My faith in Sprott was basically the same as I have in God: indestructible, even in front of the most destroying market crash our modern time. What to do while facing destruction is very simple: STICK and HOLD, as I like to say. Since 2008, Sprott inc. (SII) had paid special dividend after special dividend. And my Sprott Inc. (SII) went closed to its original value. I had trade Sprott Inc. (SII) in many occasions since 2008. That was for the story regarding Sprott Inc. (SII).

I had a similar experience with Sprott Canadian Equity Fund. My timing was real bad, but in 2008, also BEFORE the stock market crash, I decided to invest a straight 5 000$ into the Sprott Canadian Equity Fund. At that time, my goal was to double the value of my investment. But than, the stock market CRASH... Leaving me with half of my value... In 2008, I invested in Sprott Canadian Equity Fund when the units were at one of their highest level ever. But really soon, I was hit by the stock market, leaving me with half of the value of my investment. Faith in Sprott? Oh yeah, because following the market crash, I took the decision to invest another 2 000$ in the Sprott Canadian Equity Fund. This was a smart move. Previously this year, my 7 000$ investment exceed the 8 000$. Currently, my investment worth a bit more than 7 000$. I am just curious how it will turn out in the future for the mystic Sprott Canadian Equity Fund. One day, my 7 000$ investment in Sprott Canadian Equity Fund will worth 100 000$. It’s just a matter of time before it happen.

I am writing all this because I had been criticized for my investment in Sprott Physical Silver Trust ET (PSLV) and Sprott Physical Silver Trust UTS (PHS.U), but I know what I am doing and from my perspective, I had made the good choices. Sure, I had been hit hard with this week events, but still, I know that when it come to Sprott investment, it’s like that. But I have to say, since November 2010, this is the first ever silver crash I am experiencing with PHS.U (I had been holding PSLV since last week only).

Of course, Sprott investments are like all other investments. It’s about diversification and investing moderately in each Sprott products to make sure to keep it in control.

I only live one bad experience with Sprott, it was with my investment in Timminco (TIM). I wrote numerous times about that one. So if you want to read again, you may want to use the search engine located at the right column of this page to find out about my experience. It was a bad one, but now, with other investments that perform well (compare to Timminco lol...), I totally recover from my loss.

There’s been the hell of a funny joke I read in a comment of a Globe and Mail article. It’s been announced previously in the Globe that Eric Sprott sold for 36 million of his own silver stuff he own in his Sprott Physical Silver Trust ET (PSLV). Following the announcement of his sell, Eric Sprott announced that he didn’t give up on silver, that he has reinvested the money in companies producing silver. Ok, no problem. But a reader comment said something like that Eric Sprott had reinvested the money in Timminco (TIM). Which, I find, hilarious, knowing Eric Sprott and Timminco (TIM) story. Crazy guy who wrote that comment! I still own Timminco (TIM) in my portfolio, so the reader comment make me laugh really hard. Especially knowing that I had been a Timminco (TIM) Eric Sprott little victim. What are we going to do when Eric Sprott will be retired? There will be no more gossip, Bay Street will be bored without him, don’t you think so? We’ll be losing one of the best financial entertainments of Canadian history.Go read it for yourself right here. The 6th comment worth the reading.

10 comments:

Ron said...

I found most of these comments worth the read especially #4 and #5. If Eric Sprott sells, that means he thinks there's more risk or less upside owning his own etf than silver equities. So why should regular investor buy into his ETF if Eric Sprott himself sees more upside in holding other silver equities. No one knows for sure if he did invest in other silver equities, but one thing is sure, he sold out of his ETF at the high of silver and as soon as he did, silver came crashing.

If I own shares in a company and I see the ceo selling all his shares, that's a red flag. The irony is that while he was selling, you were buying which is how it happens most of the time.

Sunny, when you investedin PSLV, you where hoping to double your money in 3 months. Now you'll be lucky to get your money back in 3 months if not longer. Actually, it's not your money, it's margin money and you're paying interest on it.

I liked your investment style (even though it wasn't perfect) until you got your line of credit. After that, you've been trying to make quick money and as you can see, that hasn' worked too well for you. If you want my advice, go back to your boring dividend portfolio as Derek foster does and don't worry if you're not into the hot stocks of the day, it more than likely means you want be in the crash when it happens and will sleep much better at nights.

High on Dividends said...

Don,

Well said! I full agree. A small investor can NOT beat the big boys.

It is very arrogant for anyone to think that they can. Sunny, are you listening??

The big boys have inside information days or weeks ahead of public release. Name me one small investor who has outsmarted the market makers, and I will eat my words!

Sunny, it seems you are turning from an investor to a speculator. There is a big difference between the 2. An investor is not interested in making $300 quick bucks. They are interested in making $3000 over a longer term.....

Wishing you all the best!

Sunny said...

I personally never been into the "stock of the day" type of thing. Your view on what I do is all so wrong.

High on Dividends is the worst, thinking I want to "beat the big boys". Wow. That's not what this post was all about. I talked about my experience with some Sprott products. I invest in them for my own financial benefit. I like to invest, and I invest as an investor and speculator. Both come together and is being mix once again, for my own benefit.

Donald said...

Silver, gold, commodities are all speculative investments to start with. The recent run-up in commodities and precious metals is due to the US dollar weakening.

Everyone is greedy and are irrational, hence the exuberance and euphoria leads to follow the hot stocks. If someone saw silver prices double in 3 months, they want a piece of the action too. Better watch out and stay away, especially if the US dollar continues to strengthen.

Remember, investing is about long term. It's not a race, it's a marathon. I agree with Don's comment, just stick to what you know, stable companies that pay moderate level of dividends - a good 4-6% yield is quite good considering the all time low current interest rates. Aiming for 10+% dividend is a recipe for disaster, as it is usually not sustainable and as you've seen from your own portfolio, companies can slash them easily and this will affect the share prices as well in a big way.

Also, if you want to sleep better at night, you should invest more into big-caps, the majority of your investments are in small companies, especially the trust units you have. Smaller means higher yield to attract investors, but this means also higher volatility and risk!

Anyway, Good luck.

NeilM said...

Hello Sunny - I too am very glad the Bloc is done!

I just sold out of my Silver investment, Bear Creek Mining(BCM) not due to fear of silver going down, more because of what's happening with the political story in Peru. I made a 10% profit.

I have since also decided on an investment philosophy that everything in my portfolio must pay me.

I have also decided to document my investment journey online like you have. Check out my blog and please give feedback www.dividendnoob.blogspot.com
NeilM

Causalien said...

I don't understand why people approve or disapprove Sunny's trading at all. Especially the part mentioning what she should or should not do.

This is what I have experienced in the market along with a bunch of people who rose and fell through the ranks.

You risk you learn and if you are lucky, you get out of this with your skin. If you are not, you try to pick yourself back up. With experience and discipline a investor/trader/speculator will eventually make money. Those who've never got burned and learned from the experience, will eventually get burned and lose almost everything.

I've met my share of people who tells me what not to do in terms of my stocks. I just nod and smile kindly. If you are trying to guide and protect Sunny, why would you want to do that to a stranger? If you want to smack her down, are you just jealous? I honestly want a logical answer, why? So I won't get so inflamed the next time someone assumes the tone of a loving father and tell me what not to do before I find out that they've only been "investing" for 3 years.

Sunny said...

Hi Causalien,

Don't worry too much around that "Don" or "Donald" as he name himself. He's from New Brunswick like myself. He has wrote once a while ago, saying he lost quite money in Manuvie. So we may be in front of someone who loss some big $$$ and now is trying to give me some shit. But don't worry, this will be the last comment I will publish of him. No more game or stupid comment. Like come on. I am just sharing my trading experience in here. It's nothing more or less.

Hi Neil!

Dear readers, Neil is the one who gave me the tip for WesternOne Equity Income Fund (WEQ.UN). I had purchased more than 300 stocks at 5.40$. The units closed Friday at 5.91$ if I am not mistaking...

Neil, it's very great you start a blog! I will be checking out!

Thanks for sharing your view on silver.

unbalanced said...

I read you quite regularly. You seem to be upset with some of the contributors responses. Who cares.Some make good points, some don't. I have found in my own everyday life there are jealous people out there. SUNNY !! you are the one you have to live with. Keep doing what you're doing and learn by your mistakes.

Causalien said...

Sunny, I am actually really interested in finding out the answers to my questions.

Like you, I've had my share of people who tells me what to do and what not to do.

Sunny said...

What do you want? So annoying! Pass please.

 

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