A Big Thank You and Goodbye to Northland Power Inc. (NPI)

Today, I woke up and decided to sell my shares of Northland Power Inc. (NPI) that I was holding in my TFSA portfolio. I wasn’t holding much NPI anyway. I own so many stocks in my investment portfolio that dumping one or two names I don’t like anymore won’t hurt me, especially if those stocks are poor performers. One reason I went ahead and sold my NPI shares was to free up some easy cash to invest inside my RRSP portfolio. I lost around $100 on my NPI investment, but I’ll get that money back on my tax return—and even more—so I am not mad.

Today, a stock that I hold in my non-registered, TFSA, and RRSP portfolios has been in the spotlight: Telus Corp (T). I couldn’t care less about the opinion of a U.S. firm on my beloved Canadian stocks, but I have to admit that what “the firm,” not to name them, said about Telus resonated with me. Telus could eventually face problems paying its high dividend. Not too long ago, BCE Inc. (BCE) faced the exact same scenario. It seems that the Canadian telecommunication sector is taking a hit, and that’s the case for BCE, Telus, as well as Rogers Communications. One exception to the rule is Quebecor Inc., which appears to be doing better than the others. I hold some Quebecor Inc. (QBR.B) shares inside my RRSP portfolio.

Over the past 52 weeks, Telus’ stock price has ranged from $23.29 to $18.95. Telus closed today’s session at $19 per share. It seems like there’s no room right now for Telus to experience rational growth. Don’t expect Telus to hit $25 per share anytime soon—it’s not going to happen. One major problem Telus shareholders are facing is that if Telus cuts its dividend, the stock could eventually lose value, and that wouldn’t be ideal. For that reason, I decided to sell the Telus shares I was holding inside my RRSP portfolio. Fortunately, in my RRSP, I was still sitting on a small gain with Telus, since it’s a stock I’ve held there for a really long time. In both my TFSA and non-registered portfolio, I am currently facing a small loss on my Telus investment. It’s never fun, but since I am already holding Telus in my TFSA and non-registered portfolios, selling the shares I had in my RRSP for a small gain seemed like the right thing to do.