# How are your initial pandemic purchases doing?



## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

So holding off a little on my yearly investment buying this year, Mar instead of Feb, has mostly paid off.

Picked up some good gains on the following,
MAW104
CM
BCE
MFC

A few are not performing as well, still positive but much slower to recover,
ENB
BNS

Hopefully with the vaccine news the markets will return to Feb 2020 levels or better soon.


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## nobleea (Oct 11, 2013)

I bought quite a bit in early April with the plan to hold until Dec 2021 or until it hit a predetermined price. Almost all of them have already hit their price and mostly been sold.
Biggest holding to smallest.
VIAC
MGM
TECK.B
CAE
F
DIS
BMO

Maybe 60% gain overall?


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## fstamand (Mar 24, 2015)

cainvest said:


> So holding off a little on my yearly investment buying this year, Mar instead of Feb, has mostly paid off.
> 
> Picked up some good gains on the following,
> MAW104
> ...


Same purchases, But I ditched BNS and MFC.


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

I did a few small short term trades as well and have already sold them off. The ones I listed above I'll be keeping for longer terms, just built up a few divy cash flow stocks for retirement.


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## newfoundlander61 (Feb 6, 2011)

Loblaws is lower and CPX is higher.


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## MrMatt (Dec 21, 2011)

My equity positions haven't changed much.
Bought some KL & FFH.


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

fstamand said:


> Same purchases, But I ditched BNS and MFC.


I'm keeping on eye on both of those and will compare their recovery to the boarder CDN market. I was a little surprised BNS is so slow but hopefully will gain some momentum soon. MFC was kind of a wildcard for me and have no issue cutting it loose if they dive or cut their dividend.

Edit: Also if ENB goes for a really good run I'll likely trim my position some, getting a little top heavy on them.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

Not sure how to interpret this thread's question? Purchases when?


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

AltaRed said:


> Not sure how to interpret this thread's question? Purchases when?


I guess mostly around March to early April when most stocks really dropped for the first time.


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## MrMatt (Dec 21, 2011)

AltaRed said:


> Not sure how to interpret this thread's question? Purchases when?


I'm interpreting it as COVID19 inspired purchases.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

Okay. I swapped out IPL for PPL in mid March before the IPL dividend cut. Felt that IPL's revenue stream was going to take a hit (NGL processing revenue and lower oil sands shipping volumes).

Recently, I sold TRI at a then market high on Oct 13 (lucky timing) and then bought half position in BAM.A on Oct 28 (lucky timing). Have done nothing else with the portfolio and no further plans except I now wish I had bought a full position in BAM.A. C'est la vie......


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## Money172375 (Jun 29, 2018)

I dropped my commuted value pension into VGRO in March. Up 19%.


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## doctrine (Sep 30, 2011)

CNQ $11 on 19 Mar up 154%
SU $15 on 19 Mar up 35% (also bought at $15 a month ago and up 35% lol)
HWO $0.54 on 7 April up 95%
WEF $0.64 on 7 Apr up 39%
TECK.B $10.42 on 24 April up 86%
GSY $35.50 on 24 Apr up 142% - SOLD

There are a few other trades but this is typical. I also sold most of my bonds and bought the indexes in April. I am likely holding most of this until next summer, but I did sell GSY and MX to add to SU/CNQ/WEF positions and to keep some cash.


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## fstamand (Mar 24, 2015)

cainvest said:


> I'm keeping on eye on both of those and will compare their recovery to the boarder CDN market. I was a little surprised BNS is so slow but hopefully will gain some momentum soon. MFC was kind of a wildcard for me and have no issue cutting it loose if they dive or cut their dividend.
> 
> Edit: Also if ENB goes for a really good run I'll likely trim my position some, getting a little top heavy on them.


Kinda regret selling MFC, it seemed to have taken off a bit. 
I also got CNR in April that is currently my best performer.

I'm same boat with ENB, I have 500qty that were purchased pre-covid ($48, ouch!)


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

fstamand said:


> Kinda regret selling MFC, it seemed to have taken off a bit.
> I also got CNR in April that is currently my best performer.
> 
> I'm same boat with ENB, I have 500qty that were purchased pre-covid ($48, ouch!)


CNR was a good choice!

Think my highest ENB is ~$42 from a while back. At least we get a reasonable div payment, even at those prices, until it climbs back up.


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## rl1983 (Jun 17, 2015)

With RRSPs and TFSA, portfolio is seeing it's highest number yet. Pretty shocked since everything is still in limbo.


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## Tostig (Nov 18, 2020)

Most of my pandemic trades were index ETFs, QQQ, VFV and HXT plus other stuff including CGL-C.TO and SVR-C.TO.

Took advantage of the September dip too and purchased ZEB, REI.UN and DOL.

So far these pandemic trades are up 19% in my RRSP and 18% in my taxable account.

Overall, all my investment accounts have fully recovered and passed their February highs. 
But we'll see in they go down again on any bad news about the vaccines or about the US election transition or something else.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

The only trade I made in the March/April timeframe was some tax loss selling. I'm still very proud of this one because I did the swap on the exact day the stock market hit the lowest point (and posted about it here... thanks to everyone who helped me with that).

On March 23, I sold a non-registered position in SPY at a capital loss. Simultaneously, I bought SCHX. This is now up 65%

So I've effectively preserved my position in the S&P 500 while grabbing a capital loss, to eliminate some other CG taxes.


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## dubmac (Jan 9, 2011)

I started (too early perhaps) with CNR, and added banks RY, CM, TD, BNS throughout the Spring and Summer to already established positions. Best purchases were MAW105 and on March 21st low. Only mistake I made was not to buy more!. Last purchase was JNJ on Oct 28th pre-election low. CNR was a star.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

dubmac said:


> I started (too early perhaps) with CNR, and added banks RY, CM, TD, BNS throughout the Spring and Summer to already established positions. Best purchases were MAW105 and on March 21st low. Only mistake I made was not to buy more!. Last purchase was JNJ on Oct 28th pre-election low. CNR was a star.


If you think _you_ were too early... I made a big RRSP contribution on February 21 and bought the TSX.

I bought right at the peak, immediately before the crash. The worst possible entry in 2020.


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## MrBlackhill (Jun 10, 2020)

I started investing in the stock market for the first time on April 15.

Bought CTC-A on April 15, sold on June 3, up +35%
Bought OTEX on April 15, sold on June 3, up +14%
Bought WELL on April 27, up +260%
Bought DOO on April 15, up +127%
Bought GSY on April 15, up +132%
Bought GSY on June 4, up +56% (overall +67%)
Bought SCL on June 1, should have sold it one week later at +175%, but still holding it at +64% currently
Bought OVV on May 1, up +95%
Bought CJT on April 27 and June 3, up +63%
Bought ERO on April 20, up +59%
Bought XBC on April 29, up +57%
Bought KXS on April 20 & 23, it was up around +55% until it crashed in November, currently at +30%
Bought VMD on April 20 & 23, it was up around +55% until it crashed in September, currently up +26%
Also bought CSU, BYD, AC, XIT, which are up between +10% and +22%
Bought REAL on September 17, up +7%
Bought most of my KL holdings on its peak at the end of April, down -2%
Bought one bad performer on May 19, DYA is down -28%, but still holding it for fun
Portfolio overall up only +35% because my biggest holdings were the worst performers.
Unannualized XIRR +43%
Annualized XIRR +82%


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

Still have a small supply of hand sanitizers and wipes. 

Only purchase I made on stocks was IIP.UN last month ... set and forget. (And fingers crossed.)


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## pwm (Jan 19, 2012)

james4beach said:


> If you think _you_ were too early... I made a big RRSP contribution on February 21 and bought the TSX.
> 
> I bought right at the peak, immediately before the crash. The worst possible entry in 2020.


I feel your pain J4B. I was sitting on some cash and I did some buying this spring and those purchases have done well for me although I should have waited another month. This thread only deals with the upside of the crash. Who's willing to talk about the extent that their investments went down from February to March. I'll start with a screen snap I took:


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## MrMike (Sep 30, 2020)

cainvest said:


> Also if ENB goes for a really good run I'll likely trim my position some, getting a little top heavy on them.


What does that mean exactly? When you say you want to lower the %, do you mean increasing the other stocks which will naturally decrease your ENB %; or do you mean selling some ENB and putting that money in other stocks.

Both methods will achieve your goal of lowering ENB % in your portfolio; I'm just wondering which one you'll choose


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## MrMike (Sep 30, 2020)

pwm said:


> Who's willing to talk about the extent that their investments went down from February to March.


I refinanced my mortgage in February and took some money out to renovate some rooms in the house. But since we did 1 room at a time, I invested the money we weren't using because it could have been 6 months before we needed it. So I invested $30K in Feb...... and then March hit. Sure I was down $4K but I held and now it's currently back to where it was! Plus I've been collecting the dividends each month (which were never cut).

Goes to show, buy and hold! and don't invest with money you need in the short term.


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## OptsyEagle (Nov 29, 2009)

Careful reading too much into one's investing abilities, with March and April 2020 as the criteria for picks. I mean, did anyone buy something in late March and actually lose money?

My question would be more towards, are there any stocks still in the crapper that should respond to a non-covid world. Not stocks that have already responded, but stocks that have yet to respond, in any meaningful way.

For example. The shippers. Why are they still struggling. I imagine there are exceptions, but not only should they look forward to the GDP growth from a non-covid world, but with Trump gone, trade relations almost have to improve. Yet, many of these stocks are still where they were in March of 2020.

An example and my favorite is Safe Bulkers (SB on the NYSE). They are probably the lowest cost provider of daily shipping of bulk materials, like grains, iron ore and coal, etc. Their shares you can almost scoop up off the ground right now, like pennies left because it takes too much effort to reach down and pick them up. Have they found a new way to ship this stuff? Have Amazon and Facebook somehow disrupted this industry as well? Not sure you can just fed-ex a 1000 tonnes of wheat, and get free shipping because you are an Amazon prime member, but I have not been keeping up to date.


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## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

I did not buy any stocks. Just coupons, bonds and preferreds.

Short term coupons are starting to mature. Short term bonds mostly next year. Essentially safe havens for cash, so no gains or losses with those!
Preferreds bought early in pandemic show healthy capital gains and cash flow.
Our ~60% pre-pandemic equity has almost recovered - energy dragging it down a bit.

Effect of pandemic on economy and markets not over yet.


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

MrMike said:


> What does that mean exactly? When you say you want to lower the %, do you mean increasing the other stocks which will naturally decrease your ENB %; or do you mean selling some ENB and putting that money in other stocks.
> 
> Both methods will achieve your goal of lowering ENB % in your portfolio; I'm just wondering which one you'll choose


That depends on how my portfolio is doing at the time of the ENB sale. It may work out that a % of the ENB sale goes into fixed income to correct my asset allocation levels. Hard to say right now.


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## newfoundlander61 (Feb 6, 2011)

MrBlackhill said:


> I started investing in the stock market for the first time on April 15.
> 
> Bought CTC-A on April 15, sold on June 3, up +35%
> Bought OTEX on April 15, sold on June 3, up +14%
> ...


Your income tax will take a little longer doing this year


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## MrBlackhill (Jun 10, 2020)

newfoundlander61 said:


> Your income tax will take a little longer doing this year


All TFSA, I'm refilling it after I withdrew all of it to buy a property. Just small money, I'm not playing with 6 figures yet unfortunately so it's all TFSA with more than $70k room available.


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

MrBlackhill said:


> All TFSA, I'm refilling it after I withdrew all of it to buy a property..


Hopefully your number of trades stays below CRA's radar.


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## MrBlackhill (Jun 10, 2020)

cainvest said:


> Hopefully your number of trades stays below CRA's radar.


Hopefully because I didn't day trade anything, not even swing trade except 4-5 stocks which were bought and sold a month after and 3 stocks which were bought and sold a few months after.

Not making a living income from that $1k profit that may represent for those trades.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

ETH +400%
CNQ +100%
CNR +40%
TD +20%
PFE +15%


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

A year ago I bought stock in two companies, Johnson and Johnson and CVS pharmacies. I chose them because both were good sound dividend paying companies whose stock was on the bargain counter because of temporary problems. J&J was facing a lawsuit which had just been settled, and CVS had a little indigestion from buying another company that was proving harder to assimilate than they expected. Both appeared to have solved their problems and their stock was moving back up.

These were long term investments I planned to keep forever. Then Covid hit and all the news was bad, with businesses being hard hit by quarantines and closures, and possible shortages of workers and products. I figured it was a good time to stay the course as drug companies should do well in a pandemic if anyone did.

What happened was, both went up slightly then went down, and did not come back up with the rest of the market. By summer I had a small loss on the CVS and a small gain on the J&J while my so called "speculative" trades in TQQQ were going like gangbusters. So I sold the CVS and J&J. Once bitten twice shy as they say. This made me more cautious than ever about about so called long term investments.


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## MrMike (Sep 30, 2020)

Rusty O'Toole said:


> A year ago I bought stock in two companies, Johnson and Johnson and CVS pharmacies....... These were long term investments I planned to keep forever. .....This made me more cautious than ever about about so called long term investments.


I suppose the term "long term" is subjective. Personally, long term means 5+ years but I use it to mean 10+. If you have a good blue chip company, 1 year is not enough for a falling stock to recover or surpass what it was. Keep track and I would be willing to bet you'll regret selling in 3 years; and during that time, you're missing out on their dividends.

But I am just saying what I would do. Nobody really knows until it's hindsight.


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## MrMike (Sep 30, 2020)

"How are your initial pandemic purchases doing?"

All up! I bought Disney, Apple, few Canadian Banks, Enbridge, Bell to name a few (all blue chip companies). Now my biggest problem is, I know I should keep investing but it's hard to buy at these prices when I've been buying at such low prices. Champagne problems!


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## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

A lot of high percentage gains quoted in this thread. But as usual percentages don't tell the whole story.

30% on a $100k investment is worth bragging about. But 30% on a $1000 investment less the in/out trading fees, not so much 

What would be more interesting, would be percentage change in total portfolio value since Jan 1 2020 vs present value. With portfolio value rated as A >$1Million, B $100k-$1Million, C >$100K. Value should be adjusted for deposits/withdrawals. Equity/Fixed Income ratio also useful.

I realize not everyone may want to share this information! We are in first group, Eq/FI about 62/38 and down about 2.5%. But dividend flow up!

I haven't bought any stocks except for adding a minimal number of CHE.UN just to use up a small cash balance in RRIF. Will have better figure after year end. That is when the bragging/crying usually happens


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

agent99 said:


> A lot of high percentage gains quoted in this thread. But as usual percentages don't tell the whole story.
> 
> 30% on a $100k investment is worth bragging about. But 30% on a $1000 investment less the in/out trading fees, not so much


The point wasn't about bragging about big $ amounts, just if you got to take part in the market sale and how those investments turned out. My total amount was mainly new investment money and was used to rebalance, which obviously went into stocks starting in March.


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## MrMike (Sep 30, 2020)

agent99 said:


> 30% on a $100k investment is worth bragging about. But 30% on a $1000 investment less the in/out trading fees, not so much


They could still brag and be proud of a $300 gain. We all need to start somewhere; they wont get $3,000 gains without first getting $300


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

MrMike said:


> I suppose the term "long term" is subjective. Personally, long term means 5+ years but I use it to mean 10+. If you have a good blue chip company, 1 year is not enough for a falling stock to recover or surpass what it was. Keep track and I would be willing to bet you'll regret selling in 3 years; and during that time, you're missing out on their dividends.
> 
> But I am just saying what I would do. Nobody really knows until it's hindsight.


I meant to hang onto them for the rest of my life but if you think I am going to sit here and watch my hard earned money melt away and do nothing about it you have another think coming.


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## MrMike (Sep 30, 2020)

Rusty O'Toole said:


> I meant to hang onto them for the rest of my life but if you think I am going to sit here and watch my hard earned money melt away and do nothing about it you have another think coming.


Lets look at Johnson and Johnson. You said you bought it a year ago, roughly speaking, it was $135 paying ~3% yield. Today it sits at $146 so not only has it gone back to what it was, it has surpassed it - and they did not cut dividends the entire time.

*Dividends, not cut and increasing for over 18 years *- They have increased their dividends since at least 2002. I didn't go back further because there was a stock split and I didn't research by how much or the amount.




__





Dividend History | Johnson & Johnson


The Investor Relations website contains information about Johnson & Johnson's business for stockholders, potential investors, and financial analysts.




johnsonandjohnson.gcs-web.com





*Stock Price *- The stock price keeps going up. There is nothing wrong with the chart below, that's exactly what you want to see out of a stock.









From the information above, I don't believe your money was "melting away"; And generally speaking, that's exactly what the community agrees you do - nothing. Buy and hold works for most blue chip companies - your money was not melting away; it was experiencing regular market rises and dips.


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

My records show I made $455 on the J&J and lost $6167.96 on CVS. I can't give exact dates, but I bought both some time in October 2019 and sold in May or June, when the recovery was well under way. In other words I did not panic when they went down, I gave up on them when they failed to recover along with the rest of the market.

In the meantime I made over $70,000 trading in and out of TQQQ between March and August, and would have made 4 or 5 times that if I had nerve enough to go all in and stay in for that period of time.


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## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

cainvest said:


> The point wasn't about bragging about big $ amounts, just if you got to take part in the market sale and how those investments turned out. My total amount was mainly new investment money and was used to rebalance, which obviously went into stocks starting in March.


Buying stocks back then, was really just a gamble - not sensible investing. 

Rebalancing to an arbitrary EQ/FI ratio when the world was falling apart around us, isn't something I would have considered. Not even now. This Pandemic is not over. 

I put money from maturing funds back in March/April into cash-like securities. Short term GICs, Coupons and high quality preferreds. Letting existing equities ride out the pandemic. Not adding any and replacing those with higher perceived risk with safer options.


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

agent99 said:


> Buying stocks back then, was really just a gamble - not sensible investing.
> 
> Rebalancing to an arbitrary EQ/FI ratio when the world was falling apart around us, isn't something I would have considered. Not even now. This Pandemic is not over.
> 
> I put money from maturing funds back in March/April into cash-like securities. Short term GICs, Coupons and high quality preferreds. Letting existing equities ride out the pandemic. Not adding any and replacing those with higher perceived risk with safer options.


Your opinion is fine, not saying you or anyone else should have done it. To me it was sensible investing, buy when the markets are down and it paid off so far.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

For a young(er) investor in the midst of building a portfolio, buying in March (at some point well below peak, but not necessarily at the bottom) and/or April was a good way to get into the market with a 'buy and hold' strategy. If not 2020, and if not 2021, those stocks will have climbed significantly post-pandemic. I deployed a fair bit of cash in 2008-2011 period and have reaped the benefits of buying 'lower' than the 2007 peak. The same thing applied this year if one was still in building mode. The key is to consider long enough periods in timing that market, and that is measured in years, not months.

It is a different story for those of us in retirement/withdrawal. We shouldn't be making any changes in times of turmoil. After all, the portfolio was already positioned to handle thick and thin, right? If we reacted, at least significantly, it is because we didn't have the portfolio positioned properly in the first place.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

AltaRed said:


> For a young(er) investor in the midst of building a portfolio, buying in March (at some point well below peak, but not necessarily at the bottom) and/or April was a good way to get into the market with a 'buy and hold' strategy.


And I think many new brokerage accounts were created in March/April. There was a lot of popular enthusiasm for stocks, not just through games like Robinhood but also discount brokerages... helped by the lockdowns and for many people, more cash on hand than usual.

Some of it was gambling, though.



AltaRed said:


> It is a different story for those of us in retirement/withdrawal. We shouldn't be making any changes in times of turmoil. After all, the portfolio was already positioned to handle thick and thin, right? If we reacted, at least significantly, it is because we didn't have the portfolio positioned properly in the first place.


I agree. The goal should be to stick with an existing plan. The pandemic isn't over, and neither are other surprises. There is never such a thing as "clear sailing" in the stock market.

It's always scary. In fact it's amazing how often some kind of disaster happens. A brief history of the last few years:

2014, fear of global slowdown, Middle East tension, and ebola
2015, historic single stay stock crash on China slowdown fears
2016, stock plunge as investors flee stocks due to central bank concerns
2016-2017, much concern about Trump as president
2017, imminent US debt ceiling showdown seen as catastrophe
2018, worst stock market week in 10 years as central bank scares raises rates 0.25% (the horrors)
Does anyone even remember these? Nope...

COVID is obviously more severe, but it won't be the last scary event.


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

AltaRed said:


> For a young(er) investor in the midst of building a portfolio, buying in March (at some point well below peak, but not necessarily at the bottom) and/or April was a good way to get into the market with a 'buy and hold' strategy. If not 2020, and if not 2021, those stocks will have climbed significantly post-pandemic. I deployed a fair bit of cash in 2008-2011 period and have reaped the benefits of buying 'lower' than the 2007 peak. The same thing applied this year if one was still in building mode. The key is to consider long enough periods in timing that market, and that is measured in years, not months.


Even though I'm close to retirement I'm still working and building my portfolio. I'll be holding these buys for many, many years (maybe not all of them but likely most of them) into my retirement.


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## Juggernaut92 (Aug 9, 2020)

MrBlackhill said:


> I started investing in the stock market for the first time on April 15.
> 
> Bought CTC-A on April 15, sold on June 3, up +35%
> Bought OTEX on April 15, sold on June 3, up +14%
> ...


Hmm isnt that a lot of transaction fees?


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## MrBlackhill (Jun 10, 2020)

Juggernaut92 said:


> Hmm isnt that a lot of transaction fees?


I've built that portfolio this year from scratch, so - yes - a lot of buying fees, but that's currently a difference between +36.3% and +36.8%... There will be much less transactions now that I've set a base. My next transactions will be ETFs (no fees but MER) and rebalancing or opportunities. Fees are about $5-10 so I don't buy below $1000 worth and ideally $5000 worth.


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## Gotime (Nov 28, 2020)

I had some existing investments, but purely post covid stats: took out 180k heloc at the end up March, up 102k since then (57%).
Other: $3,600 interest paid on the LOC, $5,100 dividends received, a few hundred commissions etc on trades.

I started with just a few index funds (ITOT/XIU etc) and then after the general market rebound I have made multiple moves since early May. Some beaten down REITs, some good gains on banks, big gains on ARKK ETF (innovation-based ETF. tesla, etc) some other larger gains on smaller investments (100% on keyera after a buying around 11.50), etc.

It's been a good climate to "ramp up my game". My greed level has been getting much lower the last week or so as the obvious opportunities become a bit more obscure.


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## doctrine (Sep 30, 2011)

In April, I made a list of 20 "wish-list" Canadian stocks to buy. I ended up purchasing shares in 5 of them. What is interesting is that every single one of the 20 stocks is up today, ranging from 163% (TOG) to just 3% (ENB), at an average of about 65%. 

I think this just reminds me that this year has made everyone look like a genius. There are few stocks actually down since the March lows.


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## MrMike (Sep 30, 2020)

doctrine said:


> I think this just reminds me that this year has made everyone look like a genius.


 Its interesting to think about but for every genius, there's a seller. Who are they? Why did they sell?

Also, we are still in a terrible pandemic. Who knows what early 2021 has in store for us. There could be a second crash this winter if things don't get better (lock down wise).


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## MrBlackhill (Jun 10, 2020)

MrMike said:


> Its interesting to think about but for every genius, there's a seller. Who are they? Why did they sell?


They could be people also making a lot of money during this pandemic and selling to take profits. They could be even better geniuses rotating between hot stocks with some swing trading. They could be low-risk profiles who decided to sell because they didn't handle the -30% in March and wanted to get out once they recovered a bit. They could be shorts covering their positions which were expecting a worse outcome that never came (yet).


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

In June when the reits and banks were down, I took cash that had piled up and put more money against these holdings. Mostly added to existing positions. All have done nicely. HR.UN is not all the way back, but the new money in at 10 is now 14,4. Smart Centers is a new one and is up 24%. In Oct I took an added position in FM at mid 11, and sold most of it at 19.4 today.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

I invest whenever I remember at the beginning of the year, have large amount of funds, or whenever it crosses my mind to catch up. This strategy has not done well for me and is an example of poor market timing. I caught up our TSFA's and non registered at the end of Feb. We put in almost lump sum 6 figures. We are not even close to breaking even on the self managed investments.

My only saving grace is I have an advisor I trust, and he has a more structured plan for our RESP's and most of our RRSP's. 

I am realizing that I really don't have the time or discipline to self invest because I try to beat the markets and over think or don't think at all. I still have my kids intrust accounts I haven't invested yet, and chickened out in March.


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## Tostig (Nov 18, 2020)

Everytime the market drops 5% you don't know if it will be just like in May 2019 when Trump started his trade-war tweets, if it will continue to drop 20% as it did in the autumn of 2018 or as much as 80% like it did from 2007 to 2009.

At the beginning of 2020, I had 30% cash in my RRSP and non-registered taxable investment accounts.

When the markets dropped 5% in late February, I bought index ETFs. But they continued to go down. I kept buying everytime the markets dropped another 5% until I lost my nerve at 25%. Well, the markets continued to 35% drop until the started to recover in April.

I had a lot of good stocks in my portfolio but I didn't buy them low. Companies can go under but indexes recover all the time.

Now that my portfolios have fully recovered to their pre-covid highs of early February and more, I'm at 20% cash and ready for another downturn. I just want some of my existing holdings to fully recover (ie, XDV to get back to $26) so I can sell them and buy them back low, whenever that will happen.


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