Safe Dividend Investing

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SAFE DIVIDEND INVESTING

How do you stop making impulsivde decisions to sell a strong stock just because  its share price has declined? 

You see your wealth slipping away before your very eyes. You sell the stock. Within months, even days, the stock climbs and is now double what it was when you sold it. You now regret that sale.

If you are not scoring your stocks then you are not using an easy, objective, judgment tool that helps you judge a stock's strength and its ability to recover and grow.

 If you are not looking at historical share prices and other historical signs of a company's strength then you are not aware of that stock's ability to survive and grow through financially hard times.

With thousands of investors relying on  hunches and bidding on a stocks future price, it is natural for any stock's price to fluctuate. It is easy to forget that their bids are just guesses.

In this podcast I investigate stock scoring, high dividend yields, market crashes and recoveries.

IAN DUNCAN MACDONALD

Ian Duncan MacDonald
Author and Commercial Risk Consultant,
President of  Informus Inc
                              2 Vista Humber Drive
                               Toronto, Ontario
                                Canada, M9P 3R7
                                 Toronto Telephone - 416-245-4994
                                   [email protected]

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SAFE DIVIDEND INVESTING

For years, the TD Bank's free stock analysis database has been a valuable information resource for self-directed investors like me. It provided a convenient one-stop-shop to research publicly traded companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. TD has now eliminated some of the important financial information that careful investors like me relied  upon such as a company's operating margin and its book value. These two important measurements provided valuable insight into the financial health and valuation of a business. 

In this podcast I show how a free, user friendly, Google, Artificial Intelligence program can be used to solve the problem of this missing data.

Ian Duncan MacDonald
Author and Commercial Risk Consultant,
President of  Informus Inc
                              2 Vista Humber Drive
                               Toronto, Ontario
                                Canada, M9P 3R7
                                 Toronto Telephone - 416-245-4994
                                   [email protected]

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SAFE DIVIDEND INVESTING

I believe, it is important in investing to keep things as simple as possible. Safe companies that you choose to invest in, should recognize that they must be constantly be returning money to improve their operations to generate greater sales. If they do not grow their revenues then inflation will eat up their profits. Unprofitable companies go out of business.

This week I analyze a US company and a Canadian company that are paying dividend yields greater than fourteen percent. I explain why I prefer to receive the 3.5% dividend yields I receive from thousands of shares I own in major Canadian bank stocks then the 14.16% dividend yield I would receive if I invested in Canadian Bank Corp, stock symbol BK.

While the second stock analyd is Seven Hills Realty Trust pays an even higher dividend dividend yield of 17.02%. It has been established on the NASDAQ since 2006. However, I explain why it is not safe enough for my portfolios.

For safe investment growth and income, it is critical to spend time analyzing your stock choices before buying them.

Ian Duncan MacDonald
Author and Commercial Risk Consultant,
President of  Informus Inc
                              2 Vista Humber Drive
                               Toronto, Ontario
                                Canada, M9P 3R7
                                 Toronto Telephone - 416-245-4994
                                   [email protected]

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Safe Dividend Invest

Tesla has been part of the S&P 500 since 2020. Does it deserve to be part of that elite group of stocks? What did they have to go through to be accepted by the S&P 500 where such giants as JP Morgan & Chase have been resident since 1975. Will Tesla still be there five years from now?

How does Tesla's strength compare to a long established auto manufacturer like Honda? Which of the two auto stocks would be a safer stock to buy in 2026?

Are we soon going to experience another stock market crash like we had in 2020?

These are just a few of the questions explored in this podcast.

Ian Duncan MacDonald
Author and Commercial Risk Consultant,
President of  Informus Inc
                              2 Vista Humber Drive
                               Toronto, Ontario
                                Canada, M9P 3R7
                                 Toronto Telephone - 416-245-4994
                                   [email protected]

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"IS YOUR INVESTMENT ADVISOR A SALES REPRESENTATIVE? Does your investment advisor see his or her job as one of hand holding and advising you when your portfolio shrinks to buy more of this now cheap stock. When your portfolio grows you are then congratulated on listening to his advice and you are now advised to buy into this upward momentum. Is it possible that the advisor is going to make money on your activity no matter what you do?

Over the years I receive many questions from investors. Some are about how possible legislation could impact investors. Others are about interpreting how high dividend payments will impact a portfolio. This week I answer five questions.

Ian Duncan MacDonald
Author and Commercial Risk Consultant,
President of  Informus Inc
                              2 Vista Humber Drive
                               Toronto, Ontario
                                Canada, M9P 3R7
                                 Toronto Telephone - 416-245-4994
                                   [email protected]

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"A FOOL AND HIS MONEY ARE SOON PARTED".  Investment advisors love clients who never question what they are doing with their client's money, Many clients put their blind faith in an employee of a large financial institution who is being paid by that institution to transfer as much of the client's money as possible from the client's pocket to the bank's pocket.

Learn in this week's podcast how this is done legally with fees, charges and commissions that you agreed to in the small print of the investment contract you signed with the the financial institution your advisor works for.  You can also be the victim of a dozen legal illegal schemes such as conversions, embezzlements, misappropriations, churning and unauthorized trading. 

What red flags should you be looking for in your monthly statements. Ten warning signals are detailed in this podcast.

Safety is found by taking back total control of your portfolio as a self-directed investor.

Ian Duncan MacDonald
Author and Commercial Risk Consultant,
President of  Informus Inc
                              2 Vista Humber Drive
                               Toronto, Ontario
                                Canada, M9P 3R7
                                 Toronto Telephone - 416-245-4994
                                   [email protected]

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Bonds, Mutual Funds, Preferred Shares, Real Estate and ETFs are often promoted to investors who fear investing in the stock market. They are described as safer investments than stocks - whose share prices are controlled by speculative bidding. However if an investment is  unlikely to ever show a gain in its value that investment is no better than a bank savings account paying a negligible interest rate.

If inflation is eating away at your savings by 3.5% every year, your portfolio is losing value annually unless you can realize a safe, growing return of more than 5% from your investing. This week I review why a portfolio of financially strong stocks paying high dividends beats bonds, mutual funds, preferred share and ETFs. It will keep your retirement savings ahead of inflation and grow your portfolio and income year after year.

Ian Duncan MacDonald
Author and Commercial Risk Consultant,
President of  Informus Inc
                              2 Vista Humber Drive
                               Toronto, Ontario
                                Canada, M9P 3R7
                                 Toronto Telephone - 416-245-4994
                                   [email protected]

Send us Fan Mail

Podcast 294

Canadian Top 10 High Scoring Stocks

This podcast is a continuation of Podcast 293 on the US Top 10 high scoring stocks,

 There are millions who have patiently saved their money for decades in bank savings accounts. Money they expect to help pay their living expenses when they are no longer be able to work.  These savers would never consider Investing their money in the stock market. To them the stock market is seen as a form of gambling where they could lose all their life savings and be left penniless.

The banks may pay them as much as 0.01% for the use of their money which they will lend to borrowers at rates as high as 22%. Meanwhile their savings account is under attack from an average annual inflation rate of about 3.5% a year. In ten years they will be able to buy 30.50% less than what the money in your savings can now buy. 

There is a much better, safer place for your savings than in bank savings account. I say this as an  investor who twenty-five years lost $300,000 of my life savings investing in supposedly safe mutual funds chosen by an investment advisor. That loss is made me realize my savings would not be safe until I learned how to wisely manage my savings.  I am now sharing with you the benefit of my 25 years of research and experience in safe, effective money management.

 To illustrate how my better way of managing money can safely benefit you over many years, in this week's podcast I take the data of 10 financially strong high dividend stocks from my 2021 book on Canadian high dividend  stocks and compare these historical results to their current 2026 results. All my information sources are   instantly and freely available so that you can verify how easy it is for you to make wise choices. 

My retirement savings have grown over these 25 years by many multiples and  provide me with a very generous, ever growing monthly income that exceeds my needs and wants. How confident are you that your retirement savings will be able to meet your needs and wants?

Ian Duncan MacDonald
Author and Commercial Risk Consultant,
President of  Informus Inc
                              2 Vista Humber Drive
                               Toronto, Ontario
                                Canada, M9P 3R7
                                 Toronto Telephone - 416-245-4994
                                   [email protected]

Send us Fan Mail

Podcast 293

 There are millions who have patiently saved their money for decades in bank savings accounts. Money they expect to help pay their living expenses when they are no longer be able to work.  These savers would never consider Investing their money in the stock market. To them the stock market is seen as a form of gambling where they could lose all their life savings and be left penniless.

The banks may pay them as much as 0.01% for the use of their money which they will lend to borrowers at rates as high as 22%. Meanwhile their savings account is under attack from an average annual inflation rate of about 3.5% a year. In ten years they will be able to buy 30.50% less than what the money in your savings can now buy. 

There is a much better, safer place for your savings than in bank savings account. I say this as an  investor who twenty-five years lost $300,000 of my life savings investing in supposedly safe mutual funds chosen by an investment advisor. That loss is when I realized my savings would not be safe until I learned how to wisely manage my savings.  I am now sharing with you the benefit of my 25 years of research and experience in safe, effective money management.

 To illustrate how my better way of managing money can safely benefit you over many years, in this week's podcast I take the data of 10 financially strong high dividend stocks from my 2021 book on US dividend  stocks and compare the historical results to their current 2026 results. I use information sources that are   instantly and freely available so you can verify how easy it is for you to make wise choices. 

My retirement savings have grown over these 25 years by many multiples and  provide me with a very generous, ever growing monthly income that exceed my needs and wants. How confident are you that your retirement savings will be able to meet your needs and wants?

Ian Duncan MacDonald 

Ian Duncan MacDonald
Author and Commercial Risk Consultant,
President of  Informus Inc
                              2 Vista Humber Drive
                               Toronto, Ontario
                                Canada, M9P 3R7
                                 Toronto Telephone - 416-245-4994
                                   [email protected]

Send us Fan Mail

Podcast 292

Why do law firms initiate hundreds of class action law suits? Do they earn millions of dollars in profits if the class-action law suit is successful? What happens when they are not successful?

Researching the motivation of lawyers who initiate legal actions arose when a long-time listener to my podcast wrote, after listening to Podcast 288, "I am surprised you seem to recommend the REIT IIPR given their recent legal issues....I held the stock briefly in 2023 and 2024 only to sell it at a loss and join a large group of shareholders in a legal action against the company".

My mention of IIPR in that podcast was to illustrate how a high dividend yield had resulted in its then low IDM risk score. The idea that unusually high dividends are due to an unusually high investment risk, like most generalities, ignores exceptions. 

In this podcast I do a thorough analysis of the IIPR risk. I found the  stock had many strengths which is probably why the class actions were dismissed in August as having no merit. However it raises questions: Why did the law firm initiate a class action law suit? What role do those investors in the class-action lawsuit play? What percentage of the judgment would the plaintiff lawyer realize if its legal action were successful? Who pays if the lawsuit is unsuccessful.

I was surprised to see the huge number of blue chip stocks that the IIPR law firm had initiated class action lawsuits against. The reward for investors participating in the class action lawsuit was not obvious. I would be interested in hearing from anyone who felt after participating in a class action lawsuit against a stock that they had greatly benefited.

Ian Duncan MacDonald
Author and Commercial Risk Consultant,
President of  Informus Inc
                              2 Vista Humber Drive
                               Toronto, Ontario
                                Canada, M9P 3R7
                                 Toronto Telephone - 416-245-4994
                                   [email protected]