Happy American Thanksgiving

We've had ours already but its the Americans' turn now. Wishing all the Americans a Happy Thanksgiving. Unfortunately many will have to eat quickly and go to work as many retailers are opening Thanksgiving eve for Black Friday sales.

There are many problems in this world that need to be worked on, but Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on things you are thankful for. It is a time to reflect on the fact that if you live in north america, your life is pretty darn good compared with the rest of the world, even if you are one of the poorest.

Mistakes Will Be Made

Mistakes happen. A good investor knows when he or she has made a mistake, and understands what to do immediately to correct the mistake.

There are many different types of mistakes that can be made when investing. Here are three of the most common:

1. Deviating from 'the plan'
2. Not enough research
3. Ignoring red flags

I had the fortune (or bad fortune...) of experiencing a bout of the first one recently, when I purchased Exelon Corp for my RRSP portfolio. Now you're probably wondering, why is that deviating from 'the plan'? You're a dividend investor, and Exelon pays a handsome 5-6% dividend. Well... that's exactly where the problem lies.

Dividend Growth Portfolio, October 2012 Update

The wheels on my investments go round and round, round and round, round and round.

Finally sold some investments to rotate into ones I felt had better valuation in October. I reinvested part of the proceeds from the sale of Abbott Laboratories back into McDonalds, which promptly got clocked by its earnings call. Although the fact Abbott also got nailed makes me feel a bit better, at least for the 40% that I didnt re-deploy, and left as cash.