monthly dividend

Dividend 15 Split Corp., $11.69, symbol DFN on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 11.2 million; Market cap: $131.2 million), is a split-share investment corporation that holds shares of 15 companies: BCE Inc., CI Financial Corporation, AGF Management, TransAlta Corporation, SunLife Financial, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, TransCanada Corporation, Manulife Financial, TD Bank, TMX Group, Royal Bank of Canada, Loblaw, Bank of Montreal, Telus Corporation and Enbridge. The company can also invest up to 15% of its portfolio in other equity issues. Dividend 15 Split Corp. has two share classes: Dividend 15 Split Corp. capital shares (Toronto symbol DFN), and Dividend 15 Split Corp. preferred shares (Toronto symbol DFN.PR.A)....

ABERDEEN ASIA-PACIFIC INCOME $5.90 (Toronto symbol FAP; Shares outstanding: 52.6 million; Market cap: $304.3 million; CWA Rating: Income) is a closed-end fund that mainly invests in Australian debt instruments. It also holds U.S.-dollar-denominated Asian and Latin American bonds, and bonds denominated in the currencies of countries from these regions. Right now, it has 24.6% of its assets in Asian and Latin American currency bonds. The fund holds 27.1% of its assets in Australian currency bonds. The Australian dollar continues to steadily rise on the strength of the country’s recovering economy and higher resource prices. As well, Australia’s benchmark interest rate is 3%, compared with 0.1% in Japan and as low as zero in the U.S. Aberdeen Asia-Pacific Income pays a monthly dividend of $0.05 a unit, for a 10.2% yield....

CRESCENT POINT ENERGY CORP. $34.74 (Toronto symbol CPG; Shares outstanding: 159.3 million; Market cap: $5.5 billion; SI Rating: Extra Risk) is the new name of Crescent Point Energy Trust. The trust recently converted itself into a conventional corporation. Crescent Point produces oil and natural gas in western Canada. Its production is weighted 87% toward oil and 13% to gas. The company is maintaining its $0.23-a-share monthly dividend, for a current yield of 7.9%. That rate represents approximately 65% of Crescent Point’s cash flow per share. That gives it lots of room to keep paying that dividend and continue investing in exploration and development. Its $611.5-million debt is low, at just 11% of its market cap....

ABERDEEN ASIA-PACIFIC INCOME $4.39 (Toronto symbol FAP; Shares outstanding: 52.1 million; Market cap: $228.6 million; CWA Rating: Income) is a closed-end fund that invests mainly in Australian debt instruments. It also invests in U.S.-dollar-denominated Asian and Latin American bonds, and in bonds denominated in currencies from those countries. Right now it has 30.8% of its assets in Asian and Latin American currency bonds. Aberdeen Asia-Pacific lowered its monthly dividend by 16.7% with the January, 2008 payment, to $0.05 a unit from $0.06 a unit. The fund units now have a current yield of 13.5%. The fund’s bond holdings have dropped in value along with turmoil in global credit markets. The fund also holds 42.5% of its assets in Australian currency bonds. The Australian dollar has been especially hard hit by falling resources prices. Interest rate cuts have also pushed down the country’s currency....

YAMANA GOLD $9.99 (Toronto symbol YRI; SI Rating: Speculative) (416-815-0220; www.yamana.com; Shares outstanding: 699.5 million; Market cap: $7.0 billion) owns and operates seven operating mines in five countries in North and South America, along with interests in two others plus five development stage properties. It also holds extensive exploration properties. Yamana’s revenues in the three months ended June 30, 2008 rose 83.5%, to $336.9 million from $183.7 million a year earlier. (All figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars.) Last year’s acquisitions of Meridian Gold and Northern Orion Resources accounted for most of the increase. Cash flow rose 94.1%, to $176.5 million from $90.9 million. However, cash flow per share was unchanged at $0.26 due to a 93.3% rise in shares outstanding following the acquisitions. Excluding onetime items, earnings per share fell 31.8%, to $0.15 from $0.22....

Gold hit a high of $850 an ounce in 1980, then worked its way downward for 25 years. It began rising again in 2002, and rose to a record high of $1,011 in March 2008. Gold moved down after that March high, to a recent low of $750. That, in turn, pushed gold mining stocks down. However, gold recently jumped $66 in one day, to $851, due to turmoil in financial market, This had a positive impact on gold mining stocks. We’re not convinced that gold prices will move significantly higher, or even hold their recent gains. However, some of the conditions that typically accompany higher gold prices are present. U.S. economic growth has slowed and stock markets have dropped. That’s keeping interest rates down. Those lower rates, plus still-high energy prices, could push inflation up....

ABERDEEN ASIA-PACIFIC INCOME INVESTMENT $6.37 (Toronto symbol: FAP) (CWA Rating: Income) is a closed-end fund that invests mainly in Australian debt instruments. It also invests in U.S.-dollar-denominated Asian and Latin American bonds, and in bonds denominated in currencies from those countries. Right now it has 29.1% of its assets in Asian and Latin American currency bonds. Aberdeen Asia-Pacific lowered its monthly dividend by 16.7% with the January, 2008 payment, to $0.05 a unit from $0.06 a unit. The fund units now have a current yield of 9.4%. The cut was the result of the fund receiving lower income from its foreign bond holdings due to the much higher Canadian dollar. That lowers the value of foreign bonds, as well as interest payments from those bonds. Aberdeen has also moved down lately along with uncertainty in global bond and credit markets....

ABERDEEN ASIA-PACIFIC INCOME INVESTMENT $6.55 (Toronto symbol: FAP) (CWA Rating: Income) is a closed-end fund that invests mainly in Australian debt instruments. It also invests in U.S.-dollar-denominated Asian and Latin American bonds, and in bonds denominated in currencies from those countries. Right now it has 38.5% of its assets in Asian and Latin American currency bonds. Aberdeen Asia-Pacific recently cut its monthly dividend by 16.7%, to $0.05 a unit from $0.06 a unit. The fund units now have a current yield of 9.2%. The cut is the result of the fund receiving lower income from its foreign bond holdings due to the much higher Canadian dollar. That lowers the value of foreign bonds, as well as interest payments from those bonds. Aberdeen has also moved down lately along with uncertainty in global bond and credit markets....

ABERDEEN ASIA-PACIFIC INCOME INVESTMENT $7.10 (Toronto symbol: FAP) (CWA Rating: Income) is a closed-end fund that invests mainly in Australian debt instruments. It also invests in U.S. dollar denominated bonds of Asian countries and in Asian bonds. Right now it has 26.2% of its assets in Asian currency bonds. The fund has net assets of $541.7 million. Its units now trade at an 8% discount to net asset value. Aberdeen Asia-Pacific pays a monthly dividend of $0.06 a unit for a high current yield of 10.1%. Note that these dividends do not qualify for the Canadian dividend tax credit. They are not subject to any withholding taxes, however....

ABERDEEN ASIA-PACIFIC INCOME INVESTMENT $8.95 (Toronto symbol: FAP) (CWA Rating: Income) is a closed-end fund that invests mainly in Australian debt instruments. It also invests in U.S. dollar denominated bonds of Asian countries and in Asian bonds. The fund has net assets of $419.6 million. Its units now trade at a 2% discount to net asset value. Aberdeen Asia-Pacific pays a monthly dividend of $0.06 a unit for a high current yield of 8.1%. Note that these dividends do not qualify for the Canadian dividend tax credit. They are not subject to any withholding taxes, however. Higher yields almost always mean higher risk. With Aberdeen, that’s because there is a currency risk from investing in Australian and U.S. bonds. As well, it can invest up to 35% of its portfolio in Asian bonds. Right now it has 20.3% of its assets in Asian currency bonds....