Mike’s Portfolio Review - Losing Money on Apple, Keep or Sell?

Eight years after rolling a $108K pension into a DIY portfolio, Mike walks through a quarterly review that’s up ~200% since inception—but not without bruises. He dissects three laggards (Apple, Alimentation Couche-Tard, Starbucks), explains when he holds vs. trims, and shows the exact process he uses to separate price noise from business news. You’ll also hear which names quietly powered returns this quarter and what he plans to change next.

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You’ll Learn

How this portfolio came to be

In 2017, Mike took a lump-sum ($108K) from his former employer’s pension into a locked-in account; cannot add new money—only reinvest dividends and gains.
Target allocation ~50% Canada / ~50% U.S.; today ~44% CA / 56% U.S. due to U.S. outperformance.
Philosophy: 100% equities, dividend growers; review quarterly via earnings.

The process > the price

Every holding is judged on two rails:
1) Investment thesis (why it was bought)
2) Dividend Triangle (trends in revenue, EPS, dividend).
Rules matter: allow 2–3 years for a turnaround; cap single positions at 10% (trim back near 8%); typical target weight 3–3.5%.
Short-term price moves ? thesis change. Manage positions, not headlines.

Losers under the microscope (and what Mike’s doing)

Alimentation Couche-Tard (ATD.TO)
Slower traffic/margins; 7-Eleven deal dropped; analysts cautious. Growth plan now ~60% organic (fresh food/ready-to-eat) / ~40% M&A. Portfolio weight ~6% (3rd largest). Status: Hold and wait a year; neither trimming nor adding.
Starbucks (SBUX)
EPS down sharply; U.S./China pressures; unionization + complexity hurting ops; new CEO/plan needs time. Status: Hold, monitor; thesis vs. metrics misaligned today—review again in ~12 months.
Apple (AAPL)
Weak YTD performance after years as a growth engine; in a normal innovation lull and playing catch-up with AI; geopolitical/tariff overhang. Still strong cash flow/balance sheet; dividend triangle “good, not great.” Weight ~8.6% (largest). Status: Hold; could trim for risk control only if the triangle deteriorates and the weight remains elevated.

Surprise winner: Granite REIT (GRT.UN/MGU.UN)

Years of solid FFO, high occupancy, disciplined payout finally got noticed; shares up >20% YTD. Lesson: When fundamentals persist, price often catches up.

Other quiet contributors

Stantec (STN): double-digit growth, execution > hype.
Toromont (TIH): infrastructure optimism.
CCL Industries (CCL.B): revenue & EPS up ~9%—margins holding.
Brookfield Renewable (BEPC/BEP): better sentiment meets steady numbers.
National Bank (NA): keeps proving “expensive” can get more expensive.

What’s next (and what’s not)

Portfolio at all-time highs (~$315–318K); fully invested.
Main to-do: build Dollarama (DOL) to a full ~3% position using dividends.
Otherwise, no rush to trade—“your portfolio is like a bar of soap: the more you handle it, the less you have.”

Free Webinar: Avoid Price Confusion and Act with Conviction

When a stock dives or spikes, most investors react to the price. In this session, we’ll show you how to ignore the noise and interrogate the business—so you can decide, confidently, whether to sell, hold, or buy more.