Well it’s been a busy couple of weeks for me.  On top of everything else I’m glued to the business news each day and really starting to get tired of hearing about the bailouts, especially when it seems obvious that one or more of GM, Chrysler and Ford (probably not Ford, though) will clearly go bankrupt within the year anyway.

Even still, I’m hankering to get back and put some money down on some stock.  I have a list of what I’d like to buy.  Just waiting on the extra cash to do it.  I keep track of the stock prices almost daily for the stocks I do own, and I can’t believe some are down now five days in a row - like YLO.UN - crazy!

There’s really nothing I need for Christmas this year - except more stock investments.  I’d love to just have an extra $1000 to plop into two or three - maybe Tim Horton’s (THI), CML Healthcare (CLC.UN), or even the Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund (CGX.UN).  Those are looking like some really nice defensive stocks lately.  In fact, CLC.UN has barely turned down much at all over the last six months if you can believe it.  This is good to know going ahead… very good to know.

So what stocks are on your wish list?  I have to say, my wish list keeps changing each day.  I’m trying to work my way up to 100 of my own (including ETFs).  Might as well be my own mutual fund!

If you’re a U.S. citizen and you’ve been wanting to get into the Canadian markets but things were too expensive a year ago, or maybe you just don’t know enough about what’s available, I’ve got good news for you!  This is a list of five income trusts that trade on the NYSE and which are currently paying high double-digit yields!!

Add to yields of 20% or more your 25% stronger dollar and you’ve got a return of almost 45%!

This is an opportunity you don’t want to miss, especially since experts agree the greenback will fall again when all the chips are in and the markets improve.  So here’s the list.  I’ve owned all of these at one time or another.  Four oil and gas trusts, and one waste-management trust (a pretty good defensive play, since we always need waste management).

Arc Energy Trust (AET.UN) - currently paying about 15.60%!
Freehold Royalty Trust (FRU.UN) - currently paying about 19.5%!
Harvest Energy Trust (HTE.UN) - currently paying about 30.6%!! (Yes, a thirty percent yield!)
New Alta Income Fund (NAL.UN) - currently paying about 22.2%!
Pengrowth Energy (PGF.UN) - currently paying about 19.6%!

Not only are some of these names at a serious discount right now, but some, like Arc Energy, are extremely well-managed companies.  Pengrowth was the first oil trust in Canada.  These aren’t fly-by-nights.  Do check them out more on your own.  But these are my recommendations.  Harvest Energy, for example, just announced they’re going to buy back some shares, so you’ll want to time your purchase accordingly.