Trade 2 of 187 on my Quest to Invest to a Million

Buy #2 still hasn't been logged yet, thus the latency on the posting. Let this be a lesson - it's easy to get distracted. When starting on a mission like this, make yourself accountable in some way that will keep you focussed. It's too easy to give up, or get lazy.

That said, buy#2 won't be rushed. It's important to stick to timelines, but it's also important to make informed decisions.

Tonight, the decision is narrowed down to three stocks, based on their candlestick charts. From there, the decision will be narrowed to one based on additional comparisons. The three stocks are Loblaw's (TSX:L), Canadian National Railway (TSX:CNR), and Toronto Dominion Bank (TSX:TD).

I like them all because they're trading below their 20- and 50-day moving averages.

L.TO
http://stockcharts.com/scripts/php/candleglance.php?wn.to,%20l.to,%20mru.a.to,%20sap.to,%20sc.to

Two things I like here: the 20- and 50-day averages have just crossed. The hammer, followed by the doji on the downtrend suggest that the trend may be reaching a turning point. The price has almost met support on the bottom.
CNR.TO
http://stockcharts.com/scripts/php/candleglance.php?bbd.b.to,%20cnr.to,%20cp.to,%20snc.to

I like this one because of the hammer posted at the bottom of the downtrend, and the three consecutive gains. Again, we've reached support and are ready to bounce back to resistance in the shorter term - a potential gain of well over 2%.

TD.TO
http://stockcharts.com/scripts/php/candleglance.php?bmo.to,%20bns.to,%20bam.a.to,%20cm.to,%20mfc.to,%20na.to,%20pow.to,%20ry.to,%20slf.to,%20td.to

I like TD for the same reasons I like Loblaws - doji and hammer on a downtrend, crossover of the 20- and 50-day moving averages, and it's trading below it's moving averages.

http://www.cn.ca/en/media-news-q2-dividend-20100426.htm

Company	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Loblaws (L)	2.40	16.97
Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD)	5.15	14.25
Canadian National Railway	3.94	16.51

Based on this, TD is the best value for the investment. Highest earnings per share and lowest P/E ratio. And it was my suggestion a few days earlier.

Now I'll check for the dividend payout dates - maybe I can get more bang for my buck.
http://www.thefinancialblogger.com/canadian-dividend-stocks-ex-dividend-date/

L: Dec.15 holding position (if you own the stock on this date, you'll get paid out on Dec.31)http://www.loblaw.ca/en/inv_sharehold.html

TD: January 2011
http://www.td.com/investor/common.jsp

CNR: Dec.9 holding position
http://www.cn.ca/en/media-news-q2-dividend-20100426.htm