Here?s the monthly portfolio update for the BTI portfolio which consists of 2 accounts: a TFSA account and a Non-Registered account.

The TFSA is currently holding the following stocks (April 29 closing prices):

(A Tax Free Savings Account is an account where your capital gains are exempt from taxes)

Market Value: $7,775 + $7,685 in Cash = $15,460

The Non-Registered account is currently holding the following stocks:

Market Value: $7,650 + Cash: $1,350 = NET: $10,324

BTI Portfolio Value: $25,784

YTD Results from January 1 2011

TSX at start: 13,443 @ April 29: 13,945 Change: +3.73%

BTI at start: 24,926 @ April 29: 25,784 Change: +3.44%

M/M Results from April 1 2011

TSX at start: 14,116 @ April 29: 13,945 Change: -1.21%

BTI at start: 27,328 @ April 29: 25,748 Change: -5.78%

HELOC Portfolio Performance

The HELOC portfolio is basically a non registered account with money borrowed from my home equity line of credit. *Please take note* that this is money I can afford to lose. The impact of losing this money would be equivalent to skipping a lump sum payment on my mortgage for 1 year. I will use the bank?s ?Performance? tool for the monthly results when possible because it takes into account deposits and withdrawals. On to the results:

I did not post the graph for the YTD ROI for the HELOC portfolio because it is showing an incorrect value. The bank is using a final value above $39,700 while my portfolio closed under that number. I don?t know why this tool doesn?t update its stats on a daily basis. The ROI should be:

HELOC at start: 36,094 @ April 29: 39,529 Change: +9.51%

For the record, my outstanding balance on the HELOC is now $23,500, so basically I am up about +$16,029 so far if I sell everything at the closing prices above.

Monthly Review

My BTI portfolio reached a peak of about +15% on February 1 and ended up at a little bit over +3% as of April 29. It?s not because I sold stocks at a loss or gambled with leveraged ETFs, the main culprit here is SkyWest Energy which has inflicted significant paper losses on my portfolio. Most of the oil and gas juniors have lost ground in the past 6-8 weeks and SKW was no different. That however does not worry me as long as the company is still operational and making money selling its oil and gas production at more than decent prices. Sooner or later markets will turn and reward SKW for executing on its plans and increasing production. It might take several months before the juniors turn around as the market usually starts rebounding in autumn. SKW?s upcoming Q1 will confirm once more why I am invested in this company.

HYX falls in the same category discussed above, so no worries and I have the patience to see it rise above $2 as they execute their plans. HYX has no debt, has the land, the production and the management (the CEO of HYX and the CEO of SPE previously built Titan Exploration from the ground up and sold it). The news release today announced an increased capital budget for 2011 oriented to drilling oil targets. There will be more acquisitions this year and the company is guiding for an exit production of 1500 boed with 65%+ liquids. The exit rate is 58% higher than the current production rate in Q1 2011.

While I sold SCS too fast missing a good chunk of profits, I did the right thing in dumping TOL in my opinion. I have a feeling TOL will visit the low $3 before it ever sees $4 again for the reasons I stated when I sold it. For those who missed PMT?s latest NR, the company announced a share buyback program which must have shocked those who have been piling up short positions on the stock. Excellent move by PMT!

We are officially in spring breakup and there?s not much action going on. Q1 earnings might potentially breathe some life into some stocks in the sector depending on the data reported but overall the sector will start heating up again as we enter Q3 and drilling resumes.?Until then, I might be operating in hit and run mode when I spot an opportunity.?Margin has to be kept relatively intact in order to capitalize on any weakness this summer.

The results have not been great so far thanks to SKW, this year is very slow compared to my 2010. On the other hand, ? the year is still young and I remain optimistic for my year end results.

How did your portfolio perform in April?