It is the start of another month and time to consider which stocks will make the short list for screening. There is a great deal of volatility going on and major indices are down compared with their levels in July (DJIA -5.0%, S&P 500 -4.26%, NASDAQ -4.84% and the S&P/TSX -6.33%). There were two sharp drops along the way, the “black Monday/Tuesday” at the end of August, and another smaller drop at the end of September. I have a long-term horizon and plan to hold my stocks through significant volatility. The way I see it, times like these are excellent buying opportunities.

As my portfolio is just starting out, I am not really able to deploy enough capital to immediately reach my target sector and geographic allocations. I can begin to shortlist some of my planned core holdings with the aim of adding exposure to other sectors I do not currently hold. I do plan on adding additional shares of the stocks I already have in the portfolio, however I think it is best to consider a new position in October in the most underweight sector according to my targets. This means my short list this month will focus on the industrial sector.

I plan on holding Canadian, U.S. and international equities in my portfolio. Given the loonie is trading at 10 year lows against the greenback, I doubt I will be purchasing USD denominated stocks this month. This is rather unfortunate as I plan on eventually holding a majority of US/International equities.

Here are my Canadian industrial shortlist options for consideration this month: CNR, CP, BIN and SNC.

Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR): is engaged in the rail and related transportation business. The company offers integrated transportation services: rail, intermodal, trucking, freight forwarding, warehousing and distribution.

Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP): through its subsidiaries operates a transcontinental railway in Canada and the U.S. and provides logistics and supply chain expertise.

Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd (BIN): provides non-hazardous solid waste collection, recycling, and landfill disposal services to commercial, industrial, municipal and residential customers throughout U.S. and Canada.

SNC-Lavalin Group, Inc. (SNC): provides engineering, procurement, construction, project management, project financing services to several industry sectors.

Even though they aren’t under consideration this time, here is the list of my US/Int’l industrial stocks currently on my watch list: SIEGY, GE, ABB, UTX, CAT, and EMR.

I look forward to hearing from others regarding ideas on dividend industrial stocks.

Disclosure: no current holdings in any of the stocks mentioned.