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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: Bos has moved up nicely from its 52 week low and is coming close to a golden cross.

I got burned previously on BOS but am not averse to taking another run at.

Would this be a good move or am I better off deploying spare "higher risk" cash into one of your other favourites? I have just added to SHOP, KXS and SIS. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Donald on March 02, 2017
Q: I currently hold about 13% of my portfolio in financials. FFH, IFC, GSY and FSZ in Canada and the XLF and BLX in the US. I am planning on topping up to 15% financials. FSZ is my smallest holding. Would you add to it at this time? The stock has been performing very poorly in the last two weeks while the others have done much better. It would be added because of its high dividend.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on March 02, 2017
Q: Your report on Altus Group stated “One of the noteworthy risks at AIF is that 42% of the Canadian cost practice is from rental and condominiums in the multi-residential segment. Impairment in this sector could hurt the Canadian revenues as could a general decline in the Canadian housing markets.”
I would have thought that their revenues in this segment would depend more on sales volume as opposed to actual housing prices. Can you please comment on this. Essentially, if an investor believes that housing prices (condos in particular) will decline but turnover will remain strong, would this negate any of the declining revenue risk outlined in your report?
Read Answer Asked by Steven on March 02, 2017
Q: Gentlemen, in your latest Company Report regarding CSU you state that the Debt/Equity "Value" is 0.86. I am assuming this is based on CSU's Third Quarter ended September 30, 2016 report. My understanding is that Debt/Equity "Ratio" at that point in time was 3.36.
Are you using Value to mean Ratio or are these two different factors. In either case (yes or no) how did you arrive at your value of .086. My understanding is that a ratio of 3.36 is a very red flag.

I used this for my math: Total Liabilities = 1,425,952 Shareholder's Equity = 457,509

Thank you very much,
David Brandon
Read Answer Asked by David on March 02, 2017
Q: I am negative on MDA but not greatly so. MDA represents 2.3% weighting in my portfolio. I have owned MDA for years - likely from when you first reported on the stock so I guess you might call me a patient investor.

I believe you are against averaging down and you seem to be suggesting a share issue is likely. Right now MDA seems to be yielding 2.25%. Three questions...
1) Looking into your crystal ball do you think the dividend is safe?
2) Do you think the probability of the share dilution is priced into the current share price?
3) I am thinking of buying more shares now to increase my weighting to 3.3%. Should I wait until the new shares are issued?
Thanks
Jim
Read Answer Asked by James on March 02, 2017
Q: I was wondering if you could expand on exactly what it is Tricon does. Apparently, their new deal will mean that they are primarily in the rental home business. Does this mean that they own thousands of actual stand-alone houses that they rent for the long term and earn rental and perhaps management fees on? Are these houses rent to own or does the term "house" also mean apartment buildings and/or condos? Is there a comparable Candian company that would help me to understand their business model better or is large scale home rental more applicable only to the US?

Paul F.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on March 01, 2017
Q: I'm looking to increase my exposure to the infrastructure sector. Current fundamentals are an important consideration but I'm most interested in the company's future prospects and its ability to take advantage of infrastructure spending that is necessary and promised by many present governments. I would appreciate it if you could suggest 3-4 companies that you feel are the most capable of taking advantage of opportunities as they develop in Canada and globally in the next 1-2 years. A safe and increasing dividend is always a plus. As always, thanks in advance for your advice.
Read Answer Asked by Les on February 28, 2017