Investment Q&A

Q: Aston Hill? It truly baffles me why AHF trades down on a positive press release about AUM. Does this company hit a wall of selling because it issues stock to make acquisitions. It acts like no other stock I have owned and despite apparent good news it has not shown any stength for a very long time. What am I missing?

Q: Aston Hill AHF reported their 2nd Quarter AUM numbers yesterday.Could you add any color on this release?

Q: I recently sold some Amaya (AYA) for diversification, and bought AutoCanada (ACQ), and was told this was a correct move. The problem is that AYA kept moving up, and ACQ down. So this clearly amounts to a move too soon. How long do you estimate ACQ is likely to trend down or stagnate ?

Q: I am considering an investment in Morguard MRC. Currently I have 3% of the portfolio in REI.UN and HR.UN. In your recent report you concluded MRC's returns make up for the yield and the valuation provides downside risk. Comparing the 3 stocks, over a 5 year period would you expect MRC's returns to be significantly higher than the other 2(capital appreciation and dividend combined)? Would you agree with putting half the current holding into MRC and which of the other 2 would you keep.
Many thanks for your considered opinion
Mike

Q: Cineplex CGX

Hello 5i Family

With recent comments regarding theater goer's #'s being down 20% compared to last summer - NetFlix plus other cable shows - we've seen a 4% hit for CGX since closing last week.

stock has been fairly stagnant for most of the year and is down 9% overall since the beginning of the year.

I have a 4% position. Would you consider this high? Should I take some cash out and redeploy it elsewhere? If so, where? And would you consider CGX a Buy, Hold or Sell right now considering these recent announcements?

Thanks for all you do for all of us

Gord

Q: Hi:
Should investors be concerned regarding the resignation of the CFO at Parkland Fuel (PKI)?

Thanks

Q: Do you see it as a red flag or cause for concern that at the end of 2013 BAD had receivables of $92 million on sales of $324 million.
Your thoughts would be appreciated

Q: Hi Guys

I have started my 18 year old son in the world of investing with some ideas from your site. He has purchase Bad and cgx for his self directed acct. He is getting a little antsy with the almost 20% drop in bad. any suggestions on how he should deal with these situations. obviously I would like for him to have a positive initial experience with the world of investing but also have him realize is experience is valuable and something can be learned from it. he has about 11k in his account.

Thanks
Mike

Q: would you switch ESL for DH at this time or roll with both in the tech sector of a portfolio? the tech sector represents 12.5% of my portfolio (holding CSU, OTC, ESL, SYZ).

in a market downturn, how would you rank MDA, DH and ESL for defensive qualities.

thanks again.

john

Q: Hello. From a technical perspective ESL seems to have incurred a slight setback in the April/May timeframe and appears to be recovering and resuming it's trend. Are you aware of whether this setback was related to some specific event or whether it was related to external events and is this still considered a viable entry point for this stock? Thank you.

Q: Hello,
HNL seems to be slipping lately- any particular reason for the change in sentimentÉ Would you buy, or continue to holdÉ
Thanks

Q: Would you consider ACQ a buy at today's price?.
Thank You
Garry

Q: Hi Peter & Ryan,

I am looking at increasing my current weighting of MDA. Can you tell me what is expected this current quarter in terms of top & bottom lines as well as the next full year forecast if available?

Also, in terms of further synergy's from the 2012 SSL purchase - how much more can we expect in the coming quarters? Have they achieved the majority already?

Thanks in advance,
J.
JS

Q: I am surprised that you have not had questions about Boyd Group Income Fund. It has dropped significantly in the last two days after a wonderful run.

Q: I have a current capital gain on stocks sold this year of about $28,000. The only stock I hold that has a capital loss opportunity is Wilan which at today’s prices would net me a $12,000 capital loss. I sold ½ my position in Wilan last year to offset similar capital gains and it worked out well.
My question is should I wait till later in the tax year or should I just do it now. I don’t need the funds and I would just look at re-investing.
And thanks Peter & 5i, the gains have very much been due to what I have learned from you and your team.

Q: Whats your initial reaction on the ESL acquisition of Basset that was just announced? Thanks - John

Q: Hi Folks:
Very sorry hearing of Peter's accident.......good recovery!
What are the merits of choosing between Johnson Controls or Magna. They both appear good choices.

All the best
brian

Q: hello Peter:
a question about the PEG ratio. As someone who questions the things I myself do and believe (self critique), I now am wondering about the validity of the PEG ratio. This is a general question, so hopefully your answer will address it that way, but I will use BDI, who I know you like, as an example. Morningstar lists BDI as having a PEG ratio of 0.3. For a value stock, this makes sense (to me), but BDI is hardly a value stock. Is it just that much undervalued by the market? And I could cite numerous other examples of stocks with very low PEG ratios: hopefully your answer will address my conundrum with a measure I like (I think!). I also believe others may be a bit confused with this ratio.
thanks
Paul L (seems there are more than a few Paul's that ask questions lol)

Q: CFN Carfinco Just wondering what you make of the most recent news coming out of CFN? Record loan originations does not speak to rising delinquencies of loans but...

Q: I own 200 shares of Enghouse ESL, so around $6,500 worth. I cannot decide if I should add another $6,500 to ESL or by Sylogist syz for that same amount. I seem to think I will reduce risk having two companies in the same space in case one goes up and one goes down. What do you do? Buy more of the same company or diversify with another one in the same sector. Thanks for everything.