Investment Q&A

Q: Hi Guys
TFC Can you comment on the balance sheet strength on this bank.
Would it be a good choice ?
Thanks Gord

Q: Hello,

Has management responded to your inquiry about Canada drives? Can you please shed some light on where you sit with go easy at these levels .

Q: Can you give me an in depth analysis if all the news coming out of Onex. The pros and cons and long term outlook, management, insider ownership and portfolio holdings. Thank you.

Q: Thank you for your reply this morning on my question about ZWB and HMAX . In your reply you indicated a preference for ZWB because of the upside potential being greater . Am I right in assuming that if that is the case HMAX would be the less volatile of the two ?

Also in 2018 I asked 5I to crunch the numbers on the big five banks over the 18 years { 2000 to 2018 }... I would assume that is a long enough segment to determine an average annual return of dividend plus capital gain. The answer I got ranged between 11% on the low end { TD } to 14.3% on the high end { RY }...... Please correct my reasoning but to me it looks like HMAX with its' current 15.1% dividend based on today's cost of the ETF is going to slightly beat those numbers annually, have less volatility, and give me diversification as an added bonus ? ..... Please advise if my reasoning is sound .....Thanks Garth .....

Q: Morning, GSY makes us a total of 3.4% (or did lol) of my portfolio with half in a non registered account. My thinking is sentiment will be bad for a while and the true impact of the budget will need to be assessed. I'm contemplating holding the GSY in the registered accounts while tax loss harvesting the non registered. If it were your account would you do it differently?

Rhetorical question - how much of yesterdays selling was leaked information from the budget vs the potential $41M loan loss?... I'm feeling like the latter was a key driver in the 9% fall yesterday.

Q: In a couple of previous questions you have mentioned that the drop in GSY's share price on Thursday was due to the Canada Drive news. There is something else that needs to be considered. I saw a post on Stockhouse on Thursday at 2:35 p.m., well before the close and the budget news, indicating there was a rumour the federal budget was going to include an interest rate ceiling of 35% and this was why the stock price was going down. The poster stated the rumour was likely true as it had apparently come from an unnamed staffer. Obviously the rumour WAS true as the exact ceiling % was mentioned.

Seems to me this is the main reason why GSY's stock price dropped so much on Thursday - some people had this inside info and were selling the stock as a result. I know there is a lot of nonsense on Stockhouse, but occasionally you get something important.

In any event, after reading the press release that GSY put out last night, do you have any change in your opinion on the desirability of GSY as an investment? Does the stock still look cheap?

Q: The last couple federal budgets have had measures that increased taxes on banks and insurers. Personally, I don’t like taxation based upon the nature of a business - I think it’s bad policy - but banks will always be viewed as targets for government revenues. Do you think it is reasonable to reduce/divest bank holdings based on the last few budgets tax targeted measures and concerns of this continuing in the future.

Q: Is the decision by Trudeau to reduce interest rates on loans offered by GoEasy really bad for the business?

Q: Could you please comment on TRI, its valuation and why it defies gravity seemingly independent of its peers? Does it have comparables and what is future growth potential?

Q: Hi Team,
Any idea why Gsy is getting punished today so bad? I can’t seem to find any news on it to account for a 7-8% drop today. Thanks

Shane

Q: There have been some some media reports today citing a federal source who says today's budget will include plans to go after predatory lending. I've seen some speculative chatter suggesting this could mean lowering the maximum interest charge rate possible from 60% to 30%. In your most recent report on GSY you state they originate loans up to $45,000 with rates between 19.9% and 46.9%. Is it known how much of their loan book is above that speculative 30% threshold, and how much of an impact might this have on their overall business if this 30% ceiling were to occur?

Q: hi, can you discuss GSY in regards 1195407 BC Ltd filing in BC Supreme Court pursuant to the CCAA...
cheers

Q: Risk / Reward, what do you like better here? I believe Zwk has significantly less risk with appealing short to mid term upside. Thoughts?

Q: Wondering what your take is this week on entering ZWK? Would you wait a bit longer for the dust to settle? Goal is dividend income but for 5 year hold, not 20!

Q: My TD Waterhouse account shows ZWB { yielding 8.2% } and HMAX { yielding 15.1% } . Could you please confirm both yield numbers at today's ETF prices ? And why one might buy the lower yielding ETF considering that HMAX has nearly double the yield and a little more diversified { 75% banks } ? ...... { I'm not concerned about the short history of HMAX } ..... Hypothetically, if it were " you " and you wanted a covered call financial ETF which one would you pick and why ? { Of if there is another one you would prefer over both }

Q: Hello,
I already have a large position in TD and a small position in BMO, and would like to add to one or two more banks that won't keep me awake at night. Its quite clear that banks have trillion of dollars in loans . Last report that I read $4.12 trillion. And $1.5T of loans come due in Canada by January 2024. So even if 2% default, we have $30B in losses. And that's just Canada. Therefore, of the Canadian banks, which ones have the least exposure to the US. ? Today which ones are your recommendations?
Finally, in terms of deposit insurance, is it $100K per bank account or per individual taxpayer.? Brokerage account like RBC - Direct investing, the $1M is it for the total portfolio or just the cash? Again, per account or per investor?

Thank you
CR

Q: If there was to be a turn around in financials (ie pause or cutting interest rates), how would the covered call bank ETF's perform vs holding bank stocks? Thanks

Q: Hi guys,

On the basis of the strength of your recco on ECN I purchased ECN.DB.A for my RRIF.

It has been steadily falling to todays price of $74.

I bought it at par and frankly am nervous about the CV to maturity.

Can you take a look at it for me and tell me if you feel it is safe to hold to maturity? If not why and what do you reccomend?

Thanks

Sheldon

Q: Hi . Bloomberg today (28/3) reports that Cdn banks are pushing for a boost to deposit insurance. Does this mean they want to reduce the risk is of being unable to cover the 100k limit or do they want a higher limit? How do you interpret this move by the banks? Thank you for sharing you much appreciated insights.

Q: Hi, it feels like general tune has changed on ECN. Based on previous questions regarding ECN, it was highly ranked by 5i and most recently as a top 3 small cap growth stock recommendation based on potential and valuation, and management per question raised on Mar 21st. After the latest earnings reporting on Mar 23rd, it has fallen 25% since. Are potential, management and valuation (25% cheaper than Mar 21st) no longer a recommendation to buy, but rather to only hold? Would like to understand the thought process behind this if this and if this is a short term momentum recommendation, rather than a long-term recommendation. As well, were general headwinds not expected on recession and higher interest rates? I understand that magnitude was more than expected but likely temporary? Thanks!