Investment Q&A

Q: Hi,
I'm wondering what's up with GSY lately - or should I say down? It had a good jump in Feb and now is threatening to drop below that. Are you aware of anything of concern that is driving shareholders to sell? As always, I look forward to your opinion!
Thanks,
Dawn

Q: I just read your report on propel holdings. They sound like a good takeover candidate for GoEasy. Will give GoEasy an entrance and exposure to the US consumer, as well as Propel’s AI program. What are your thoughts on this?

Q: Regarding Sheldon's question about the drop in GSY on March 25th, a consumer credit lender, CURO Group Holdings, filed for bankruptcy today. There are more details in the press release. CURO now trades for 7 cents, down from $20 two and a half years ago, so it's been a long slide into insolvency, the opposite of GSY, but it makes some people nervous enough to sell.

Q: Could you comment on a bit downturn and on results

Q: In an earlier response to Olympia Financial Group regarding a 1% interest rate increase/decrease having a 33% increase/decrease on the companies annual earnings you said:
"this sensitivity to interest rates is common for financial companies that earn interest on a large investment holding (such as brokers, insurance) "
Please name 5 Canadian companies more sensitive to interest rates (on earnings) then Olympia Financial Group? I want to track a basket of these stocks.

If you expected rates to be revert to 3-4% for the next 10 years is Olympia still a good investment at these levels today?

Q: In comparing total returns of the respective banks from Pre-Covid and then from Mar 16 2020 to present why does 5i continually endorse BNS - is it simply the DY ?

Q: Hi 5i,
I've held GSY for a number of years through both steep increases and steep drops, and currently am up 24%, including dividends. I've been heartened seeing it recover from the $90 range to its current $165 or so, but wonder if it's got much more in the tank...?
Maybe just an itchy trigger finger, but I'm mulling over selling 1/2 of my GSY and using the proceeds to purchase PRL - the rationale being to spread the investment risk allocated to such lenders between two companies rather than having it all with one, and also for the prospect of greater capital appreciation and dividend return over 3 years or so for the share of the funds put with PRL.
What do you think - wise move or unnecessary fiddling with a good thing?
Thanks.
Peter

Q: Where can I find any information or the best write up you've seen on Mastercard or VISA's "value added services". Stuff outside of their payment network everyone knows about.
I basically only ever find information on the payment network and then descriptions of the value add stuff is super short and surface level only.

Q: How the above insurance companies rank in comparison to one another for total return?

Q: What is your opinion of Money Lion? How do its prospects compare to, for example, SQ, STNE, PYPL or PAGS?
Thanxx!

Q: What are some of the negative outlooks of GWO? Is it worth investing in as of today and if so is it primarily for the dividend or growth? And how come lots of analysts are reiterating a hold? What insurance company would you recommend over GWO?

Q: Hello,

If you had to chose between OWL vs ARCC, which would you chose. Thanks

Dave

Q: Hi there,

Following reporting things are looking sketchy…do you have enough confidence in management to continue to HOLD….or?

Thanks!

Q: This stock was recommended on BNN. The ticker is OWL in NY which I do not see in your list. Can you comment on its possibilities?

Q: What’s your view after earnings?

Q: What's the story here?...banks stocks don't go ballistic....

Q: Hello 5i,

I currently hold both BN and BAM in a 3:1 ratio. If looking for the highest overall possible return, over a 10+ year period, would it make sense to consoildate my BAM into BN?

Q: Still considering OLY and after reading the report it seems clear what drives earnings as of now, and what can bring them higher or lower quite quickly and that would be, Interest Rates
Olympia noting in the annual report that they are exposed to interest rate risk as the cash portion of the off-balance sheet arrangements ($1.00 billion), from which Olympia Trust earns trust income.

2023 Earnings this year were $21 million... according to the Annual report (pg 26) if rates change +/-1% it is estimated that Olympia’s after-tax earnings for the year increase/decrease $7.69 million (noting prime rate at 7.2%)

So rates drop to 6.2 % and earnings drop over 33%?! Is this not essentially a bet on rates at this point or am I missing something?

I guess reading annual reports could pay off (as knowing this when rates were on the rise with no slowdown coming would have been beneficial)

Thanks for your Input

Q: MCan Financial is selling 1.6M shares at $15.40 to raise $25M. This is about 5% of their market cap. What is your feeling on this dilution and how do you see it affecting their dividend? I have enjoyed their high dividend for many years and am now wondering if this is a worrisome sign, or is it a cheaper way to raise operating capital? The drop today brings the price to close to the $15.40 mark. Do you expect the price to fall further once the offering is closed and people try and sell their shares?

Q: The company is an interesting profitable small cap. Looking at their income statement bad expense is a large component of total revenue. I believe they deal in giving smaller high risk loans. Is their business model sustainable and scalable ? If you like what would be good entry point ?