Investment Q&A

Q: Hi Peter & Ryan,

The company I work for recently brought in a speaker, Salim Ismail from Singularity University, to talk about 'exponential organizations'. The basic premise was to discuss the speed of innovation and disruption that's occurring today. The improvements in various technology is doubling every year. I can't help but wonder if I need to rethink some of the companies I've invested in (from your portfolios).

For example, he gives the example of the drive train in a combustion car having about 2000 moving parts, while a Tesla has 17. There's a small company in the US called Local Motors that has a car with only has 50 parts total and takes 1 man hour to assemble, compared to the average combustion car that has 25,000 parts and takes 1000 man hours to assemble. What does this mean for a company like Magna? Also, with so few parts, there won't be a need for car maintenance. The use of autonomous cars, which should result in less accidents - how does this affect Boyd? EV's in China are also doubling every year, now at 5%. It doesn't take long before it becomes a very significant portion of the market.

Another example is the energy sector. The price performance of solar energy has also been doubling every 2 years for the past 40 years. At this pace, the world supply of energy could be met in just 13 years. The costs of solar (unsubsidized) has been dropping and is now cheaper than all other forms in the US. Obvious question is where does that leave the energy and pipeline companies? Maybe we should be more focused on solar panel makers and solar energy storage. Again, the shift from combustion to electrical vehicles comes into play here as well.

If a company isn't going to be a disruptor (like Tesla, Google, Uber, Amazon), they at least need to be flexible and adaptable. is this a key metric when you grade a company?

I'm interested in your thoughts.
Thanks

Q: Is there a web site that provides details of buy or sell trades made by company executives, directors or other key management people?

Q: This is a response to a question asked by j stuart regarding the Globe and Mail stock watch list having recently disappeared.
Globe and Mail has now transitioned to a new platform in an effort to add more functionality etc. Currently only subscribers have access to most of the features that were previously free. As it stands right now being a long time subscriber, I find the new platform is full of bugs, lacks many of the previously available details, is missing many of the previously available tools and is a very frustrating work in progress.

I have been tracking my performance and ACB's for almost 15 years using the paid subscription on the old platform service and now I am quite unhappy with the current status and fear that I may permanently lose my data and the information I rely on to track my investing performance. Hope that helps those considering this paid service.

Q: Hi,

Is there a web site where I can see the short positions on various stocks? In the same vein, is there a site that detail which days companies report their results?

Thanks

Q: Good Afternoon: Another question about preferreds. I notice that kml.pr.a, a Kinder Morgan Canada preferred is now trading more than a dollar below its par value of $25. This is a rate reset with a guaranteed minimum of something above 5% yield. My suspicion is that this has something to do with the current deep malaise of anything connected to the energy sector in Western Canada. However, KML surely has a viable ongoing business as long as there is oil and gas to be transported from source to elsewhere. I could see the negativity if the switch away from fossil fuels to renewables was imminent, but this hardly seems the case. Or am I missing some factor that is peculiar to KML and its operations. I actually thought it came out of the deal involving TransMountain pretty well. Your comments please. Don

Q: In response to Stuart, another free tracking tool for equities is on Morningstar.ca. US and Canadian. It is pretty good and has news and other features. Free registration required.

Q: I'm often sitting with ~$5K-$10K in cash reserves, which sit in my TFSA/RRSP account while I wait to decide how to invest that money. Usually the money sits for a Quarter or more. What are your thoughts on investing the money into XBB instead of letting it sit in cash? It pays a 2.95% Yield and historically has been fairly stable (thought it has dropped in value this year).
Given my time-frame, do you think its worth investing the money into XBB while I wait to decide how to invest, or better to simply have the money sit in cash?

Q: In answer to Stuart, who was looking for somewhere which would give him information on his stocks, I have found that Yahoo Finance does a good job of this. Once you put in your list of stocks you'll get a grabbag of the latest stories at the end of the list every day. Or you can click on any given stock, page down past the usual financial information like the stock chart for today and find the latest story on it, including earnings releases. Works for both US and Canadian stocks.

Q: The Globe and Mail seems to have dropped their Stocklist function which used to enable me to go to Stocklist and then bring up all news on my Stocklist including earnings releases and other news. Is there another site offering a similar function. Cannot understand the change at the Globe and Mail it was the most useful feature they had.

Q: In attempting to assess the performance of my (mainly 5i) portfolios, how dividend %ages determined? In other words, do I divide dividend $ by the "book cost" of a portfolio or by the "market value" ?

As always... as learning experience.

Thanks again.

Q: Hi Peter,
I meant to ask this a while ago but it slipped my mind. I saw a reference to an article that I believe you wrote a few weeks ago in either the G&M or Financial Post. I could not locate the article. It was called SOCKS, a Cdn equivalent to FAANG. Would you have a link to that article?
Thanks
dave

Q: Can I have common share dividends paid in US$ or do I have to buy them on the NYSE to have them paid in US$?

Q: Hi 5i,
The majority of my portfolio (70% - i.e. everything non-Canadian) is invested in XAW & XUU, which I add my savings to regularly to keep my geographic allocations where I want them.

I will shortly be receiving a sizable (to me) lump sum from the sale of a small business and will be putting most if not all of it into my portfolio. My question is about currency hedging on ETFs like the ones I use. I don't have any hedged investments now. I've read everything I can find on the subject and it seems smarter money, especially with long term investment horizons, stays away from these hedged options.

I know that fact alone probably answers my own question. But, with a sizeable one-time contribution, I cant help wondering if our current 75/76/77 cent dollar might be hovering at its lows, and maybe hedging should be considered? Looking for your opinion on that subject, and also how you feel in general about the two ETFs noted above. Any better suggestions?

Thanks so much!

Q: I am curious about the parameters of "cyclicality" when it comes to different sectors. For example, the chip stocks (including AMAT) are apparently down because of a cyclical decline across them all. In this industry, how long does such a cycle typically run? In comparison, for example, to the commodities cyclicality, which can be many years (I have heard 10-15). Your answer will help me decide whether to take a tax loss on AMAT or hold on for a year or two. Thanks!

Q: Hi Guys,

I just completed my election of Directors for GS. When voting for directors you had two choices: Vote for a director or withhold a vote for the director. To be ridiculous, let’s say that all shareholders, except one, withheld their votes. The one shareholder votes for the director. Would that director be elected to the Board?

This method is used by many Canadian companies. I want to understand how and why they use this method. It really doesn’t seem like shareholders have a voice in selecting directors if the only vote that counts is a vote for a director.

Thanks for the information.
John

Q: Hi

What are your sources or how can we find that a company or stock is shorted.

Thanks.

Q: Earnings 52 Week Low
Yield (%) Price % Diff
Badger Daylighting 6.7 22.37 15.90
CCL Industries 5.3 52.01 5.59
Methanex 8.7 62.30 28.27
I'm looking at buying one of the above companies. Based on today's stock price, I am torn between what is a more useful metric, Earning's Yield (MX) or 52 week low (CCL.B) or a combo approach (BAD) for an entry point. In your view which metric is more relevant for a 5 year investment horizon?

Q: You've recently mentioned the potential effect of activities of money managers on this market, specifically buying and selling to make targets to ensure their best bonus and keeping up with their competitors.

When does this sort of "bonus securing" activity occur-now near the end of the year? Every quarter?

I suppose I'm hoping to know when large institutional buying and selling are at their highest and lowest, over the course of a year.

Cam

Q: Can you clarify what you meant in answer to Lee’s question on “likes” when you said “We have the 'heart' for personal favourite questions, ”$

Q: Does any market research companies in the USA provide similar information about the American market like 5i does for Canada?