Investment Q&A

Q: During the period from 2009 through to 2014 I was a shareholder in Imperial Metals. I just received a "Notice of Settlement" related to a class action.

The basics are a $6 million settlement, minus $1.8 million to the lawyers, minus settlement costs, with the balance paid pro rata to Class Members (with a list of excluded persons, like Murray Edwards, etc.).

I've done a bit of preliminary work here. I held 3600 shares as of the key date Aug 14, 2011. I sold all of my shares, the last being in 2014. Cumulatively, I made a reasonable return.

I have followed CRA's direction and kept all of my documentation for the past 6 years. However, we flush all outdated official records (buy and sell confirmation slips). I would need to contact RBC to obtain copies and probably have to pay to get them.

In your view, is this worth pursuing...financially I would get "something". In reality, I am guessing the lawyers would get most of the money and there would be some scraps thrown around to the rest of us.

Any thoughts or guidance would be appreciated.
Thanks...Steve

Q: This is a general comment in response to D's question asked on August 14, regarding BNS. I would agree with 5i that it's the valuation; yield and growth + the price we pay for a stock creates future value.
For example, owners of quality individual shares obtain stock splits every decade or so. 200 shares of BNS bought in 1990 for $4,800, for instance, with splits, are now 800 shares. When you multiply 800 shares by the price of $80 it's $64,000. And, dividends now provide more than half the purchase price ($3.10 times 800 = $2,500) Stocks get safer as time goes by. BNS now has a $60,000 buffer before we lose capital; however you have to wait a couple of decades to get it.
D should be a holder of BNS and quality companies that pay a dividend. Yield + Growth + the price paid for a stock, will create value.

Q: Any suggestions for a Web site about US preferred shares?

Thanks

Q: This is a follow up to a question asked by Ok on Aug 14 and is not specific to Well.
Ok brings up lending stock to a brokerage and getting a return. In this specific case they were using Well stock.
I have never heard of this before. Its sound like a possibe way to gain "yield" .
Can you better explain this and also what risk is associated with doing this.
Thanks
John

Q: Hi!

Here is a puzzler for you....

In essence my question boils down to if/when one should sell an "A"- quality. dividend paying stock.

Example: I bought 100 shares of BNS at $55 and it went all the way to $92. I am still holding it (did not sell at all). It is now at $65. I get about $400/year in dividends.

A quick calculation shows that had I sold at $92, I would have gained about $4000 which is about 10 years worth of dividends without the wait.

Is there a handy approach to win in this sort of situation?

Q: You recently dropped coverage of NFI at $11.34 after initiating coverage with an A- rating at $54.51 in November 2017, for a loss of ~80%. When you reflect, are there any lessons you take away from the experience? Did you miss something in your initial analysis? I'm curious to hear how you reflect on what in hindsight was a poor investment and if you have any new insights or changes to your approach moving forward to try and avoid similar results in the future. Looking at the company snapshot from November. 2017, would you still agree with your A- rating with the information that was known at that time?

Thanks!

Q: When investing in telecoms, what are the best valuation metrics to know it's a good price to buy into?

Q: This may be a silly question, but, other than the price, what is the difference between PYPL:US and PYPL:CA?

DON

Q: Hi 5i,
Where would I go to learn more about stock analysis? Do you have any recommended reading?

Q: It is common for readers to ask what market expectations are for companies that you are aware of a few days before they report their earnings i.e. recently CSU, KXS and GSY. When you see stocks with bad market expectations, could you put an alert out that for example XYZ is going to have bad market expectations? In other words, give us the head's up on bad market expectations of a security before it reports earnings. I assume that NVEI would have bad market expectations before they reported. Thank you

Q: I am looking for companies that can "see over a recession", and has pricing power to counter-act inflation. An example: a company that helps another company (which is directly impacted by the recession). ATS comes to (my) mind.
What companies come to your mind?
Related: Continuing my own research, I read the Key Ratios for ATS on the 5i site.
PE 45, a bit high for my liking
But concensus EPS for next 4 Qs totals $6.56
At today's stock price, that's a PE of 11.5; that sounds terrific
ROE and Revenue Growth stats look good.
I'd like your commentary on this...."analysis"; moreover, what do you see in the Key Ratios that a retail investor should take note of (ATS, and/or generally).
Many thanks.

Q: Hi 5i,
Can you help explain why the BIPC.TO P/B ratio on your web site says the ratio is a negative value of -4.44? Do you think this ratio is very practical to assess valuation?

Q: Hi 5i,
Hoping you can clear up my confusion about something that I wonder about today and have a few times in the past..
The TSX is (I thought) closed today for the August long weekend holiday. Yet my CIBC Investors Edge newsfeed is giving me today's breakout stocks, percentage gainers and 52 week highs and lows for TSX stocks (MFI and LGT.A with 52 week highs and JWEL with a 52 week low) as of 2 p.m. EST today.
What trading is this all based on?
Thanks,
Peter

Q: Sorry if this has been asked before, but how do analysts come up with earnings estimates? Seems quite arbitrary if companies that have intimate knowledge of their own operations already provide forecasts.

Q: I'm noticing that my xei dividend which is supposed to be paid out July 31 is not in my account yet (I'm with cibc).

I expected to see it today Aug 1. Not yet. What is the usual wait for everyone for their dividend to be paid in relation to the posted pay date?

Thanks

Q: This is a question about composition of a rrif. I am 77: as I age I can no longer rationally think of long term holdings ie 10 years. In your opinion would it be wiser to shift to ETFs . I probably have enough saved to last my twilight years. I prefer the clarity of stocks but I would also prefer to be ten years younger.
Thanks for your wisdom

Q: We hear a lot about which companies might do well with AI, but we don't hear much about who does not. Surely there must be losers, perhaps companies that currently offer services that will be turned over to cheaper bots as AI progresses through the economic system? Your thoughts are appreciated.

Q: Hi Peter,

In a long-term account (20+ years), could you please describe what asset allocation you would choose (including %)? Would you stick to stocks and bonds and gold, or are there any other asset classes you'd want exposure to?

Thanks as always!

Q: Hi 5i,
I hope you might help with my education ...
I have trouble getting my mind around the concept and basis for owning hedged vs unhedged. I know it has to do with currency valuations but beyond that I'm afraid I don't really understand it.
As a real world example to work off, I've owned TXF (the hedged version) for a long time and have noticed that it's pretty consistently been out-performed by its unhedged counterpart, TXF.B. I bought some TXF.B thinking to at least even things up and ironically since then the hedged version has been doing somewhat better.
My problem is that I really don't understand the mechanics of how it works, and why hedged is better in some circumstances but not in others - and even what those circumstances are.
I know hedging is something i should understand better, and I hope you can give me a primer, even though it's likely a pretty basic concept and also likely not that difficult to understand. I just seem to have a block and don't feel like I've grasped the concept or the important factors to consider when thinking about it.
Thanks!
Peter

Q: Hi 5i, came across a very cool site full of information on economic events, pls share with the group. And no I'm not getting any commish :;

https://tradingeconomics.com/calendar