Investment Q&A

Q: Hello 5i and Members:
wading into the "questions" comments: one question per person should be enough, imho. But members, c'mon, please use the feature to search by symbol: if the company you're asking about has been asked about 3 times yesterday (this has happened), then surely you shouldn't have to ask again. Go back over all the questions and you should get a precise position of 5i's views. Peter, possibly when this type of thing occurs, you could direct the person more often than you do. Being a nice guy has to stop somewhere (parents will understand this!).
Great service, great price and some very good (great) questions. There are also the other kind lol.

Q: Why do existing shareholders never get a chance to participate in new IPO's? It seems to me, as a common curtesy, existing shareholders should get first chance. I am thinking of the recent issue by AVO.
Looking forward to your comments.
Ernie

Q: I could not resist commenting... I thank-you for your UNIQUE service Peter and Team, and trust you will align the service to match YOUR values and those of the bulk of your members. I have learned much and yet still have much to learn. Based on my ROI of your services over the past few months alone I would subscribe to a lifetime membership at an instant. - Cheers.

Q: TCF
CBM Asia Development Corp

I would very much appreciate if you could share your knowledge and experiences as to what a "memorandum of understanding" is. Particularly internationally among different countries, ie Indonesia.
Is it generally a binding contract, or more often than not do we see MOU's fizzle and disappear?

As an aside. Thanks for your service. You guys have helped me learn a lot about companies I initially wouldn't have looked at.
High risk High reward penny stocks aren't the only thing out there!!! But honestly, they're kind of addictive. Stupid or not, it's kind of seductive for a young guy (I'm not leaving them quite yet because I need another fix/hit). Actually that might make for an interesting article.

Q: Peter $ Team .... my *2* cents. I love hearing your feedback on a variety of stocks here. To be completely frank, once one has absorbed the details of your model portfolio, the ongoing Q&A on a variety of market and stock topics here are what makes the subscription very worth renewing. *IF* you need to restrain questions here somewhat in order to continue to function well, my suggestion would be to find the balance you need to continue to offer this great service, but **please** don't choke this great learning resource down anymore than you really need :-) Thanks.

Q: Hi Team,
I totally agree with other members' suggestion to limit one stock per customer. (BNN's Market Calls have been enforcing this rule for a long time.)
I would further suggest one question per member per week.
Thank you so much for your great work.
Henry from B.C.

Q: PETER,My two bits worth on asking questions. I have been a member since day one. I will renew for two years.For me I may not ask a question for months, then something comes due and I need to invest in MORE than one security. For diversification I may need 5 or6.I have taken my lumps on Yellow pages and Atlantic power and a few more. I am a senior and am looking for yield and security of div. Very, Very hard to find these days. Your advice is not something nice to have , it is a necesity or you may walk into a mine field. Perhaps many of your members have not been down that mine field road. You and I were together on it in ATP. I would rather error on the cautious side, Ken

Q: Is buying the DLR etf, calling your broker once it settles to convert it to DLR.U, and then selling the DLR.U in your US account the most economical way you know of for an average person to convert Canadian to US dollars? (Not for investment purposes, but if you need US$ for other reasons).

Q: Peter & team. This is my penny's worth. You guys are the best analysts of stocks with best risk/reward ratio specially smaller out of the way stocks not generally covered. I've been there seen the early days and have followed Peter since before he was at Sprott. There is a real danger that you are losing focus on what you are best at. I strongly suggest you stick with answering questions to single stocks that you know well, nothing else. OK, one per customer at a time too. Henry

Q: Model Portfolio format

The Model Portfolio has some sizable winners which is not apparent from the Model Report which shows March 1st & October 31st prices followed by % Return for Month of October. There would be room to show a YTD # and yield.

Thanks

P

Q: I need some education. A high percentage of Canadian analysts recommend Crescent Point Energy (CPG). My own admittedly poor analysis shows CPG to have a net annual income of about $270 MM or about $0.55 per share…this seems to move around quite a bit quarter to quarter. Assuming I am in the ballpark, and since the current share price is about $40, this suggests a PE ratio of about 70. The current dividend of $0.69 per quarter ($2.76 per year) is not close to be supported by earnings so the company must be issuing new shares (DRIP program) and/or borrowing funds to pay the shareholders. When comparing very quickly using Goodle Finance to Vermillion, Suncor, CNQ, and Husky, I find that all are paying out more in dividends than they earned but none are as bad as CPG. If I am correct why is CPG the darling of analysts? Secondly, how can the other companies continue to pay more than earnings? Isn’t this a concern? Thanks in advance for the help in understanding both CPG and the oil and gas producers in general.

Q: I read with interest the article on stocks with negative Beta in Canadian Money Saver. Are such stocks used as a hedge on one's portfolio or are they bought once the market turns or?
Do you reccomend any of these stocks and if so can you name a few.

Thanks. Ray

Q: Desrochers Gentlemen,
Any you do not renewal for two or more years in one shot ?
Thanks and best regards

Q: Hi 5i I agree with Tim ( 5i don't think twice about giving the boot to long winded questions )
Twin Butte announced an $85,000,000.00 debenture at 6.25%, isn't this just another form of increasing debt, and if turned into shares just dilutes the no. of shares. Your thoughts please. Gerry

Q: Comment on the abuse of question and answer with multiple companies etc.

You have mentioned that changes are coming in the New Year. I hope this simply just doesn't encourage abusers to ask that type of question in December. I know the new year is a natural break and a good time to implement new policies but we want you to survive until the New Year. An earlier time line might be considered.

Bryon in Elmira

Q: Hello Gentlemen,
I dont agree with mr Paul, me too I am investing for 40 years, and having only 2 stocks it's more luck than investing.
Best regards

Q: Hi Peter,

I have been a member since Day 1 as well. I would partially agree and disagree with the comments posted regarding questions. I think it should be at your discretion to respond to questions definitely and you are at liberty to respond or not respond.But people will always ask questions about smaller and micro-cap names. This only adds to the database of companies which we search and decide whether to invest or not. Regarding portfolio's I agree that since the last couple of months this trend has increased and even I have asked a few questions like that and I also agree that one company per question is good for the search function as well.

Q: HI Peter:
I agree with Tim 100% asking about portfolio questions takes up a lot of time, because someone does not read what is being said here. The idea of having 12 stocks in a portfolio does not make any sense, when 4 or 5 will do nicely. I have been investing from the age of 22, and I am now 65. To be an investor requires you to have the patience of a spider ,not that of jack rabbit!!
My portfolio consist of two stocks which are up 72% from March. This is an excellent service, if you just read, and understand what you want. Be a spider, then you will do fine over the long run…. Stocks go up, and they go down that’s just the way it is.

Q: Following up on Tim's November 25th comment, I only recently became a member of 5i Research and I, too, find it irritating and pointless that some members ask your opinion on half-a-dozen or more stocks or describe their investment strategy at length in the hope you'll approve. If it ever comes down to a vote, I'll go for on one stock only per question.
Thanks for the valuable service you provide.

Q: I second Tim's comments. I would much prefer to see detailed responses on individual companies rather than multiple companies that members are asking about. I think that the prize goes to the subscriber that asked about his 30 position portfolio. Also subscribers are asking about speculative stocks and requesting various portfolios including one meant for gambling. I have some money with an investment firm that provides various 'portfolios' and after a while it is easy to lose focus and become confused as you try to cherry pick from each and end up with a mish-mash of companies in your personal account. Your model portfolio is excellent( and preferred) as it brings together a well thought out mix of blue chip larger companies with more aggressive smaller companies. As I saw it, your service was set up to identify real companies with good management and good track records that generate profit and free cash flow. And I think that your rating system does a great job in this regard. I think some of your subscribers are losing sight of this. I suppose that it comes down to time and resource management on your part but I would much prefer detailed information on individual companies and timely updates to your 5I reports. Otherwise as Tim said we could all be losers.