Investment Q&A

Q: It would appear that much of the success of leading tech/internet companies like Google and Facebook (which I currently have shares in) can be attributed to their ability to align themselves with, and then capitalize on, emerging technological and communication trends in society such as internet information gathering and social networking.

For investors, serious money can be made by identifying and forecasting such trends and identifying, at an early stage, the companies that can best capitalize on them by dominating the niche (think of the number of search engines that had proliferated before Google became the go-to web-browser of choice).

Based on this line of thinking, could you name a few companies that you consider best positioned to capitalize on emerging trends in communications and technology (Canadian or US)? Is there any hope for TWTR which seems to be in the right place at the right time but has been a basket case so far?

Q: What does it mean when a company is a good allocator of capital ? Can you please give a few exemples as part of your explanation ? Thank you.

Q: I bought Echelon Financial (EFH) about two years ago, it is now trading at my purchase price. Last quarter was a bad one and I am contemplating selling. Could you please give me your opinion if a switch is good idea and what would be your suggestion on the switch. Thanks

Q: Yr thoughts plz, esp now it has declined so much recently.

Q: It is my understanding that some of the Cdn. forestry companies have a fairly large holding in the US(land & timber rights). I was thinking of buying WFT, on pull backs, but I was wondering what percentage, if any, is due do there holdings in the US. Also, are there other Cdn. companies, that have a larger footprint in the US.

Q: I have 400 BAM.A in a taxable account that I am slightly above water on.

If I am understanding correctly I will receive 8 BBU.UN in “stock dividends”.

I don’t have much use for an 8 share position and would just sell them.

I am very tempted to avoid the “Pain In The But” that dealing with the tax consequences would entail for a very small transaction.

I am tempted to just sell my BAM.A, sit on the Cash and after this gets done possibly repurchase my shares.

My commissions to buy and sell would be $20. The tax consequences would be minimal and I have losses to offset that.

I do like BAM.A for a Long Term investment and the risk would be that the share price could get away on me before I can buy them back without this “stock dividend”. If it does I could look for something else.

If I do this what would be the first date that I could buy BAM.A without the “stock dividend”?

Q: Hello,
I have been thinking about selling CHE.UN & buying ECI.
Can I get your thoughts on this move.
thx,
Martin

Q: Could you comment on ATA and what you think the coming year- or two, holds for it. Thanks, as always.

Q: Hi
Is the current price a decent buy/entry point for a partial position or would it be better to wait for another quarter of results. Thank you

Q: Hi Peter,
I am happy to have held win through the terrible downturn. What have changed since? Is it time to sell with a small profit? Thanks

Q: Can you give me some reasons why this company is trading so low. From what I understand they are the patent owner of WIFI technology that helps congestion problems in high traffic areas. In this stage of WIFI development, this company should be in high demand and the stocks should be taking off. But the stock sits well below 1.00. Do they have the WIFI patent that there is stated in their google finance description or is the low price due to poor management.

Q: Hi can you help assess the market today? The US Fed announced that interest rates may be raised this year, increasing the chances of one or two hikes. This sparked a sell off in metal and energy companies. Is this due mainly to a sector rotation to another sector due to the news, or are interest rate hikes normally bad for energy? Given this news, what sectors would you expect to do well and which ones to do poorly, or has nothing materially changed today? Then there is Goldman saying that there could be a large correction this summer - is this also related to the interest hike potential?

Q: Lots of momentum behind Maple Leaf Foods. Owned them forever and sold out at $25.00. Now they are approaching $30.00. One analyst thinks they can go as high as $40 now that their restructuring is in place. How does MFI compare to Premium Brands a stock I don't own but have been watching.

Q: Any views ?

Q: You have dropped coverage of Trimac due to the proposal to take it private. However, do you have any idea whether the proposed price of $6.25 reflects fair value of the stock, considering that transportation is at a low point in the cycle ? Do you have any other transportation or trucking stocks you would recommend ?

Q: I am a retired, conservative, dividend-income investor with a pension, CPP, and mostly dividend stocks (AD, AQN, ALA, BCE, BNS, CPG, CGX, ECI, FTS, PBH, RY, TRP, WCP, WSP, WEF, ZLB, XIT, Sentry Cdn Inc, RBC Equity Inc, Sentry REIT, Annuities, Fisgard Capital).

I have a roughly 10% weighting in energy. I hold CPG in my Cash account and have a potential capital loss available. Listening to the CEO yesterday, it looks like the dividend will remain small for the foreseeable future.

Two options = sell and replace with a better dividend player, capturing the Loss. Or, continue to hold CPG as this seems to be one of the "go to" names as oil recovers. While I would like more steady income, it is possible if I switch energy names that the new holding would then cut its dividend.

Under consideration are BNE, VET, FRU, SU, CNQ, ZEO, XRE. Are there others that should be on the list? I don't want a small cap and I'd prefer an oil name.

I have tried my usual filtering with P/BV < 2.0, P/CF < 6.0, Div > 3.0% and Beta < 2.5 (not sure if you want to consider beta in this exercise because you want the bounce) and don't get anything that makes sense.

It is normally all about total return, but steady income is more important.

Help and thanks in advance...Steve

Q: Hi Peter and Team,

I own TMA in a margin account and would like your advice as to what to do: should I wait for the $6.25 price when (and if) it goes private, or should I sell into the market at the current price (it closed today at $6.16)? Having used the proceeds of Contrans CSS (when they were bought out) to buy Trimac, I'd rather not replace TMA with another transportation stock. If I do sell now, can you recommend a few suitable replacements in the Industrial sector?
As always, thanks for your valued advice.

Q: I'm looking for 5 Companies with low debt and reasonable growth going forward. Non material, energy or financials, Thanks

Q: Held MDA for a long time and frankly becoming a little impatient with it. Any comments on why I should consider to hold it would be appreciated. What's your view of Altus Group? Thx

Q: Acknowledging that you have rd-x as a top pick yesterday, which one of the following would you buy today for growth and reasonable risk: rd-x, bto, ric.
Secondarily, with the same criteria, which would you choose between rrx and cj
Thanks very much for the great service!