Investment Q&A

Q: I am trying to balance out my portfolio sector weightings and am having trouble classifying where these 3 companies should go. I have all 3 of them as "Manufacturing and/or Industrial" whereas you have BOS and MG as "Consumer Cyclicals" and BDI as "Energy". Can it be argued that these are Industrials or should I just stick with your sector classifications?

Q: Do you know the % of insider ownership of ABT shares. For small companies I like to have that information but couldn't find it on a company presentation. Thanks

Q: In your latest article in the Financial Post "5 Things To Worry Investors", you mention seeing some stocks jump on earnings releases even though revenue and profit were lower than last year. Which stocks in the Balance equity portfolio would fit this description?

Q: ABT: recommended in latest 5i email: I read the description of it's business and it was like reading a foreign language - I am not a technology person at all and do not buy companies I do not understand; so, please educate me.TTM PE 23, FPE 270, make no or very little money, ROE 0, CF .23, and pays a healthy dividend. I currently hold no technology other than DH if it qualifies?

Q: What are the 3 best "value" picks or "cheapest" stocks in the Balanced Equity Portfolio right now?

Thanks, Shane

Q: Could I have your thoughts on todays press releases on IT. Thanks

Q: I was wondering about the coming or on-set of the drive-less buses. Are they going to be producing the drive-less buses? Do they have the knowledge to produce the drive-less buses? And, what about the the present production of buses, and how it would affect the change-over of production?

Q: Do the financials, notions of economies of scale and competition, street talk, etc lead you folks to believe that Magna may have any appetite to takeover/merge with Linamar?

Q: Could you please list your favorite company's for strength, growth and income for each of the 11 sectors. A couple of extras would not hurt.
Thank you. PB

Q: Good morning,
Interested in ABT and Greif Inc.GEF.US. Both have a payout ratio over 100%. How do you determine the stability of the dividend and are the dividends sustainable when the payout is so high? Do you expect the share prices to grow? Thank you as always.
Gary

Q: We are on vacation (but still reading 5i of course). Vancouver transit uses New Flyer made buses and they appear to be well made and designed. Much better than the clunkers used on the Wilson line here in Toronto.
Jim

Q: I'm planing on selling my position in Avigilon, sector weightings aside, which would you choose at this time between TNC and TOY

Q: So an "A" rated company, MDA, gets kicked out of the Balanced Porfolio for TOY. TOY seems to have public for about a year and looks to be much smaller than MDA. So why do you prefer TOY over NFI? Are you sure TOY should be in the Balanced portfolio - it looks to me to be more a candidate for the Growth portfolio?
Jim

Q: Hi Peter,why are you warming up to absolute software?did their last quarter looked that good?
Would you prefer ABT over ET?
Could ABT be a takeover target as well?

Q: Hi guys,

Your thoughts on ATD.B latest quarter.

Thanks

Jim

Q: All things being equal, would you rather sell AVO or CXR right now and why?

Thank you.

Q: I read Element Financials conference call transcript for Q2 and this what I got from it.

They have been winding down 2 portions of their businesses which intern has,
1) Reduced originations and lowered EPS
2) Returned capital to make them M&A ready
3) Short term from "30,000 ft view" makes them look like they are falling apart
4) But, closing these business books will allow them to redeploy the capital to much higher ROE investments to grow earnings faster

The split of the company has put some of it's business activity on hold,
1) M&A has been stopped until the split so no big growth in Q2 and Q3
2) 3 immediate acquisition targets will be pursued when split happens
3) New funds will be launched for income growth and to free up capital for M&A
4) Expect some major accretive acquisition(s) to happen and possible surprise earnings either in Q4 or Q1.

So in conclusion they are setting themselves up for greater growth and shareholder value. To do this they have to sacrifice income in the short term to strengthen their capital, plus delay growth until the split occurs.

Is my simplified summary similar to 5i's consensus on this company?

Thanks, Shane

Q: Regarding Intertain Group, they seem to continue delivering having just had a quarter that surpassed expectations nicely but the stock cannot get any traction. Would you say that the company is not trading in accordance with its fundamental strengths and has simply fallen out of favour? I am starting to look at it as a growth/value stock that almost inevitably has to move up 20% barring a scandal. Your thoughts?

Q: I would appreciate your comments on PLI's announcement this morning that it plans to acquire all of the shares of Telesta Therapeutics. Also is private equity or a large controlling shareholder behind PLI? In thie press release management exudes a lot of confidence about the future and it is hard to assess whether their confidence is misplaced.

Thank you, Peter

Q: I see QHR is trading at $3.12 which is above the buy out offer although at small small amount (2 cents).
Are these buyers hoping for a better offer to emerge?
At what point would it be wise to trade into the market to take advantage of this premium?
Thanks
John