Investment Q&A

Q: would any of SHOP GSY or CSU be suitable for a RRIF ? or should they be in a TFSA ?

Thanks

Q: Hi there,

GSY has been brutally beaten down. Is it worth stepping into at $32? If one had no position in it, would you recommend a full position here, quarters, thirds? How would you proceed with buying it here?

Thanks!

Q: I’m struggling with why you would think GSY would do well in a recession. They serve sub prime customers with very little discretionary disposable income. Wouldn’t you expect these customers to be most impacted by unemployment, lost wages etc which would then drive late payments and then eventually loan losses. Initially I would expect GSY would take a similar approach to banks by deferring payments for customers to limit losses but eventually they will need to take them. New business will be impacted with branch closures, not to mention their leasing business, historically the reliable cash cow will be impacted as well without the foot traffic. Given the adjustment that big banks have taken to their stock prices over the last 3 weeks. GSYs massive drop looks warranted to me.

Q: Thanks for all you are doing during this turmoil. Your steadying voice is reassuring, at least to these ears.

Would you swap out a holding in ECN for an equal holding of GSY at this point?

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.

Q: Hi,
Much like LSPD in my previous question, I didn't ever except to see GSY down from $80 to $21. I took a small portion in GSY at around $27.60.

I read other comments on GSY , but just thought if you had anything new to say, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Q: Is there any company specific reason why GSY is down 27% today (so far) after major falls in price over the previous few days. Is this a serious buy opportunity?

Q: Do you see the regulators changing the rules for what non prime lenders can charge to help Canadians and essentially the client base of GSY and how would that impact on the company and the stock. Why do you think the stock sold off so much today?

Q: GSY: From 80,6$ to 36,5$.
Possibility of ±120% if going back to higher price

DOO: From 75,4$ to 29,3$
Possibility of ±157% if going back to higher price

AC: From 52,7$ to 15,5$
Possibility of ±240% if going back to higher price

1) Which one have the most chance at getting back to the higher price the fastest?
2) For a 12-18 month time frame, which one could recover faster?

Q: Hi,
What is their balance sheet?
Would you start buying them and in what order?

Thanks,
Milan

Q: These 2 stocks who have a very low PE are getting killed today with the market way up.
Is there anything that I am not seeing? Anything about the virus that may be the reason for this?
Thanks

Q: Hi Team,
Two part question, charge me accordingly:

For a US growth tech stock, what are your thoughts on Twilo? I own it, and I am down 32% on it. I realize the markets are in turbulence, but even before that it has been underperforming my other tech holdings since last quarter. Is there something changing with its growth story here, or is it simply a valuation catch up issue combined with last quarters results? When I bought it I was under the impression that they are in long term, secular growth trend here with their sms messaging business and as such. Should I continue to hold or should I be trading it in for a better name in the sector? Suggestions?

Also....what are your thoughts on GSY at the moment? Is it just me or is it one of the most compelling growth stories with dividend on the tsx right now, especially at current valuations? I am thinking its fall has been "unjustified" at this point and cannot see so far how this coronavirus would essentially hurt their business (being this is a virus scare slowdown and not a financial crisis) . If anything, perhaps improve it. We have lowered interest rates which should help boost margins possibly, and fiscal stimulus coming down the pipe. Just wanted your thoughts before adding more to my position here. I added on the way down at 65 (too early), and am thinking of adding more. I am not really worried about weighting at this point. My time frame is for the long term here (20yrs). Thanks,

Shane.

Q: Need to add to the financial sector. Prefer an alternative to banks and insurance because of dealing interest rates. I already have BAM.A
Ideas?

Q: Hi Peter and Ryan,
I am looking to take advantage from the current market dip and add the the above securities and ETF to my RRSP Portfolio. My time frame is 5 to 10 years. with adding the above I will be having all the 5i balanced portfolio stocks included. In addition I am adding some ETF and other stock that I think it can help my portfolio. Appreciate you advise of which stock look good at this time to buy (please rank). Is there any of the list I should avoid. Do you have other suggestions for good quality stocks and ETF (in the US and Canada) that have a good growth potential.
Thanks,
YR

Q: Hi,
Would you start buying these and in what order?
Thank you for great service.

Milan

Q: Appreciate your report today on recommended stocks to track in this time of turmoil. Above is what additionally interests me and can't believe BMO @ $75.00 Could you review your thoughts for each going forward & thanks!

Q: Good morning,

Can you quickly remind me how low (or declining) interest rates effect these companies? I'm curious if they, generally speaking, are positively or negatively impacted. I feel like they all benefit (money is cheaper for them to borrow for acquisitions - BAM, or loans - GSY), but I'm not too sure, especially with ECN.

Thx,

Q: Hello Peter and Co,
My 20 year old grandson has opened a TFSA with $22000 in cash, and is asking for advice how to start investing. Our suggestion is that he put a fairly large amount into an index fund ETF, such as VFV, and then buy several individual stocks with the rest. They would be small positions (~$2500 per stock) but a good way for him to start learning, and with markets down, the timing seems quite fortuitous.
He is considering the following:
100 shares VFV: ~$7500
40 shares GSY: ~$2500
35 shares BEP.UN: ~$2500
1 share AMZN: ~$2500 (CAD)
7 shares NVDA: ~$2500 (CAD)
200 shares VET: ~$2500
-------------------------------
TOTAL: ~$20000

We had also suggested CSU, SHOP, KXS, PKI, TTD, GOOG, AAPL, ROKU, FB

What do you think of the above approach, and what changes might you suggest? I realize VET stands out as quite risky, but should probably do well long term.
Are there any sectors or stocks or ETF that you would suggest adding/replacing? Obviously he has a multi-decade time horizon.
Thanks for your sage advice!

Q: Was thinking of buying GSY in TFSA now that it has dropped to the 53$ mark. My only real concern is that we go into a recession and loan losses increase. Seems that their loans go towards higher risk borrowers and with possible job losses / lay-offs during a recession the ability to repay these loans decreases. Am I thinking correctly?

Q: I currently own BNS, BAM and GSY in my Canadian equity portfolio for a total weight in the financial space of about 12%. I am wondering if you would currently favour a switch to SLF from BNS, especially if I could crystallize a taxable loss?

Also a comment about the questions on market timing that you have recently received. If you are reacting to volatile markets it may simply be that you are not as risk tolerant as you believe!

Q: An investing strategy question for a TFSA where growth is the primary concern, the investing horizon is 5+ years and I’m comfortable with risk. About 18 months ago, market turmoil resulted in me going all to cash in my TFSA. I have since returned to growth stocks and have learned to better weather the volitility that comes with them. Today I’m wrestling with the same capital preservation vs ride it out scenario as many investors. My question is what advice would you provide given my growth objectives. I’m considering selling CSU and GSY simply because I have nice profits, while keeping PHO because I’m down 30% and would rather not sell at a discount. Does this make sense or am I selling 2 winners and keeping a loser that might drop much further as the economy slows? Is selling PHO the better capital preservation move? BTW, I’m open to not selling anything in this market as you frequently advise the best move is sometimes no move. I guess I’m wondering what your thought process would be in scenarios such as this. Thank you for all of your guidance, at times like this it’s invaluable!