Investment Q&A

Q: I hold Loblaw's in an RRSP account. Have nearly a full position in Loblaws. 75 shares of Weston was added to my account late last year. Should I hold both, sell Weston or add to Weston holdings. Your thoughts ?? Many thanks

Q: Hi Peter:
Season greetings to you and your team.
I would like your opinion on the trade(s) I was thinking about.
1) Sell full positions in POW and NFI.
I've had POW for 5 years and it has done nothing during that time except go down about 20%. However, I also think that at $24.00 it has potentially hit a bottom support number. I would be happy collecting the nice dividend it pays.
I also think based on your recent answers to questions that NFI has potential going forward.
2) If I sold POW and NFI, I would add to the positions that I already have of the other companies that are mentioned.
I'm well diversified and this would not interfere with my sector or geographical weightings or the amount of dividends I am receiving.
I think both scenarios have their positive attributes and would appreciate your thoughts. Do the trade or remain the course.
Thank you very much for your valued opinion.

Q: Looking for suggestions for Recession Proof Stocks. Could I please have your suggestions. Thanks!

Q: I had a half position in Loblaws before the Weston spinout, so now I have a tiny position in Wn. I'd welcome your thoughts as to how best to proceed. Do I dump Wn and build L to a full position or fill out Wn to a second half position?

(Supplemental info: If you looked at my full portfolio, you would likely say I am rather long on banks and utilities and short on consumer stocks, though I do have some ATD.b and ADW.a. However, I am about to retire, so I am keen on fairly reliable dividends.)

Q: The stock is down about 20% today. What was the reason? Thank you.

Q: Loblaws recently spin out Choice Property to GWL. What do you think of GWL and the spin out? Where would I find out additional info on GWL?

Q: Hi,
Would you please comment on the impact of the news that Loblaw will spin out its interest in Choice Properties REIT? It sounds like Loblaw Minority Shareholders will receive 0.135 common shares of George Westin Limited for each common share of Loblaw held. Does that mean after the deal closes these shares will be added to a brokerage account? If so, and if those Westin shares are sold, is this a tax-free transaction?
Thank you. Michael

Q: Which of the two stocks - L or PBH - is preferable for a long-term hold, with the lower risk? Thank you.

Q: What are your top 5 recommended stocks (in order of preference) that would do the survive the best through a recession?

Q: What are your top 10 defensive canadian stocks that, in your opinion, will best weather a significant economic downturn and/or market correction.
Thanks

Q: There are not many Canadian stocks in the healthcare sector. Telus is now in the Electronic Health Records business, and Loblaws now owns Shoppers Drug Mart. Would you consider L and T to be partially healthcare?

Do you have any stock suggestions for healthcare in Canada? If not, could you recommend US or European stocks that would be advisable?

Thank you,

Fed

Q: I have a question about CGI, which I've held since 2013, so I've done very well with them, but they don't have a dividend policy, so I'm feeling that the capital gain that I have is being lazy and not working for me without any divvy income to offset. If I was going to sell half, what would you suggest would be a good 3 to 5 year replacement to consider? I tend to favour medium to large caps, and mostly dividend payers. I also have Open Text and Syzlogist as other tech holdings, in a fairly diversified portfolio that includes international and US etf's. I currently do not have any resource/energy (I was thinking Vermillion) or consumer (I was thinking Loblaws or Metro, Dollarama looks expensive still)holdings.

thank you,

Q: I am having difficulty finding industrial and consumer defensive stocks that have decent yields and security. I suppose this is because they doing well right now. Do you have any suggestions? I am looking for stability in economic downturn, while offering a reasonable yield and dividend growth.

Q: Hi,
I"m going to sell my L and purchase PBH.

You good with that?

Q: Have NFI, DOL, and CIX.

Not too impressed with DOL, looking to sell.

Want to add a good growth stock. Loblaws and BCE look appealing. BCE appears on multiple picklists, and seems sector-leading . And Loblaws shows strong fundamentals and consistently growing profits.

Your views on these or other better options please.

Q: Would you expect PBH to hold up as well as Loblaw in a downturn? I hold both as part of my non-cyclical portion of my portfolio but I view PBH's growth prospects as greater and am therefore considering selling Loblaw. I realize that Loblaw is significantly larger although your report shows PBH's shares did hold up well in the last recession. My main concern with PBH is that a significant portion of revenues/profits comes from specialty foods. Would you expect this sector to hold up well in a downturn as I don't know if PBH product mix has changed significantly since 2008? I have no intention of selling PBH - I am just wondering if I can find a better substitute for Loblaw.

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.

Q: If insurance co such as Great West, Sun Life etc. were start including Medical marijuana products under the prescription medications that would be covered under their various drug plans, (group or individual), would a company such as Loblaw (shoppers) be the (a) way to play this or is this eventuality already baked in? Would it be a material enough impact L or others? I have not to this point been able to see my way clear to investing an any of the producers which I sense you are in agreement. Any other suggestions as to how one might play this if in fact such a development would be material to the industry?

Q: It’s becoming increasingly clear Canada is facing challenges on many economic fronts from increasing regulatory burdens, inability to attract foerign capital and sub-national debt at the provincial level. Given that these, among many other, factors make Canada a questionable destination for investment, I’m wondering about your take on what this means going forward. Apart from an increased international focus, are there some Canadian companies doing business in Canada you feel can benefit from a potentially deteriorating economic scenario in Canada. I've recently taken a position in GSY and am considering DOL. Your thoughts on these and other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Q: I notice that David Rosenberg will be on Bnn this Friday with Andrew McCreath.
On May 19 He published an article in The Globe & Mail stating that Trumponomics will cause the next recession within the next 12 months.
If he is correct, am I right in assuming that interest rates will then to begin to decline , eventually leading to better prices down the road for the bond proxies?
Could you recomend from your portfolios the best recession proof companies with a history of regularly increasing their dividends?

Q: Greetings 5i,

Despite their lacklustre performance this year, I am very fond of consumer staple holdings that focus on food and household products. My reasoning is that I consider their essentiality, as well as their (at least theoretically) defensive nature make them excellent, steady, long-term holds that do not need to be constantly monitored; thereby providing a "sleep at night" factor which I highly prize. Thus, my current sector exposure consists of full positions (5%) in L and PG that, barring some fundamental catastrophe in either, I intend to hold indefinitely. I also hold AMZN (5%), but, due to the breadth of its business, consider it more of a "hybrid."

To these, I am considering adding a position in COST, as I feel that, in addition the aforementioned reasons for favouring staples, its business model is perhaps better equipped to withstand the "Amazon effect" than many other retailers (WMT, KG, etc.). I am also looking to add some geographic diversity to my retail exposure, and view the recent weakness in the stock as a good potential entry point.

However, I realize that this addition would increase my sector weighting, and possibly create some unnecessary overlap. I would therefore like to ask your advice regarding this addition, and whether my reasoning appears sound.

I am 36 years old, debt-free, and relatively conservative. My investment portfolio is solely for the purpose of expediting my retirement, and I will have no need of its funds for the foreseeable future. Excluding ETF's, my portfolio currently consists of 22 positions (with none exceeding a 5% weighting), and is, for my goals and investing style, well diversified across sectors.

Based on my situation, does the addition of COST sound like a reasonable course of action to you?

Thank you.