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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: Hi guys,

I recently read the intelligent investor and it gives several metrics by which Benjamin Graham would analyze stocks. Given that the book was written so long ago, are the metrics still relevant or have they evolved?

I'm specifically referring to a few, such as:

1- Current assets should be at 2 time Current liabilities

2 - Uninterrupted dividend payments for at least 20 years

3 - P/E Ratio of not more than 15 times when using last 3 year avg of earnings

4 - Long-term debt should not exceed working capital

While a lot of the information is helpful, it seems some of these criteria are nearly impossible to meet in the current low interest rate environment where companies are leveraging themselves to buy back shares or do other things. While we need to keep a close eye on long-term debt, net debt to EBITDA or net debt to total capitalization may be better tools to use?

Thanks,
Jason
Read Answer Asked by Jason on October 26, 2016
Q: Q: I plan to have a portfolio which is good for one year, five year and ten or more years. My objective is to have good growth, capital appreciation with moderate risk. Capital preservation over three years in spite of high short-term volatility will be fine. Please tell me what you think of a portfolio I am considering putting together consisting of V-N, UNH-N, WFC-N, NFI-T, FB-O, AMZN-O, GOOGL-O, KXS-T, ENB-T, CN-T, CJT-T, BYD.UN-T. Your thoughts on how this may compare to the BE portfolio performance, volatility, Saftey. Equal weights would be purchased. I invite you to make any changes, additions, deletions? I will appreciate if you place these stocks from high to low priority.
I apologize if I am asking too much. Thank you.

Read Answer Asked by KAM on October 26, 2016
Q: Regarding the question about selecting half of your balanced equity portfolio, you mention ‘confidence ‘ ‘over the long term’ for stock like TOY and CXI over much bigger BNS and T ..
I’m not certain to understand ..do you mean confidence in over-performance over a longer period..at the risk of higher volatilty/risk ? Is it much better to buy the complete portfolio ?
thanks for the good work !
Read Answer Asked by Martin on October 26, 2016
Q: Hi, I have shares in Peabody energy which filed chapter 11 earlier in the year. Once listed with the "Q" designation, the shares lingered in the $1.50 range for about six months until the past week where they sky rocketed to what it is currently at $13.50.

Do you have an idea what machinations cause a ch11 stock to go this high? Also should I take advantage of this pop and sell my existing shares?

I read that once a ch11 company climbs out of bankruptcy they can issue new shares making existing common shares worthless. Is it possible that peabody may not do this?

Sorry for the barrage of questions, I am very curious how bankruptcies work.

Thank You,
Andrew
Read Answer Asked by Andrew on October 24, 2016
Q: Hi Peter and Team, Ken asked about GIC's for a not-for-profit. He may be able to get a higher rate using a simple savings account at Tangerine Bank since they have some "specials" that expire at the end of the year. Different clients receive different rates; my wife is getting 3%, and I'm getting 2.5%. I've also found that they'll "match" an offer from a competitor if you call them. These rates may be higher than GICs.
Read Answer Asked by Jerry on October 24, 2016
Q: Can you tell me what you think of a portfolio I am considering putting together consisting of some 5i all stars. Your thoughts on how this may compare to the BE portfolio performance, volatility, Saftey. Equal weights would be purchased. Sis, Syz, Zcl, toy, Pbh, Sh, Tnc, Esl, adw, Kxs, Gud, Rrx, Wcp, Cxi, Csu, Pli, xtc, Crh, sgy, Otc, Dbo, SJ. And a bank of you choice. Would you make any changes? If you don't think this would outperform then it will be the BE portfolio.

Read Answer Asked by Andrew on October 24, 2016
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