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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: Peter and His Wonder Team
I must admit that most financial lending or managing institutions who specialize in some type of financial engineering make me nervous...Canadian Banks excluded! Please give me your assessment of this company...would you classify it as a respectable contra play or just a bad idea? Ha!Ha!
Dr.Ernest Rivait
Read Answer Asked by Ernest on May 01, 2017
Q: What do you think of Street Capital Bank (SCB)? It's been tarnished by the HCG brush, although SCB seems more conservative, especially as it went through a multiyear process to get its banking licence, just this past December. Thus, I would think that things would be in optimal financial and operational order.

Also, I would think that they would actually benefit from picking up business from those fleeing Home Capital.

The share price has already really come off significantly.

How do you see things?

Thanks,
David
Read Answer Asked by David on May 01, 2017
Q: Hello, I would like to "park" some money in a safe dividend paying stock. Your service provides lots of choices/recommendations. However, can you say with any degree of comfort which sector or particular dividend paying stocks therein would be less sensitive to an interest rate hike, and less of a bond proxy. Or, are all stocks paying a reasonable dividend subject to this risk. I was thinking of Enbridge. Thanks very much. Bill.
Read Answer Asked by Bill on May 01, 2017
Q: Looking to add a full position in your balanced equity portfolio ( which I am slow adopting). Currently overweight financial and energy so those are off the table. Could more or less add any other class and be ok for weighting. Recently added OTEX and ENGH as tech stocks so those are off the table along with MG, wsp. Which havew the best buying opportunity right now....wish I had picked up MX earlier this week when it tanked 4% on weak earnings...
Read Answer Asked by Tom on May 01, 2017
Q: Hello 5i team, I know this may have been answered in the past but...is there a reliable public site where company short positions are reported & updated? Am thinking of increasing my position in EIF but as per an answer today, you mention EIF has been shorted. I'll make my own decision to buy or not but would like to see the % of float shorted.

Also, please allow a (short) rant: Re earlier member comment about 5i being responsible for not getting it right on HCG/DH etc: let's remember what 5i is; a reliable (impartial) source for an OPINION and that's all. The decision to pull the buy/sell/hold trigger is all ours. To assign blame:look in the mirror. Keep it up 5i, you guys & gals rock!
Read Answer Asked by Harry on May 01, 2017
Q: For the past couple of years i have been building my Canadian equity portfolio. I have approx 25 names and the portfolio is approx worth 250k with a fairly even 8-10k per name. Up until now when i added new money i just purchased a new position in a company based on sector need. Now that i am at the point of not needing any new positions i am struggling to decide which companies i should be adding my new money too. What in your opinion is the best strategy for adding new money into an established portfolio?
Read Answer Asked by justin on May 01, 2017
Q: Sorry one company but multiple questions. I know you don't follow Distinct Infrastructure Group closely, but after seeing in Q&A was looking at for a microcap, but after looking to more, almost feel like trying to short. Wondering if you have time to look at a couple of questions.

1) Management took out an expensive $20M loan for acquisitions, made one acquisition for <$3M, took >$1M in Goodwill and the business lost >$200K in 2016. In 2017 they are refinancing and consolidating the acquisition loan into general corporate debt. What do you think of this?

2) The have seen material deterioration in income statement and balance sheet, and continue to issue a large number of shares. Is this normal to grow the business? Or sign that business will grow in size but not achieve profitability with that growth?

3) Do you have any data on material insider buy or selling in past 6 months?

4) Do you see any great risk in shorting specific to the company? ie. control of float being able to influence stock price even with deteriorating fundamentals vs general risk by definition asymmetric upside/downside when shorting
Read Answer Asked by John on May 01, 2017