Investment Q&A

Q: I have substantial capital gains in both of these companies. How exposed are they to the anticipated US actions in the softwood lumber warfare? Would it be prudent to lock in some of these gains?
Thank you for your advice.

Q: Blockchain technology appears to be a potential "game changer". In the last week, both RBC and TMX have made a commitment to use it. Could you build a case in your mind to buy BTL or ACN now? ... buy .both? Neither at this stage?

Thanks.

Q: Hi 5i Team:
While I have a good sense of how my overall portfolio is performing I am struggling to find an uncomplicated method of assessing the contribution of individual holdings. When I try to apply a formula for CAGR say, I find myself stymied in almost all cases by having bought and sold shares over time,or having return of capital issues, or at the very least not necessarily re-investing the dividends in the same stock over the time frame in question but just somewhere in the portfolio. Can you suggest a workable way to bring some discipline (objective "hard numbers") to assessing the contribution of individual holdings to the overall portfolio given the above types of complications (and more)? If the answer is too involved/lengthy for Q&A perhaps you would consider the topic for a future blog?
Thanks,

Q: What are your thoughts on TFII over the next 2-3yrs?

Thanks.

Q: What is your current thoughts on BLX? Do you like it at all? If so, what are your thoughts on it short term (3-6 months) and long term. Thanks

Q: Any news on the over 6% drop in stock price this morning? Thank you.

Q: How material is the announcement of a settlement in the dispute over intellectual property (Photon Control Announces Completion of Settlement Agreement with Photon R&D [source: CW]) to the medium-term prospects for PHO?

This has been a long-term, ultimately successful, investment for me which I started buying in 2006 for an average price of $0.18, so volatility is not a big concern.

Thanks for your informative insight.

Q: Hi Folks: I am trying to get an idea of "debt" on some stocks as part of my due diligence. Since I can not find a website that shows actual debt, how reliable are
Debt to Earnings ratio (<1.5) and
Debt to Cash Flow ratios (<3)
Also, What does a negative D/CF mean?

Q: In a reply to Tom (April 10) re CCL.B you said that the company's "growth does not look good". Please explain and expand on this comment.

Thanks, Tim.

Q: Currently have no materials stocks. In the recent past I have owned cco, teck.b and hbm but as short term holds on weakness/momentum. Looking to add a longterm hold in materials but I am having trouble falling in love with SJ mainly due to the past 12 month stock, relatively low div of 1% and the general high for the sector PE of 18. CCL isn't a classic "materials" stock although I like the look of the price movement.

Can you make your case for me to jump on the SJ and CCL 5i bandwagon and/or suggest a few other options.

Working on matching the balanced equity portfolio.

Q: Recently some US shipping companies have made major gains. Rather than chase a high performer such as DSX I am interested in its preferred, DSX.PR.B, which is also moving up but more slowly with less volatility and with a high yield of around ten percent. (Another possibility: SB and SB.PR.C) Your advice, please. Thank you.

Q: May I please have your current thoughts on this company. Do you see any upside catalysts and is the company's debt situation a concern?
Thanks, Rick

Q: I hold the above companies (pretty much at equal weights) in my Utilities portfolio. I need to trim because I am overweight in the sector. Perhaps I should reduce the number of holdings by 1 full position. May I please have your opinion. Thank you.

Q: As a new member, I am puzzled by the composition of the Coverage Summary spreadsheet and accompanying 70-company report database. Perhaps I am missing something, but it seems to me that the research database would be more useful to an investor if it contained 70 companies all of which are highly rated. I don't understand the rationale for including companies that are rated lower than B. There must be more Canadian companies that would fall into the A or B categories. It also puzzles me that many of the companies in the model portfolios are not covered by the research.

In summary, would it be possible to include some notes on the website or accompanying the spreadsheet/database explaining how the 70 companies were chosen, how this research is to be used by an investor, and how and when companies are added or removed from the coverage.

Thanks in advance.

Q: I understand that cobalt is used with lithium in producing lithium batteries. Do you see a demand for cobalt? Are there any TSX listed companies mining cobalt that you would recommend?
Thank you.

Q: what is your take on igg. it is trading above the take out offer. should I sell or wait foe some news thanks bill

Q: Assuming you can't afford institutional IT (eg. Bloomberg), what is the best service for maintaining a watchlist; ideally, one that you could set to send alerts when price targets are hit or a stock is up or down a certain percentage? I am a 5 star client with BMO but their alerts are 15 min delayed (at best).

Q: I have both WMT and COST. I will cut one to buy AMZN. Which one to cut? Thanks.

Q: I have owned this stock for that past 2 years and watched it go down and now up, to where i am even now. How do you feel about it now, i would like to add, as i really like the real estate rental industry in the US. How is this co. valued now and is the dividend safe and how much growth in the next couple of years?
Thanks again.

Q: CGX has been flat for me over the past few years, and I'm thinking of selling my position and investing it in something else in the consumer sector. Do you have a preference between L, ATD.B, or DOL? Is there another name I should be considering?