Investment Q&A

Q: Peter; What do you think of using this plus XGD in this market environment? I'm thinking of a 5% position in each. Thanks and keep up the hand holding! Rod

Q: Recently and in very short order, the TSX blew through a correction (10% down), then quickly passed through bear market territory (20% down) and is right now on this very bad day about 26 % off its high. At what point do we start calling this a market crash? At what point would you consider there to be blood in the streets? It certainly feels like the blood is being sucked out of my portfolio!

Q: Hello. I don't usually ask questions but do regularly read the questions and responses on the site and greatly appreciate your non-partisan responses. I hold all of the following REITs and real estate oriented holdings (not in equal amounts)and would like to ask the following in regard to each: What is their current payout ratio (by whichever criteria is most relevant for REITs) and your opinion as to which, if any, might have to cut their dividend over the next year? I know for example that D.UN has a high dividend yield and a high payout ratio based on their exposure to the Alberta market but don't really know whether or not to believe them when they say, as they do, that their current dividend is sustainable. Many thanks, and please feel free to charge more than one question to my account if that is felt necessary.
AP.UN, AX.UN, CAR.UN, CSH.UN, D.UN, FCR, HR.UN, KMP.UN, NWH.UN, PLZ.UN, AAR.UN, SRU.UN, REI.UN, NVU.UN.

Many thanks for your response and for the service you provide. Don

Q: I have been watching T.KXS waiting for a pull back to initiate my position. With it down 6% as of right now would you be comfortable initiating a position? half position? or would you wait for further decline?

Q: Based on your time and experience in the market,does this feel like capitulation? Could the the energy pipe stocks like IPL,TRP and ENB be viewed as the candian bank stocks of 08/09, sold in capitulation(fear) to provide an incredible buying opportunity for those brave investors who looked like they were stepping in front of a "freight train"?

Q: Hello, for a while there I thought I was the only one thinking a huge opportunity was in the offing with energy. Recently I read in 5i that there was two schools of thought. One - run for the hills / two - it's an opportunity. I like wcp and I like surge. I want to start adding as the weeks/months tick by. I might be short sighted (not to be confused with shorting, I don't have the stomach for that) but my primary worry is that either Sgy or wcp will fail and disappear. I believe if they survive there's money to be made. Are they foreseeabley at risk of bankruptcy?

Q: Scotia itrade research has a revenue breakdown of this company as 75% Tims and 25% BK. Can this be right? I thought BK was much larger than Tims. It also has 41% of revenue coming from Canada. Is that correct?
5i I believe has recommended it. Do you not think that at 25-30x forward earnings is too expensive? Or does the growth potential justify the price?
Thanks
John

Q: Which would you buy today: CSU or ESL?

I currently own both, with my CSU holdings 2X the size of my ESL holdings. I also own OTC and GIB.A, both slightly less than ESL holdings. I am leaning towards CSU or ESL, but you could sway me to add to OTC or GIB.A.

Which one would you buy today for a TFSA? Or should I wait another month or two for the volatility to settle down?

Paul J.

Q: Any idea what the average % of Black Pool trades is to the average total daily trades on the TSX?

I have info for the U.S. markets and know how to identify them but not yet for the the CDN. markets.

I assume the rules are the same for this side of the boarder as they are south of the boarder. That being that the "big boys/girls" do not have to publish their trades until: after it is complete, at the end of the day or at the start of the next day.

This often explains why there are often price spikes with volume but they did not actually happen when retail investors think they did!

Q: I currently own 100 shares which is less than 1 percent position. So with such a small position I am inclined to sell now rather than wait and receive less than 50shares of the new company. Does that makes sense and what is the value of a bin share based on the deal-currently it is fluctuating quite a bit and I not sure what I should accept as the sell price.
Thanks

Q: good morning, i don't understand what my book value will be for the new suncor shares that will be coming into my portfolio (converted from cos). Do I take the loss on the difference on the COS shares from my original purchase price, and get the new suncor shares at what they are trading at now? ~$20/sh? thx

Q: I hold EEP in my RRIF and have watched it drift lower these days from 40.00 to 17.00 U.S. in the past year. The dividend is now over 13%, is this sustainable? I also hold ENF and their shares are much in the same boat dropping from 40 to 26 dollars. Do you have any recommendations here for the future. Thank You

Q: It is possible the response to Ed about his proposed investment in a gold trust may have missed a part of his question.
While it is true that a declining U.S. dollar is "good" for the price of gold in nominal terms, it does in fact at mitigate any gains a CDN investor might enjoy from a gold investment assuming he is converting back to CDN dollars when he cashes out. I think that is what Ed was getting at. Gold investments from a CDN dollar point of view kind of have a built-in hedge associated with them because of the Typical inverse relationship between U.S. dollar and gold price. Of course the hedge works both ways and can mitigate losses when gold goes down. In any event, the negative correlation is not a perfect one so "real" gains can still be made in a gold investment even in CDN$.
I realize 5i knows all this but it is something that can sometimes be overlooked in discussions re commodity prices.

Q: Hi Peter & Team!
Can you name some company stocks/investment vehicles that would do well due to the constant demand for internet bandwidth/data/streaming. These investments could be either on the TSX/Nasdaq/NYSE. Thanks.
denzil

Q: May I please have your views on Pivot Technology. Thanks.

Q: I own (have for 6 yr.) the ETF XRE in my RIF; however, was thinking of buying this one for my non-registered acct: on a TTM basis P.E = 4.6, P/B = .75, ROE a healthy 21% and the P.O. Ratio 55% - the only negative I can see is debt is over 4x equity. I was thinking of adding this one as a small position of 1500 shares - what do you think??

Q: your thoughts

Q: My earlier question on ala.pr.u was not answered. Can you please advise?
I am resending the question:

ala.pr.u is a rate reset preferred share in US denomination. The rate will reset in 2017 at 3.58% plus the 5 year US Government bond.
While the steep decline of the Canadian Preferred rate reset shares is understandable because of declining Canadian interest rates, the decline of ala.pr.u from $25 a year ago to $17.30 today is puzzling.
Can you please provide some insight as to why this US dollar preferred share has lost 40% of its value if the reset rate will depend on the 5 year US Government bond which is 1.46% today vs .57% for the respective Canadian rate??
Thanks

Q: In each of the past 4 years, this stock has risen very substantially in the first 3 or 4 months of the year, to a high between $12 and $14. Currently its price is close to last year's low, (though not quite as low as the $7 price in January 2014). Debt ratios seem consistent with prior years and revenue seems to be increasing. In 2016, won't this stock benefit hugely from the low Cdn dollar ? (Poloz presumably would expect so) Do you expect that in 2016, this stock will perform in a similar manner to previous years and will rise substantially ? What are your thoughts and rationale ?

Q: COULD I HAVE YOUR VIEWS ON SPECTRA 7 PLEASE. THEIR PRESENTATION IN DECEMBER AT THE CIX INVESTOR DAY WAS VERY IMPRESSIVE. THANK YOU