Investment Q&A

Q: I am considering buying the new Westcoast minimum rate RR issue once issued. Because it is owned by Spectra and just has pref shares O/S I have had difficulty finding much on financials. If possible, could you please comment on creditworthiness, safety of pref dividends and payout ratio if possible. Would you recommend it for very safe income. Thanks.

Q: If most of the present value of Trimac is in the current 5% dividend as stated in your report and it's over 3 years since a raise, what are the prospects for an increase with any upturn in the economy? To me buybacks, even initial ones, don't line my pocket like a dividend bump. For dividend payers such as this one would be possible to have the 5 year dividend growth rate shown in the report card as this info is not always easy to find on a company's website.

Also I wonder what is the probability of TMA going private since the management owns such a big chunk and the US operation is already private, presumably owned by this management. My charts on this co. only go back to 2005, if that's when it went public as an Income Trust, it must have been about $12, so I guess it would be a take-under around half that. Or could the much larger TFI be interested at this level?

Not sure how your report arrives at a revenue increase 1 year out as revenue has been declining in 2015. How about the age of their fleet and what is the replacement rate/timetable? I see they already have high debt.

Willing to hold on for a few years if need be but willing to take my lumps too if surgery needs to be done here.
Thanks, J.

Q: Good morning,

Further to my question on the 2 covered call ETF's of BMO. I have just learned that ZWA is currency hedged and ZWH apparently is not although it trades in Cdn dollars.. Does that affect your response. I really prefer the dividend growers but not sure of the impact of the un-hedged ETF. I would appreciate your input.

Ted

Q: this question is about rebalancing for "balanced positions" and those for "small cap growth positions" within an overall portfolio.

for example, ATD.B in the balanced portion of the overall portfolio now has a market value of about $25,000 or 5% of the overall portfolio.
as it understand the i5R investment approach, when it reachs 7%, then I would sell some ATD.B share to get back to a 5% weight, right?!

now for the small cap growth positions…..with the position cost being $2,500…..or about 0.5% of the overall portfolio,
what is the rebalancing rule of thumb?……..do I hold until a small cap growth stock gets to $25,000, or to some lesser amount that is less than the 7% of the overall portfolio???

Q: Hi Peter & Team,

In my RRIF, the only real estate holding is a position in FCR, which has been a nice "steady eddy".I'd like to add an "apartment" type REIT or real estate holding. I know you like TCN, but I see that they have some Alberta exposure. Which of the following would you suggest at this time for a position: TCN, MST.UN, or RUF.UN? (My feeling is that the apartment market might be better in the US, so that's why I've focused on these three names).

Thanks in advance for your valued suggestions.

Q: What are your thoughts on selling Goldcorp and Silver Wheaton (1.75% portfolio weight combined) to crystallize a tax loss and replacing with Franco-Nevada to maintain sector exposure? Thank-you.

Q: What is your opinion on ENB.TO 6 -12 months out ? It seems to be sliding to no end.

Q: Just a quick comment. You have commented in the past that too much news is negative and investors should avoid too much media and static. I get the e-mail on black Friday and it does cast a shadow of indecisiveness. The question is simple. Are you at 5I bullish or bearish on the next 12 months in a general sense? You don't have to be specific on sectors et. but rather how do you see the market (Canadian/US) I'm just simply trying to filter out all the news and concentrate on the big picture which you guys have a much better handle on than I have. Thanks for all the good work. Cheers

Q: When looking at 'insider trading', the following appears. Can you explain what it means?

38 - Redemption, retraction, cancellation, repurchase -

thanks

Q: I’m a bit surprised by your sell recommendation for Teck. A recent question by someone that had Teck in their RSP and wondered if they should sell, was answered with one word – “Yes”. I think they deserved a better answer.

You have earlier recommended Teck and I note that another advisory said back in August that Teck has a tangible book value of $29.59 a share. It’s Canada’s largest diversified resource company. Not just “evil” coal!

You’ve given excellent answers in the past re Teck and it wasn’t more than a month ago that you were suggesting patience. Maybe you can let us know what you’re reading for book value etc.

I recall buying Teck in 2008 at $3.40 per share. In 2011 it was trading at over $60.00 per share.

Patience grasshopper ;-)

Q: Hi,

You recently answered a question from Question: "Hi 5i: The stock market situation has changed a lot since I last did any rebalancing. Could you therefore tell me what weights you would now recommend for the 10 TSX sectors. Also, what sectors would you assign to MAL and BOS which Morningstar calls Basic Materials, and to DRT which Morningstar calls Services. Many thanks.
5i Research Answer:
These are general guidelines, and may vary somewhat from prior answers. Sector allocation needs to be highly personalized based on your needs and goals.
Info Tech: 15%
Industrial: 20%
Telecom: 5%
Financial: 15%
Utilities: 10%
Materials: 5%
Energy: 5%
Cons Staples: 5%
Health care: 10%
Cons. Discret. 10%"

Can you give me 2-3 stock picks for the next two to five years in some of those categories? Specifically...
Info tech.
Industrial
Financial.
Utilities
Consumer discretionary.
Healthcare.

Q: Your thoughts as an all-in-one for registered plans

Q: Jean-Coutu has fell 15% since yesterday because the governement will effectively make generic drugs cheaper. This is a huge part of Jean-Coutu's business. Could you discuss the impact on the company? (1) Considering the extent of the impact on their future revenues, how much do you think the stock could contract? Technically, there is some support at 15$. (2) If you were close to retirement, who you buy? I like the nature of the business, 2.5% dividend and the dividend growth history. However I don't want to see the stock fall another 15%. (3) Insiders were buying a lot at 19$ very recently, they must have known about the possibility of this happenning? Thank you team.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-26/jean-coutu-slumps-most-in-7-years-on-proposed-quebec-drug-reform

Q: I would never view the TVIX as investing -- unless one considers volatility an investment. That said, it seems it has a place in a PF in a very small way -- say 1% or less. The index seems to consistently settle in the 5.75-6.00 range as a low and when a world event comes along that causes the markets to get volatile, it can shoot up a lot in a heck of a hurry -- a bit of an insurance policy. The time to buy this is when all seems tickety-boo. What are your thoughts on this strategy. Thanks and great job by all.

Q: Hi, if you owned the lre convertable debenture right now, expiring in 2018/19, would you sell right now at about 30 cents on the dollar, or continue to hold hoping that interest payments continue and a chance of being able to get capital back at the expiry date?

Q: Any thoughts on tty.un, great yield.

Thanks

Q: Good morning

I am thinking of initiating a position in juniper nnetworks.The earnings estimates have been rising and the stock has been behaving very well technically.
Can you give me your opinion on the company regarding future growth and how does the balance sheet look (debt levels etc.)
Is it a good time to make an investment in this company?Are there other companies you prefer in this sector?

Thanks

Q: Hello much of our exposure to US is through etf's in Canada. However we do hold some stocks directly and would like to buy Visa. Do you see any significant risk to a rally in the US dollar over the next couple of years. It is just that Us $$s are so expensive presently. Thank you

Q: Good morning folks,
Would you be able to give the pro,s and cons of buying BEI.UN at this time? I know interst rates possibly could start drifting up soon but from what I can find out they have a six percent yield with a sixty percent payout ratio ,also have come down a long way from their highs. The "Alberta" influence could last a while longer but I don't think we'll be in the tank forever .

Thanks again,
Larry

Q: Recently someone I know has been talking about this company and I would like your opinion. They just sold their ownership of intellectual property rights of "PraxisLab" to Familiprix inc. for a cash consideration of $2,000,000. Also I heard that Telus has been in communication with the company with some sort of deal. I am not sure if the Telus deal is based on fact. The value at 2.5 cents seems cheap but granted this is only for high risk players. Thanks for your service.