Investment Q&A

Q: Hi
The Investment Reporter newsletter rates XSR as a hold because of its negative Book Value. Yet, 5 of 6 analysts rate it a buy on the TD Waterhouse Ratings tab. It was even a top pick for Paul Gardner on Market Call a few months ago. Your thoughts?
Thanks

Q: Peter I just took (Aug 21 ) some substantial profits on Byd.un / Linamar ($70,000). Now I have capitol gains to pay. Any strategy you can suggest to lessen the impact. I would like to buy both of them back at some point is there any quick calculator that figures this out at what point it makes sense to reinvest? - I am concerned about eating up profits and paying tax ..Thanks for your advise it is much appreciated

Q: What do you think about having a stop-loss in place? Many investment gurus say to use them but most, if not all, of my stocks would have been taken out today with the drop in the market. And while most recovered to where they are marginally down, if they hadn't I would have been wishing I had put the stop-loss in!

Your thoughts?

Q: surge is now trading at a similar value to what it sold the asset to torc for.( 500 million) I know 5 i sold this stock but am I missing something else here or should I sell and move on.

Q: Altria was one of those stocks that actually announced an increase in their dividend as the general markets were "crashing". Can you tell us your opinion on what you think of Altria as a long-term income stock for retirement?

Q: Is BIP.UN a good buy at the current price?

Q: My understanding is that the courts recently ruled in favour of ENL against Allergan and upheld ENL's patents. I have equity in both companies. What I don't understand is why ENL is down more than 12.5% today and Allergan down only 2.5%. Is ENL a stock worth considering buying more of?

Q: I was listening to the CEO today describe that the dividend payout is below 50% currently and going lower than 45% in the coming quarters. With a stable but newer business what is your thoughts of this structure, Debt to Cash and Management itself. I am wondering if the stock will be stronger then most mainly due to the revenue projection and safety of dividend. Thank you as always Jason N

Q: Hello,
Could you comment on xtc and the effect of the trans pacific partnership pact.
thank you

Q: What are your current thoughts on SRV.UN?

Q: Hello 5I team

I am interested in MRC, I see that the company is trading well below book value (although I think it trades below book regularly) and the P/E ratio looks appealing as well. The debt levels look reasonable compared to other real estate based companies. Would you add this company to a well diversified portfolio or would you pick another real estate company which ones would you pick if so? Would you consider their properties to be high quality ( they look good from their web site but then every company makes their properties look good)? Do you think that they trade below book value because of the low div yield? What do you think of the management, have they made good acquisitions in the past, have they kept their balance sheet strong? Is this company well diversified geographically as well as sector wise ( industrial, residential, commercial, ect)? What caused the almost $8 dollar drop at the end of July, I didn't notice any news that would have caused this.

Thank you for your opinion.

Q: Woukd like to add to John's comment regarding trades not going through CIBC investor's edge. I have accounts at both TD and Scotia discount brokerages.
At 8:45am Monday morning I could see the carnage about to happen and I put in "market orders" for CCL.B, CNR and EMA at both brokerages. I would have been very happy just to buy at the opening prices. The Scotia trades were "rejected" and at 9:40 am I got emails saying the trades could not go through. The TD orders just sat there, not being executed. At 10:00am they were still marked as "open". I had to cancel all the orders and reissue them just after 10:00 am. This time all the orders were filled instantly. I am frustrated with this to say the least, as I left thousands of dollars on the table in that 40 min or so that my trades would not go through. CCL.B in particular had a big swing in price. Is there any recourse for me? Any way to avoid this in the future?

Q: Hello 5i. Just wanted to acknowledge the message in red in the opening page of the Q&A section. Helped that, as a 5i subscriber for a couple of years now, I've been trying to heed your sage advice to remain calm (and 'do nothing') during major market downturns ... though I admit it hasn't been easy at times while watching the paper value of my portfolio shrink! So great to have that reminder given the current market turmoil.

Thanks as always for helping retail investors like me learn how to keep the emotions in check, and as a consequence do a better job of managing our self-directed portfolios.

Q: Hi Peter Can I have your thoughts on this company I am interested in the sector and wonder if this a good play on security the results in the last Q looked not bad .
Kind Regards
Stan

Q: Hi Peter & Team: I would like to take advantage of the membership offer. Can I renew my membership now even the anniversary date is mid-December?

Q: Hi
Could you please help me understand how the SDY ($US ETF) went from $74 down to $46 then back to $71 on Monday?
I don't believe the stocks it tracks dipped 37%. Or did they?
Seems way to volatile for such a solid $13B ETF. Seems like a missed opportunity. And on that note, do you endorse a purchase plan that has buy orders in place at say levels 10-15% below current market prices..to help catch the dips such as this case?
Thank you.

Q: Just a comment, really.

It's hard to avoid somebody talking about the stock market today if you have a radio or TV on. Now, if you also consider the huge volumes (which none of the talking heads mentioned - at least none that I heard) I suggest we are seeing the capitulation and the end of this rout is nigh. Maybe even tomorrow. That of course, doesn't mean we have smooth sailing from here. Only for now.

Q: As I attempted to buy couple of companies (SJ, BOS) when they were significantly off their open price I was confronted with "order pending" messages from CIBC Investors edge. I called the help line and they said due to high volume it all trades would take at least an hour to be looked at before they could move to "open" (or filled) status. I was also told "all firms are experiencing similar difficulties". Is this in fact the case with all firms that offer online trading? I am not a super active trader and prefer to buy and hold (usually based on your great advice) but I was very frustrated with the unacceptable delays I experienced today. I realize that tis was an extraordinary day but should their systems not be more robust than this? Any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated. If you are not comfortable leaving in the name of my brokerage firm feel free to omit it. As always thanks.

Q: Thank you for quickly answering my earlier question today on REITs. Can you please suggest some of the preferrd "larger, residential companies" referred to. Are you suggesting that individual companies would be better than buying an ETF?
Again, Thanks.

Q: Which is most likely to be able to grow and to pay dividends
for the long term ( ten years )