Investment Q&A

Q: Hello Peter, can you tell me where can I find details of cumulative redeemable preference shares like, life, call price/date,etc. Which one of the above would you suggest, perhaps a better on or two.
Many thanks, J.P.Burlington

Q: I just received your reply to my question about LIF and in the reply you used the term OK 4 times. Once you had ' ' around OK. I have noticed the use of OK in many of your other answers as well. I am never quite sure how to interpet the use of this term. Does it mean JUST OK. i.e. "We don't really like it but it's not bad enough to dump on it" OR is it to be viewed in a more positive light. It always seems to me to be a bit of fence sitting.

Q: I realize past performane does not not indicate future performancebut MRU has outpermormed L and EMP.A on 5, 10 and 20 year metrics. I am looking for a long term consumer staple so at present I am thinking MRU or maybe all 3 makes sense also.

Q: Good morning, I am considering adding either IT or AYA do you have a preference looking at risk/reward and potential for future growth and dividend potential.
thanks as always.

Q: Q3 results are out; smaller dividend and a lot less debt. The company is doing the right things. Is this a good entry point for a small position?
Thank you.

Q: I had held LIF for a few years and sold it earlier this fall to take advantage of a tax loss. Am thinking of buying back in once Tax Loss Selling season starts (late Nov). Materials would represent 10% of my Cdn Equity portfolio broken down between SJ, AGU, AFN and LIF in fairly equal percentages.
In the short term I am buying primarily for the dividend income and understand Capital Appreciation may not take place for a few years till Iron Ore prices improve.
Your thoughts on my plans for the materials section of my portfolio and at current Iron Ore prices is LIFs dividend secure?

Q: This is a Canadian company with operations in the US. Not much info on it yet. Can you supply some numbers and give your opinion on this stock please?

Q: I am interested in the technology of plasma furnaces and its application in waste management. Do you have any insight into this area? PYR is one company I have uncovered. It appears that Westinghouse plasma corp (Alter NRG Corp) has been taken private by a Chinese company. What do you consider the best way to play this technology?

Q: P/E is 3.1 and it pays a 6.9% dividend. Would this be a safe investment for a retired person looking for a decent yield?
Thanks
Cathleen

Q: Dear sirs,

Looking for your opinion on the recent weakness of this reit, specifically with rescpect to today's $.50 decline.

Thank you,
Brad

Q: Seems to be on a steady downward spiral and the dividend is getting high.Is this sustainable and forward prospects ?

Q: Hi guys, I still hold both First Service and Collier and would like to reduce the real estate portion of my overall portfolio. I would like to sell only one and would like your opinion on which of the two you feel has the best outlook going forward. Which of these two would you let go? Thanks, Mario.

Q: Hello Team,
Could you give me your opinion on this company and how would you rate it compared to csh.
Thank You,
Barry

Q: I have been rebalancing my portfolio which has been heavily skewed towards Cdn Dividend payers as I am retired and use the income to supplement my Pension. My Cdn holdings are now fairly well diversified using your Income and BE portfolios as guides.
I have targeted 15% of my total portfolio for Cdn ETFs which hold US equities. The following are my current holdings and the % weighting: ZDY 9%; ZBK 2%; ZUH 2%. I am looking at adding 2% Tech exposure and am considering either ZQQ or XQQ.
Your recommendations for the Tech exposure and my overall plan for my US exposure would be appreciated.

Q: Imagine an investor setting up an RRSP with $15k, a 30 year time horizon, a desire to keep it simple (CAD ETFs), an ability to sleep at night when markets are down and a desire for a somewhat aggressive strategy. What CAD ETFs would you suggest as a portfolio? Thanks as always.

Q: Hi Peter and Staff
Like many subscribers confused now about what to do. I do like to keep a certain percentage in non dividend stocks and in the O&G sector have names like PPY,TOU,RRX among others.
In theory if these companies are making money but not paying dividends ,their stock price should rise and if I did need a dividend,I could instead trim say 5% of them annually and have the same value left as I would have if a dividend payer of 5% held flat in value.
I am confused like many as to why HSE would think paying a stock dividend is better than no dividend...after all we would own the same value of the company in theory whether we got no dividend or got more shares and our % of ownership in HSE did not change. Is it because they hope that if a cash dividend is not paid out, and their stock price holds steady, that we should be able to do what I outlined above for TOU,PPY or RRX if we wanted to raise cash?
Do you think all things being equal,this would actually happen..ie stock price per share hold steady so our value does increase due to more shares..cutting dividend for prudence sure did not help BTE price..wish I had sold it when they did cut the dividend.
Lastly ,do you have they will handle prorated shares that could be due to us on each dividend declaration?
Thanks for all you do
Dennis

Q: Hello,

I have all this stocks down.
FM -72%,
G -38%,
GSY -22%,
HCG -30%,
QST -84%,
SGY -63%
TOU -52%

The question is do I sell them (for tax purposes) and hope they will be around the same price in 30 days? buy some replacement now? which ones? or let them go because they are out of favor and move to something else? What do you recommend?

The amount to invest is aprox 200K.

Thank you
M

Q: Hi Peter & Co.,
I bought Husky years ago for the dividend, which has now been suspended in favour of additional shares. I am leaning towards selling the stock, but would like your thoughts on when might be the best time to dispose of my position. Will today's news of job cuts, salary freezes, and payment of dividends in shares actually help boost the share price in the coming weeks/months? If so, I can sell at a later date. But if this news is more likely to drive the price lower (beyond today's fall), I'd sell sooner. Your comments please. Thanks.

Q: Hello,
I own a 3/4 position in HSE and note it's just announced it will pay its quarterly dividend in shares starting in January. I don't currently need the income but when I bought HSE the dividend was a big part of the attraction. Do you think this announcement represents a change in fundamentals and I should move on elsewhere to perhaps Exon-Mobil in the US or Whitecap here in Canada (I already own Peyto and Chevron in the sector)?
Thank you.
Michael

Q: Thoughts on recent earnings release.