Investment Q&A

Q: Hi Peter and 5i: I have been reading Ben Graham's “The Intelligent Investor,” on your recommendation among others. Thank you for that. It is a wonderfully provocative read. It has me considering the increasingly defensive positioning one might come to in the later stages of a bull market through balancing and rebalancing the fixed-income and equity components of one’s portfolio. I am considering capital preservation strategies including diversification between components of conventional bonds, cash & short term income vehicles on the fixed income side of things, and (ironically?) gold on the equities side. But I am also wondering about the inclusion of non-leveraged short or “inverse” ETFs (MYY, HIU and the like) specifically to hedge the risk of the long equity positions I might be inclined to hold or accumulate throughout a market downturn, and also to provide the possibility of some positive equity-based returns in a declining equity environment. I wonder though about how reliable they will be in delivering the suggested returns, especially in what may be perceived as “crisis conditions” in the markets. Have they been tested over sufficient time and sufficiently variable market conditions to warrant confidence for capital preservation purposes? They seem to be investments in derivative instruments which are likely not well understood by many investors (me included!). That description reminds me of the “black box” ABCP investments that caused a significant crisis of confidence prior to the 2008 market meltdown. I also wonder about the dynamics of a derivative products market which becomes increasingly larger than the supposedly underlying repositories of value (the equities themselves). Should one be concerned that the next major market crisis may result from a loss of confidence and unravelling of the same derivative products that people may be depending on to protect them from a bear market? Am I completely off base or would you suggest any parameters for restricting one’s approach to investing in specific kinds of “non-leveraged” inverse ETFs or ETFs in general? Thanks for any thoughts! (Please feel free not to post this if you think it is unsuitable.)

Q: hi peter I am thinking of selling my shares in arx and buying surge sgy what do think thanks

Q: SSL
Rick Rule on BNN today opined that Sandstorm Gold is weak because its underlining companies that pay royalties are not doing very well. Would you agree with that?
Thanks for your wisdom!

Q: What are the consensus adjusted revenue and eps numbers for:
BAD, EH, ESL and CSU?

Thanks very much,Sandy

Q: Yesterday I asked a question regarding tendering BPO shares for BPY. In your answer you stated "Because BPY is a limited partnership, income distributed to shareholders is taxed a little differently". I should have noted that my BPO shares are in an RRSP. Since there will be no tax implications inside my RRSP, would you then recommend the option to tender Limited Partnership Units rather than the Exchange Limited Partnership Units.
Thank you.

Q: Hi,
I would like to invest in the US market for my registered account - without US taxes withheld on gains and without currency exchange fees. Is there an ETF that accomplishes this and also retains it's value against the CAD moving down?
Thanks.

Q: Can you review WTA (Winalta). Large volume on Friday.

Q: there seems to be strong insider buying on aet.un even while the stock is dropping. Is there some upside to this stock? thanks

Q: Good Morning;

I have an RBC Direct Investing Account. They have a fund (RBF2010) to park Canadian cash for short periods of time without having to pay a transaction fee. Are you aware of a similar fund for US Dollars? Additionally, I would like to purchase approx. $5,000 worth of gold stock or ETF. What would you recommend?

Thanks so much for the service!

DON

Q: ALGECO SCOTSMAN BOND 10.75% was recommended by ben cheng recently can you tell me what you think

Q: What do think of the Trimark Global Dividend Class for a TFSA holding?

Q: J.Hodgins was quoted in the Feb.28 Financial Post saying HCG's "leverage...is currently about 8.5X on its mortgage book. They are moving away from (CMHC) insured mortgages and more toward subprime, and we think this is exactly the wrong time to be doing that." His reco is sell/short on a pair trade though he doesn't say what he's long.

How accurate is what he is stating is Home Capital's strategy, and how important is that leverage number? What for instance are the competition's leverage ratios and what would be a conservative number? I know that Oaken has had a fairly aggressive GIC campaign on the 3 year and less notes over the last few months and I know they like to match the mortgage and GIC terms to reduce rate risk. I've absorbed your previous responses on his BNN appearance and agree with your rationale. Thanks, J.

Q: Hi Peter & C0
Would you please provide an opinion on Rare Element RES and an up-date on Probe PRB. Thanks for the great service.
GUY

Q: Can I have your current thoughts on Orbite symbol ORT. The Quebec Govt have kicked in 10 million dollars. They must see something positive here. Thanks.

Q: Hi all,

Just a comment, as per your answer to Jacques question, I believe you quoted the MER for the FT Bissett Microcap A series. As the Q's was about the F series (TML 239)the MER for the F series is 2.40%. Still high, but I have held this one for just over 16 yrs and considering selling because of the fees. No discount for larger accts. plus they were initially going after < 100 mill MKT cap companies but that changed after Templeton took over and opened a A series.

Q: Can I have your opinion on the Franklin Bissett Microcap Fund series F. I realize that the fees are quite high but the long term returns have been quite good. Wandering if I could use this fund as a percentage of my TFSA portfolio.

Q: I am re-allocating profits from my equity portfolio (thank you!)into fixed income. I am planning to buy (and hold to maturity) bonds of 2 more companies. I already have TD, Fairfax Financial, Russel Metals, and Alliance Grain. I am considering one of either Athabasca Oil (ATH) or Paramount Resources (POU), and one of either Corus Entertainment (CJR.B) or Quebecor (QBR.B). What would be your recommendations?

Q: Hello team, today I sold Mastercard and some other USA based stocks - with my concerns over the Ukraine issue. My feeling is that while the Canadian portion of my portfolio will be affected, it is the USA stocks that are the most exposed to a large drop. I read your respons to Michael about the Ukraine but am wondering about your position of USA vs Canada risk percentage.

Many thanks.

Dave

Q: Peter, kudos to you and your team. I have taken your advice and it has been excellent. I have a question on LTS, I bought it Jan '13 at 9.45 it is now down 34%. It was 5% of my investment portfolio, I bought it for the dividend which has been cut drastically. Should I sell and take the loss and buy something better, or do you foresee some positive action. If I sell, will you please suggest another dividend payer. I already hold slw,ala,stb,tou,ppy,bad,bep.un, chw, dh, eld, acq, cnq, esl, fsz,kbl,msi, win in 5% amounts of my portfolio. Thank You!
Karyn

Q: could you please give me info on good tungsten producer