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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: A suggestion: Sometimes, especially after an event, two or more subscribers want your take on a company. You could put the letters together (one after the other), and write your answer underneath, instead of having to comment on each letter separately.
Read Answer Asked by John on May 17, 2013
Q: Good morning. When assessing a company's stock, how important are metrics such as price to earnings and price to cash flow?

What is the most important metric for a retail investor to be aware of, or is there such a thing? Does it depend on the type of business or sector the company is involved in?

Finally, for P/E, is it more important to pay attention to 'current' P/E or 'forward' P/E? How reliable are the quoted ratios, since the value seems to vary a bit from from site to site for some companies? Also, some sites will often not quote a current and/or forward P/E. Any reason for this?

Thanks as always for your valuable information and advice.
Read Answer Asked by Thomas on May 17, 2013
Q: Hi Peter, Gold is hammered again today, all the talk about the Fed reigning in QE etc.What are your thoughts on this matter?

Have a great long weekend.

Thanks,
Read Answer Asked by Ilesh on May 17, 2013
Q: Hi Peter and team,

I have held CNQ for quite some time, but the stock, with the overall sector, hasn't been doing much. I am down about 20% on the stock. With some patience, I know the stock will rebound once the sector does, but I was thinking about potentially switching into Whitecap Resources or Raging River as they seem to have held up fairly well in the sector and have good growth prospects. In terms of upside potential, would you think staying with CNQ would be better than entering into one of these other names?

Appreciate your thoughts.
Read Answer Asked by Jonathan on May 17, 2013
Q: I would appreciate your views on Glentel's (GLN) latest earnings report. Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Curtis on May 17, 2013
Q: could you recommend a number one choice for dividend and growth in the NY exchange?
Would like to put some US$ to work.or do you think its getting too risky out there.
Bought Wilan @ 3.94 just recently.Where would I put a sell order in.Or use stop losses and raise them?
Thanks Josh
Read Answer Asked by Josh on May 17, 2013
Q: my question is regarding Altagas (ALA-T). i purchased it for a core position in my son's account at about $25 and needless to say i'm very happy about the results. the way i understand things is that substantial "ebitda" should occur in the next several years.some of their contracts are very lucrative, long term and inflation protected.i guess management performance will be key to ensure these projects are properly executed . another concern i have is "when" interest rates do rise (and i realize that may several years away), would't a stock like ALA would get lambasted in that environment ? so finally, i'm thinking of buying more, what are your likes and dislikes about this stock. thanx norm
Read Answer Asked by NORM on May 17, 2013
Q: western one just reported earnings what do you think of them and what is your opinion of this company going forward. thanks
Read Answer Asked by don on May 17, 2013
Q: Peter,

An ideal portfolio will include major sectors and equal weighting as is the case with 5i portfolio. Where do we accommodate value plays and high potential companies in such a portfolio. My question would be specifically with respect to companies like DHX, CLQ, ENT, LGO. CSX, etc.
Read Answer Asked by Imtiaz on May 17, 2013
Q: Hello 5I,

I have recently stumbled across a very small company Ryerson McGraw (MHR). Do you have any thoughts? It seems very thinnly traded. I am looking for places to park some cash until the market gives some direction.

Thanks,
Bob
Read Answer Asked by Robert on May 17, 2013
Q: Direct Cash Payments. Looking at their financials, I see that it appears that they earned .23 cents per share in 2012 Q1 but lost .04 cents per share in 2013 Q1. I want to take a position and capitalize on the confusion you alluded to in previous answer, but I too am confused. Can you clarify? I am also a bit concerned about the drop in "other transactions" because I assume the term refers to prepaid credit card transactions, which likely have more long term potential? Can you help me make sense of their statement below:

"In the prepaid products line of business DirectCash will strive to increase diversification, both in terms of product offerings such as MasterCard prepaid cards, bank accounts and related financial services through DirectCash’s strategic alliance with DirectCash Bank, and in terms of the number of customers DirectCash serves in order to reduce DirectCash’s dependence on a small group of large volume customers in certain market segments."

Sorry for the long question, and I know you plan to report on this company in the future, but I'm hoping to take advantage of this potential opportunity. Cheers. And thanks again for a great service. I sincerely appreciate your objective assessments and comments.
Read Answer Asked by Gordon on May 17, 2013
Q: EIT.un Enervest: I read your answers to previous Eit.un questions. You are cautiously supportive with caveats incl. costs. I own some. The NAV to Market discount is now 13.5%. $13.52 to $11.67 The distribution exceeds 10%. Since 2010 when they made strategy changes they have been flat. I worry about the distribution being cut. Your comments would be most appreciated. Thank you: James
Read Answer Asked by James on May 17, 2013
Q: steady downward trend on CFN..... Should I sell while I still have a profit?
Have a great long weekend!
Read Answer Asked by patricia on May 16, 2013