Q: I recently put together a spreadsheet that pulls together all of the Canadian equity holdings that my wife and I have in our registered and non-registered accounts.

This is what we have in the Oil & Gas Sector:

• the three majors SU, CVE and CNQ
• the three pipes TRP, PPL and ENB
• and an assortment of other companies TOU, WCP, ARX, ALA, TPZ, MDI, MER

I’d like to trim this back to 6-8 holdings and, as well, have more of a balanced profile. What would you recommend? And if there are different O&G stocks you’d sub in, please recommend as well.

Thanks.

Q: TRP’s share volume in NY was 108% above daily average volume today. Is this related to conversion of preferred shares to common? Share price has also declined for several months. Is TRC a good addition to a portfolio that is overly aggressive, and where the investor wants to add some securities to make things less uneven? What are TRP’s prospects vs. KMI and ET. Do you prefer either of KMI and ET over TRP (ignoring dividend tax credit) ?

Q: I am puzzled as to why the pipeline stocks have been dropping substantially over the last few days. I would have expected these companies to hold up quite well as they are basically a toll road for oil and gas with a good dividend. I considered pipeline stocks as a good defensive holding. What am I missing?