Investment Q&A

Q: I have read through your company report on AVO, and am wondering what has changed since last February to make you take a position in AVO in December. Would you change the rating in AVO from a B.

Q: can you give your opinion on high liner foods

Q: Shares of A&W Royalty have been dropping steadily recently. Recent news (the early warning report) plus your other comments seem mildly positive. Is there any recent news that might account for the drop?

Q: SYZ's earnings were mixed with many indicators up a bit but revenue down, or more importantly, not growing. Do you still have confidence that SYZ will get back on track? What will it take to get the stock noticed by other analysts? If this doesn't happen, I'm afraid it will be stale money. Your view please.

Q: can you compare similarities and differences between DSG /OTEX. also compare prospects to BB

Q: The Constellation Software debentures, CSU.DB, seem like such a great investment, I wonder what the hidden downsides might be. They pay 6.5% plus CPI inflation – currently about 2% - which is a very high rate compared to ETFs like CLF, CBO, CPD and XHY and also compared to other blue chip corporate bonds in Canada. Moreover the inflation protection is an increasingly attractive feature. There is of course the risk of losing principal if CSU goes broke, but it is a great company with lots of sticky revenue and this seems highly unlikely, at least for the foreseeable future. The price of these debentures has been bid up, but the yield to maturity is still quite high. Are there other reasons not to give CSU.DB a large weight in one’s fixed income allocation?

Q: Could you please comment on Parkland and its prospects for 2018
thanks
Joe

Q: Mr. Hodson, what is GUD likely to do with its hoard of cash ? No use to keep all that money if it is not put to some use !

Q: I have a question about Knight Therapeutics. I hold GUD in a cash account at a loss and thinking of moving part to my TFSA as my 2018 contribution. This would top up my TFSA as well as crystallize a loss. I would like your comments or the appropriateness of this move.
Thank you for your valuable input.
Brian

Q: with avo recent large contracts would you consider it a strong buy
and when do they report fourth quarter. thanks donald.

Q: Thank you for all your solid advice - you really provide a great service. I am concerned about the lack of activity/inaction with GUD. Is there a timeframe you deem appropriate before you downgrade this company due to inactivity?

Q: nafta gets scrapped? besides magna, the lumber industry, and many other exporters dealing with the U.S., COULD THIS IMPACT THE ENTIRE CANADIAN STOCK MARKET I think the market is taking this issue too lightly Most of us have recenly profited from a bull market Is it time to cash in most of our chips or are there parts of the market we can buy that will not be effected by nafta bad news?

Q: With Savaria being in an industry with tailwinds might a larger medical services try and asquire them?? Thx

Q: I am a retired, conservative, dividend income investor with a company pension, CPP and 30% fixed income (annuities, Fisgard Capital) and equities comprised of 15% MFs, 15% ETFs (ZLB, ZWC, ZWE, XIT) and 40% mostly blue chip stocks (BCE, BNS, RY, TRP, ECI, FTS, ALA, CGX, AQN, AD, NFI, CSH, PBH, ABT, etc).

I have owned PBH since $17 (now $103) and have trimmed it 14 times! It is still a full position. When I compare it to NWC, NWC's metrics indicate much better value (P/E, P/BV, P/CF, P/S, Beta), not to mention a 4.4% dividend vs PBH's at 1.6%. However, PBH has demonstrated incredible growth so far. So, I thought about swapping out of PBH and into NWC...simple, right? To get the same annual dividend, I'd only need to deploy 1/3 of the capital. Nope...massive capital gain!

I know there is no escaping the tax man. Any suggestions...aside from being more aggressive in reducing my PBH position over the next few years, while building a NWC position? Thanks...Steve

Q: I believe badger daylighting's success is built around the quality of the teams they have operating their equipment. I took a good look at @glassdoor.com and the employee experience on BAD in the US is very mixed with lots of very negative commentary. I have researched employee thoughts for other companies, and there are obviously always some complainers, but BAD's employee commentary seemed worse than normal. Should I read anything into this or am I getting too much into the nitty gritty of the company?

Q: Explain to me why they would raise money on the market in the past and not put it to use, why not just raise it when they need it? Does it not cost them money when they raise money?
Thanks

Q: Just to note that there was also a ratings upgrade on CSU per Globe Investor on Tuesday:
Scotia Capital analyst Paul Steep upgraded Constellation Software Inc. (CSU-T) to "sector outperform" from "sector perform." Mr. Steep increased his target to $850 from $740. The average target is currently $750.

Q: Have insiders been buying stock ??

Q: Hi 5i - which stock (PKI or CGX) would you add at today's price for the current yield and long term capital appreciation? Or is there another stock in the portfolios you would add before these two? Thanks, Neil

Q: CGX keep lower everyday for last two weeks and the volume is pretty high. I hold some at -30%. Should I get out before down further, or they have chance bounce back?
Thanks as always,
Tak J