Investment Q&A

Q: As a follow up to your answer to Shane, when you say 'turn off investors' do you mean that many people consider its general business practices unethical? Or is it something else?

Thank-you.

Q: Hi Team,
Have you had a chance to look into GSY's deal with Canada Drives? It seems like a good move to me by the company. How successful is "Canada drives" with sales? I have never heard of them until now but apparantly they are Canadas largest online car sales platform.The stock didn't seem to get any big love from the announcement. On another note...GSY continues to amaze me how this company is not worth so much more. P/e shows 10.6 on my platform, growth has been solid and proven for many years now and the loan book growth is now going parabolic the last year or 2 as it reaches scale it seems. Dividend growth has been stellar. Yet...I rarely hear it talked about by analysts on bnn or elsewhere. Do you feel it is still relatively "unknown?" Or is the company just being given a cold shoulder by many that view it as a predatory lender? To me the company checks all the boxes a person should be looking for, especially in the inflation environment when it comes to valuation and dividend growth, earnings growth. People can say what they want about recession scares with this name, but they have been there and done that have they not? 2020 they proved their business is resiliant. Your comments on all this would be appreciated. Thanks!

Shane.

Q: Would you be a buyer of US Banks now or would you wait for potentially lower prices? I have a small position in RUBY which I'd like to increase but it is down 26% from my original purchase price but I am not sure how US Banks are expected to perform in this market and facing a possible recession.

Q: Can you speak to GSY financial stability and how a struggling economy could effect them / how much of a concern is defaults.

Q: Are Fiera's dividends sustainable? I just read an article which said it had a 160% earnings payout as dividends to shareholders and a 55% cash payout ratio last year. Can you explain which metric you consider more important? Thanks!

Q: Hi 5i,

Regarding Rajeevs question on canadian banks "should we worry?" .
It was not clear to me from your answer ...

Also Is it possible to elaborate a bit on the reasoning/rational/strategy for selling off banks at this time..
Who would you guess are the large sellers?
Would you consider this a buying opportunity?
thx
jim

Q: Can I please have your thoughts, opinion on this company and would you consider it a buy for a long term hold? Thank You.

Q: In my non registered account for financials I own BNS, TD, and GSY. With them all down would you top them up or buy CM instead as an additional holding? The focus of the accounts is high quality dividends as I plan to only use the dividends in retirement. I have growth stocks in my TFSA.

Q: Can I get your take on canadian insurance companies in this market. Which one would you prefer and why? Would you start buying now or wait a bit till after the next rate hike? Thanks

Q: Why were CDN banks down 3%, today, Stress Test results for US banks also came strong. One damper, as I learned was Deutsche Bank down 11% in Europe Trading. Is there a contagion effect ? CDN Banks are now down 20% YTD. Should we worry ? Thanks

Q: Any specific news regarding BMO keeps falling for the past 2 weeks even the market is up today but BMO stocks is down, try to understand why it keeps going down, wondering because BMO invested heavily in oil and gas and crude oil is down. Appreciate your insight.

Q: Seeking Alpha mentioned that the Federal Reserve will release the results of its 2022 bank stress tests today. What do you think of the results?

Q: Since the announcement of accounting changes this year for insurance contracts, it seems to have accelerated the downward movement of this stock's price. I'm trying to understand if this is a short term impact, or ongoing.

Will there be a point where the (theoretical) positive impact of rising interest rates put the brakes on the decline?

In the past I've heard the narrative on insurance companies that they can simply keep raising their premiums when business is negatively impacted. Not sure if you agree with that. I am a long term holder and am trying to decide whether or not to bring my weighting of this company back to 5% after its recent decline.

Q: I have held BNS for some time and wonder if it is still worth holding onto. I was considering a switch to National Bank. What would be your rationale supporting this switch? And, on the other hand , why would you not make this move?

Q: This is a follow up to my previous question regarding impact on share prices if BOOK VALUE takes a hit at the end of Q 2.

My intent was to find out if there is any correlation historically between BOOK VALUE dropping and a proportionate drop in market value. (????)

Sorry for any confusion.

Thank you.

Q: In a rising interest rate environment - I always understood that insurance companies would do well since their liabilities would be discounted at a higher rate. However - I see that SLF is down 16% this year and MFC is down over 8%. Huh???

Q: Would you recommend holding REIT's or insurance companies such as IFC in a rising rate environment?

Q: Hi 5i
With reference to Harpinders June 15 questions regarding "buy,sell hold or watch " ..It was not clear to me what 5i's advice was...would you mind clarifying..
Many thanks
jim

Q: CWB is down 26% year to date. If the oil and gas sector prosper, can I assume that CWB will as well?

Q: What is the risk in owning BANK other than volatility correlation to financials?
Will the distributions be reliable?
What about EBNK?