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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: I am thinking about buying FSZ. Can you please shed some light on its current and future estimated P/E, debt level, return on investment, and other fundamentals? Can you please explain why you think the stock is currently cheap? What are the chances of dividend cut over the next couple of years in the case of weaker overall market?
Read Answer Asked by Mahdi on January 27, 2020
Q: I was planning to sell DFS but stopped when the stock price fell almost 10% after earnings release. Were the results THAT bad? The company stated its expenses were significantly higher than budgeted. There is insufficient information in the release or the call transcript for me to determine if the high expenditure is INVESTING in the business ---or just very poor management .

What is wrong with this idiot management... To wit: the company claimed expenses will be high due to tech. But the need for financial institutions to spend on technology is not new--- that’s been known for decades!

Earnings grew by 22% last year but are forecast not to grow at all next year.... does this sound correct or is the company setting a low bar for itself? Shares are now some 45% below fair value , it seems (?)

Can management be trusted after the incredibly poor budgeting and even worse marketing ? To quote Warren Buffet, “...be aware idiots will one day run the company you invest in” ( Source is the book “Snowball”). My efforts to escape dumb managements the world over have proven to be as futile as attempts to escape gravity.
Notwithstanding my above-noted frustrations, do you think its fine as a continuing hold based on:
PEG ; ROE ; ROCI and other measures like FCF etc

Read Answer Asked by Adam on January 27, 2020
Q: I noticed a big increase in trading by consumers was reported recently with regards to zero commissions.Is this happening only in US right now or is it available to traders in Canada. What companies and minimum amounts are required to open an account .I realize it is not a stock question,but your valuable team is always there with great infomation.Take as many points.
Read Answer Asked by Guy on January 27, 2020
Q: Hi There

I'm needing to add some international exposure (outside NA) to my portfolio and am also under weighted on Financials, Healthcare and Industrials. I'm 38 so growth is the focus in portfolio. Can you recommend 5 top options to fit this mix - ETFs or individual stocks. Some will live in RRSP, some unregistered if that makes a difference in suggestions.
Read Answer Asked by Ryan on January 22, 2020
Q: I have a young person who own TD and FSZ as their only financial stocks. They have been under water since they bought FSZ 4 % weight and wondered if better to sell or buy another financial stock or just hold FSZ and buy a third financial stock? For a young person which financial stock would you recommend if buying a third stock to add to the portfolio?
Thanks
Read Answer Asked on January 21, 2020
Q: The end of 2018 bmo closed at 89. and bns closed at 68., a difference of about 21.
Last Friday bmo closed at 103.80 and bnn closed at 72.48, a difference of 31.32.
Can you explain the reason for the vast under performance of bns v.s. bmo and do you plan to retain bns in 2 of your portfolios? If so,why ?
Read Answer Asked by Terry on January 21, 2020
Q: These canadian banks represent 20% of my portfolio, I would like to sell CM as it consists of 25% of the financials and is mostly in Canada . Your thoughts please.
Read Answer Asked by nick on January 21, 2020
Q: Good morning- two questions. Last year, with your guidance, I invested in Gild and it, like many other non-growth stocks in the US, has languished. I noted a comment you made recently that GILD would have to wait and hope for another day in the sun. Is it time to sell GILD and move into a different health care in the US, and where do you suggest I go?
Second, after reading a dogs of the banks analysis, I thought that CM shares would likely have a robust end to 2020. So far I’m down 5%. Your thoughts on CM these days as far as the coming year is concerned. I’m a very patient investor with a twenty year horizon and bank dividends do look solid. Thankks
Read Answer Asked by alex on January 20, 2020
Q: I want to get back to just one Canadian bank, planning on 3-5 years. I traded BNS for BMO last fall. BMO is up about 12%, and BNS is back to par. I did not intend to be trading the stocks again, but now I am thinking I should take the 12% BMO profit, and put it in BNS. BNS has a slightly higher dividend, and long-term, both are good, stable stocks. I have about 1% in TD, which I plan to sell. BMO IS about 3% of my portfolio. US banks another 2%.
Is this a good idea, or do you have one Canadian Bank you prefer for 3-5 Year. Thanks
Grant
Read Answer Asked by Grant on January 20, 2020
Q: Hello Folks:
My question is Canadian Banks such as TD (which we own) compared those in America such as JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley (which we also own). We have owned TD for a number of years which has not produced much of a return (except dividends); similar to BNS. would you suggest continuing with TD or feel their are better Canadian options than our banks?
Thank you for your great service!
brian
Read Answer Asked by Brian on January 17, 2020
Q: If you were to pick 1 Canadian bank for a long term hold (10 - 15 years), which one would you choose? Also, what order would you rank these banks?
Read Answer Asked by Zeya on January 16, 2020