Investment Q&A

Q: My understanding that there might be hundreds of companies on the Venture and CSE exchanges involved with the BridgeMark Group. Can you comment it seems both exchanges have almost zero monitoring in terms of investor protection. The news was general downplayed and many of the affected companies named continue to attract investors.

“Based on evidence obtained in respect of the other seven issuers (companies), Staff are concerned that members of the BridgeMark Group also executed the scheme with those issuers,” stated BCSC. The other seven companies include: Kootenay Zinc Corp.; Affinor Growers Inc.; Beleave Inc.; Liht Cannabis Corp. (formerly known as Marapharm Ventures Inc.); PreveCeutical Medical Inc.; Speakeasy Cannabis Club Ltd.; and Abattis Bioceuticals Corp.

To date, BCSC has temporarily banned BridgeMark members from buying or selling shares of the 11 companies. It has also blocked all CSE-listed companies from using the consultant exemption to sell shares to BridgeMark members.

Q: This is a comment more than a question. By a review of the questions commonly asked on it appears that too many of us are caught up in the day to day and , week to week volatility. If the investment thesis has not changed and it still seems undervalued I see no reason why one should sell a stock based on its current trading price. For example, I own a large position in Questor and the share price has been on a rollercoaster. I stuck it out because the long term fundamentals had not changed and it is up about 15% on the year. I actually believe the fundamentals have improved materially throughout the year but one would not conclude that by examining the price chart alone.

Q: With the recent volatility, several companies on my watchlist have seen their multiples fall to more reasonable levels compared to the last 2-3 years. In the current climate, I find low debt, strong management and overall quality to be more important than ever.

Considering these criteria, RCH, ADW.A and SJ are starting to stand out. The main issue I have is, growth might not be as high/steady as it was in previous years, so in the end they might not be that much of a bargain; maybe they are just more fairly valued, not "mispriced".

What would be your take on this? Is a 15-16 forward P\E for 8-10 % EPS growth and overall quality a reasonable price to pay? Or is this a case by case basis? What are the main points of reference, aside from industry, competition, company history, etc.?

I understand there are many other factors, but still, am trying to get my head around valuation. Thank you!

Q: Do you think there is any value for this free Semi letter?
I'm thinking it may help for timing names like PHO. Sell when things are booming & buy when there are no new orders?
http://www1.semi.org/en/worldwide-semiconductor-equipment-billings-drop-158-billion-third-quarter-2018-semi-reports
https://blog.semi.org/business-markets/critical-subsystems-orders-fall-off-a-cliff

Q: I AM FED UP WITH BONDS. DURING THE LAST 5 YEARS I HAVE LOST IN ALL OF THEM .I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY ALL ADVISER SUGGEST BOND FUNDS AS A PART OF INVESTMENT. ONE HAS BEEN LOOSING MONEY .I APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENT AND ADVISE RE ABOVE STOCKS.EBRAHIM

Q: When the markets sell off, do you have any statistics on the main reason for an investor to sell. Is it more to do with selling a stock to avoid a loss or does it have anything to do with investors selling to raise money to pay off debt (more so when a recession is expected)?
Or is this question just not relevant

Q: Pleased that I have a "double" now with Canopy Growth! What is your particular investing philosophy when you reach a substantial gain in a stock? If trim, what percentage? Or let the momentum continue?
Many thanks, Lorraine

Q: Im looking at the Dalio/Robbins "All-weather Portfolio". Do you have any comments about it fundamentally? They both say its about diversifying the risk rather than the sector or products in order to increase the chances of making money in almost any market and decrease losses.

Can you make recommendations for each category please? They also recommend low cost etfs to get further diversification within each category. I would still keep a small amount of cash aside for higher growth names to "play with", so any profit taking would potentially go into the All Weather Account.

What they lay out is:

30% Long term bond (20-25 year)

15% Intermediate Bonds (7-10 years)

30% Stocks

7.5% Gold (possibly a bouillon etf, or possibly just gold with no etf)

7.5% Commodities


Please deduct what you feel for credits since this is a multi part question.
Thanks

Q: Hello Peter
I have question regarding "dead cross" on daily frame of $SPX S&P500 (EMA50/200).
If one would sell all portfolio at dead cross time in the middle of October 2000 or beginning of January 2008 that person would save about 50% of losses and about
4,5 years of recovery . What is your or your technical analyst opinion about "dead cross" and current situation compared to 2000 & 2008 corrections.
Thanks.

Q: I run my own portfolio using Scotia I Trade. The portfolio is of size and I feel I need a more sophisticated platform.
Please refer me to one or two options to consider.

Q: I trade with td Waterhouse and get their Technical alerts via e mail. Dec. 7th. Alert has downgrades on the above noted stocks. ipl- Close 20.92 down to 18.00 range. mre close 10.28 down to 4.75 range. sis close 13.01 down to 8.00 range. Your view on these technical downgrades, and are they fact. Sis was a recent top pick of Ryan Modesto. Should I be selling on Monday?

Q: I am a long time subscriber to 5i and long time follower of BNN and one of BNN's best, David Driscoll, mentioned that he could see another 16% down-side on the S & P. Also, awhile back John Zechner mentioned that there are stocks that are like melting ice cubes. Sell them before they are gone. Your opinion? I was always under the understanding that it is one credit per question. Please clarify this. Thank you. Dennis

Q: Re: Growth vs Value in market downturn

How do growth stocks tend to perform during market downturns vs value stocks? Does one need to hold a bit of both? If one holds stocks of good companies but have premium valuations..what does one do in a downturn..wait for markets to pick up and do nothing? This is essentially what I am doing. Thank you.

Regards,

Shyam

Q: I am planning to realize losses on the above companies to offset capital gains with a plan to repurchase after 30 days. In order to maintain sector exposure in the intervening period I would like identify proxies for each holding. My thinking is as follows:

TECK.B == XMA
BNS == TD
TFII == ZIN
NFI == ZIN
WEF == CFP
VET == XEG
WCP == XEG

Please review my suggested proxies and add / amend as needed. Alternatively, if you think I would simply be better off holding cash until repurchasing please say so. Thank-you very much for your help.

Q: In one of today's questions, you note "The inverted yield curve has worried some, as it does tend to predict recessions." This statement has an air of certainty that seems to be at odds with the table of data that you published the day before showing that recessions on average came 20 months after the yield curve inversion. What value is there in a prediction that takes on average 20 months to materialize. I would bet a correlation between not having a recession for ten years and having one in the next 2 to 3 years is even better and just as useless. Do you really want to propagate this myth?

Q: Timely article.
https://ritholtz.com/2018/12/how-to-use-behavioral-finance-in-asset-management-part-iii/

Q: david rosenberg just publishes an article in the globe ignore the yield curve at your own peril, the crew at 5i seems to me far more optimistic than this article indicates, furthermore the market action seems to indicate rosenberg is right on,so my question is who is right andshouldn,t we all be raising much more cash including 5i portfolios. dave

Q: I would like to add a comment in response to the question on Manulife's Income for Life offer from Dave. I am a financial advisor who recently dealt with this issue with an inherited client who had both a registered and non-registered Income for Life product. Some considerations to keep in mind is that the "top up" offer for non-registered plans is fully taxable. In my client's case, we determined that the non-registered offer didn't make sense but that the one for the registered plan did, as there was no taxation and it does not affect the client's RRSP contribution room. In my experience, when an insurance company wants to get out of a product, take a hard look at it because it usually means it is favouring the client too much (but not always, of course). Income for Life is meant to provide not only income for life but guranteed growth in the base amount as well. In Dave's case, the low growth in his capital to date is because of the investments he chose to be in - there is a wide range of investment choices so if the time frame is long enough, he may be able to grow that value. These products are not for everyone but the offer should be examined carefully with the taxation issue in mind. Hope this helps.

Paul F.

Q: Hello, I would like to start a Share Purchase Plan with one of the main banks in Canada. I am not an employee, and would like to do this in an RRSP/TFSA/RESP. I contacted Computershare to do this and they told me it cannot be in done in a registered account. Does anyone know if this can be done any other way or with another company?


Thanks

Q: Given the current volatility in the market there are a lot of analysts heads making bold predictions. Recently I heard one analyst say that "historically double peaks in a period of heightened volatility signals the end of a bull market". You've taught me there is always an opposing view-so is this statement simply that or is there some credence to it. Thanks for all you do.

Glen