Investment Q&A

Q: My wife and I are voting these days on a number of proxy votes. My questions are about directors:
-- For some companies, particularly oil and gas companies, the proposed directors sometimes seem to be affiliated (director or executive) with a competitor. Is it reasonable that directors are affiliated with competitors?
-- Some directors who are a Chairman or CEO of one company are also directors of multiple other companies. How can they have the time to do this? How many outside directorships is it reasonable for a Chairman or CEO to have?

Q: Hi.
Anecdotal?
During the past 5 months, my computer screen did not contain enough space (I had to scroll down) for all the new 52 weeks highs that came furiously
Just noticed over the past week my computer screen did not contain enough space (Ihad to scroll down) for all the new 52 weeks LOWS.
My personal A/D line.
CDJ

Q: Could you confirm that dividends of companies domiciled in Canada, regardless of the exchange they are listed on, and paid and received in US dollars still qualify for the Canadian dividend tax credit? As such, I assume that there would not be any US withholding tax (non-reg accounts). It would only be the US dividends from US corporations that would have 15% withheld?

Thank you.

Paul F.

Q: Just a suggestion - we often see new members join, buy a portion of the portfolio and then are disappointed by the short term results. It may be helpful if you provided new members an overview of your philosophy, the portfolios, and the 'portfolio' approach to investing. i know this would have been helpful when i first joined.post if you wish!

Cheers

Q: My question concerns a robust method to estimate free cash flow.I have been running some calculations as part of my investment process and I make use of Free Cash Flow extensively in my models.

Usually I just use Operating Cash Flow - average of last five years CapEx. However in many cases such as GIL there are large variations in working capital from one year to the next. Management can boost operating and free cash flow by reducing working capital in the short run. This is a one-off rather than permanent boost to cash flow and can give a misleading measure of sustainable cash flows. The opposite is also true and management can make short term investments.

Some authors recommend removing changes in working capital from the calculation and defining free cash flow as Post-tax profit + Depreciation and amortization - stay in business CapEx. The stay in business CapEx is then estimated as the greater of the average of last five years CapEx or 120% of depreciation. Sometimes this adjusted definition of Free Cash Flow is also called owner earnings or Cash Profits.

With respect to GIL this approach certainly seems to give a much better free cash flow figure, but I wonder if this is wishful thinking? Is a company that over five years or more has to constantly deplete its working capital really showing us that it actually has a higher CapEx requirement? I would appreciate your comments.

Q: There are several answers today explaining that Friday's big drops in various stocks are due to Friday being a "quadruple witching day." Just wondering if it would be possible (and perhaps save you some time) if a Heads-up could be posted a day or two before to warn your members a "special" day is upcoming and we should all expect some unusual trading?

Q: Preference shares
How does the market value preference shares? Disregarding variables such as credit quality and characteristics of different issues, these shares strike me fundamentally as a series of cash flows discounted to a present value. I suspect that the market is driven by institutional traders who are guided by a particular benchmark to establish a discount rate to determine the value of the cash flows If I am correct, what benchmark rate do the market makers use and does it vary? For example, do traders always use a benchmark of x bps over Canada bond yield for equivalent terms and is there an established amount for x which doesn't change over time? Without predictability in this regard, there would be no way to assess whether reset shares will trade at par on their reset date.

Q: Just a comment on the answer to the question regarding companies that were deleted from the portfolios (and why) ... the time and effort to answer this question is detailed and obviously took some time to muster. I think just a sign of your continuing efforts to care for 5i members.TY.

Q: Are you able to reasonably estimate when a company will produce positive (EPS) earnings per share (i.e 1-3 year out)? If so, when will GEI (Gibson's Energy) have positive earnings? Are there any services /sources out there that does this type of projection?

On a different matter, are my question credits carried over should I not use all my question credits by my renewal date?

Q: Good morning 5i team,
Richard Croft has mentionned a kind of bond alternative by writing covered calls on a company like BCE. He says BCE works something like bonds in a rising rate environment and so, I suppose, would tend downwards. In writing the covered call for say next January you get the healthy dividend and you have also protection from the downside. Wondering what you thought of this strategy and whether you know of some other Canadian companies with which it would work?

thanks

Q: I have recently raised cash in my portfolio and am wondering if you could suggest a good place to park it for some kind of return over an undetermined period of time. Are money market funds still my best bet?

Q: Good morning
I purchased TD preferred rate reset shares TD.PF.G at $25 par in the IPO just over a year ago. The shares now trade at about $27. The initial dividend was set at 5.5% until April 30 2021 at which date either the shares will be redeemed at par or the dividend reset at the 5 year Bank of Canada rate plus 4.66%. The renewal rate seems to be quite high so I suspect the shares will be redeemed in 2021. If that is the case, the yield to maturity is approximately 3.1%, so I am considering selling and moving on. Is this analysis flawed?
David

Q: Please explain the reason for the huge increase in the pre market daily volumes for canadian large caps on Jun 16. Examples are CNR, Banks, ENB, etc. Thanks

Q: Hi Peter, Is there a co-relation between growth factors and share price. MY screener shows some stocks with great growth ratios Like EPS, SALES AND INCOME growth in double digits but very poor performance ( LIF). Also, some with 2/3 negative growth ratios have stellar performance (BLX).
Am I missing something or the correlation is not straightforward? Which is the more reliable indicator? What is your favorite screening things. Thanks.

Q: Hello 5i
With talk of capital flow rotation, Pundits claiming dooms day freely in the media, some stocks and sectors seeing chart patterns rounding out in topping formation........and all the other market topping signs,

what are the portfolio review activities an investor should be conducting today?

As you can imagine, some of my longtime winners are giving back gains and other stock prices have stalled. It will be disappointing to me if I just sit and watch as my gains evaporate.

Short of telling me you are not market timers, do you have thoughts on what an investor is to do in the current environment to hold onto profits, while managing behaviours and emotions?

Portfolio is widely diversified including pension split between CAD, US and EAFE. There is very little fixed income utilized given expected low and negative bond returns.

Thanks
Dave

Q: Hello,
I'm not happy with the new DESJARDINS trading platform and thinking for a switch.
In your view what is the best for a retire guy with a income portfolio (600K), 5 to 10 trade a month. I need real time quote and good charts. And easy to use....
Thanks.
Francois

Q: Hi 5I, I need your help in explaining the difference between "Min. rate-reset" and "Rate-reset" preferred. Also, how will int.rate increase effect them, suggest some you favor, and recommend to buy.

Q: Good morning gents,

Please forgive me if this question is out of bounds.

Currently started my investment career in April. I have all stocks in the Beport covered to a T. I also hold a large holding in CNR form employee share plan which is double the Beport holding, 400K. I am looking at the growth portfolio and don't know if I am extending myself to thin.

I was interested in a 50k start and was wondering if this is appropriate given the amount I have in equities.

I have a 5 yr timeline to retirement with a decent pension plan. Thanks for the terrific insight to a formerly very cautious, see bank account investor. Risk level has gone from scared sh-tlless to moderately confident.

If this is two cumbersome or difficult. a question please disregard.

Q: HI 5i,

I unfortunately bought into Shopify and Apple right before the big tech sell off on Friday and today, and as such I am down quite a bit.

I know the financials and growth prospects of both companies are VERY strong and a rebound is likely within the next month, so I am wondering whether this is an opportunity to buy these stocks at a lower price. My sector weighting in tech is currently 12% (I am in my mid twenties with a higher risk tolerance), so I am also wondering whether you think I should instead sell to cut my losses if you see this correction continuing long term.

Thanks,

Grace

Q: Good morning gentlemen,

I have fairly large gains in the fang stocks as well as with Apple. With the Nasdaq taking its second consecutive beat down today, Would you be inclined to take profits. With Apple being down close to 8 percent in two days ( due to downgrades, ostensibly), in your experience. Does a stock like this rebound the following day? Also, do you think the sector shift away from tech could be an enduring trend?

All of the aforementioned positions are at 5-6 percent holdings.

What I'm getting down to is : sell today, or wait for a rebound ? I understand the former involves a degree of market timing, but surely with your many years in the industry, you must have some flair for such events.

With much appreciation,
Karim Rahim