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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: Peter & Team, I think we do have a problem at CRH and it has to do with the minority interests (MI's) in that they are getting way too much of the business, possibly because of mix or maybe the joint ventures are the better operations.

$000
Earnings

                    Q1 '17               Q1 '16
Net Income        $3302                $ 3031
Att. to CRH          1542                  2956
Att. to MI's         1760                 75

CRH net income down almost 50%. How is it possible that the MI's can be getting more of the profit than CRH shareholders?

and

Cash flow

Cash flow provided 7991                 5524
Paid to MI's             4011                  627

Share to MI's             50%                  11%

Cash paid to the MI's is more than their share of the profits.

Year ago this was not an issue. Now it is!

What should we do here? The business as a whole looks fabulous, it is in a good space with strong and meaningful secular tailwinds, it has a huge 35% conversion of sales to cash flow, but something looks very wrong with the business model and the sharing of the cash and profits.

Kindly advise. Thank you. Keith
Read Answer Asked by Keith on April 28, 2017
Q: With the amount of interest in ETF'S both in this service and your dedicated ETF service could you issue an analysis as to the hype of a market meltdown driven by ETF'S. This view is getting increased support. I am sure their would be significant member interest.
Read Answer Asked by Warren on April 28, 2017
Q: Currently I own the shares of IPL in my income portfolio. I see that PPL and VSN outperformed IPL in term of price appreciation.
Should I sell my IPL shares and buy one or both of the above mentioned stocks, or should I keep my IPL shares and add either PPL or VSN to my income portfolio. Will this be too much exposure to the same sector?
Between PPL and VSN which one do you prefer?
What is your recomendation?
Read Answer Asked by Jacob on April 28, 2017
Q: There is a link to an article in today's Globe by Meb Farber that calls into question the generally accepted wisdom that companies that grow their dividends are superior investments. (at least I think it is a generally accepted theory) Is this a theory that you have come across before or do you think that his argument has merit?

http://mebfaber.com/2017/04/26/dividend-growth-myth/

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on April 28, 2017
Q: I note that buyouts are increasing among the small cap stocks. Today alone Lumenpulse and Canam are going private at nice premiums. IRD also gone this month. I am not sure if this is the start of a trend. Are there any companies you would consider as buy-out targets in the next 9 months? I have my eye on Ten Peaks.
Read Answer Asked by Murray on April 28, 2017
Q: Hi team! While looking into the emerging AR/VR markets, a small Canadian company - YDreams - recently came to my attention. While doing some research on the company I've noticed their share price has been tanking over the past three months, but I can't seem to find any explanation for the downturn. I like the fact that they are more of a pure-play in the space, but I don't know enough about their financials to consider buying yet. Can you find anything I might have missed?

As always, I appreciate the input!
Read Answer Asked by Mark on April 28, 2017
Q: Hi I notice At.v is slowly going down from its high. What could be the reason for it...? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Mike on April 28, 2017
Q: Good morning, I have a special cash account which I view more or less as a replacement for a savings account at my credit union so I've focused this account on fairly safe dividend payers with a few growth stocks sprinkled in. I'm planning on selling CGX and will then have enough cash for 3 new positions. In financials I'm thinking of some growth. Would you choose gsy or ecn? In tech. Evertz or ABT? And lastly, Valener,SPB? or Enbridge? Thanks, Rod
Read Answer Asked by Rod on April 28, 2017
Q: Peter and His Wonder Team
I thought there Quarterly Report was strong however I see they are 4.5% down in after hours trading. Please give me your opinion about the report in relation to there future. Was the market expecting more, profit taking or is the stock over valued...your thoughts please!
Always great to know that the 5i Team is there when you need them!
Respectfully...
Dr. ErnestRivait
Read Answer Asked by Ernest on April 28, 2017
Q: Hello Peter,
With regards to the question posed to you for HCG by one of your members, i can relate to the frustration and disappointment that your team did not see it coming. However, at the same time, as investors, we have to realize that you can only advise based on the data you have available. Past data can be used as input to determine Future company or sector trends, but cannot guarantee success as no one can predict the future. I think it is best to focus on how we can avoid such stocks in the future given great metrics in the past (HCG had high ROE, decent PE etc ) and all of a sudden we start hearing issues with the company. Can you please shed light on what investors can watch for to avoid such pitfalls? I am using your service, watch BNN, read newspapers and other letters along with placing stop losses to minimize downside. From what i have seen, it is best to stick to decent paying dividend stocks like BCE, SLF, Banks, etc Growth stocks just seem to have too much hidden which comes to surface later or they are targets for short sellers. Thanks for your valuable input.
Read Answer Asked by umedali on April 28, 2017
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