Investment Q&A

Q: What are your feelings about POT at this time in terms of any risk of a dividend cut or much worse surviving this storm. Thoughts when comparing with Agrium? Late November the CEO said they would not cut jobs but today POT announces 420 job cuts. Normally this could be interpreted 2 ways - 1 of them positive (fiscal prudence) but is there now a management credibility problem?

Q: Could I have your view on btb.un please . thnks

Q: Now that BIN is up approx 8% at this point. Would you:

1)Hold
2)Sell
3)Sell covered calls against the position?

Thanks

Sheldon

Q: Peter and Team,

Now that we have this offer for BIN, I am thinking about what to replace it with. I am mostly aligned with the model portfolio but don't yet own CCL.B, WSP, or MDA but have always been interested in them. My BIN position is close to 5% of the portfolio following the recent market declines and the offer for BIN. Should I buy any one of the three I named from the model portfolio or split the position and buy two of the names?

Thoughts?

Q: Is there any specific news or event impacting PKI and causing its weakness today? What current opinion do you have on PKI? Thank you.

Q: In reply to Howard's question on Milestone Apartment REIT you quoted a dividend of 3.9%. I have MST in my portfolio and BMO reports that the stock pays 5.59% per year, on a monthly basis.

Q: Good morning
I own BIN and would be interested in your opinion of Waste Connections as a longterm hold? I am tempted to sell at these prices.

Q: Would appreciate your opinion mst.un thnks

Q: Most analysts seem to agree to CDN dollar is going further down compared to the U.S. Some think to 50%? What do you think and is there an ETF or investment that you think would be a good way to play that belief?

Q: The FNV stock is a bit rich for my TFSA, what do you think of it's warrant?

Q: Hello,
I have an asset allocation question. I'm 30, have moderate to aggressive risk tolerance, and am not looking to withdraw anytime soon. How much of my portfolio might I have with a small-cap ETF? Also if you have a link to more resources on the allocation question in general?

Thanks,
Henry

Q: With gold holding around $1100 US (in fact a relatively high gold price historically) and energy costs relatively low (the highest input costs), I'm considering buying a company like Goldcorp as their profit potential should be improving and that the shares are so low and hated. Any thoughts?

Q: I am looking to re-deploy some US$ and would like some recommendations. Looking for reasonable risk level, decent growth potential and some dividend.

Q: I would like your opinion on Equitable Group Inc. traded on the TSX and the 3% interest rate to be paid on savings plus accounts by the new EQ Bank. January 14, 2016 news release "Equitable Bank launches EQ Bank"-Equitable Bank, a subsidiary of Equitable Group Inc. announced the launch of EQ Bank, a new completely digital way of banking. How can a bank pay 3% and is this sustainable?
Thank you,
Nadine

Q: Hello.
I can appreciate you are trying to help us think long term and support Investor behaviour instead of trader mentality.

If you would oblige, some add-on comments to the earlier question would be helpful for me.....January 18, 2016 (asked by Richard)
I recognize RY long term chart works out in considering your comments but looking at REITs(REI.UN) and Pipes like IPL.....the long chart story is different; 5 & 10 year for REI.UN on a price basis is flat if not negative. IPL and PPL are painful to look at with half gone.
Are there investments that should not be held for the long-run even though they may be good companies like IPL,PPL,REI.un?
With account values down so much after a year of decline in 2014 and a sudden drop this year, I (as a retail investor) am beginning to feel like one of the only ones left in some of these declining stocks.
Some thoughts on this would be appreciated.
Dave

Q: Please comment on the merger. Also, what does that mean for the price of BIN?

Thanks

Q: Hello, do you think the reasoning 15 or 16 times earnings of 90-100$ which implies the spx benchmark adjusting to around 1500 has some merit in the current environment ? Also, with the US economy doing ok and the $can below 0.70, is it a strong stimulus for Canada or are we not exporting to them as much anymore ? Thank you

Q: Would you endorse a switch from HBC to XTC or something like TOY?

Q: Peter & Team, I have a handful of market darlings that all declined roughly 5 times worse than market today: SJ, CCL.b, BYD.un, CSU, CIG, FSV. Any idea why these would perform so badly today and is it telling us something? I note a couple of BNN market call experts sell when stocks break down usually applying stop losses. Given I have substantial taxable gains on these holdings, would you recommend paring back or selling (and buying back at lower prices as the Market Call people are attempting to do)? I note some of these are 5i top picks for when the current rout is over.

Q: Hello,
I am trying to follow your balanced equity portfolio. I have bought the securities that you have rated A, A-, and B+. As I go to B-, I'm wondering why they are included, when you have higher-rated stocks in your overall list. I would guess that they do not fit under the "balanced" criteria, but perhaps when put together (e.g.: an income stock and a growth stock) they would make a balanced combination? I could do this myself, but I like how following your portfolio takes the effort out of sector diversification.

thanks,
Henry