Investment Q&A

Q: Appreciate advice on tax-loss selling. I have not yet realized any of my capital gains from this year and don't intend to. I do have some stocks that are down - eg. BDI, AVO.

I have a long-term horizon but in general, is there any advantage to realizing capital losses without offsetting gains versus just sitting tight and riding out the drop.

Thanks for the great service.

Q: Can I get your updated views on Park Lawn Corp (PLC-V)? It has risen quite significantly lately, am I'm wondering if I'm too late to initiate a position.

Thanks!

Q: dont know why everyboby goes to FEZ instead of FEU which has top country's has England,Germany and Switzerland with a much higher yield. Versus France replacing England in FEZ.your opinion on FEU please. The best for the coming year to the team. Great stuff.

Q: Hi 5i team,
BOS
Good history of growth revenue and earnings in an industry subject to commodity prices. Has been impacted by governments reducing expenses. Recent acquisition to drive more growth. Managed level of leverage. Slowly growing dividend. Not sexy.
I would like to have your thoughts on BOS (including management, industries they are active in)
Thank you for your help, Eric

Q: Hi 5i team,
being an active investor for about 20 years, I calculated my industry allocation for the first time (meaning: I focus more on company selection): consumer staples 22%, industrials 20%, consumer discretionary 15%, materials 13%, financials 11%, energy 6%, healthcare 6%, technologies 6%,utilities 0%, telecom 0%. I invest in companies that I understand the products, and financial statements (including notes): my "financials" do not include banks or insurance companies.
On these information only and the fact that I won't be needing this capital for the next 20 years: how would you qualify my investor type/profile? What type of economy (refer to growth, inflation, etc.) should I be afraid of? What should be the first corrections to be made to my asset allocation (please suggest companies to buy)? Which industry weights should I aim (S&P/TSX seemed flawed, is S&P500 better?)? Any other comments would be appreciated.
Thank you, and the best in this holliday season, Eric

Q: I own SLF and plan to hold it through the pending interest rate increases. I also hold VNR, ZUT and ZWB each at a small profit. Would you continue to hold these latter 3 much longer and risk a price slide? Thanks.

Q: I would like your opinion on the fundamentals and whether you see this as a long term buy (5years) with steady stable growth? Potential downside here?

Q: 9:38 AM 12/22/2014
Good morning Peter

I have 9140 Sandstorm Warrants [SSL] listed as :

"WTS-SANDSTORM GOLD 4DEC16" with TDWaterhouse, and as
"WTS SANDSTORM GOLD LTD EXP 12/04/2016 S040240" by Scotia McLeod.

When I look at the Sandstorm website they only list SSL.WT.A Oct 19, 2015, and SSL.WT.B Sept 07, 2017, and "Non-public warrants" with no expiry dates.

My warrants are shown at zero value by both my brokers and Scotia McLeod affirms that they have no value. I find this really strange. Can you explain this, and is this in fact the case and can I do anything with them at all?

Also I would value your current opinion on Sandstorm Gold. Whatever happened to their unfortunate investment in Colossus Gold?

Many thanks...... Paul K

Q: I recently took profits SLF to offset losses for tax purposes. I was looking to get back in when I heard an analyst on BNN, who liked both SLF and MFC, but thought SLF was a bit pricey compared to MFC. SLF's PE is 13.8 while MFC's is 9.8. SLF has a higher dividend but also has a higher payout ratio suggesting MFC might have more room to grow its dividend. For income investors, which do you like better? Best wishes for the holiday season.

Q: Hi Peter and team, TMA is down today by over 5%. Any reason you know of? Don't own it....Would it be an opportunity to buy and what % of port. you think is adequate? Thank you! And I wish you and your team a Very Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year!!

Q: Just following up to an earlier question: Would you rate PLI, CHW and BXE as holds?

Q: What is your recommendation for Blue Chip companies that are looking good right now?

Q: Hi, Thank you kindly for the service. I am just wondering about your thoughts on Sensio (SIO) and the impending rollout of 3DGO technology on LG TV's? Cam

Q: Could you please comment on the advisability of buying peyto NOW with the EX div coming soon and todays drop in price... Any reason that you can see for the quick drop in price? And what do you see for fuure of this company 1 year, 3 years
Thanks

Q: This is a bond fund(managed by Daniel Ivascyn & Alfred Murata) that had performed quite well,but showed weakness the last 2 weeks, with quite wide fluctuations last few sessions.On Dec 19,it dropped 0.158(1.09%) fr 14.4986 on 12/18 to 14.341.Maybe there is a distribution next week as it did so on Dec 23,2013.Have a 7.63% return since purchase in 3/13.Please provide your expert advice on this fund & whether I should HOLD or SELL.Appreciate your usual excellent advices & services. Merry X'mas & All the Best for the New Year

Q: What do you think of LF? The valuation looks attractive, but the market is saying there is something wrong with this co. What am I missing.

Q: I still own and owned loblaws during the spin off of choice properties REIT. I was eagerly waiting for my share of the REIT but alas none appeared. I now see the REIT trades on the TSX. I still,do not understand what happened. Who got the shares? I recall when other large companies sun off portion of their business shareholders received shares of the spin off. Can you please explain what happened.
Manfred

Q: Hello Peter,

What is your view on current market valuations versus risk? In general prices look pretty fully valued right now especially in the US. I'm holding some cash right now but hesitant to buy more at this point as risk/reward profile looks a little shaky.

Are you continuing to buy at these market levels?

Q: Hello Peter & 5i team:

I currently hold shares in various quantities of Ithaca Energy, Iona Energy, Mart Resources and Surge Energy. During the oil price decline I have suffered through with these shares to nearly 50% decline in their share prices.

For Ithaca is a large holding in my portfolio and my current average price is over $2.00 and I have bought a small amount more at less than $1.00 to lower my average cost a bit but it is still over the $2.00 mark.

For Iona I had an average price of over $0.50 and it has dropped to less than 0.10 lately. I bought more to lower my average cost to $0.20.

For Mart Resources I have an average cost of about $1.40 and have not bought any recently in this downturn to lower my cost.

For Surge Energy my average cost was over $8.00 and I recently doubled my position to lower my average cost to about $6.00.

I have some extra cash at my disposal and I am wondering what your viewpoint on these four stocks would be before I make a further investment in any of them. I am heavily in oil at the moment with my portfolio about 60% which I know is not advisable but I have been in and out of Ithaca and Mart before and made money on them both and I am a long term investor and can stomach the huge variability in this sectors prices. I know that my money could be dead money for 2015 but this could be the buying opportunity of a lifetime in the oil industry. I am a bit of a contrarian that when people are saying buy it is time to sell and when people are saying it is time to sell it is time to buy. 2008 showed that to me for sure. All of these four stocks have great catalysts ahead and some have had execution setbacks but which or all four would you think is a better buy right now.

Thanks in advance,

Brendan

Q: May I have your thoughts on this contrarian play. Also interested in insider buying/selling.