Investment Q&A

Q: Do you reckon that AGF.B actions will help its share price in the long-term i.e.dividend cut from $0.27 to $0.08 for 2015 plus the Company intends to file to renew its share buyback program when the current program expires in February 2015.
I have been holding it for its dividend but now I am wondering whether I should bail out.
Price even lower today, after dividend cut announcement.

Q: Hi Peter and team
My RRIF utilities consist of T, BEP.UN, EMA and PPL (9% total)
I would like at add one more. Please help me decide on the following: BPY.UN, ENB, CGX, BCE or another
All 4 utilities that I own are doing well thanks to you and it took me quite a while to decide on BEP.UN and it has performed wonderfully. Thanks

Q: Holy crow, MCR is going lower than I ever thought it would... so far,$1.65 today with no bottom in sight. I certainly feel foolish purchasing it at $6.30 last year. Have I missed some news? Is it time to get whatever nickels I can get from it now?

Q: I am retired and setting up our TFSA's (wife & I) for a stream of tax free income.We max contribute every year and are currenly overweight energy-27%, reits-23%,piplines-23%: underweight utilities-7%,industrials-7%, financials& others-0%. I would love some suggestions for our 2015 contributions, preferrably heavy on income & modest growth. Many thanks,
John

Q: Hi Peter

What are your thoughts on the recent swoon in the price of CP which I hold at a loss in a registered account? Is it all oil related or is something else going on? What are your thoughts on the valuation now and how would you compare it with CNR which has not declined to the same extent?

Thanks so much for helping us through these confusing markets!

Q: I can see no reason for the drop in price - I know the company has most assets in the west but I cannot believe they are going to lose much because of falling oil. What is your opinion of the company

Q: Hello Peter. I need your help. I have relatively small positions in the following oil stocks (all of which are down): BDI, WCP, BNK, QST and MCR.

I can hold on for the longer term but I need to know if any of these companies are not likely to survive this downward cycle. Are the balance sheets strong enough? I suspect QST is fine given it has no debt. You mentioned in responses to other questions that BDI also has a relatively good balance sheet and I note that insiders have been buying at BDI (based on Canadian Insider search). If you were going to add to any of the above names, which would you choose?

As always, thank you very much!

Q: Hi Peter and team, Your comments pls. on the offering of common stocks. They could only raise 21M....doesn't sound good at all, does it? Would you recommend getting rid of it. THX!

Q: is there some reason hcg has dropped? and is this a good time to buy some shares?

Q: Is there a point or set of circumstances where high insider ownership becomes a negative? I'm looking at EXO U (v.exo) that has some 45-50% ownership by the founders plus a CEO who is currently buying more aggressively on the open market.

Q: Could you please explain the "tax loss selling rule". The way I understand it if you have a non-registered account and you want to declare a tax loss for the year you have to make sure after you sell that you don't buy back the stock within 30 days of the sell. So my questions are:
1) What happens if you accidentally bought back within the 30 days?
2) Can you buy it back within 30 days if you have a profit & not a loss?
3) Can you always buy a stock back within 30days if you are in a registered account?

As always great service and thanks for the advice.
Cheers.

Q: Was the huge cut in the dividend done out of need to preserve cash or more from the point of view of sustaining the stock price? Should we expect large and fast dividend increases once the price of oil stabilizes and presumably increases?

Thanks for being a voice of reason in these times!

Paul F.

Q: I sold some CPG on Nov 17 and it settled on Nov 20. Just to confirm, so I don't trigger the 30 day superficial tax loss rule, the earliest I can repurchase CPG would be Dec 17. Am I correct?

Thanks,
Steve

Q: Hi Peter and Team,

Is there any negative news today? The stock is down 3.6%.
Thanks as always for your valuable insight.

Q: Hi,
ITP has dropped about 5% this morning. I don't see news. Beyond the vagaries of the market, do you have any idea why this might be so?

Thanks in advance. AF

Q: Do you believe that Delphi Energy is a good buy at the current stock price and how is their business impacted by current oil price? Thank you for your invaluable service.

Q: Do you have an opinion on Chesswood.

Q: H&R creates a strategic alliance with PSP Investments and Crestpoint through the sale of an interest in over $1.4 billion of industrial properties to launch a new industrial platform
8:00AM ET on Wednesday Dec 03, 2014 by CNW Group
H&R Real Estate Investment Trust ("H&R") (TSX: HR.UN; HR.DB.D; HR.DB.E and HR.DB.H) announced today that it has entered into agreements to sell to an affiliate of the Public Sector Pension Investment Board ("PSP Investments") and affiliates of Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd. ("Crestpoint") a 50% interest in a portfolio of Canadian industrial properties and a 49.5% interest in a portfolio of U.S. industrial properties (collectively the "Portfolio") for a total purchase price of approximately C$731 million. H&R will remain the property manager and collect industry standard fees. The Portfolio consists of a total of 101 properties comprising approximately 19.5 million sq. ft. of industrial space located in Canada and in the United States. The sale transactions are expected to close in two tranches, in December 2014 and in February 2015, subject to customary closing conditions.

This was the announcement that sent HR on a new plunge the other day. I found it extremely odd ball that the news did not come from HR rather then the secondary party. However be that as it may, what exactly in fundamental terms does there mean for HR investors? In technical terms it means sell calls, buy puts and watch out for a dividend cut. What actually is taking place here?

Q: An updated opinion on Norbord please, following the announced merger deal with Ainsworth Lumber? And is the lofty dividend sustainable? Thanks!

Q: Can you provide a few non-energy, non-energy related, and non-Alberta names that have been hit unfairly over the past couple months? I'm looking for some potential bargains, but not sure if the oil decline is really over. Thanks!