Investment Q&A

Q: You recently touted United Technologies (UTX) as having good growth potential. I currently own General Electric (GE) and have long wondered which of the two has the best long term growth potential. UTX has come down a lot more than GE in the past few months. Is this a time to swap companies? I don't require either stock for income.

Thanks for the insight.

Paul F.

Q: Hi Peter & Ryan
Just reread Peter's piece on how to evaluate an individual stock correction such as we have recently seen in AVO.

Can you tell me where a retail investor (with no Bloomberg Terminal) can access info on Block trades. I see Volumes for individual ticks on various exchanges on TMX Money Quotes. It is not clear to me that any given large volume is a block trade as distinct from an aggregation of smaller trades.

Your handholding on AVO has been rational & soothing. We need a lot of that it seems.

With thanks
Ernie

Q: In response to some recent questions on Contrans, you mentioned that we should know in the next 12 days if they will declare /pay the regular dividend. The following is a quote taken from the Globe article 2 days ago:

“In a telephone interview, TransForce CEO Alain Bedard confirmed that the dividend (Bloomberg estimates it at $0.15 a share) that would have been declared in mid-October won’t be paid. “There are no more dividends for Contrans’ shareholders.””

My first question is what gives the right to the Transforce CEO to confirm anything with respect to what Contrans will or won’t do? And my second question is that given his statement (if we take it to be correct) what makes you believe that it is still possible that Contrans might actually pay the regular dividend.
Steven

Q: More of a comment on this company-I live about 5 miles from this operation and they seem to be hitting on all cylinders-the report this morning about their costs is impressive as is the production increase-seems to me a positive recovery story so far-just need the price of gold to keep climbing.

Q: Hi Team: any comments on ORAN- the yield and PE look very attractive here. As the former France Tel, are they not in a strong defensive position as well? thanks

Q: Hello: I would like to segregate my portfolio into 4 segments. 1. Can. income (DGI), 2. Can. growth, 3. Registered account; USA income (DGI), 4. Registered account: USA growth. I want dividend growth and capital appreciation for the DGI (dividend growth investing) companies. I already own all the Can. banks, BCE, DH Corp. I own other stocks as well. In my TFSA, I own: AYA, CSU, DHX. I am overwhelmed with all the various choices and recommendations. I made the mistake of buying Fortis, which is okay for dividends, but not for growth. I'm interested in Open Text OTC.

Can you please recommend 3-4 stocks in each of the 4 categories? I have a reasonable to aggressive risk tolerance. Overall goal; grow the portfolio net worth over the next 2-5 years.

Q: This stock is doing very well in this market. Can it be bought and do you have a target price. Thank you.

Q: Hi Peter and Team,

First of all, congratulations to Peter for a magnificent ride supporting such a worthy cause.

Another question about CSS (sorry!): Even with the price of CSS hovering just under $15.00, I'm still up 30% and I thank you for that. How would you feel about me not tendering my shares, but selling CSS outright before any deal is finalized? I plan to use the proceeds to buy TMA to stay in the same sector. The reason for all of this is to avoid any "shenanigans" that seem to be occurring (or maybe I'm wrong about my feelings of uneasiness?)

Thanks in advance for your insight.

Q: Peter, what is your view on HLF and the acquisition of Atlantic Trading Company. Market didn't seem to react favourably. Thanks in advance.

Q: In comparing my portfolio to your suggested weightings a couple of sectors need to be rebalanced.

The areas where I have the least exposure are:
1. Consumer Disc/ Staples (Total 15%) vs my PF at 5% assuming I have categorized the stocks properly. Current holdings are DHX, AW.un,CGX and ACQ. What would you add to flush out this sector?
2. Telcos (10%) vs my PF at 2%. I do hold T and BCE. Should I just add to these or do have additonal suggestions?

The adjustments will be done over a period of time as much of the new buys will be funded by selling energy stocks where I am sitting at a 21% weighting - even with pullback in this sector. (Another argument for diversification. I thought I was so smart earlier this year with a heavy energy weighting. Live and learn!)

Thanks yet again for you help.

Q: Could you give an updated comment on this company, please. Also, in case you don't already know, the search feature doesn't seem to be working properly - tried ATA plus a couple of other symbols and I was getting a lot of non-related stock symbols returned.

Q: I am considering a switch from Corby Spirit & Wine to Diageo. I realize I am losing the dividend tax credit, a bit of yield, and taking on some currency risk, but gaining international exposure, size, and presumably growth potential. One concern is Diageo's volatility as compared to Corby. Any comments on this idea would be appreciated.

Q: hello- Do you have any thoughts on Aegion in the US- they are at a 2 year low - is their business similar to our Shawcor, which is still
holding up here in Canada?
Thanks

Q: what is your view between CBO and VSC.Any preference?
I see you have CVD in income portfolio,why? Have 160K to allocate to fix income in my RRSP.loOking at CBO,VSC (REAL SHORT TERM),CVD,XHY.
US industrial really taking a hit!Just a correction?UTX,FLR,PCP,BA.

Q: Do you know anything about this US company? It was a pounding recommendation of Cramer's which seems like I have held forever. Broke my own rules and am down 35 per cent. I have often heard that you if you are not comfortable averaging down on a company you own then you should just sell and move on. I thought it was a good company with all the conversion of gas stations to natural gas.

Q: I note on Sept 24 the CEO moved 147k shares ($2.6M worth) to different accounts - including $540k worth to his RRSP. Is it safe to assume this was purely for tax reasons, and can we infer he thought the stock was finding a bottom at $18?
It's amazing that the company easily raised $100M at $29 just 6 months ago. At 1/2 that price it appears a compelling buy.
Thanks for your thoughts on the company.

Q: Can you please let me know how you feel about Torc's fundamentals today. Thank you

Q: PLI looks like it has had the rug pulled from under it. How do you feel about it today and would you jump in even knowing its volatility.

Q: Hello Peter and team,

I would like to increase my exposure to the technology sector (10% to 15% of my portfolio). Currently it is 6.2% of my portfolio (4.1% in CSU and 2.1% in AVO). Should I add to these stocks to increase the weighting, or would you suggest other technology stocks to complement what I have. I am considering OTC. I am a medium risk, buy and hold investor (hold for 3+ years).

A similar question with consumer staples. I only have ATD.B and it is 3.8% of my portfolio. Should I add more to this stock, or would you suggest another stock to complement what I have.

I know it is practically against the law of investing to average down, but I could not resist picking up some AVO today at $13.52. Sir John Templeton said to “buy at the point of maximum pessimism”, and there has been a lot of pessimism lately on that stock. Easier said than done. I have not been able to tell when the point of “maximum pessimism” is reached until long after it has occurred. However, what gauges would you use to help you pinpoint the point of maximum pessimism for a company?

Paul J.

Q: Hello Again Folks:
As a retired farmer I am interested in agricultural companies. The only one I currently own is Agrium (many years) which continues struggling because of fundamental issues. Most miners including Agrium and Potash Corp are in the same difficult situation. Are you aware of other agricultural based companies with better outlooks.......I have owned Monsanto and Archer Daniels in the past?
Thank you again for your consideration.
brian