Investment Q&A

Q: As a place to park short term money what percentage of a portfolio would be consider a maximum or prudent? Although not Money Market what are the main plus/misuses for using it over M.M. or T.Bills?

A general question on your responses: A response to a question I posted on Fairfax India specifically about the fact it appears as CD but converted to US upon purchase was responded to as private. Unless I hit the wrong button by mistake, are there reasons you might decide to respond that way?


Thanks
Mike

Q: I am a retired, conservative, dividend-income investor with a pension, CPP, 30% fixed income (annuities, Fisgard Captial) and 70% equities (14% MFs, 16% ETFs and 40% mostly blue chip stocks). The question relates to the performance of 2 of my remaining MFs, those being Sentry Cdn Income and Sentry Global REIT. I receive a 6% dividend on my ACB for both of these, which I am very pleased with.

SC Income = held it since 2011 and have a total annual return of 9.7%, which I am happy about. However it is not performing well the last few years. Is it simply the portfolio was positioned poorly (in hindsight) at the wrong time? What is your impression of management?

Sentry Global REIT = held it since 2012, did well initially but recently only returning 2%/yr. I sold some last year and now have a half position. Again, your comments on sector performance and quality of management are appreciated.

Thanks...Steve

Q: Peter and Team:

I currently hold AEM as the sole "gold" stock in my portfolio.

I was thinking about switching to FNV.

Could you please comment

Thanks as always.

Phil

Q: I am looking to get my son started on investing, has minimum cash. Could you suggest 5 companies to start with (with price per stock under $15 and some growth potential over 1-3 years)?

Expert opinion on ABR-N, CVS and CIX-T (4 companies he's researched and thinks are a good bet)

Q: Good Afternoon 5i,

Excluding the big banks and MFC, SLF, what are your top 3 picks for Canadian financials?

Thanks!

Q: Please provide an update on Bruker. I purchased this a little while back after it was mentioned as one of your prefered names in the US small cap space. It has not done much in the the last two months but I am happy to hold it if it you still view it favorably.
Thank you
Karim

Q: Dear Peter and Team,
On Jan15 you answered that debt for the pony is more than 6x cash flow.
from their website for Q3 cash flow for 9 mos was 79.5 mil-and is likely
100mil/year. Debt-bank debt93.8m-plus senior notesof 141.4m plus convertible debt of 44.6m adds to 279.8mil. Total net debt with working capital deficit is $336mil. This is all at trough natural gas prices. Production now is over 60kboe/d versus 42,353boe/d during Q3/17.
They do not plan on adding more debt in 2018. What am I missing?
Thanks for your help.
BEN.

Q: Hello,

Can you please provide some comments on RYU? It looks like a direct competitor to Lululemon. I'm wondering if there is enough justification to put a small amount of speculative money into the name.

Thanks,
Danny

Q: what do you think of the current situation, ie management effecting a buyout?

Q: I have held Crew for years in the 6.00 range so I am down substantially. In the past six months or so it has risen to over $5:00 only to do a complete reversal
Back to the $2.70 range. I thought it was going to break out or be bought out . Is it time to move on?
Would you move on if you were still managing money with this company in your portfolio. Always hear about good management who have done it all before
And they sold some Montney assets and it trades a lot but never gets out of the barn.

Q: Hi,

5i talks alot about "momentum" behind stocks. Increasing volume + increasing price = good situation.

Are there one or two indicators you recommend to monitor momentum? I'm thinking of things like the True Strength Index, On Balance Volume, Williams Accumulation/Distribution, etc. I might be way of, but am hoping to use one or two that I can review to assess where an equity might be going.

Thanks,

Cam.

Q: I own Birchcliff and at a loss currently. Debating to average down and make it a 5% holding in a diversified portfolio. I do own tourmaline which is 1% and it is down as well. So far my bet on NG is not working but if i hold on to the survivors things should turn around. Is Birchcliff worth the risk at a 5% holding assuming it can last on current prices of NG.

Q: with avo recent large contracts would you consider it a strong buy
and when do they report fourth quarter. thanks donald.

Q: Could I get your top two picks for Canadian DIVIDEND GROWTH stocks that are large cap and non-financial.
Thanx Ron

Q: Thank you for all your solid advice - you really provide a great service. I am concerned about the lack of activity/inaction with GUD. Is there a timeframe you deem appropriate before you downgrade this company due to inactivity?

Q: nafta gets scrapped? besides magna, the lumber industry, and many other exporters dealing with the U.S., COULD THIS IMPACT THE ENTIRE CANADIAN STOCK MARKET I think the market is taking this issue too lightly Most of us have recenly profited from a bull market Is it time to cash in most of our chips or are there parts of the market we can buy that will not be effected by nafta bad news?

Q: What are your thoughts on DBO these days and if one was to sell what would you recommend as a replacement in a TFSA. Thanks

Q: With Savaria being in an industry with tailwinds might a larger medical services try and asquire them?? Thx

Q: I’ve been very impressed with you guys on bnn as as well as direction and opinions to questions asked here. Very pleased with your suggestions and commentary. I just sold vee at a substantial profit.
I’ve moved in a more conservative direction. Really don’t need to make a lot of money just keep what I’ve got. Maybe some additional income to supplement my pensions etc. I now have over 30% of my portfolio in cash. I can’t seem to find a good value play. I have enough preferred shares. Don’t like gics or bonds.

Q: I have been holding STN for a while and it has been going sideways for about 4 years with mediocre fundamentals. Do you think a switch into CAE would make sense at this time or do you find CAE too expensive? Would you recommend any other replacement or better stick with STN?
Thanks