Investment Q&A

Q: Would you provide insights to a “Kitchen Sink Quarter” used to describe a company’s quarterly financials? One definition found on the web is: “To kitchen sink is to announce all of a company's bad financial news at one time. A company deliberately overloads a report or press conference to overwhelm the reader/listener.”

1) What other items can be included as “bad financial news” in addition to:
a) write downs (i.e.: closing parts of operations and/or higher than anticipated cost of merging companies),
b) bad loans/investments (i.e.: for financial institutions)
c) Restated financial statements (i.e.: due to accounting irregularities, income tax rulings)
d) Change in senior management

2) In your experience, is this a normal event which occurs to companies within all industries? Or more prevalent in specific industries (Eg: Banks during the 2008/2009 financial crisis) or trend with the market cycle?
3) Are there indications/trends when a company may report a “Kitchen Sink quarter” (E.g.: 4Q yearend)?
4) How do markets generally react to a “kitchen sink quarter” – i.e.: good news, wait and see or bad news? How would you view this type of quarter?
5) Would companies rated by 5i with grades B+ and higher, less likely to experience a “Kitchen sink quarter” due to its quality?

Thank you.

Q: Hello Peter and Team, I have a telecom sector exposure of 12.5% in my registered aggregate portfolio. This exposure is made of 3 companies: AT&T, Telus, and Bell(BCE). Is 12.5% expposure to telecom too high? What do you think of AT&T? It certainly has an interesting dividend of 5.3% Thanks, Gervais

Q: In addition to your comment, I have a rule to follow very strictly my orders. At the open, it is open season for your trade if you do not want to control it. A good placement requires a little effort, also be aware that most "professional" traders enter the market around 10h30 to avoid the fog of your type of trade at the open... At the office you can use your phone to place a trade, better in my view.

Q: I believe the new symbol is CPH

Q: MAL is at an all time high and some insiders are selling.What do you think of the company

Q: Hi Peter,

What is your opinion on everty tech. Is it good for a 10 yr hold

Thanks
Paul

Q: Hello Peter and team:

Thank you for great insights and prompt responses to questions. I have read your responses to Altus group. It is still going up. Would it be too late to buy at this stage?

SS

Q: can you tell me what percentage oil is produced as compared to gas including their ireland field thanks

Q: With the focus on OPEC and oil prices, one pundit suggested that there are a number of companies operating in the marcellus and also shale plays that will be "just fine" even if oil goes as low as $60-65.

I would appreciate your 3 favorites that would fall into that category, assuming that you agree that they would be '"fine" at those bottom of the barrel prices.

Thank you.

Q: I am looking for 2 or 3 of your favorite stocks for growth, timeframe 6 months.i own pli, nuvo,gud, and gilead in u.s.also own amaya couche tard auto canada among others.
I know your time frame is longer, i can handle the risk, just give me your favorites , no oil or infrastructure please. Thanks dave

Q: I need to invest in the health care sector to balance my portfolio. I'm retired but able to accept some risk. I would appreciate some growth and income from the sector. That being said, should I invest in Valeant, Johnson & Johnson or Gilead. OR would the 3 make a balanced basket of investments? Are there other investments in this sector that might meet my needs? As always, thanks in advance for your much appreciated advice.

Q: Hello Peter & Co.
Could you give me your insight into Clark please.It looks quite good on most metrics.
Thanks
Dave

Q: Hi Peter and Team,

Some thoughts no Mattersight please, MATR

Q: Hello,
Can I please get your analysis on exco's Q4 results. Did they meet or exceed expectations and should I continue to hold or even buy more shares of Exco?

Q: Terra firma reported today, what do you think of their results and this company going forward. thanks

Q: Hello, I own BEP.UN as per your portfolio but noticed the other two Brookfield companies look good BIP and BAM. Did you choose BEP because you feel it the strongest of the three or because id the sector? Would you recommend owning all three and if you had to narrow it down to two which would you choose? I like BEP because of the dividend. BIP also has a good dividend but BAM has a much smaller one.

Q: What do you think of the strategy of moving some of the money from my small caps that have done well over the last 1-2yrs and gradually parking the money in this ETF? Is the dividend safe and what are the downside risks?

Q: Hi,

My portfolio is low in consumer staples. ATD.B is the only stock I own in this sector. I owned loblaws in the past and due well on it but felt the p/e was too high do sold. Csn you suggest one or two holdings I could add to my portfolio for this sector, preferably ones with decent dividends?

I also have no health care exposure, can you recommend one or two names?

Thanks,

Carla

Q: I'm wondering you're opinion on RE. The stock has absolutely tanked with the recent downturn in energy. Is there a concern about debt in 2015? This stock seems to be getting hid harder than most in the sector. Thanks.

Q: I own surge energy (Sgy) for growth and dividends and would like to own whitecap as well because of your recommendations
As well, on advice for stable dividend to ride out whatever the price of oil might be I just bought HSE (which immediately went down in price more than the declared dividend) however, listening to 'experts' opinions on oil prices into the future, I pose this question:

Would it be more wise to avoid this sector altogether now and wait for it to go very low (as some predict) and perhaps even bail out of this sector altogether until it proves that it can gather more steam?
Thanks