Investment Q&A

Q: Regarding Cash Flow and oil and gas stocks....as a general rule of thumb and assuming reasonable growth prospects, at what multiple to cash flow is a company fairly valued? Obviously other factors play a part but for example TOU is trading at 13 time C/F and SGY at 7 times C/F.
Perhaps TOU has greater growth prospects but relatively speaking SGY seems quite a bit less expensive by this metric.
I am just trying to get a handle on using cash flows as a reference to determine value....

Q: I would like your thoughts on the Vanguard vfv, vsp-hedged or the Ishares xus, xsp-hedged? Is this a good investment view the US markets getting stronger? Do you favor one over the other? And could you explain what it means to be hedged to the cdn dollar?

Q: could you please give us an update on bioniche life sciences (bnc). what would be a good time to buy? thanks

Q: Hi, On September 24, insiders (CEO and others) sold over 400k shares @$11 of Sylogist. Jim Wilson, if I remember, also sold a large number of his personal holding alongside, the previous secondary offering @$8.90. President/CEO's personal stake in the co. being very important, any info on how much share holding Jim Wilson has now? Should this be a concern? Also, Acumen Financial managed both secondary offerings and have traded almost all the large block of shares recently, both on buy and sell, what could it mean? Mawer and CI already being the largest shareholders, any guess who would have been the buyers of these large blocks? Thanks for your valuable insight as always.

Q: I accumulated a double position in Valeant over the last months. I average about 131 and now it's 144. Last week the stock went up (apparently) due to Valeant reporting that they do have organic growth. Plus, the chief executive and founder of ValueAct Capital Management, is joining the board. Organic growth has been a concern and so, with this out of the way, I see Valeant as being a far less risky investment and am now considering holding this for over a year, as opposed to a short term trade. What do you think?

Q: What are your thoughts on SPTN : NASDAQ

Q: Hi 5i team. There was a time,if bank dividend yields (Canadian banks) are over 55% of the 10yrs, government bond yields, they are considered a reasonable buy. At 80% of 10 yrs, a strong buy. It would be screaming now but, of course, we know that the whole yield curve is manipulated. What if things "normalize"? Again, it used to be that long term government bonds were generally around 3.5% (+/- 0.5% say) above the expected rate of inflation. Based on this, if inflation hits 2.5% as we normalize (afterall that is what the central banks want it at). Long bonds should be around 6.0% (+/- 0.5%). Assuming not too crazy a yield curve, 10 yrs bond should be about 3.75% to 4.25%. That means our banks are still goodish buys (based on the 55% assessment). That also means that if inflation moves up to 3% gradually, bank shares, given a stead earnings picture, should be able to sustain their value. Is any of this reasoning valid any more or is it really different this time? Thank as always. Henry

Q: Again Horizon North being kicked to the curb. I was going to switch out for BDI but now am considering averaging down. Your thoughts are welcome.

Q: Could you please provide an update on RZZ? Thank you.

Q: On April 15 I asked you about significant insider selling. More took place (at $11) on the 24th just past. Is the selling timed to avoid any drop on the announcement of closing a financing and/or issue of new shares? Should we worry that the CEO's shareholding has dropped in stages from 2.4million back in February to 370thousand now?

Q: Hi 5i Last comments on PLZ was Nov. 2013. Do you have any new thoughts on the company. Thx Gerry

Q: When you discuss pipelines you never seem to mention Veresen as a top pick or a pipeline It owns 50 % of the Alliance Pipeline and has just done a major deal and aligned themselves with Kinder Morgan What classification do you give VSN if not a pipeline

They are just waiting for final approval from the DOE.It has almost 6% yield . I am thinking of taking it up to a 5 % weighting in my portfolio Could you give me your opinion on the potential earnings growth and dividend safety Thanks so much Paul

Q: My US exposure is underweight. I am looking at Barclays (BCS), Lloyds (LYB), National Bank of Greece (NBG) as 3-5 year holds with the wishful thinking that they may return to their previous and glorious highs of 2007. Am I dreaming?
Alternatively, can you suggest any US regional banks for a similar timeframe and which large cap US bank, if any, is your favourite?
Thanks.
Steven

Q: Hello Peter
Before I sign up for 5i Research my portfolio was made of 3 ETFs HSU.TO , SSO.N US and UPRO.N US.
My buying and selling was done based on Daily frame of S&P 500 and 3 EMAs. I my say that I was pretty successful with this technical approach and this method save me from loosing about 50% of my portfolio in January 2008 when EMA50 made "dead cross" with EMA 200.
My question is since from last September I follow your model portfolio (with small changes of stocks) will you be able to issue warning us if big correction like 2007/2008 will be coming on the horizon or should we go through correction like 2007/2008 without selling entire portfolio.
Id like to add that I still have separate portfolio of HSU ,SSO and UPRO based on three EMAs unfortunately this technical approach method does not work with individual stocks .
Thanks Andrew B.

Q: Would you please give me your opinion on Bird Construction?

Q: Do you see hzu as a good straight forward proxy for silver prices. And if so, how does the internals work to follow accurately those prices. Any lag? Any derivatives that could cause wild changes?.
And if I may, could you rank Silver Gold and Platinum in order of preference.
Thank you
CDJ

Q: Would you have any recommendations for the most cost effective method of protecting an all equity portfolio from 10%-15% downside market risk? Specifics would be appreciated.

My non-registered portfolio primarily consists of large cap US and Canadian companies.

Q: Dear Gentlemen,
I want to increase my Income PF.
Your opinion on Aston Hill VIP Income VIP.un
Any better suggestion for high income.
Thanks
Best Regards

Q: Hi Peter

Is it finally time to buy CGL and SVR or is there still more downside coming? Or,is it better to buy the larger US versions GLD and SLV because of the rising US dollar? Do you see the dollar hitting 85 cents or lower?

Q: Is this a good time for a purchase for a 1 year hold? thanks