Investment Q&A

Q: Hello Peter & 5i team,
First Valeant, now DH Corp ; what is going on ? We are facing a very unhealthy investment environment.
It seems that Canadian Securities regulations are not as constraining as those in the USA and short sellers take advantage of this with impunity ; but it obviously will take ages to sort this out.
In addition to that, it also seems that short sellers have a template approach to identifying vulnerable companies in Canada : (1) higher reliance on growth by acquisition and less on organic growth, (2) higher relative debt level, (3) complicated and less transparent ownership structures. Valeant would fit the bill, but DH ?
Both management teams have intervened, but to no avail : DH was up today by 11% at the open but is now down 5% in mid-morning.
I am exasperated by the situation even though the portfolio of stocks I currently own is up by 10% so far in 2015; however, making a major overhaul of the portfolio in reaction to the current environment would smack of paranoia.
Your soothing comments would be most welcome.
Regards,
Antoine

Q: Is EFN about to be the next company hit by a short sellers report. Price action is not indicative of any other related market events other than the next Canadian company in line.

Q: would you recommend buying dh here?

Q: Is this a good time to be buying DH? I have 4.6% weighting of this stock in my portfolio

Q: Could you update on Midas Gold
Thanks

Q: Your comments please on the above oil co. thanks

Q: Can I have your comments on DH's earnings?

Q: Q3 results. Please comment.

Q: Hi,
I first have to say that I own this company stock. I also consider it the most creative and the most exciting industrial company today since my inroads with Kelso.. It also trade at very low price for it's future potential in my opinion
I think everybody should have a look at this company. They have released today a General business update that is worth at least reading.
I do not want to be perceived as a stock pusher, so as usual it is absolutely up to you to release.
It IS a microcap of course also!
Claude

Q: Hi Peter
I'm trying to find an ETF called "ishares trust Shs s&p GSTI technology index fund (IGM)" mentioned in the Globe today (Monday) as an upgrade. The only IGM I found was a financial company. I assume they are not the same company. Are you able to help me? If so, what do you think of this ETF.
many thanks.
Cam

Q: What will be the impact on WEF with the expiration of the softwood lumber agreement? Thanks
Derek

Q: Hi, I have owned McGraw Hill on the NYSE in US$ for several years and am hovering around a 300% increase (not including dividends). I'm fine to keep it as a steady-eddy but am thinking of selling half to buy DIS, especially before Star Wars is released in December. What do you make of that plan?

Thanks,
Robert

Q: I have a large cash position and I am giving consideration to purchasing VCE Vanguard FTSE Canada Index and and VFV Vanguard S&P 500 Index rather than purchasing individual stocks based on the premise that generally indexes outperform managed funds and are less costly to manage. I would buy 60% VFV and 40% VCE. Would appreciate your opinions. With thanks, Bill

Q: Peter, can you provide any comments on my Consumer stock allocation. Each of the following stocks represent between 4 and 5% of my total portfolio: AYA; ATD.B; BYD.UN; CCL.B; DOL; and L. Please let me know if there are other Consumer stocks I should consider.

Thank you, Stephen

Q: These are both financing companies and I'm trying to choose between them. You seem to like both. While Alaris has a pretty appealing dividend, I'm more interested in what my total return might be after 5 or 10 years, and less in how it's comprised. Which of the two might you suggest? (If one seems lower risk than the other, please factor that into your suggestion.) Thanks as always.

Q: Hello 5i,
STP went into receivership in May of this year.
I have shares still showing in my account with a value of $0.
I have not been involved with a company that has gone into receivership before, so my question is how do I declare a loss on these shares if they cannot be sold?
Post if you think this is beneficial to other members.
Regards,

Q: A report I read on IT says the short float raised from 2.58% to 5.38% in a month. Should this be cause for concern or are these numbers not unusual. Given the recent short attacks, I am nervous with this market. Thanks

Q: This thing is trading at a 20% discount to NAV and yielding over 8%. It's a portfolio of only 1st mortgages almost exclusively secured by income producing real estate. I know your going to say its size is small and therefore risky but I don't understand that? If I personally owned a couple of income property mortgages, wouldn't that be way more risk than a nationally diversified 275m portfolio of 1st mortgages? If the trading price fell much more, could shareholders push to have the thing broken up over the next 1-3 years as mortgages get repaid and capital returned to shareholders? Trying to understand the downside risk - even if rates increase, MTG has a short duration and its yield would increase as they could charge higher rates.

Q: Thanks team, it is as I expected that you can pretty well issue a damning report on any company, make a quick buck and get away with no consequences! Proof is near impossible, why I am not surprise. I used to own gold miners and that is an old game. We will wait for the response from the company.

Regardless, these folks generated the desired panic effect without having anyone actually read that report! Talking about a perfect scam! It may actually contain nothing but praises of DH!

Again, good work team. I will likely ask more question on the DH responses. Thanks.

Q: HI Peter,
I own Bank of Nova scotia, Royal and TD. All of these represent a total of 20% weighting in my portfolio. I basically plan to keep these for over 5 years and are part of the DRIP plan which allows me to buy whole number of shares. It appears that he short sellers have been successful at bringing down share prices of some Canadian Companies (ie. VRX, etc). Under what conditions would banks be hit by short sellers given the banks are fairly conservative? There is a big talk of the housing crisis, but I would think the banks are smart enough to withstand short term fluctuations in a correction. If there is a big short on the banks, i was simply going to add to my holdings or let it ride with more shares from the drip plan. I am assuming the Canadian banks will continue to do well in the long run. Thanks again for your input.