Investment Q&A

Q: Hi, This question is also triggered by the sharp rise in Canadian Dollar over past 2 months. Canadian companies which trade on both CDN and US exchanges have seen their share price lag on TSX. Shopify is an example, which has seen a spectacular move in US Dollar terms but not so much in CDN Dollar terms.

This disparity in dual listed stocks was so pronounced on Wednesday after CDN Dollar shot up to 0.82 Cents at 10 AM after BOC Rate hike was announced.

Which are the prominent dual listed stocks that come to your mind which have fair share of trading on US exchanges ? I guess, I am trying to position and manage my expectations for price movements of some of my holdings in this category.

Also I have some US Dollar cash balance. Does it make sense to buy/add these stocks in USD instead of CDN Dollar ?

Thanks

Q: Was considering Mainstream Health Investment. Am somewhat concerned that it operates in the States. From what I understand, extendicare pulled out of the US because they had to deal with legal issues. I realize that HPL is just the landlord for the facilities, however, if the companies leasing the facilities have issues it will reflect on Mainstream. Is it possible that extendicare is a lesser quality operator than the operators that rent mainstream's facilities. What risks are there since I plan holding this company long term given that it's a demographic play. What do you honk of the buisness model. Is it a good investment.

Q: The stock seems to have dipped for an extended period of time. Any idea why and should it be a hold, buy or sell?

Q: Morning guys,

Crh is dipping again and presently at the 2.80 level. I am getting punished resulting in a 60 percent loss. Are you guys now at the breaking point and removing this company from your growth portfolio. I am willing to wait it out , are you folks.?

Thanks.

Q: Hello Peter, I've been watching CLCT for a few months now, since it was mentioned in one of your responses. It has a dividend over 6% and is 9% cheaper today than yesterday after factoring in the currency move. While I'm tempted to buy, I'm not clear on what the 'China' component of its business entails - and also have some doubts as to how much an American company can count on being dealt with 'fairly', long-term, when doing business in China. Can you please explain the importance of China to CLCT's business, and whether you see the China political/trade risk as a meaningful concern for this particular company. Thank you!

Q: This may seem like an odd question to some but I would like to make sure I actually understand what is being said rather than assuming I do. On business shows guests say, in different ways, they have increased their cash positions or decreasing their equity exposures. Although such statements might seem rather straight forward, can they actually have different meanings depending on who is saying it? All kinds of guests appear from pure 100% equity fund managers to individuals actually managing diversified portfolios for clients.

Assume one is operating with a vision of a fully invested portfolio having 40% fixed assets which includes their cash portion and 60 % equities.

When guests generally talk of decreasing their equity exposure or increasing cash positions is there a standard meaning? Say someone cut their equity exposure by 10%. Would that typically mean their equity position has decreased to 50% (60%-10%) or does it mean they reduced it by 6% (60% X 10%) to 54%? Conversely, how might one interpret a 10% increase in cash?
Some managers talk of maintaining gold positions. If a balanced portfolio manager referred to a 5% weighting in gold would that generally mean 5% of the total portfolio or the equity portion (60% X 5%=3%)?

Needless to say, substitute a higher number and it would make for meaningful differences depending on how you calculate things? Listening to some business show guests, I get the impression it does not always mean the same thing but no elaborations are ever asked by interviewers.

Could you please clarify what is generally meant? Thank you.

Mike

Q: I just looked at the most recent 10 pages of questions. Out of about 150 or so questions I note that 6 were from females. Definitely food for thought. Any comments?

Paul

Q: Hi, CDN Dollar has gone up from $0.73 to 0.82 (+8%) within a span of less than 2 months. BOC did n't wait till October meeting and raised the Prime, indicating their bias towards more hikes in the future. In this environment, I am trying to figure out the currency impact on results of companies like CCL Industries, which have a fair share of earnings globally but report in Canadian dollar. CCL.b has already seen its share price tumble from $68 to present $57, within last 2 months.
(assumption being that CDN$ rise is the major reason)

Which are the other companies, in your coverage, deriving a decent share of their revenue in US Dollars and could see the impact of higher CDN $ ? Should this change in CDN/USD value raise a concern and revisit the holdings/weightings in your portfolios ?

Thanks

Q: Why has Metro fallen off of a cliff? Would you be inclined to invest in it now or sell it and go into better opportunities in the sector like AMZN? I have a 2.5% position in it at around $29.

Q: i assume all three companies are going down because of the cdn dollar, is this correct. dave

Q: Will SIS be hurt by a higher CAD?

Thanks,
Dave

Q: I would appreciate your thoughts on Keysight Technologies. Any comments would be appreciated. Thank You.

Q: Hi Peter & team, Your comments please on their results and the impact the hurricane has had? Should I wait for the CC to add?
Thank you!

Q: On a scale of 10, what is you degree of confidence in CSU ?

Q: Can you please comment on their results.
Would you recommend as BUY, SELL or HOLD?

Q: Greetings 5i,

My portfolio is well diversified across all Canadian sectors, but lacking in American holdings. I am therefore making an effort to increase my US exposure, and am considering adding one of the FAANG stocks to augment my Canadian tech holdings of OTEX and PHO. Currently. I am leaning towards AMZN (as I view it as a great mix of established market dominance and growth potential based on its diversification into brick and mortar), or APPL (due to its massive cash position and what appears to be excellent stability going forward).

I am 36, fairly conservative (although not totally opposed to risk), and am looking for something to hold for the long-term.

Do either of these choices sound like a reasonable course of action to you? Do you favour one over the other at this time? Is there another large American tech holding that you feel would be more appropriate?

Thank you.

Q: Good Day, Down a bit yesterday, is Savaria a good buy for a full 5% position at this time or should I wait for any reason.

Thanks

Q: With silver back near $18.00, would like your view on alexco resources
as well as mmg.vn, metallic minerals which lives next door.
many thanks.

Q: My concern is the US is going to move to close tax loopholes on companies doing most of their business in the States, but headquartered in other countries. What companies you cover might be negatively impacted in this case?

CXI and BYD are two that spring to mind.

Thanks as always for your great work.

Phil

Q: We know that CVE has a ton of debt and that there may not be much life until oil prices firm up.
That being said, they did beat the street's most recent earnings predictions, it's selling well under book, it's been basing for the past few months and the dividend is just shy of 2%

What do you think of CVE as a potential 12 month investment?