Investment Q&A

Q: EDGE AI - which stocks are aligned with EDGE AI? In your view, is this an important next step in the evolution of AI?

Q: Is it too late to buy hpe following their news about entry into the ai server market? Looks like it has a low P/E ratio. Thanks.

Jason

Q: Is now a decent time to purchase VRT or should I wait for a potential pullback/consolidation? Are there other similar companies to VRT?
Thanks

Q: Please recommend 5 CAN and 5 US companies who have good both P/E/G and P/FCF ratios. Thank you.

Q: Hello, what do you think of HPE as an investment in the US technology sector? What is the company's debt / cash flow ratio? Is the ratio good? If you had to select just one between HPE and HPQ, which one would that be? Thanks, Gervais

Q: HPE was top pick on BNN. What are your thoughts on HPE. Is this same as OTC.
Currently I own ESL (1.49%) and 1% in each PUR, OTC, SH, KXS, SVC and ET.
Am I overlapping if I add HPE.

Q: Hi Peter, Ryan and team,
You've clearly built quite a firm with a solid following, and equally clearly, you have an informed and knowledgeable clientele as well. I just read Fraser's advice on the issue I broached about HP's split into two last November, and CRA's foot-dragging on the matter.

Just a quick note to say thank you to you guys, and also to other members, and particularly Fraser!
Cheers,
Warren

Q: On February 25 Warren asked you a question about the tax treatment of the stock dividend which set up HPE as a spinoff from HPQ. I am not a tax expert but I have established that HP applied to CRA on November 1 for this transaction to be tax-free under S86.1 and it looks to me as though CRA have not yet ruled. Their website (search "foreign spinoffs") is silent on HP and their most recent approval relates to a transaction which took place around August. Absence of ruling would explain why the stock dividend would be included on the T5. No doubt CRA would take the position that one should file including the stock dividend as income and then re-file an amended return if and when they approve HP's application, but it may be worth waiting until nearer the deadline to see if CRA approves the application which would allow the stock dividend to be excluded (though the book values of both HPE and HPQ would then change). Hope this helps and hope somebody else can add more.

Q: Hi Peter, Ryan and Team,
Fully realizing that taxation is not your area, I have a general question that concerns where one would go to find out info on a U.S. company doing a spin-out, to determine what potential tax implications there could be, for Canadian holders.

Specifically, opening my T5 summary today, I got a nasty surprise from the HP I was holding before they split into two last November. Apparently they didn’t just do an even split, rather they held the original (and full) book cost of one side of the company, and spun out the other portion as a 100% dividend. So if the original cost was $45 for HP many years ago, after this spin-out my book-cost has been increased to $45 + $14.72 (for the spin-out), and the $14.72 is a fully taxable event for the 2015 taxation year.

One of the lessons, I guess, is never continue to hold the stock of a foreign company once they announce a split. This is a very costly lesson, and given that, I’d like to know how I can avoid it in the future, short of selling before the spin-out/split occurs. In speaking to my broker, this was supposed to be a non-taxable event for foreigners, it just never materialized though.

Would one look at U.S. SEC filings, or as a general rule, would you just suggest selling, and if one really wanted to continue to hold, buy back in after the event occurred?

Thanks for thoughts on this one.