Investment Q&A

Q: re Chesapeake Energy Corp. CHK + takeover

Have just read an article spouting rumors (unconfirmed) that Exxon after buying XTO Energy in 2010 for the purpose of penetrating the shale gas market, is poised to become a leader in the market by acquiring CHK. I own Exxon for the long haul and was wondering;

1) what CHK looks like long term as an investment should the rumor not come to fruition?
2) how a merger if it did happen would effect both XOM & CHK?
3) any comments you have on the Shale Gas Market in general?

Thank Peter & Family, always appreciate and value your input

Q: Assessing my portfolio weightings: I have BAM.A as 10th largest which is OK but I also own BIP, BEP, BOX, and BRP in lesser quantities. If I think of them as one entity because they are all Brookfields, they would total twice my largest portfolio holding, so in sum would be #1 by far. Is uniting them because they are all intertwined with BAM the correct way to judge the holdings and would you advise scaling back, or are they separate businesses with different yields, growth rates and performance outlooks?

If reducing is advised, I could see substituting, say, HR for BOX and TCN for BRP, but I would have a difficult time finding replacements for BIP and BEP in a large cap utility with an international flavour and outstanding yield for RRSP. I consider BAM core and have held it for many years with good results; insiders own way more BAM than any of the spinoffs which speaks volumes to me. Would 5i have any differing ideas or options? Thanks, J.

Q: Longview had a pretty heavy volume friday-what do you think of recent results and the dividend

Q: Hello, Peter I am looking at a small, very speculative investment in ProMetic Life Sciences (PLI). Although the company does have some sales of an existing product, its clinical trials are at a very early stage. Is this stock worth a 'gamble'?
Thanks for the excellent service you provide to retail investors.
Ed

Q: I would like your view on WESTERONE INC. The company seems to have the business , but not performing well in all areas ,the stock price is declining daily.
Are there other forces driving the price down like the recent debenture redemption for example?
Insider trading seems neutral I believe, Institutional sell off perhaps?
I saw your brief message in Stock Chase could you expand on this?
Is it time to bail or hold on? I bought at $8.15
Austin Jeffries

Q: Could please give me up date one evertz tech et thank you

Q: MX - Methanex. The stock has fallen about 12 percent in the last month and a bit. Is this a time to buy or is the outlook changing? It is still above its 100 and 200 day moving average.

Q: hi peter,
the membership fee can be claimed for income tax? thanks.

Q: Hello,
This year LGF has mostly traded below it's 200 Day Moving average, would that be considered a definite sell signal?

Thanks

Q: Why would you issue a report on a volatile stock like Air Transat which is best suited for traders rather then your investors? Your time and effort would be better spent on covering companies in your portfolio where you have not previously issued a report.
Otherwise, keep up the good work.
I am an INVESTOR for over 40 years.

Q: I would like to balance my stock portfolio by sector. I notice that your model portfolio doesn't identify the sector to which each stock belongs. Would it be possible to add this information? If not what would be the best place to get this information for stocks? Finally, how many sectors should a balanced stock portfolio comprise?

Q: Hi Team... a quick question regarding Options trading. Can Puts and Calls be exercised only on their Expiration Date or can they be exercised at any time prior to expiry?

Q: hello 5i:
you'd previously advised you were waiting for a quarterly update on March 21. This has come and gone, and I'm just wondering where things are at with this. thanks for the great service, not quite sure how I ever managed without it.
Paul

Q: Hi Peter
I have followed you since before your Sprott days and always appreciated your insight and comments. I am traditionally a mutual fund investor who is now concentrating on individual stocks. Please advise the best investment sites to find the following info to develop and maintain a dividend oriented portfolio. I need for both Canadian and US companies.
PE and average PE for last 5 years
PEG and average PEG for last 5 years
CAPE and average CAPE for last 5 years
thanks for your help.

Q: Hello Peter,
We are new members on your site and are appreciating it very much. It is extremely generous of you to share your knowledge and judgement so graciously.
My question has to do with the amount of fixed income in a portfolio. We are both recently retired and have a one hundred percent equity portfolio. We have been considering getting some exposure to fixed income.
Our situation is such that we don’t really need our invested funds to live on. We do well enough with pensions and dividends. There are also many today who say that it is not a very good time to hold bonds. In fact, it is a bad time. One could actually lose money taking into account inflation and taxes. But, we keep circling around the fixed income issue, none the less.
Just to give you some background: we have been through the crash in 2008 and bought ( even if lightly) rather than sold at that time. So, we do have some experience of seeing our money go down and have been able to live with that.
So, we were interested in hearing your take on this issue. I know that in one of the interviews that you gave you said that even in today’s environment, most people would be more comfortable having a portion of fixed income. And if there was a fixed income component, what percentage of the portfolio should it be? I have heard people saying thirty percent might be a good level. But, even at that level, I am not sure how happy I would be that only thirty per cent was sheltered at a crash. What I mean by this is that I wouldn’t get the growth benefit of all equities and wouldn’t get a heck of a lot of comfort that only a relatively small portion is sheltered in a fall.
You did mention in another response about, I am not sure of the terminology, but possibly ‘variable rate’ fixed income, if one thinks that interest rates go up. I didn’t really know what these instruments were and how the work. Related to this is that some say that if you really must buy bonds, buy only government bonds, as they are totally secure and security is what you are after. But, I believe I noticed that you mentioned buying corporate bonds. We would appreciate any suggestions about what we might buy, if we did buy fixed income.
Hope this is not too long and convoluted,
Thanks Joe

Q: I know that if I incur a capital loss on the sale of a stock in an unregistered account, I will lose the benefit of the loss if I buy that same stock in another account within 30 days. However, if I purchase stock inside my TFSA and later (ssy a day or so later) sell shares in that same company that I hold in a unregistered account and incur a capital loss on that sale, will the loss be preserved to offset future capital gains in that unregistered account?

Q: What is your opinion of BNP? Payout ratio is high. I already hold Peyoto and wondering if BNP is a good play on natural gas or would Painted Pony be better buy.

Q: PREMIUM BRANDS - PBH
LONESTAR WEST - LSI
Dear Gentlemen,
Your opinion, I want to make some cleaning to buy one stock from I5 list.
PBH (1.5% PF) 5% gain
LSI (1% PF) 23% loss
Thanks You and Best Regards

Q: HI Peter and TEam,

I am looking for another US Consumer Discretionary stock to add to my portfolio. I am thinking that HD fits into this category but is expensive but has performed quite consistently. Do you think this is a good entry point.

Thanks for the continiued advice.

Cheers

Q: re VXS

Have been watching VIXS Systems for the past 3 months since it was recommended on Market Call and was awarded the LG contract for their smart TV for which VXS has the best chip set for the next generation technology.

Since then, it has seen a steady decline (just under 45% since Jan 23) and as of today has seen it's first upswing in some time.

Can you give us any updates on the company that you see relevant at this time?

Thank You Peter & Company