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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: Just wondering your opinion of CN amending it's Normal Course Issuer Bid to allow it to buy from a "Third Party" from Sept 16th - Oct 23rd its own shares for cancellation....

MONTREAL, Sept. 11, 2015 /CNW/ - CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) announced today that the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) has accepted CN's amended notice of intention to make a Normal Course Issuer Bid (the Bid). The notice has been amended to permit the repurchase by CN of its common shares under a specific share repurchase program (the Program) during the term of the Bid. The purchases will form part of CN's Bid for up to 28 million shares announced on Oct. 21, 2014.

CN will enter into an agreement (Agreement) with a third party to repurchase its common shares through daily purchases that will take place from Sept. 16 to Oct. 23, 2015. Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, and subject to the terms of an issuer bid exemption order issued by the Ontario Securities Commission (Order), the third party will purchase CN's common shares on the open market in accordance with the rules applicable to the Bid. The price that CN will pay for any common shares purchased by it from the third party under the Agreement will be negotiated by CN and the third party and will be at a discount to the prevailing market price of CN's common shares on the TSX at the time of the purchase. Information regarding the number of common shares purchased and aggregate purchase price will be available on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com following the completion of the Program.

Is this just a way for CNR to repurchase more shares in a shorter period than it would be allowed to do on it's own?
Also I see the results of the "Program" will/does not get reported to SEDAR until it is over, just prior to CN reporting its 3rd Quarter results. Do you have any idea who this Third Party might be?

Thanks in advance,
Scot
Read Answer Asked by Scot on September 16, 2015
Q: CNR appears to be trading at a discount price. Do you agree? What would you think of me adding this stock to my portfolio that more or less replicates your balanced equity portfolio? If I were to replace one of your suggested stocks for CNR which one would you recommend I change? Also can you comment on holding railway stocks in general now and if Canadian Pacific would be a better pick than CNR. Thanks for all you do. You are awesome!
Read Answer Asked by Pamela on June 17, 2015
Q: What do CNR's future prospects, and of North American railways as long term investments in general. Could you suggest any other well priced investments in either the transportation or infrastructure sectors that are priced well, provide growth at a reasonable price and decent dividends that have a chance to grow consistently Thanks again for the unbiased advice.
Read Answer Asked by Les on May 07, 2015
Q: This is for the person who accidentally bought CNR on the New York exchange instead of Toronto. With dual-listed stocks, you can have it moved from the US side of your account to the Canadian side, or vice versa. You will therefore not lose anything on currency conversions. I have done this in my TD Waterhouse account both ways. As well, if you have a Canadian stock you want to sell, and were going to convert the proceeds to US cash, if the stock in dual-listed, just transfer it to the US side to sell. That way, you avoid the 2-3% currency conversion fee that TD Waterhouse charges.
Read Answer Asked by Donald on October 30, 2014
Q: Hello Peter,
Thanks for your prompt replies and expert advice. I was listening to BNN last night, and interesting points were made. I have two questions:When companies buy back stock, the EPS goes up which is good for the stock; however, does it not reduce the book value. I was looking at CNR and the stock is trading over 4 times book. If this is the case, how is it that CNR keeps ticking higher (is it because it has a high barrier to entry and investors feel there is safety in the stock). Second question that came up is that the bank stocks have not hit a top. What metric would suggest a top in the banks? Is it if the PE goes over 15? Thanks again
Read Answer Asked by umedali on July 30, 2014
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