Investment Q&A

Q: Hello Peter and Team.

I’m an income investor and currently have 27% of my portfolio in cash.

The other 73% is distributed as follows:

US Tech 11%
Oil & Gas 4%
Consumer 8%
Cdn Banks 12%
Utilities 26%
REITs 12%

I’ve been in and out of the Telecoms and think they are somewhat expensive right now. The Cdn Banks on the other hand look like an attractive sector to add to and I can collect the 4% dividend while I wait. I have a full position already in BNS and would like to add Royal and TD. Maybe 6% in each? or should I just stay in cash and wait for a further pullback? I’m worried about the US markets correcting which will just take everything else down with them regardless.

What do you think?

I know I need to work on better diversification but I don’t want to put new money to work just for the sake of diversification as I view this to be a ongoing discipline. Right now the CDN banks are the only thing I see as a strong buy aside from O&G which is interesting but still a little too risky for me to commit new money to vs. the Banks or am I missing something?

Thanks as always for your excellent advice. Scott

Q: 3:47 PM 3/18/2015

Hello Peter

I read your excellent article "Five quick fixes for your investments" and I quite agree that dividend growing stocks are an excellent choice. You mentioned Corby CSW.A and I have a 3% position in it already largely due to your comments on it recently and over the last year. Thank you so much.

My problem is I require dividend income and if I were to buy a wonderful stock with a 1% current dividend yield growing at 10% a year it would take 14 years for the dividend to grow to 4% which is what I need.

So my question is can you suggest for me several Canadian dividend growers [not in financials, materials, oil, energy, pipes, or utilities as I am maxed out in these sectors] that currently have yields in the 2.5% to 5% range that would be consistent dividend and stock price growers, with lower beta, be relatively recession resistant, and have a competitive advantage in their respective industries.

These sort of stocks are hard to find and there may be only a few!

Many thanks........... Paul K

Q: I loved your article; Five Quick Fixes For Your Investments.
I am especially interested in the following: Dividend growth is far more important than dividend yield.

I know there exists the Canadian Dividend All-Stars list, however, it contains an overwhelming amount of data. Can you recommend about 8 Can. stocks to buy now and hold indefinitely primarily for the dividend growth, with the intention of re-investing the dividends? (This would exclude the banks and BCE, which I already own.) Thank you in advance.

Q: Given the outlook for oil, is CFW worth holding? Do you think that the dividend is safe?

Q: Do you think its a takeover candidate for their assets

Q: Given the structure of recent financing(s) does it cap the stock here in a tight range (14.00-16.00) for a while? Acquired companies received millions of shares in IT that I believe they are free to sell to crystallize their profits. I know know insiders are buying (today's news) but it's not huge given their net worth in the stock. It's positive of course, but seems curiously times.
I was thinking it would be a "no brainer" buy under the subscription receipt price of $15.00 but I'm not sure. Peter, what do you think?

Thank you

Q: Hello Team could I get your thoughts on Arx. I thought I saw in it's finacial report that it's payout ratio is over 100% and it's debt ratio is climbing. This concerns me due to the price of natural gas. I am up on the stock but wondering if I should not sell before they cut their dividend. With that I was also looking at buying some williams cos/partners wmb but looking at selling my Pembina - ppl stock for it. I also hold some trp. What are your thoughts on that

Q: Hello Peter and helpful team,
Yesterday on BNN John DeGoey recommended COW, CWW an ZGI and they seem like decent ETF's to me. I'm looking for 5 ETF's for my 4 nieces and nephews (age range from 18-24 years old) and my 45 year old brother-in-law. I've been trying for years to turn them into investors without any luck. At the very least I've tried to steer them away from mutual funds. They all have about $20,000 sitting in bank accounts. If you could recommend 5 equity ETF's for them to begin their investing careers I would really appreciate it.

Thank you,
Brent

Q: Hi guys, was wondering if you can comment on the following?
a) approximately how many holdings will the growth portfolio have; and
b) if one was starting with less capital than the portfolio assumes (e.g $50,000 vs. $100,000), is it generally better to still add the proportional amount of all securities suggested? Or would it be better to hold say half portfolio and add remaining positions over time?

Q: Oil is down today but wcp,cpg,sgy,tog are up 3-5% What is up?

Q: Hi Team
Love your service.
Feedback from yourselves and Ross Healy, who I really respect, it is always impressed that one should have some small percentage of ones assets in gold, or gold stocks. I have small positions in both Goldcorp and Argonaut Gold, both of which are substantially under water. I was going to add to one of these to increase my gold weighting to 5%. Tempted to buy AR which I believe would give more upside potential, but I realize is the more risky stock. Just would like your thoughts on this plan. Is AR a solid stock with a good cash position, low gold costs, and an outlook to increased production. Or is the risk not justified?

Much thanks

Stuart

Q: My SGY is my worst performing stock down 70%. I just don’t know what to do. Will it survive or crash and burn? Do I sell at this HUGE loss in my TFSA or buy more or hold?

Q: Hello team,

Between Lumenpulse, Alimentation Couche-Tard, and Exco Technologies which one would you choose for a long term hold (3-5 years) in a TFSA looking for some risk but the highest upside potential?

I cannot decide as I find ATD.B expensive, LMP risky, and XTC not having as much growth.

Have a wonderful day everyone.

Q: Labrador Iron had a glowing report issued yesterday by RBC Any comment?Stock down again today Thank you

Q: I was caught badly over extended in the aggressive portion of my portfolio in late 2014 and into this year. I am still, foolishly I think, holding a few of the problem stocks in hopes of them recovering - Rock Energy RE -55%, Questor QST -49%, Canaccord CF -45% and Raging River RRX - 23% but the likelihood of recovery seems to constantly be moving further out. Is there any hope of these recovery near term or is it time to give up on these non-performing assets, take my losses and move on?

Q: Hi Team,
What is your outlook on this company for the mid term.Would it be considered a value play at these levels.What would be a reasonable price target on it in twenty four months?
Thank you

Q: Hi Peter,
Several days ago I sent in a question about the possible competitive threat for CXI from a new company called EncoreFX which is engaged in the currency exchange business. I have not received a reply to my question and am concerned about buying CXI. If you google EncoreFX there is lots of information about this company. Would you buy CXI at todays price? Thanks, Bill

Q: I participated in a private placement and the stock certificates have been sent to me. How do I get them into my td waterhouse account, and how long does it take to get them into the account. thanks

Q: Can you please tell me the forward P/E and any other metrics that can help me decide to add to my position of SYZ or not. I have less than 2% position in my TFSA. I hold all the stocks in your model portfolio except T and FM at this point. Thank you for your expertise.

Q: Hello,

I have AYA in a non-registered account and I was thinking of moving it to a registered account.
What do you think about this? Is the growth still on? Any concern about sell off?

Thanks
M