Investment Q&A

Q: I am a conservative, retired dividend-income investor with a pension and CPP. My portfolio includes AD, AQN, ALA, BCE, BNS, CGX, CPG, RY, SLF, WSP, WCP, WEF, ZLB, XIT, Sentry Cdn Income Fund, Sentry REIT, RBC Eqty Inc, TD Health, Annuities and Fisgard Capital.

My question is regarding SLF. I bought it in the fall of 2014 with the investment thesis being rising interest rates and an improving equity market (both supposedly good for lifecos).

I am basically flat (down from cap loss and up from dividends). I am normally almost fully invested and am not a trader. I'm happy to hold SLF, but I think the original investment thesis has now changed. Is SLF dead money for now and is the current environment likely to produce more share price deterioration?

On a side note, I am slightly overweight in financials.

Thanks, Steve

Q: 5i Team -

Can you please provide your analysis on Whitecap Resources? What is their debt/cash flow? Can they survive with $30 WTI over the next Year? How does WCP stack up against CPG? Thank You!

Q: The CEO of this B2B ultra micro was interviewed on BNN recently. Very interesting...
Your succinct analysis please.

Q: Hi Guys,

I am an income oriented investor with the following financial stocks:

Bank of America (BAC)
Bank of Montreal (BMO)
Genworth Canada Inc (MIC)
Gluskin Sheff (GS)
Royal Bank (RY)
Sun Life Financial (SLF)
Toronto Dominion Bank (TD)

They all represent roughly equal value in my portfolio and are all within my minimum and maximum allocation. The overall financial area is within my global limits. I have no additional cash to invest. I have the following questions:

1)Would you sell any?
2)If you would make a sale, how would you replace it in the financial area?
3)Do you see more than a 10% chance of a dividend cut in the next 3 years for any stock?
4)Any other comments would be appreciated.

Please charge 2 credits due to the number of securities involved.

Thanks
John

Q: I am finally looking at converting some of my RIF to bonds in order to get a stable income to add to pension. The funds will be divided equally between CBO,XBB,XHY. I have not invested in bond funds before and would really like to better understand what affects the price movement of these three particular funds. I have done a browse on Moneysaver past issues but can't find anything that really gives me the info I'm looking for. Could you give a quick explanation or maybe suggest some alternative resource ?
Many thanks

Q: What do you think of buying Gibson Energy for future growth and dividend payments? How safe is the dividend? Am looking for 3-5 year plan. Also, does not the commodity price tend to overshoot both up and down? I recall selling my HOD.To and SLV when silver came close to $50 and oil in 2008 or 2009 came way up when Goldman-Sachs said it was going to $200 a barrel. I recall the high overshoots were both spikes and did not last long. Do you expect the low price of oil to be a spike and return to 45-55? Thanks. A great service that you do.

Q: Any chance this stock could go much lower, any upside, dividend stands at 6.7 % right now. What is your take on it ? Thanks and the best for your team in 2016!

Q: Cuf.un and D.un have been in pretty much of a freefall approaching the 2008 levels.They had the dividend then,how do you feel about now going forward.

Q: Sold 1000 sh of 2000 that I own at 3.59 for a 2700$ loss. How safe is the next 1000 sh. Thanks James
Also, if I give permission to be viewed do I also receive an email. If so viewing is not a problem

Q: Was looking at this utility: TTM PE=16, P/B of .93, low debt/equity of 16%, low ROE of 7% and a P/R of 92%. Price has gone up a lot lately - not sure why as EPS on a Q basis has not been that stellar as indicated by low ROE. I already own FTS as my utility unless you count ENB and TRP: so, I know you like - but, why as it seems to be of less quality as the afore mentioned.

Q: I hold shares in Baxalta and am trying to decide what to do. I don't mind selling into the present market at a fair profit but I note shares are trading 10% under the terms of the offer from SHPG, I presume because few want to hold Shire stock, me included. Shire's price action over the last 18 months is pretty ugly and I show a P&F target much lower than here. Any opinion? Thanks, J.

Q: Hi 5i, what range of capitalization would identify stocks in the micro cap , small cap, mid cap and large cap categories. As always, Thanks for your great service.
Ivan

Q: I am not sure the insiders are in the same boat as investors on this one. Over 14 million dollars sold this year and over 3 million dollars by the CEO ( 20 % of ceo holdings sold).CPG is similar to WCP in net selling. SGY mean while has net buying of 2 million dollars with the CEO buying a million dollars himself. Comments please.

Q: Hi Peter & Co.,
I am considering taking a position in Sunlife perpetual preferred shares (series A,B,C or D). Current yield is about 5.8% vs. 4% on the common shares. It seems to me that gov't bond yields in Canada will be low for quite some time to come, and may even head lower should Mr. Poloz reduce the prime rate this year. These shares are already trading 10% or so below their call price, which should help if the company eventually calls them. What do you think of this issue as a long-term hold for income? Also, do you know what the rating is on these shares?
Thanks,
Brian

Q: The CDN dollar has dropped (you may have noticed). Many Canadian corps are at very low numbers relative to 2014 highs. What are the chances of foreign (read US, for example) buying Canadian companies at extremely low prices (in US dollar terms)? Can you answer by segments, for example:
Banking
Other financials
Oil
Mining
REITs
Consumer discretionary
Any other segment that comes to mind?

Thanks for your insights.

Q: How much of a threat, mid to longer-term, do you feel the following will pose for Magna? First, sharing services Uber and Lyft, and second, developed country younger generation's disinclination for purchasing cars. Will higher demand for vehicles in developing countries outweigh the above, and is Magna well positioned to continue to do well as a Tier 1 supplier to the industry? Thank you. Ted

Q: Good afternoon Peter and Team,

I 'attempt' to offer advice to my son who wishes to contribute his $5500 to this year's TFSA. At the present, his TFSA holds the following:
DHX.B (8.9%); EMA (19.9%); HXS (13.7%); GUD (8.5%); MDA (18.4%); SIS (6.7%); WSP (24%).

Should he add to an existing position, or should he start a new position (KXS is one we're considering)? Also, should some re-balancing occur? (Both EMA and WSP have done well).

Thanks as always.

Q: Hi Peter, I'm looking to build a core of ETF's (x-Canada), what would you recommend for a moderate aggressive portfolio?

Q: What do you make of a market that starts with hundreds of points up and end with hundreds of points down or vice versa. From your experience is that an indication of bull, bear or nothing can be concluded from these actions. Does history give us any indication what to come or is this a normal gyration of the market and unpredictable investor's reaction?

Thanks

Q: Which of the following stocks, if any, would you add to at this time...my current weightings would allow this: MG, DH, SIA, TFI, WSP...reduce my question credits as you like. Thank you.