Investment Q&A

Q: It seems every time I turn on BNN, I hear some pundit spouting baseball analogies: as consensus goes, we are apparently in the 9th inning of a bull market, maybe even the bottom of the 9th. A few managers have commented that we're batting into extra innings and that a correction is long overdue. What does all this mean, in real terms?

It seemed to me we had a correction in October -- my portfolio took a good 10% hit, and although I've recovered nicely, and have even outstripped what my "pre-correction" gains were, it seems I can't differentiate from a "correction" (with a small "c") as opposed to THE CORRECTION, (all caps). Pardon the cheekiness, but ... really ... !? they leave themselves open to such interpretation.

I would dearly love to hear from Peter what his take is on all this correcting that's going to be happening. Should I shore myself up now, before the flood hits?

In 2008-09, I was not fully invested, and so never took the hit that many of my colleagues and friends did, simply because I had a lot in cash, so I have no personal experience on what it feels like to be corrected.

Thanks, as always, for your advice.

Q: Peter, there is some current speculation regarding US health care stocks and this US Supreme Court Ruling which will apparently happen this month which could throw a monkey wrench into the health care momentum. IE. King Versus Burwell. Could you comment on the potential impact this decision might have on health care stocks generally and patient home monitoring specifically.

Q: As investment companies such as Sprott diversify their fund holdings away from resource stocks is it fair to say that this ought to help liquidity and coverage of non-resource small cap stocks in Canada?

Q: My granddaughter wants to invest an additional $6,000 in her TFSA. She has a small amount in energy already so we want to buy her something in a different sector.
Do you think she should buy CCL.B, Agrium, Intertain, or Cineplex. She is willing to take some risk and is wondering if she should put all $6K in one stock or split it up.
Thank you very much!

Q: I own molson trading in us. On friday after a lighly traded day at approx market close 446000 shares were sold dropping the price dramatically, a slight rebound followed. This follows a decent week for tap. What would cause such a huge drop, far as I know there is no detrimental news . The markets are strange and volatile places these days. I invest for dividends and conservative growth, I have held tap for a few years can be up and down but I have never been caught up in such a situation. Thanks for your insight, should I sell out, it is afair size position 5% and I like the beverage idea but dont like other parties messing with my investment.

Q: I’m definitely more of a buy and hold investor than a trader, but with David Burrows’ words ringing in my ears – “The money’s gone! The market doesn’t know what you paid” -- I’m reassessing my Cenevous holding of two years (down about 30%) and I’m wary of the fact it’s close to breaking support, according to my Investorline data, at $20.23. In the same account (LIRA; currently has no cash), I also hold a small amount of the ZUB ETF. It’s at the upper end of its trading range for the last year and a half; is trending above its 20 and 200 day moving averages; on the verge of breaking out into a three-year high; and technically has moved up closing a gap with the S & P 500 trendline. I know it’s comparing apples to oranges, but I’m asking for a second opinion on dumping CVE for ZUB. (I have a full position in CVE, as well as full positions in WCP; PPY; and and a one-third position in SKX; in fact I’m considering clearing out all but SKX since there are bearish technical warnings for WCP and PPY as well). Other options: dump Cenevous for cash and either wait for another opportunity or buy Cenevous back at a cheaper price later in the year; or taking the Cenevous proceeds and putting them in Don Vialloux’ HAC ETF, which seems to trend steadily upwards, albeit unspectacularly, with his seasonal investing philosophy. ZUB, Cash or HAC? Your insight is very much appreciated.

Q: You have not commented on Norbord for a few months. Lumber futures have jumped nearly 20% in the past month while osb is barely creeping up. Looking forward, Europe and Asia are now both prime targets for Norbord and single family housing is picking up in the U.S. Do you think it is time to buy NBD or would a lumber company such as WEF be a better bet?
Thanks.

Q: Do you have any opinions on Cyber Security stocks and this ETF in particular.Thank you.

Q: There are changes to your webpages recently which really detract from reading through the questions and answers. Each time you click on 'read answer' another web page loads, and then returning to questions, takes you back to the top of the page, versus where you were reading, perhaps half way down through 20 questions. I very much appreciated the previous format, read a question, click on the answer and you stayed right in the main body of questions. Why have you changed the format? Thanks, Linda

Q: I have some room in my TFSA and was hoping to add a couple of good quality growth stocks. I currently own small positions in Stella Jones and Brookfield Asset Management in my RRSP and was thinking of adding some more in my TFSA. Would these be good candidates? If not, are there any others that you would recommend?
Thanks.

Q: I was reading on stockhouse about the potential of a stock split here, doesn t make sense to me. Is there any truth to it?

Q: Please give your opinion on the GUD announcement today.

Q: Would you classify bonds, preferred shares, preferred share ETF's and cash all as income?

Thanks
Dolores

Q: Peter,I own gamehost and it is not doing well. What is its payout ratio. Hard to replace a 7.7percent div yield which it is now. What would you replace it with or is anything safe at that div. I also like Evertz or Alaris although not close to same yield. Your thoughts please Regards Ken

Q: I see Loy is down to 33cents . Is this downturn still about late filing ? Would you dump it or hold? My buy is at 41cents. Thanks very much. Helen

Q: Exchange Income Fund has taken a sharp drop this morning of nearly 2%. Is there any news that would warrant this sell-off or is it just market related? Thanks!

Q: Could not find any news today on GXI. Why the big move?

Thanks

Q: Would appreciate your comments on the press release this morning "Sharp Shipping AQUOS™ 4K NEXT UltraHD TV featuring Espial HTML5 Client Technologies". How significant do you think this will be for Espial and a resulting momentum in its share price?

Q: I hold BNS and RY in my TFSA, both with large unrealized capital gains. I'm considering selling both and buying a Health Care ETF. If you consider this a good switch, what ETF would you recommend?

Q: I purchased Alta Gas some time back as a long term hold. Everything that I read about the company is very positive about its long term prospects. Your comments on this site have tended to be supportive of this position. Yet the shares continue to fall despite all this. The shares are down a lot since February and technically look extremely weak. Is there something that we are all missing relative to this company's prospects as the fall since February has been relentless. Today's trading appears to be starting another leg down having broken the support around $40. Clearly the market is not as positive about this company. at least in the past 4 -5 months. Is there any explanation for this drop and any rationale for continuing to hold the shares rather than stepping aside. I would appreciate your comments.