Investment Q&A

Q: With the current slide in the Cdn Oil Sector, and with the likelihood of the US economy to continue to strenghten, US equities are looking more and more interesting to add to my portfolios. My question is in regards to US stocks that pay Divs in US dollars. What is the industry practice in terms of dividend distribution? Would the dividend payout be at the exchange rate of the date of distribution, or is it fixed to the rate set at the date of purchase. If the latter is the case, who absorbs the differential? Lastly, can you offer input as to the merits and / or pitfalls of Canuck retailers ( such as myself) buying US stocks? Thank you, as always, for a terrific service ... particularly in volatile times as these.
Rick

Q: Could I have your assessment of PHX Energy Services? As I look at a series of 5 year graphs I see:

Revenue - up for 5 years
Net income - up
Dividend per share - now at 6%
Earnings per share - up
Cash flow - generally flat but positive in 2013
Cash - lots at the of 2013
Assets - up
Debt - down

Is the drop I see in the share price a reflection of the general market conditions or is there something at the company I don't see or read?

Thanks for your response.

Q: Please provide your thoughts on two funds in the precious metals sector.
1. Sentry Precious Metals Growth Fund
2. Precious Metals and Mining Trust

Are either worth keeping and are there EFT's that you would recommend instead?

Q: Hello,

I am thinking of swapping out Akita Drilling(AKT.A)for High Artic(HWO) based on better valuation metrics, superior dividend yield,and lack of a dual class share structure for (HWO). Is this a decision that you would concur with? Although I like the yield on HWO, I am primary focusing on capital appreciation potential.

Thanks!

Q: Just wanted to clarify are dividents pegged to a certain share price? I notice that that dividents for SGY are currently almost 10% since the share price is down to $6. Will the dividents keep going up as the share price comes down..Can the company sustain this?

Q: I bought Whitecap and SPE a month ago for the grandchildrens RESP. Are you satisfied these things are ok for the long run?

Q: Hi 5i team, I also own Stantec and I applaud M S's support of Doctors Without Borders. It is one of the charities I support. I also supported Peter's cycling run. Hope he did too. Henry

Q: I have previously trimmed some of my winners in your model portfolio (esl,aya,syz,etc)and have a large capital gain.I sold my BDI today to offset some of that gain and plan on repurchasing it in 30 days.This stock has not performed well,even before the meltdown(they all cant be winners!!).Just wondered what you think.

Q: Yes, I know it was a bad day on the markets. The energy and energy infrastructure stocks and a lot of miners took it on the chin. But why was DHX hammered so badly? It started the day with a PEG of 0.57 and was down 10% on the day. Is there anything specific to this company which caused such a collapse?

Q: Hi 5i team. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I have held Stantec in an unregistered account for several years, selling some a couple of times when I thought it really couldn't get any higher, but it did. My question is, is it still a high growth stock? I am thinking of donating100 units to Doctors without Borders, and then buying them back, but in my TFSA in January. Does this make sense?

Many thanks

Q: Appreciate your views on my switching from BIN to BPY.UN for increased yield and growth. This would bring my reits to 8%. Alternately I am underweight industrials are there any that provide a yield for conservative RRSP. Thanks

Q: Why the big drop today. What should an investor do. Thank you.

Q: Hey Team

Please comment on MG after the plunge today. I do not have a position and am considering it. What would you do? Wait or buy now? I feel like waiting. Any reason I shouldn't buy this stock?

Thanks for all you do

Gord

Q: Can you tell me if there is anything new with AYA as it took a big hit. Is it a buy at this time. Thank you, trying to buy stocks on sale that have good fundamentals.

Q: Peter the reason trinity has declined so much is because, the thinking is that oil below 85 dollars will cause fracking to slow down because it is not economical and then railcars will not be needed to ship oil, therefore trinitys business of making railcars will not be so good. Publish if you wish. Dave

Q: Is this fund affected by the falling Canadian dollar?

Thanks
Dolores

Q: Hi guys its easy to look back now and say I should have sold some of my winners earlier to have a cash position to buy more now with this correction but if that wasn't the case what does one do now, just wait it out, is buy and hold wrong? Thanks, Nick

Q: To what extent would lower energy prices help or hurt Superior Plus(SPB) and Parkland Fuel(PKI). Thanks.

Q: Hi Peter and team,

What is your opinion on Trinity Industries(TRN-N)? Is this a good stock for growth in the next 12 to 24 months?

Thanks in advance!

Michel

Q: My partner and I currently have about 16% of all stocks we own in RRSP, Non Registered and TFSA accounts as Canadian oil and gas (excluding oil service, pipelines, etc.). I have brought this down from 19% based on a previous recommendation from 5i. Within the oil and gas stocks I hold, 45% are in Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ), 24% in Suncor (SU), 12% in Husky (HSE), 10% in Cenovus (CVE), 3% in Vermillion (VET), 2% each in Paramount (POU) and Tourmaline (TOU) and 1% in Enerplus (ERF). I feel I probably have too many oil and gas companies in my portfolio and would like your thoughts in consolidating. Reading your previous posts, I get the sense that all of these are good companies thus there isn’t a compelling reason to sell any. However, it seems from your posts that some of my smaller holdings and perhaps Surge and Whitecap, could be increased at the expense of some of the majors with the reason being higher growth for some of the smaller companies. Can you give me your thoughts on the best thing to do with my oil and gas holdings? You suggested some time ago that the larger companies would hold up better during a market downturn. Based on this logic it seems like a perfect time to reduce holdings in some of the bigger names and buy some of the beaten down smaller companies.