New 52-Week Highs and Lows (Nov 21-27)

They are a recruitment company. It’s not very exciting. It was 45 cents a few years ago, but has been pretty flat since 2013. They pay a nice dividend, the stock hardly trades (about 12000 share volume). It’s profitable and well-managed. He would be interested in the stock at 75 cents but it is so…

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It was all " gung ho" about 2 years ago. It is difficult to find out what is going on. Management have been rather shy for a long time. Overall revenues have not risen dramatically for a long time. There are a lot of competitors. He needs to look more closely into the company.

A tricky one. Have a very small mine in Ireland that they are trying to put into production as well as a small jewellery division. There is no clear indication of what they are trying to be. Gold deposit is very small.

Stock vs. Stock. FIE-T vs. CMR-T. CMR-T is a money market fund. FIE-T is a multi holding income strategy holding all kinds of assets, so there will be more volatility. When markets are up go into CMR-T and FIE-T when they are down.

It’s slowly moved up from $28. The pullback is a natural phenomenon after the pop. Lots of volume. He would buy it here.

(A Top Pick Sep 17/19, Down 52%) A diversified REIT. This is one they ended up selling. Their mall portfolio has suffered. He was afraid the dividend would come under pressure. Getting access to capital is tough for them.

A good dividend play. The yield is at 4.6%. People tend to focus on the tech side of green stocks, but this has utilities that have consistent income. They are a potential takeover target for Brookfield so the price has recently shot up. Could get decent returns.

Hold and buy more. Work from a portfolio perspective and try to get an allocation of 30% in gold. Diversify your holdings with other companies in gold. Hold for a while since all these companies are pretty cheap.

Copper pricing seems to be Firming here. Commodities are starting to come off from a bottom here. It is 9 years into a bull market and into a recovery. If you are going to play it, this is probably a not bad place to be. Copper looks interesting here.

The only small cap gold stock they own. It's caught up in the West African politics. They like the projects going forward though and they are securing their production.

This is a zero, although not priced there yet. That is where it is going. It has been a lousy company for a long time. Madagascar will prove to be their undoing. They defaulted on their debt in February. Their debt is currently worth 54 cents on the dollar so the stock is worth zero.

He thinks the price of the sector in general will go higher. Buy right and sit tight. This company will be on the acquisition trail. They have made recent acquisitions for stakes in other companies. Good management team. (Analysts’ price target is $4.25)

Forestry space He owns no names. The stocks are okay but face trade disputes and an economic slowdown that will hit housing stocks. The stocks have been beaten up.

Sell Telus and buy Eldorado Gold? They're totally different companies, different stories. Can't compare them. Eldorado's valuation is extended, so he'd look elsewhere. Stick with telecoms, which pay decent income and offer decent growth. People are using more bandwidth. Infrastructure and telcom stocks have been overlooked as investors have chased the tech high-flyers.

Likes management. Note that there is nothing immediately happening. It’s not something to chase, but just accumulate over the summer. Turkey is not bad at all, it is a democratic system. Their mining code is working. He thinks they have permitted 10 mines in 10 years. This company is technically very, very competent. Sitting on…

Too much political risk. Too much financing risk. Nice deposit.

It's a sum-of-the-parts story with three moving parts. The knock on it was they always needed to finance, but they financed. He likes their assets, including a joint venture with Barrick, which is worth PG's market cap alone. Their Ontario and Mexico assets are extraneous and will likely be sold. (Analysts’ price target is $3.93)

Likes it quite a bit. Hurt by trade war and Covid. In the energy patch, which hurts. Dividend is reasonable and reasonably safe. Balance sheet is intact. Early stage recovery name. Acquirer of mom and pop shops. Risky area, economically sensitive. Favourable risk/reward right here, right now.

Ranks in the middle of the pack for him. Technically it hasn’t been super strong. Part of that is probably due to some concern over whether or not it will sell off because of the Canada Post strike. He wouldn’t be surprised if they had weaker earnings when they report. Overall the business continues to…

(A Top Pick Oct 23/19, Up 10%) A bit of a lagger but he continues to like and hold it. They had some Covid issues but everything is coming together, especially with their leverage. They stayed alive during the worse by mining low grade. They have started mining high quality gold.

Agnico-Eagle (AEM-T) came in a while ago and made a 9.9% stake in this company. The stock went up, but it really hasn’t done much since then. Then Barrick (ABX-T) came in and said they really liked the deposit and wanted to do a joint venture. This is a much better approach that is better…

CCL.B-T A great label maker. A fantastic story over the years. He would never recommend selling it. You also have IPT-T and have been selling weak with all the hurricanes in the last weeks. They create a lot of value but there is better value with IPT-T. He holds this over CCL.B-T because IPT-T are…

The Barkerville district has a lot of prospectivity. Their individual drill results are excellent but under the control of the Osisko company. He doesn't own it, because has a hard time getting the drill holes to tie together. That said, the district has a lot of promise and the exploration team is strong. The stock…

Thinks there is another mine in this company. This is a story that is going to unfold and he likes it.

It’s a tough deposit. Erratic mineralization with the Uranium. He doesn’t think a lot of the deposit. Prefers others.

Gas vs oil? As there is less oil production, associated natural gas production is falling. He owns BIR and was buying yesterday. AAV has performed well relative to other gas producers. He took profits on AAV recently and moved it into oil producers. BIR is trading at 2 times EV, but cuts its dividend by…

He owns it. It is involved in Northern Quebec and there are rumours of some kind of merger with a mining operation in the same area.

He won't buy any service stocks today. It just isn't profitable; the market isn't rewarding drilling. Stop drilling and buy stocks, is his message to the oil industry. He'd rather buy Trican who are buying back stock.

It would not be a name he would own. The number of market participants are very small. There is a certain market-cap threshold for market relevance. There is a pressure for MnA. It has higher cost, medium heavy oil company. They suspended dividends.

The Painted Pony transaction is immaterial in the grand scheme of things for CNQ. CNQ is a well-run company. It could probably double from here with their cashflow break even being at $27 for maintenance cap-ex. A very well-run and cheap large cap. He just prefers small cap.

(A Top Pick Oct 18/19, Down 64%) He recommended this long before Covid. Still owns it. The oil industry has been decimated and hard to get excited over.

They paid down the debt recently and are in very good shape. They are doing less CAP-X this year. His target is $1.20 so there is lots of upside. It will be a Q4 opportunity.

Insiders are buying more of the stock. They sold their primary asset. It's up to the team to show that the rest of the assets are as good quality. The streets are sceptic. If the well economics are the same, we will see a rerating.

Keyera vs. Pembina He owns both. Keyera: pays a slightly higher dividend, but also slightly riskier, due to its mix of liquids and gas processing, so probably more earnings volatility short-term. Pembina is a pipeline play with operating cash flow around 9-10x. They were resilient in the downturn. What's good about both is that they…

Convertible bonds with a 5.75% coupon They own a great base of real estate. The debt issue is a small piece. The bond is well-covered. MTL.DV-T. You get a 6-year option on the stock within the bond, with a $14 convert price. If oil recovers, these bonds will convert into equity. Until then, collect then.…

(A Top Pick Aug 30/19, Down 58%) It's been lagging in the past months. He has been adding to it. They have drilled high quality wells in the property they acquired from Cenovus. There is a good potential to increase free cashflow in the next couple years.

Companies with challenged balance sheets (high debt in this case) face difficulty in banks continuing to finance growth. He would not own this one.

They have two plays. It is pressured because of debt load. Production came down in the third quarter and should now increase. They should knock debt down with the sale of two non-core assets next year. It needs a catalyst before the market will revisit this story.

(A Top Pick Nov 15/19, Down 31%) There were talks of expanding outside of Colombia during better times last year. MNA is no longer a priority. They are trying to maximize their share buybacks. A net cash, debt free company, which is a good position. The valuation is less attractive than others.

For full disclosure, she is on the Board of Directors of Blackpearl. International Petroleum has made an offer to acquire. It is expected to close in mid December. She would not be buying a stock that may only be around for a few weeks. Management is very strong and will be going to International Petroleum.

Pipeline coating. Quite global. Follows the path of crude oil prices. Earnings are cyclical. Not a regulated business the way pipelines are. Thesis that oil demand will decline. There are better secular themes to invest in.

One of the more conservatively run oil service companies. A smaller oil service business. He likes some of the stuff they do in their rig matting and gas compression businesses. They have an acquisition strategy, and in this environment they may see some opportunities that could be accretive to shareholders. Balance sheet is pretty clean.…

He prefers services companies to producers. Existing wells decline quickly. Services companies have gear that you don’t have to worry about it declining. Insiders have been buying more recently. This one could be the last one standing.

At $60 oil, share prices should be at $2.80 (269% upside). Even without higher oil prices, the share prices have been so depressed that it is trading right now at 14% free cashflow yield at current prices.

He has been adding to his position. They have successfully transitioned from a growth story. They are now into maintenance mode. Their free cashflow has now gone up and they can generate $350M of free cashflow. The company may start looking into share buybacks.

(A Top Pick Nov 15/19, Down 33%) The stock is down 53% year to date. They were not rash in the beginning of the year. They only cut dividends by 50% compared to others who slashed them or cancelled completely. A good executer of mergers and acquisitions. There is insider buying, dividend, and good balance…

Liked their ability to buy back shares from free cash flow. But then management decided to chase growth, so he divested. Decent gas exposure. Its recovery is still too low to attract investor interest. Better names to own.

This had been on his Short List of about 10 companies. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. He thinks you could get an 8%-10% rate of return. It just didn’t seem to have that key catalyst driver that could make it exciting. (See Top Picks.)

It has a high quality asset base. Historically, it traded at a massive premium. Current natural gas and oil prices, it is trading at a 10% free cashflow yield. Because the stocks are beaten down, you can get a pretty good deal if you believe oil prices will strengthen.

Just beat earnings and have increased production. Cheap valuation compared to peers. But it's getting more expensive heading into 2021. There's no growth here, but that goes with the entire oil patch. The real issue is will they survive. Their balance sheet is getting better, but still high for a blue-chip name. You'll be saved…

(A Top Pick Oct 22/18, Down 88%) He sold at $3.22, taking a big loss. They have a lot of worries. They are looking to sell the company. They might just liquidate the company, but clean up could be very expensive. He does not like stock consolidations and used that as a trigger to get…

There is a rumour that Paramount has acquired a 9% holding in Nuvista. Paramount is outspending their cash flow and announced, if required, they may look to sell off assets and this could Nuvista. Both companies share prices have been pushed sharply lower as a result.

The company has good businesses. Their problem was the balance sheet. They will be 3 times debt-to-EBITDA. They have more funds for M&A, which could help them make some interesting acquisitions. He likes the distribution and the management team. They just partnered with Brookfield, which gives a strong vote of confidence. Its valuation is reasonable.…

Have some interesting prospects on some properties. Have some financial partnerships with South Koreans. Looks like it is forming at bottom here. Not his favourite, but it meets his initial tests so it is starting to gain some attraction.

Has been really hurt by the execution of this very difficult play they are in. Company is going through some high costs, to make sure this very extreme area in northern Alberta, is all pipelined in. There are good reasons why two very, very good, smart, rich people have got ownership of this company. He…

Safer than a non-royalty stock? They pay out everything they earn at a 13.5% dividend yield. It's sold off sharply, because it is perceived that fast food chains will close down during this outbreak.

The dividend was very high, almost too high. The dividend was illuminated and the stock price took a hit. They are active in the alcohol space and marijuana. Have been raising money, and could be a potential acquisition for Aurora.

In general terms still on a downtrend. Bearish big picture. Could get back into the 20 dollars.

Billy Kawasaki’s Insights - Billy’s most-liked answers from 5i Research. The company is very well run with a strong position in Canada.They have high debt but it should not affect their small dividend payments. Growth will be better in 2021. Unlock Premium - Try 5i Free

This has great assets globally. The biggest sourcing platform for organic foods. It is really hard to get an organic designation. It takes 3 years for a farm to convert. They spent a lot of time putting together assets and it hasn’t been managed well. The company did a strategic review, brought in an investor…

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It was doing everything well and they were going to sell the business before the pandemic. Now, the business is ruined. With social distancing and lack of good movies, it is un-investable.

He owned it at $3.81 and sold it at $3.00 and is glad he did. Management is getting old and stodgy. As the stock has been thrashed following the share buyback program, he thinks the balance sheet still looks okay, but the cash position is not as good. Last quarter they lost a lot of…

They were rallying last week after boosting their forecast. We have resistance just under $5. We are almost at the 200 week moving average. Wait until it punches through $5. It has been going up against the S&P since March.

This ETF tracks Canadian oil prices. There is only $9 million of capital in this fund – be very, very careful.

He generally does not like preferred shares. It has the risk of a stock and return of a bond. You also have to be concerned about rate resets versus perpetual dividends. He would prefer to sell call options against the banks. He thinks you should focus on the recovery being in the US as Canada…

Why such a large correction? Preferred shares are a big part of this fund, and they took a hit because of higher interest rates.

HPB Energy Bull+ ETF. Immediate leverage to oil price moves. If you have a very good near-term bet that you want to make on oil this would be the way to go but if you are looking for an investment in the oil patch that has a long-term investment implications, then you should go to…

He would rather have direct access to floating rates. In Canada there are very few original floating rate preferreds left. One of the highest quality is the Brookfield BAM Preferred B or Preferred K and generally they are in the market and trading 17, 18, so they are at a big discount to their par…

Pretty darn good, actively managed ETF. This is the way to go rather than picking your own preferreds. But you can see it's struggled. If we're in a Fed loosening cycle, with rates dropping, you'd want to own perpetuals, not rate resets. As rates fall, your coupon will fall as well. But if you think…

Challenge with buying US ETFs that participate in MLPs is that they're not favourable to a Canadian investor. Withholding tax of 15-30%. Be very, very careful on the MLPs. If you want gas exposure, think about XEG or ZEO. Most bang for the buck would be the HED, with small cap exposure. Small caps have…

An EM ETF? He's used this in the past and recommends it, if you're looking for a single EM ETF.

Challenge with buying US ETFs that participate in MLPs is that they're not favourable to a Canadian investor. Withholding tax of 15-30%. Be very, very careful on the MLPs. If you want gas exposure, think about XEG or ZEO. Most bang for the buck would be the HED, with small cap exposure. Small caps have…

It is a rate reset ETF of preferred shares. As interest rates have fallen to probably the lowest level, the yields are pretty good. He would prefer to sell calls against the banks, collecting the dividend along the way. He is not a fan of preferreds.

(A Top Pick August 8/17, Up 8%) This holds what’s left over from the XIU 60. Wanted to get into some smaller stuff to get better diversification, and focus on this rather than the broader-based indices.

Fine as a holding. But the majors are cheap enough, and they'll move first. Slightly higher losses coming to CWB because of the oil patch. It's a hold. Wouldn't worry about the dividend too much, but he'd prefer one of the majors at this stage.

They intend to spin out their western Canadian retail real assets to become an owner of office and industrial assets in North America. Investors will receive units of this new small-cap REIT, which will be difficult to value. The hope is that the office/industrial REIT will see a re-rating of its value. Spin-outs often don't…

It is a diversified REIT focused mainly in the Quebec markets. 35% of the portfolio is in retail/malls. Rent collection has been weak. He thinks they will be weak coming out of the pandemic. E-commerce has really taken off.

It is a difficult stock to own in this environment. The pandemic has shut them. He believes the distribution has been suspended. They have impaired cash flow and higher level.

It's a holding company that holds various investments. Be long-term here and patient. Some of those investments need time to recover, like secondary malls and office towers, mostly in Alberta. Those are headwinds. It'll pay off, but not until the long term. Things will recover. Caveat: This is thinly traded with low volume.

Allan Tong’s Discover Picks Power Corp whopping 6.67% dividend yield is considered safe at a 79% payout ratio. This stock appeals to income investors who don’t expect much stock appreciation. Power trades at a low 10x PE, which has actually fallen from 14.13x a year ago. So, this is a steady but boring dividend stock…

(A Top Pick May 14/18, Down 21%) It had a tough go since he was on. He continues to believe it is one of the best plays to get exposure to bit coin. It is a well run company.

They had a project where they had lent out some money to the big Urban Corp. real estate company, which defaulted on their loans. Fortunately, the loan was secured by some real estate. Terra Firma just announced getting full repayment of the principal plus interest for that property. Now it will be a function to…

Blockchain ETFs? He loves block chain and has about 7% of his portfolio. He likes HIVE as they are a miner of block chain coins. Global integration is just getting going. The technology will benefit from the way global markets will go forward. Imagine if gold could have a tracking system for physical it would…

Uses their GPS system to figure out where trains are, and to more accurately schedule trains and service vehicles for people working on the rails. Reported on Aug 14 and earnings were down 10%. That was against a 32% increase in sales. In the coming quarter, earnings are expected to be down 75% year-over-year. Great…

He rarely talks about Gold. He thinks it is a strong sector bet. It is been out of favor for so long that mines have closed, productions have closed, mergers and acquisitions happened. Central Banks are now massive buyers of Gold. they want to get out of the US dollar. The Fed is not raising…

They are doing distinctive infrastructure, where they are digging trenches to get that last mile to the home. They are doing this in the UK, and have a large contract with one company. He really likes the story, but is waiting to see some revenues and earnings drop to the bottom line over the next…

It'll be flat this year. It's very illiquid, so likely way cheaper than it ought to be. Good balance sheet. Cheap at 8x earnings. The payout ratio is safe. You can buy and win with this.

They did well, but then missed some quarters. (So has NFI-T.) Margins have dropped in the bus space. He exited 18 months ago. Cities may be holding back on bus orders as they decide on whether to buy e-buses or not. There may be pent-up demand.

How COVID will effect this industry, retirement homes? He owns Sienna instead. EXE is much more involved in government-funded LTCs. Along with Chartwell, these two companies are under government scrutiny, so they likely do a much better job than private LTCs. Good question how COVID will affect these homes: there may be increased costs to…

There is so much concern on quality of earnings and when the companies will be profitable. He wants to see the industry mature. He likes it long term. The health side of this could be revolutionary over the next couple of decades.

A new CFO about six months ago is resulting in a change in their business operations. He thinks this is a lottery ticket if you already own it. He would wait until year end -- if it does not do well, take the tax loss then. Right now the company is running radio silent.