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…

Billy Kawasaki’s Insights - Billy’s most-liked answers from 5i Research. Still likes it. A well managed company with a great record for acquiring and selling companies. Balance sheet and earnings growth is strong. A relatively safe investment. Unlock Premium - Try 5i Free

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.

He doesn't own REITs now, especially in offices and retail. How long will it take for their occupancy to return? In REITs, you pay around 90% earnings so there's little wiggle room for error. He'd rather buy retirement homes like Chartwell and Sienna, which offer better growth.

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.

Likes gold, as it's in a bull market. There are better ways to play gold, like through FNV, a royalty producer. FNV avoids many of the risks that miners face.

Copper equities in general have had a huge move since the bottom. The commodity has been bust for the last 10 years. There is a lot more room for copper to grow. As long as the balance sheet is not too bad, and it is a good company, then it is a good buy.

Long owned this. They make a lot of money for a small-cap. They now have a second mine in the Ivory Coast while their Burkino Faso one will continue to do well. A cheap stock that gives you exposure to gold. (Analysts’ price target is $2.47)

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.

A takeover candidate Yes, it's possible, but also for a lot of these companies. He has a $4.25 target. He likes AR's recent drill results, showing good grades. Growth is coming from exploration and production. A fine company. AR could even acquire other companies.

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.

Gold companies remain cheap vs. the price of gold itself. There's a lot of room for upside. He's been taking profits to gold names to add new gold stocks to his portfolio (he specializes in precious metals). This is a hold with an $18 target. ELD has had a nice run.

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)

(A Top Pick Dec 13/19, Up 6%) A steady business. It's a volume business. It's ridden through Covid with confidence and is set up very well to supply steel to the US in the coming 6 months. There'll be a surge in steel demand.

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.

We have been going through a unique time when the small cap players outperform the large caps. You can own large caps with the likelihood of upside fairly large. At $50 oil, they are trading at a 16% free cashflow yield and 23% at $60. (Analysts’ price target is $33.77)

(A Top Pick Dec 10/19, Down 40%) Of course, he didn't foresee oil prices going negative (in April). CPG is not in a bad position here. North of $40/barrel, they can generate decent cash flow. It's decent.

An oil and gas drilling company in North America. Oil and gas services companies have additional leverage on the oil markets which already have significant volatility. If we get into the positive sweet spot it can raise prices and make a lot of money, but we are not there yet. They have been through multiple…

Not a holding now. They paid off all their debt by selling some assets. They are at a net cash position. In the short term there is no reason to own the stock due to lack of catalyst.

An infrastructure stock that saw negative performance because of Covid, but core business wasn't that affected. Nat gas demand has rebounded to all-time highs. Good value at these levels.

(A Top Pick Oct 28/19, Up 3%) MTL.DB-T Convertible Bonds Maturing 2026, 5.75%. He sold them out of his equity portfolio but still owns them in his bond portfolio. He is very familiar with the company and they have a very consistent track record. There is an imbedded call option in the share that triggers…

The stock has been underperforming. While most revenue comes from liquids, 60% production is weighted for natural gas. There will be production growth for condensates in the near future. The gas side has pulled this stock down. There are more clear names to go to first, and this would be more second tier.

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.

Some of the highest operating margins, low break even price, no debt, share buybacks, cash on balance sheet. Dialled up capex spending in December. Lean, efficient, growthy producer that's financially very sound. No dividend. (Analysts’ price target is $25.60)

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 does not own any service names. Oil company spending will go to dividend increases, share buybacks or deleveraging. Production growth related spending is a couple years away. Bullish elements for gas has been offset by decrease in production. It is too expensive right now for him to buy.

A feed stock for another company that wants scale. Clean balance sheet and asset holdings. Trades at 13% free cashflow yield at $50, and 31% at $60. You get a free cashflow engine. (Analysts’ price target is $1.54)

A core holding. Management has done a good job repositioning the company. They are slowing production growth and maximizing free cashflow. They are deleveraging. Their ability to generate free cashflow is extremely high. 16% free cashflow yield at $50, and 34% free cashflow yield at $60.

WCP buying TORC Oil Like with Suncor, we've had a relief rally in oil and cyclicals. Instead of vibrant competition in this industry, all this pressure on oil will reduce this space to a handful of names. He's looking for the highest free-cash flow producers at their lows. WCP gets stronger with this merger and…

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.)

Stockchase Research Editor: Michael O'Reilly With the economy looking to get back on its feet, this is a good entry for a high-quality energy producer. Trading at 85% of book value and with a PEG of 0.34, it is strong value now. We would buy with a stop-loss at $4.50, looking to achieve $8.75 --…

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.

(A Top Pick Dec 13/19, Up 10%) It hasn't stumbled during this pandemic. Incredibly consistent business, distributing propane across North America, such as Quebec. The stock had plunged from $12 to $6 during the pandemic, but they will get through this pandemic without lasting issues. (SPB was fine, but the market was irrational. SPB is…

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.

Over time it will come back. They have a strong position in liquor retailing and have moved into Cannabis. They are clearly going to be a survivor. They are going to be able to consolidate.

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

Good name in the TSX. One of the better growth names. 15% growth rate going forward. 24x forward PE. He's not into consumer staples at this point, favours cyclicals.

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…

It is a really well run company. It is a dominant player in the toy industry. The business is very lumpy month to month, year to year. Kids are sending more time on-line and not playing with toys.

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.

The ETFs are better to go because of diversification. There is a little more upside but not a whole lot more. There will not be increases in interest rates any time soon. Rates shouldn't go much lower either. The rates should remain stable.

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…

For recent years, he's been off and on preferred shares. Preferreds are volatile. When interest rates plunged 2-3 years ago, this asset class got reamed. HPR pays a big dividend, but also offers huge volatility. Also, it lacks the growth of stocks but carries the volatility. He had a terrible experience with this. Look at…

Both the US and Canada governments are now less supportive of the energy sector overall. However, because of cut-back in capital expenditure, the reflation story is positive for the next year. Crude oil prices can climb to $50-$60. Ultimately, this will not be sustainable but you could be over-weight for the next 6-12 months.

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…

The ETFs are better to go because of diversification. There is a little more upside but not a whole lot more. There will not be increases in interest rates any time soon. Rates shouldn't go much lower either. The rates should remain stable.

(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…

A play on Quebec. Announced a strategic review, so potential for some sort of activity. She prefers to own a pure industrial. Summit, for example, has Montreal exposure. Retail is going to face significant challenges to creating a path to growth. Third distribution cut since 2017. Better opportunities elsewhere.

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.

Not that enamoured. Doesn't like the business. Can't believe the high fees they charge. Family management team not proactive. More horsepower in Manulife for a similar business. It has better risk/reward long-term, with a good-sized dividend while you wait.

(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…

Q3 earnings were really good, strong free cash flow. Had layoffs, downsizing. Still a very cheap stock at 9x. There's room for this one. Big move in last 2 weeks, so wait to add. If you have it, hold it and enjoy.

He did very well this in the past. They make smaller buses, used in less-busy routes, yet are more efficient than comparable vehicles. It took longer to set up and find a partner in the U.S.--and the stock slumped--but they have by now set things up. They're rolling out an e-vehicle--and this is really interesting,…

There's always something that stops him from entering the seniors space in REITs: labour, regulator issues, though again demographics are a positive. That isn't a good enough, though. How will governments with huge debts supplement the entire seniors home space? However, EXE is cheap. This space is too volatile.

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.