This week’s new 52-week lows… (Dec 05-11)

He believes there are better opportunities. OTEX-T is a more interesting company. If you have made money then it is time to move on.

(Market Call Minute) He likes it. They are moving into virtual reality. There is an opportunity, but it is probably a hold.

He finds it interesting, but got "stop-lossed" out of it. They have a unique low powered cellular device that can be used for tracking. This is another type of device that consumers could look to buy. It could be used to track trailers, or even jack hammers. They did an equity raise a while ago…

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…

(A Top Pick May 20/15. Down 93.21%.) The company had some technology that allowed for compliance and payment processing technology. They started in the Bitcoin area, which didn’t work out very well. They then moved on to high risk areas, which would be considered gaming. Recently announced a strategic review of the company, so are…

They recently had a joint venture with Baker-Hughes (BHGE-N), where Baker Hughes is co-marketing one of their products. It would make sense for Baker Hughes to take over this company. Schlumberger (SLB-N) is the only company with a competing product. (Analysts’ price target is $9.50.)

He owns this. The stock is getting hit by what is happening in Kitimat as they provide worker mobile housing. He is under water on this one. He is happy to hold it and has it on his buy list. Once the pipeline issue is resolved, he believes their key project will go ahead.

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 is a liquids rich player with very high liquids content. The problem is that the market cap is below the radar, and the debt is high. It was a $4 plus stock when we had decent gas prices. They are looking to bring their debt down. He thinks the company will survive. They've been…

It is quite a small company. It is hugely volatile. There a lot of problems over the years with the pricing of data coming from India regarding a 10% stake in another company. They have too much debt. The price of the gas they sell has been negotiated. A tough name to predict.

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.

They suspended the dividend due to low oil prices earlier this year. The balance sheet is an issue with debt rising to 57% now. The stock has significantly fallen since 2018, too. At least wait and buy on weakness. He expects WTI to fall below $30 in the next few months.

The company is very cheap in terms of price to book. Their book value was $4 at the end of June. However, they have a debt problem: $211 million of debt compared to an equity value of $369 million. He sees this as a takeover candidate especially now because he is seeing consolidation in the…

There is a possibility the price will recover within five years. It is higher risk/reward to PPL-T, however. It needs more improvement in earnings quality for him to jump in.

Debt concerns? BXE took bankruptcy protection when debt became too much. There is no equity value in it any longer. Companies that have debt that matures in 2020 or 2021 will have issues. He sees no issues with BIR or TVE on this topic. The new Federal relief program for large companies may be difficult…

Capital issues? He would avoid this as he owns no service companies right now. Producers have been marginal with cash flow to survive, but there has been no surplus cash flow to increase drilling activity. CEU sells chemicals to US producers and have been forced to cut prices on their product. He thinks the market…

Enterprise value is very cheap. But the issue is they have debt. They did an infrastructure deal to reduce that debt. A big part of that debt is a 2024 maturity at a low interest rate, so Crew will survive. Their liquids are in a condensate-rich area. The stock has been hammered because of high…

Weakness in share price recently is related to their moving HQ into the US. Their strategy for the move is to trigger share buying in the US as they become part of a larger market index, he thinks. There is no guarantee this will happen in the US, so this is a pretty risky strategy.…

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.

Bottoming phase in early ’09 then a rally. Profit taking at end of summer. $0.40 is support level; If it breaks through $0.67 level he would see a dollar.

The stock is down 70% this year on fear of their bank line, which is now fully drawn. They have applied for government loans -- one of the first in the patch to do so. At $40 oil they generate free cash flow. When the market is ready for a corporate sale, you could see…

Payout ratio sustainable? A name he has owned for many years. Very talented management team. They have diverted capex, improved liquidity and refinanced debt, so he does not think the dividend is at risk. He also does not think it will grow much over the next couple of years. A long term investor would see…

It took a big haircut in earnings in the last 90 days, down 57% this year and a projected 20% in 2021. Cash flow will shrink this year but expected to grown next year, but still lags its peers. NVA is a reasonable speculation, but he sees a better play in natural gas names in…

Expect less drilling activity but they will survive. They have first-class equipment in the US and Canada. It's a higher-beta name, thus more speculative. Buy this on weakness. He expects drilling to pick up in 2021.

Natural gas? The outlook for natural gas has improved as associated production has impacted by shut in oil production. He is not fond of PEY as they have covenant violations (that should be worked out). He has others he prefers.

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

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 Apr 25/19, Down 53%) They sold out when they were stopped out last July. It is tough in the energy space right now. Investors have to avoid trying to be a bottom feeder and trade with tight stop loss levels.

It is regarded as lower risk, despite a slightly higher geopolitical risk. They are sitting on $300 million in cash. They are looking for an acquisition outside of their core, so he is a little uneasy on where they are going. There are better names to own first.

It's had a fall from grace. Energy services have been hit hard by plunging oil prices. They depend on infrastructure projects. They're still a leader in pipe coating, though. Maybe this is a trade, but he avoids energy service companies entirely.

A dividend of 5% and is only earning $0.05 per share and next year maybe up to $0.07. They are not paying out their entire cash flow. If it breaks above $5.13 it would be technically positive. He would wait on this one.

70% fracking and then they have coil tubing. They are pretty cheap. They are doing reasonably well. It is really, really cheap. The two biggest shareholders are funds so liquidity is an issue Buy on weakness; he would have a target of $5.

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.

(A Top Pick Jun 20/19, Down 26%) It's generating free cash flow and paying down debt. Buy this under $10 for the long term. This is the premier large gas company in Canada with a strong management team who will maximize shareholder value. Managers also own a lot of shares.

(A Top Pick Jun 20/19, Down 60%) He expects their volumes to be flat in the next two quarters, then picking up. Buy on weakness under 70 cents. It's nearly triped from the March bottom.

70% revenue from condensate? Oil prices has recently rallied due to OPEC agreement extensions and a recovery in demand. Associated natural gas production has begin to rise again and natural gas prices have fallen. He thinks a large oil sands producer using condensate may take advantage of this company and consider it as an acquisition…

It is probably one of the better managed exploration and production companies in Canada. It is a little bit higher risk/reward than some of the others. This is one of the companies he would look at in this group. It will recover or could be acquired or merged with.

BBI-X is the old ticker. The merger involves a 10 for 1 split. PIPE-X shows a couple of weeks of trading and that is what to go by. They are coming on with new production facilities soon. By the end of the year, they will go to 10 times that. He thinks it is cheap…

He owns the convertible debentures. It is a speculative position. They should be able to withstand this.

He doesn't like the base metals yet. The price of copper as a barometer hasn't shown any movement. He has to see what will happen with the global economy. Once copper rises above $3.00, he would start looking into it more.

It has a great management team and the Yukon is a friendly place to develop. Infrastructure is the issue. Smaller mining operations can deal with this, but lack of power and transportation are challenging. Where copper prices are, this is still too levered -- you need copper prices to go higher.

It seems the hole went right down the throat of what looked like a structural intersection. Also, it was reverse circulation, and the recovery wasn’t that good. An interesting deposit and in the part of Peru that is very dry, which is part of the issue of getting diamond drilling there.

Been a nice success story. His opinion is that the commodity cycle has really played out here.

Doesn’t particularly like the deposit. Very speculative. It’s all over the map. There are safer names out there.

He is a geological advisor to them. Consulted on a project in Italy, but it was not what he thought it would be.

(A Top Pick Sept 9/16. Down 2.7%.) Has a world-class property in Argentina and a world-class CEO who has done this before. They’ve raised money from various sophisticated institutions at about the current price. At some point, given lithium prices and electrification of cars it is going to get taken out. Highly speculative, but if…

One of his recent “Bottom Fish” that he has put a little bit of tension on. They have the Cheechoo project, about 15 km south east of Eleonore, which is now in production, almost meeting its 300 ounce per year over put. The Cheechoo is a low grade system, but have been discovering that there…

Building a mine is not easy. Has really good projects. Price target of $3.50. If you own it, not a bad place to add more. Will move on higher gold prices, and will start to shine quite nicely this year.

Wouldn't be his top pick. Usually goes with the cycle pretty well. We are still in a sceptical stage of the market. Any silver company will do well once the optimistic phase begins.

Wallbridge Mining to buy Balmoral It depends on your timeframe--some will take the premium in Balmoral and grab the profit. He expects in two years that the deal will benefit shareholders with lower costs. The Abitibi is a great gold district. If he owned this, he'd hang onto it.

You want to buy cyclical at the end of a recession, but you have to be careful and selective. You don't want the ones with the most torque to recovery. CFP-T would be one to select. It will be around.

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.

It is not a mining company, but a project generator. The CEO has done this for 25 years. He then sells off projects to companies that try to turn them into mines. He gets stock and a royalty in exchange. He has about a 160 properties. Some day the CEO will want to sell the…

It has returned to previous support from November. He would look at the $9 range. If it breaks below that they we have a problem, otherwise it will base at this level before going up to $16.

The company has suspended its dividend. They operate diamond mines in South Africa. They are looking into underground, from open pit. The cost is more expensive than thought. The price of diamonds has been reduced, though retail prices won’t change.

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)

It is a high grade underground gold deposit in West Africa. The company has been generating free cash flow. It is a good management team and they are starting a new project also in West Africa. There is a security risk in these areas, however.

(A Top Pick Jan 05/18, Down 86%) He sold out of this when it became apparent oil prices were not going to finish above $70 per barrel by year end. He sold out around $6.50. Demand for frac-sand is down and their is greater competition in the US. Spending plans have declined in Canada as…

(A Top Pick Mar 27/19, Down 19%) They're part of a duopoly. It enjoys highly recurring revenues. SJ shouldn't be impacted by the virus, just in their lumber segment. Strong balance sheet. More acquisitions to come for them in the pole side. The stock hasn't been this cheap in a decade. Trades at 13x earnings…

(A Top Pick Apr 16/19, Up 87%) He still holds this. Likes the management team that has executed well. It should be trading higher than where it's at right now too. Management is the M&A team from Barrick.

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…

Likes the managers, but concerned with the topography. A decent-sized gold project. A good speculation.

A good story. Good management. Have a major gold discovery and process near the Galore Creek project where NovaGold (NG-T) halted their development. This knocked them back and they are very undervalued at this point. The road they built goes past Romios property, which helps them.

It's a 10 cent stock, when even the big companies aren't doing well. If you like it, sure go ahead. But there's nothing he can add.

Used to own it and would like to again this spring or summer. Knows the management team and where they're mining, Nevada, very well.

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

It has very high beta and is very sensitive to market movements. It is more risky as a result, especially in weak economic times and markets. He is of the view that the recent market rallies are due for a retracement. Longer term the company has a dominant position in watercraft products. However, these are…

This has a bit of cyclicality in it. The auto parts sector has such cheap valuations. The earnings will take a hit in the downturn. But they can easily survive this. They will sell more as we get into the electric side. People will get back into their cars more quickly than they will get…

They bought Newfoundland Capital. It is a radio operator now. Debt is high but they keep increasing their dividend. People see them as background music in a retail environment. It is an okay stock and he would like it a lot better with a lot less debt.

Not a long-term hold. Near-term is okay. It's quasi-cyclical. If housing dips...oh boy. He owned this 30 years ago. A good operator with good product, but the macro environment is not good. If a recession comes, sell. Hold.

(A Top Pick May 06/19, Down 59%) They stumbled with a new distribution system in North America and their supply lines from China were totally disrupted. The balance sheet remains strong, so they will survive, but how long will it take for them to recover? When will stores reopen? He's holding on.

It is unbelievable where this stock is trading at. Acquisitions this year are worth less than half what they paid for them. It was trading at less than half what it was worth. They are trading below the amount of cash they have. It shocks him how far it continues to go down.

This has been a very difficult stock. Recently reported a very bad quarter. He would stay away from this one. Inventory has gone up a lot and their margins have fallen. Cut the dividend totally. Thinks they are in a bit of trouble.

Doesn't know this company. Loves the space. Names with a good name, like "green" move well. They produce organic foods, and people are looking to eat healthier. Fancy name. Fancy products.

A micro-cap. He holds debt securities and have been collecting those coupons. SPP is interesting, but highly speculative. They run little coffee shops. The coffee and food are really good. He wouldn't buy it for that reason, but it's okay in a portfolio.

It supplies implements to the agriculture sector. The problem is that business around the world has stopped. He thinks a dividend cut could be coming. He would continue to watch it from the sidelines.

They are suing Cineworld. He does his road shows in CGX's theatres. It will be some time before people will feel safe crowding into a theatre.

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.

It's illiquid. They've good managers, though, and the stock has moved up, maybe overextended. He likes the story, but it's too illiquid for him. Recent quarters have not been strong. This space had to become good operators when lumber prices went down, and is starting to find momentum with more housing starts.

The stock has been rallying into earnings. They have a unique position in Canada as a value retailer and they have growth levers in Canada along with Latin America. They have an opportunity as other retailers may drop out. It trades at 27 times earnings -- a little rich. A long term winner. He owns…

This tracks the lifecos in US and Canada, using an actively managed covered call strategy which gives you low volatility. Lifecos will benefit from rising interest rates, and are moving into asset management. An ideal way to offset interest risk on the fixed-income side. Pays a 3.5% yield. PE 8.5x.

Likes this holding, because Canadian and US investors are going to have to start looking somewhere else to diversify a little more.

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…

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…

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…

Europe, Australia, and Far East so has been affected by Brexit. A good ETF but hasn't performed well. Could buy ZWE, which is more European based. Would like to see more U.S. exposure.

A year ago all the rate reset preferrds got set lower down. He is not a big fan of this although he has a bit.

This is hedged, so there's no currency exchange risk. He predicts int he next five years that international stocks will succeed. ZDM is perfect for this. Really likes it. Hold 10-15% of your portfolio internationally. This is a big cap ETF.

ZWB-T vs. ZEB-T. If your view on the banks is sideways to down a little bit, then ZWB-T is the better holding but if you are bullish on the banks then you don’t want the covered calls. He prefers ZEB-T right now because he wants all the price capture upside when the banks recover.

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.

ZUB-T vs. ZBK-T. If you are thinking long term, he would go into the hedged version. It is not time to step into US banks yet. We will likely make lower lows. You are not owning them for dividend payout these days.

ZWE-T vs. ZWH-T. With covered calls, when you are in a slightly up or down or sideways market, the call brings in a premium and dampens the volatility. But when it is in a very strong uptrend, the covered write lops off the top of the uptrend. The upside is capped. In a sharp declined…

GWO vs MFC vs SLF? In general, he thinks all insurance companies are safe here. They don't have the threat of rising loan losses, like the banks do. They trade cheaper than the banks. Capital ratios are solid. They are finding ways to deal with low interest rates. GWO has a good job. MFC is…

Very focused. Have positions in 4 life insurers and they are running a covered call program against the existing long positions. Going to have volatility given its exposure.

(A Top Pick Jun 17/19, Down 4%) It is an extremely strong company within the lifecos. They have good growth in global markets. Stick with it.

Great management and great Board of Directors. They just finished a raise. Doesn’t think there are any headwinds anymore. With a fully loaded balance sheet, they’ve got a great growth in their client base, having gone from zero to 42 with 17,500 payers in the last year. Just signed on an ERP Vendor news cycle,…

He still likes it. It is at somewhat of a discount. It is more Canadian-centric compared to competitors. Over the next few quarters he thinks provisions for loan losses will rise. They are at a reasonable price.

Focused on the western part of the country and which is still going through a difficult economic period of time. It has had a decent couple of years as credit losses have been kept to a decent low. Their traditional business of lending with a flat yield curve is very difficult. He prefers TD-T and…

Owned it a few years ago and cut his losses. Now, cut your losses. This business is struggling as an asset manager, specifically to retain and attract new clients. Also, their key managers, including the CEO, have been leaving. They won't generate much in performance fees, which has been an attraction for investors in the…

You have to question everything including the possibility of anyone cutting the dividend back. He thinks they will come through this and thrive. He would look at buying a basket of the larger banks for the security of more diversified operations.

Entry now? A private equity firm. They do not own it. The NAV is dependent on their holdings, some of which are not publicly traded. She would think it is safe to buy, but they just see other opportunities in the space. Expect some asset write-downs going forward.

It will do fine with rising interest rates. It is a holding company. He is not that bullish on the mutual fund industry.

Doesn't like the merger with POW. Sell PWF and buy Aecon? Don't because Aecon has its own issues, and the merger makes sense. PWF/POW was an old-1980s structure and needed to consolidate to raise the overall value. Problem is, there's is little growth in the company's existing businesses. Mutual funds are getting crushed by ETFs,…

He is not bull on the office space. They have been growing in sub-markets he is not keen on. 37% is in Atlantic Canada and he is not keen on their holdings.

In the construction space his favorite is WSP Global. SOX is similar and he thinks they may be a value trap as there is some concerns about the dividend, the strength of the balance sheet and their ties to the energy sector.

He would avoid this one. Office space is difficult to re-tenant. They have an external management structure for their assets, which does not necessarily leave great alignment.

(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.

It is a company that invests in cannabis opportunities. The most recent is in Australia where it is one of the few companies that is licensed there. They also announced a deal in Jamaica where production is coming on line. It is a reasonably diverse way to participate in the space, but he thinks there…

Small and obscure and in commercial real estate that he doesn't like. This will suffer if there's a downturn. This is also small-cap; better to buy a larger-cap REIT.

The dividend has been cut. Analysts expect earnings to return next year. He is not sure if they can achieve their targets.

(A Top Pick Mar 01/18, Down 22%) This was disappointing. They were trying to grow at the expense of the bottomline. Their growth plans did not come to fruition. The CFO left. He does not see a lot of reason to be involved in this name at this point.

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.

They are in a tough situation with the pandemic. They don't own them at this time. They are in a partnership with Air Canada that provides a block amount of flight time, which was creating great certainty. The other side of their business is the leasing side, which was being looked at fueling growth. It…

(A Top Pick May 08/19, Down 25%) A tough environment for them. They sold out of their holding last June around $22. They were having troubles rolling out a South American strategy so opted to move on.

It was a long for him in the 2013/14 period of time. It has gotten to the point now that it has priced in a lot of the economic slowdown. It scores in the top 1% in valuation. They are somewhat diversified. 6.5 times price to earnings. They could turn into more of a yield…

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…

This is another company in the cannabis space. This is not a cannabis producer, it is a company that adds value in that space. They are mapping cannabinoids, looking for different formulations to treat different diseases.It is highly speculative, but he thinks there is opportunity for this type of company. He likes the management. In…

(A Top Pick May 17/19, Down 7%) He still holds this one. He participated in a financing about four months ago. They produce tests for HPV, but unfortunately COVID-19 has taken center stage. He likes their quality assessment tests and the outlook remains positive.

Just announced a discovery in Columbia. Flow tested over 2000 barrels per day. This well could produce up to 5000 when brought into production. A very well distributed stock so it might not jump too fast. Company could get taken out.

It is one he quite likes in his Cannabis portfolio. They are the number one selling chocolate infused with THC. They can also infuse it into sugar for baking. The company has been ramping up as of late. Later this year we should see cash flow positive from this company and then it will hit…

Heard good things about their brand, quality production. Small player, so would hope they can do a joint venture with someone. Branding will be tough with regulations from Ottawa, so strong brand now could pay off.

It formed a nice base. It has a strong yield. It is coming out the last few days. We are getting close to a break out.