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Debt is extremely high. Unless there is a miraculous oil recovery, there can be serious repercussions. If he is right on oil, you could double your money, but if he is wrong, it would be a struggle.

Has owned this in the past, but has struggled that for several quarters they have made almost no money. Have lots of EBITDA, but have never been able to generate significant EPS. It has always carried a premium multiple. Seemed to have stumbled in their last quarter and even the quarter before. They are now in a “show me” stage.

Trican (TCW-T) or Calfrac (CFW-T)? This one is days away from tripping covenants, so they have to renegotiate with their debt holders. Have negative EBITDA so their debt to cash flow is infinite right now. A really, really, really tough situation to be in. If they can renegotiate, you could see the stock increase materially, but if not there may be little equity value in the company. His preference would be Canyon Services (FRC-T).

Trican (TCW-T) or Calfrac (CFW-T)? This is a better company operationally and geographically. Less debt, although they do have a lot of debt as well, so everything is not rosy. His preference would be Canyon Services (FRC-T).

(Market Call Minute.) Has been a big buyer in this. His big concern is that Penn West (PWT-T) is their biggest royalty payer so if it goes bankrupt, what happens to their royalty income? It is a bit of a concern, but even excluding that, the stock has been pounded, and the royalty model should hold up a lot better than a conventional A&P model.

(Market Call Minute.) He wouldn’t necessarily buy this, but if he had a gun to his head, he would buy it over the other 2.

(Market Call Minute.) Super quality management team and it trades as such. They are increasing (?) their growth rate eventual into a dividend model. Good CEO. It’s just that the multiple is a little rich compared to other opportunities.

(Market Call Minute.) Staying away from this for now. Debt to cash flow next year is now in excess of 6 times. Debt is a little too high for his comfort level.

The most mispriced oil/gas stock in Canada that he can find. Their proved reserves can produce oil for 10 years. At $55 oil, it is trading at 5.5X its total corporate value relative to cash flow. That means you are getting part of the proved reserves for free, their probable reserves for free and all of their own booked inventory for free. It has never traded as cheaply as it has today. Eliminated people’s major concerns and cut the dividend so it is right sized. He has it being sustainable at about $50-$55 or higher. The cash flow is around 2.5X. Eliminated their DRIP so there is no dilution. Dividend yield of 9.02%.

Has fallen from $18 and he started buying at around $4. This company is 60% hedged on oil production next year, close to $80. Debt to cash flow is below 3X using Strip pricing. Have no debt maturity until 2022. Recently cut the dividend by 50%, and current yield is around 14%. Doesn’t see that being cut anytime soon. They are 100% Saskatchewan, so you have no exposure to the NDP uncertainty.

Doesn’t view the dividend as likely to being cut. Even if it is, the stock has been pounded so badly that he feels the stock would rally, not go down. Relative to its proved reserves, it is trading at around 6X cash flow and has never traded this cheaply. Its proved reserve life is around 9, so you are getting the proved reserves for free. Dividend yield of 11.3%.

Markets. Every now and then the market goes through a chaotic period where it kind of loses itself. It detaches itself from fundamentals and you get either a selloff or equally you get a huge run in the market, but we don’t consider that to be a problem when it is going up. This is the 1^st really serious correction in about 4 years and is probably overdue. The important thing is to not lose track that earnings, generally speaking, are coming in line. It is really an issue of supply/demand for stocks as opposed to a big reaction to what is happening on earnings. Ultimately earnings drive where the market is going, and as a consequence this will come to pass in the not too distant future and will be back into a good market. His thesis on growth stocks, which will very much affect the NASDAQ, is that the knowledge based industries are often the most attractive place to be. These stocks can have very volatile moves to the upside. These stocks have been cruising for very, very long time, so if they check back by 10%-15% it might seem like a pretty severe correction. It is a normal course of events that the market has deposits from time to time and sorts itself out. The key thing is that nobody can time the short term movements of the market or trade it. Focus on resilient business models that can grow under any economic circumstances, and when you find you are in a market like this, just ride the storm out.

Good company. In some interesting spaces in terms of hormonal stuff. They are on the search for a Viagra for women. The numbers into 2016 are looking pretty good. He wants to see one or 2 more quarters, but if they keep doing things the way they are, it is a name he would be interested in. Wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up owning it in 2016.

Owns a little, but one that he is hemming and hawing on. He was more bullish on it a couple of years ago because it was extremely cheap. The question is whether it is a value or not. He is sitting on the fence, and is more likely to move on then to stay with it. The attraction is that it is trading at 3X earnings, but it is not growing. The issue is how fast new digital businesses can replace the legacy businesses. This would have to acquire something to become a more interesting story.

How do you assess what constitutes a competent and astute management team? When he meets with a new company, the first meeting is to take a measure of the CEO, not the company, and find out what his story is. His theory is that people are not mediocre for 30 years and then become superstars. There are usually a whole bunch of signs of exceeding expectations or outperforming all the way through their career. The smaller the company, the more important the jockey. He would then check out the management team.